Sweet On Sunday #20

1. OH MY GOSH. It's a cat. And pink yarn. As a shaker set. I need this now!

2. You can't get more adorable than this Critter-cal Mass Bag in Fox. 

3. I love Marilyn Monroe. Add in pastel colors and I'm absolutely obsessed. I definitely need this sweatshirt!

4. I normally don't wear skirts that often, but this pleated chiffon skirt caught my eye. 

5. I'm loving a light pink/blush color right now, so of course I fell in love with this Sending My Love Dress. 

What I Wore: Back to School

Shirt- Primark || Shorts- Gap || Shoes- Macy's || Watch- Macy's

First, let me apologize for my open closet in the background. I completely didn't notice it until I was uploading the pictures and saw the mess glaring at me from the background. Since it's on display… do you like my sweater collection? That's the mess on the top shelf of the closet. And all of my shoes hanging up and piled on the floor? Yeah, sometimes a girl just needs a bigger closet. 

Anyways, onto my outfit. For the first couple of weeks of school, I always carefully plan out my outfits so that I can impress my new classmates and teachers. Haha, in my dreams. In reality, I like it when I like my outfit because that always puts me in a better mood. And being flung back into classes, homework, papers, and readings, it's always more manageable when I'm in a good mood. 

I rarely wear tank tops, but the weather has been absolutely ridiculous this past week. The temperature has been in the high 80s, which wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have to walk at least 20 minutes to and from class every single day. By the time I got home to my apartment after my first day of classes, I was sweating so much and just wanted to collapse on my bed with a tall glass of lemonade and never move. I decided to plan better for the second day and wore this tank that I got from Primark when I was in London. It was super cheap and I loved the horseshoe pattern and chain connecting the collar. It made for the perfect outfit to make the heat a little more bearable. 

ps. Don't you love the colors of my room? When we first looked at this apartment, I knew that this was the room I wanted. The walls already matched half of the furniture I own and I could already see how amazing it would look with my pink and blue christmas lights hung up around the room...

Weekend Plans [8/29-8/31]

Wow, what a week. I'm always excited for the first week back at school, but I tend to forget what always comes with that: Homework. I've been back for five days and I already have a ton of reading and writing to do. Good thing I'm in a major I love because my classes really aren't that bad, so the homework is interesting, just time consuming. Thankfully, though, I have a nice four day weekend ahead of me to work on my classwork while still having some fun of my own. And by fun I mean crocheting, watching movies, and reading some books. 

Plan My Life My brother and his fiancé bought me and my sister Lily Pultzer planners for our birthday and I am in love. My entire life is in this planner and I am obsessed with writing down every little detail of my life in it. And just look at how cute it is! How could I not love it? 

Read The Virgin Suicides One of the classes I was most excited to begin is my class on contemporary fiction. I've known what books we were going to read this semester for about a month, which made me even more excited for the class. The first book we're reading is The Virgin Suicides and I absolutely love that book (I read it last year on my own). I can't wait to see how our discussion goes on Wednesday. 

Crochet a Granny Square Blanket After finally finishing my chevron afghan, my sister told me she wanted a blanket too. Being the amazing sister that I am, I told her if she gave me the yarn and the pattern, I'd make her the blanket. I've only finished four squares, but I'm already in love with the colors she's chosen. It's going to be so hard to part with this blanket when I'm done. 

Write to My Sister Going back to school is always hard because that means being 4 hours away from my sister. We were used to being together 24/7 during the summer, so it always feels a bit lonely when we head our separate ways to school. I love to writer her letters to remind her how much I miss her and love her. 

Plan Jane Austen Book Club This past Wednesday, my school's Mega Fair took place and I had a table for both my knitting club and my book club to recruit Freshman to join. Next week are our information meetings and I hope people come! We get to plan our semester of knitting and reading and I couldn't be more excited to meet new people who love those two hobbies as much as I do. 

Watch Movies Of course, as soon as I moved into my apartment I had to stop by the local library. I picked up about 6 movies to watch this weekend and An American In Paris was one of them. After seeing Sunday In New York, I've had this itch to watch other old movies. Hopefully it's a good one!

As my first full weekend as a college senior, I think I've got enough to keep me occupied until Tuesday!

The Jesse McCartney Concert (aka the best night of my life)

For the past 10 years, Jesse McCartney has always been one of my favorite singers. From the good old days of Beautiful Soul to the more recent Superbad, I have obsessed over all of his songs. I've had the same poster of him in my room since 6th grade and couldn't even dream of ever taking it down. When I saw that he was coming to Cincinnati in August, less than an hour drive from where I go to school, there wasn't a question in my mind that I wasn't going to go. My sister and I bought our tickets and waited for the day that I would finally hear Jesse sing in person. 

My sister and I waited for an hour and a half in line so that we could get as close to the stage as possible. While we weren't right up against the stage, we had decent spots about six people back. And since so many girls are fans of Jesse as opposed to guys, everyone in the crowd was about as tall as us, so we rarely had an issue with seeing Jesse on stage. The only problem? The place was hot. Super hot. Seriously, I think that the air conditioning was broken because everyone was drenched in sweat and the two opening acts and Jesse said that heat was just killing them. Their clothes were completely drenched too, but that didn't stop them from giving an amazing performance. 

A band called The Heydaze were the first to perform and they were pretty good! I love boy bands, so I really enjoyed their songs. A girl named Guinevere performed next and her voice kind of reminded me of Gwen Stefani. She was pretty good too, but I was dying to see Jesse and get out of that unbearably hot room. Finally, Jesse came on around 9:45 and the moment he stepped on stage, I knew that the heat and hours of waiting were totally worth it. 

Having been a fan of Jesse for ten years, I know pretty much every single one of his songs. I was so excited when he came out singing both old and new releases, most of which were my favorites. And when he sat down at the piano to sing The Other Guy, which is my absolute favorite song from his new album, I about died of happiness. For most of his songs, Jesse had two backup dancers to dance with him as he dazzled the crowd with his adorable smile and flirtatiously knowing looks. He was on stage for a good hour and it felt like 10 minutes had passed. Seriously, I could have watched him sing and perform forever. And when he sang Beautiful Soul at the end? I literally got goosebumps. I don't go to concerts that often, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see Jesse. And I fell even more in love with him than my 14-year-old self ever was. 

Sweet On Sunday #19

1. I am obsessed with the color of this Sweet Smile Face Bag. They have a light pink one that's just as fabulous. 

2. How cute is this jewelry stand? 

3. I already have some cat flats, but these Stroke of Genus Flats are so cute. Since pandas are one of my favorite animals, these shoes are calling my name. 

4. This Can't Wait to Celebrate Dress seems like it was made for me with the adorable lace and fun bright pink color. 

5. An R2D2 Bathrobe? How cool is that?

Let It Go…And Cuddle Up In Bed

Ever since I made my apartment wish list, I could not get the Disney Frozen throw I had found on Target's website out of my head. My sister and I had already planned on going to Target on Wednesday as a last hurrah before leaving for school, so I decided to check out their Disney throws and fell in love. This one isn't on their website and I found it wedged behind all of the other ones, but as soon as I saw this blanket, I knew that it was the one. Not only is it super soft, but I love the purple color and how it includes both Anna and Elsa's names next to their images. Oh, and did I mention that it was only $15? Yeah, I wasn't going to pass that up! 

Ever since I got my blanket, I have curled up with it on my couch almost every night. It's so, so soft and it's the perfect size. They had blankets that were "twin size" that were $20, but I couldn't imagine needing a blanket even bigger than this one. Can you tell I love my new blanket? Now if you don't mine, I'm going to snuggle up with my blanket and fantastic steampunk novel that I hope on finishing tonight…if I don't fall asleep first!

Craft Corner: Chevron Afghan

FINALLY. Oh my gosh, I have been working on this afghan for almost a year and I finally finished it last week. This baby has sat through countless episodes of Gossip Girl, Game of Thrones, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I had made my black and white chevron afghan last year and fell in love with the pattern, which I found from Love, Elycia. I was looking through Elycia's blog and thought that her multi-colored afghan was adorable and wanted to make one of my own. I picked out pink, blue, black, and white to match my bedroom and think it turned out spectacular!

Now that this afghan is finished, I have so many ideas for new afghans. I am making a summer garden afghan for my sister, which I made for myself two years ago, and this granny square blanket for myself. I already have all of the yarn I need for those two projects, so those should keep me busy for awhile. After finishing this afghan, I have officially become obsessed with crocheting them! I can't wait to explore all of the afghans that are out there. Hopefully they all don't take as long, though, or else I'll be crocheting for years and years into the future!

What I Wore: I Do BBQ

Tank Top- JCPenny | Shorts- Old Navy | Shoes- Forever 21 

This past weekend, my family headed up to my brother's fiancé's home for their "I Do BBQ" to celebrate their engagement. My sister and I were so excited to bake up some macarons, mini red velvet cupcakes, and mile high marshmallow bars to take as dessert for their party. The sweet treats were a hit and my brother's fiancé loved them, which made us so happy. We were able to help out her family setting everything up and then hung out with the rest of her family, getting to know our soon to be family! While the wedding isn't for another two years, I can't wait for them to finally get married.  

For the barbecue, they decorated the backyard with tables, paper lanterns, pictures of the couple, and mason jars full of roses. It was adorable! When it got dark enough, we lit paper lanterns and released them into the sky, which was beautiful and just like Tangled, which is one of my favorite Disney movies. The invitation said to dress casual, but it was an engagement party, so my sister and I still made sure to dress up a bit. I am obsessed with the purple tank top I got from JCPenny. The lace detail on the sleeve area is so pretty and I absolutely love the color. Also, it was the perfect outfit to move around in and play some corn hole with my family. I think that the party ended up being the perfect beginning to a long engagement journey. Hopefully the couple has many, many great years ahead! 

Apartment Wishlist

Disney Frozen Throw Blanket // Roar n Stomp Lamp // Wuthering Heights Poster // Herringbone Mirror // Hoot Stuff Trivet // Trunks Full of Taste Shaker Set // Please Wipe Your Paws Doormat // Plastic Mason Jar Travel Mug

As Friday quickly approaches, I have been mapping out exactly how I want my new apartment to look like, which I am sharing with the three friends I lived with last year. This weeks marks my last official week of summer before I head back to school to move all of my stuff for my senior year of college! When I moved my furniture from my old apartment to my new apartment a couple of months ago, the carpets were still damp from cleaning the morning our landlord told us we had to move. Damp carpets mean absolutely no furniture in the room to avoid mold and water damage to my furniture. That means that my things have been sitting in a pile outside of my brand new room (that just so happens to be turquoise) for the past couple of months since I've been home all summer. You could say I am excited to finally move my things into my room and make it my own.

I have found, after living in my very first apartment last year with my three friends, that the kitchen and my bedroom are by far the most important rooms for me to decorate. I love finding new mugs and bakeware for the kitchen. They always have to be full of color to reflect the happiness I feel whenever I'm in the kitchen, baking up a new recipe. Oh, and cute animals don't hurt either!

As for my bedroom, I have quite the obsession with throws. I've been dying to have a Disney throw and still have yet to obtain one. The only problem is, though, that I have no idea which one I would want! Frozen? The Little Mermaid? Beauty and the Beast? Oh, the choices. I also love having fun lamps and wall decorations. The amount of posters I own is ridiculous and I always want more. What can I say? I love my decorating!

Sweet On Sunday #18

1. My sister loves elephants, so I know she would totally fall for this Hearten Soul Dress. 

2. More scallops! Ahhh, I am in love with this Scallop Trim Cross Body Bag for those scallops alone. 

3. I have been considering on getting a Pug as my first dog (which isn't for a long time, but a girl can dream!), so of course I thought this Pug Coin Purse was absolutely adorable. 

4. This Floral Crochet Crop Top is so fun and I love the details of the crocheted flowers along the edge. 

5. These Leopard Pony Hair Slip-Ons are so me that I don't know how I don't own them already!

What I Wore: Who You Gonna Call?

Sweatshirt- Forever 21 | Shorts- Kohl's | Shoes- Macy's | Purse- Forever 21

No matter what I do, I can't stay away from Forever 21. In fact, this picture is taken just around the corner from a Forever 21 store! Haha, I'm seriously addicted to shopping there, both in person and online. I got my sweatshirt and purse from their online sale and got fabulous deals on them. Since I go back to school in exactly one week, I had to go to the actual store one last time before I'm deprived for the next few months. Why, oh why, did I have to go to a college that literally has no shopping for at least 40 minutes in each direction? Ugh, at least I'm not tempted to spend my money while at school!

As much as I love back to school shopping, it means only one thing: Back to school. How has the summer gone by so fast? I'm going to be heading back for my last first day of college, which is so weird to think about. My time as a students is coming to a close. Hopefully this time next year, I'll be preparing for my first day of school as a licensed teacher. Yikes, I'm going to be a grownup with a grownup job! For now, though, I get to enjoy my last year of no Friday classes, 6 week long winter breaks, and just being with my college friends.

Growing Up With Robin Williams

source

It was very sad to learn that Robin Williams passed away the other day. So many of my friends on Instagram and Facebook were posting images of him and quotes from the movies he's been in. As I was looking at their posts, I realized that he has been in so many movies that I've grown up on. His movies have been absolutely phenomenal and I still love them as much as the first time I saw them. 

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 

I can't believe this movie came out the year I was born. I don't even remember the first time I saw this movie, but I know I have seen if far too many times. Even now, when it comes on tv, I have to stop what I'm doing so that I can watch it. 

Aladdin (1992)

I know that he wasn't technically in this movie, but he his voice made the Genie come alive and was by far one of my favorite parts of the movie. I haven't seen this movie in forever and recently watched it again on Disney. Boy, did I forget a lot! I had no idea that Jasmine seduced Jafar and actually kissed him in order to distract him. A bit more risqué than I remembered!

Dead Poets Society (1989)

As a future English teacher, this movie absolutely touched my heart and I have not forgotten it since the moment I first watched it in high school. There are so many quotable moments and Robin Williams' character inspired me so much to touch the lives of my students as much as he touched the lives of his students. Oh Captain, my Captain! 

Hook (1991)

This was another movie that I can't even remember the first time I watched, but I do know that I have seen it probably a hundred times. We owned this movie on VHS and there was just something magical about Peter Pan having grown up and returning to Neverland as an adult. He made life seem so magical and not so bad after all. 

While we lost a beloved actor, we are able to keep his beloved movies. Thanks for a great childhood full of your quirky, magical, and funny films. 

Craft Corner: Zoo Animal Painted Canvas

For my sister's birthday present, I decided to make her a purple elephant canvas to put up in her apartment at school. She loves elephants and her favorite color is purple, so I thought that it would be perfect for her! Of course I couldn't just make one for her and not me, so I decided to make a pink giraffe canvas for myself and love how it turned out! 

Zoo Animal Painted Canvas

Materials

-Blank canvas

-printed animal silhouette (I used the image from here)

-Acrylic Paint

-Paint Brush

Directions 

1. Print out the silhouettes in a size that will fit your canvas and cut out the silhouette
2. Put tape on the back of the silhouette and place on the canvas in desired space

3. Paint the canvas and on top of the image in your choice of acrylic paint. I recommend painting around the edges of the paper image right away because my began to curl due to the paint. If you paint it right away instead of pieces at a time, your edges will be a lot cleaner.
4. Take off the image and let the paint dry. You may need to do two coats if the color is lighter. I did one coat of paint for the purple one, but the pink needed two coats.
5. Display your new painted canvas!

Kitchen Krazy: Fudgey Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Last week, I was absolutely craving brownies. I don't even remember the last time I had eaten a brownie, but all I knew was that I wanted one that was fudge, chocolatey, and delicious. After searching around online, I found a recipe from Something Swanky that looked absolutely delicious. Since I came down with a cold on Wednesday (I know, who has a cold in summer?), my sister decided to make a batch for me and, after one bite, I was in heaven. 

Fudgey Chocolate Chunk Brownies

From Something Swanky

Ingredients 

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chunks or chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.
3. Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix in the baking soda.
4. Mix in the chocolate chunks with a wooden spoon or spatula.
5. Once the batter forms (it will be thick), scrape it into the prepared dish and spread evenly.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, until brownies begin to pull away from the side of the pan.
7. Serves 9-12.

Did I mention how perfect these brownies are? We couldn't even eat them the first day we baked them because they were that fudgey. Once we let them sit overnight, though, the chocolate chips had hardened and gave them the form they needed to come out of the pan in one piece so that we could devour them. And devour them we did. We made our brownies in an 8x8 dish because we like them nice and thick. I can't wait to make these again! While I don't make brownies very often, I've definitely found my go-to recipe. 

Back to School Wishlist

One Fleur the Ages Dress // Department Director Dress // Dollhouse Designer Dress // Ray of Delight Dress // Mo-Mint of Truth Dress // Spontaneous Slow Dance Dress

Seeing as school is quickly approaching, I have been itching to go back to school shopping. There's nothing like a new outfit to start of the perfect first day of school. Since it's finally my senior year, I definitely want to end my college experience with a bang. And to me, that means dressing my finest and feeling my best. I student teach during the spring semester, so I can't wait to wear my dress every single day of the week. All summer I have been working in a day care where our uniform is our staff t-shirt and gym shorts. While it's comfortable, I miss my cute clothes! I am beyond excited to finally pull out my dresses when school finally starts up. I would love to add some of these Modcloth dresses into the mix as well.

Tote's Amaze Bag // Camp Director Tote // Zippered Faux Leather Tote // Cat Backpack Handbag // Striped Canvas Backpack // Aztec Backpack

Along with the perfect out, I need the perfect bag! I typically use a backpack when I'm going to classes because I have to lug around my computer on top of my books, notebooks, and folders. But if I'm going to a club meeting or some other event for class, I love to bring along a cute tote that's big enough for a notebook and some pens. I am obsessed with bags that are big enough to put everything I could ever need (including a book or two), so of course the three totes above caught my eye. As for the backpacks, I love fun patterns that make packing up for class actually exciting. Not to mention anything with cats is a must-have in my book.

Can you tell I'm excited to head back to school? Haha, even though it's two weeks away I already want to start packing. Thankfully, I've managed to resist that urge, but that hasn't stopped me from browsing online for back to school shopping. Senior year is so close! Here's to a great last first day of school!

Sweet On Sunday #17

1. I have been buying wayyyy too many purses lately, but I just can't help myself! I'm so tempted to add this Maisie Metal Bar Bowler Bag to my collection. 

2. How utterly perfect is this Roman Holiday Mini Notebook? The Audrey fanatic in me is absolutely pining for one! 

3. Since summer started, I've added quite a few more shorts to my collection. These Darling Day Away Shorts are just the thing to brighten up a sunny summer day. 

4. I normally don't wear bracelets, but these Zigzag Stackable Bangles look so cute and fun to wear. 

5. I am absolutely obsessed with the beaded collar of this Pop the Question Dress. And the color? So pretty. 

Myrtle Beach in Photos

Hmm, I wonder what I did during my week at the beach…Read. Eat ice cream. Read some more while eating ice cream. My family has gone to Myrtle Beach for the past four years and it never gets old. We've found our favorite places to go for lunch and to get ice cream. We hadn't even checked into our condo before we went to Painter's and I got a cup of my absolute favorite Red Velvet Cake ice cream. The ice cream had actual chunks of cake and cream cheese frosting! Can it get any better than that? 

I spent many, many hours lying on the beach, soaking up the sun. This year was the first year my family decided to coordinate our outfits and take family pictures on the beach. I think they turned out very nice and my picture with my sister is definitely my favorite. It's already my Facebook profile picture! Of course, I took tons of more photos and posted them to my Instagram account. I'm sure everyone who follows me was sick of all of the pictures of the beach, but I couldn't help myself! In a place as beautiful as Myrtle Beach, who wouldn't want to take a million pictures? 

Overall, it was an amazing week and I already can't wait to go back next year. I'm already craving some fried creek shrimp and red velvet ice cream…why can't it be next summer already??