Life Update

Crazy as it is...my Boston summer will soon be coming to a close. I go home in like two and a half weeks, which is seriously insane to think about. It's all gone by soooo fast and it's been so fun! I've definitely made a home here, and I'm going to be very very sad to leave it.

The internship at Anthro has been amazing and continues to be so. I seriously love them as a company and everyone that works there. We've been working on merchandising, window displays, and fall concepts, so it's been a really awesome learning experience! Here's the window display we've been working on....

We cut and dyed egg cartons to make 4000 flowers for this display. I love the "secret garden" feel of it. So beautiful.

I've also been working at Forever 21 to make some extra $$$ and it's been a lot of fun! I feel like I've been learning so much there too. I'm a sales associate, so mostly I just make sure everything looks nice, put stuff  back, and help customers, but I always feel so inspired to be around all of the clothes. They have so many different styles and so much of the apparel is really cute. One thing I like about Forever 21 is that they manage to make super cute clothing but sell it for a really affordable price. Fashionable on a budget :) But yeah, Forever has been really fun. I'm so glad I got hired and had a chance to work there this summer.

I'm sewing a dress this week! And you don't even know how excited I am to do it! I'm a bridesmaid for one of my best friend's weddings and we just have to pick our own dress, so I decided to make mine, because I couldn't really find one that I loved or that matched the colors very well. Tonight we went shopping for fabric and totally scored! We went to Joann's and I bought fabric, elastic, buttons, and thread all for...$11.50! The cashier was really nice and she gave me the college student discount and then used coupons that made all of my items 50% off. An original dress for $11?? I'll take it! Don't worry, I'll post pictures as soon as it's finished. It's gonna be super cute! Also..there's a yellow dress I made back in April that I don't think I ever posted, so when I get a chance I'll do an outfit post for it.

One last thing...next week I'm going to NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (most of the time, this would be an overuse of exclamation points, but considering my excitement and the amazing-ness of this, I would say the exclamation points are just right). I cannot wait! I will be posting so many pictures when it happens!

Anyhow, I'm probably going to go to bed soon, maybe watch an episode of Ugly Betty on Netflix (speaking of tv....Project Runway season 10 just started! So psyched!), or maybe read (currently reading: The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen). We'll see.
Nighty night!

Giveaways 7/15-7/21

Haha but not my giveaways! Gotcha, right? Giveaways are a common thing in the blog-o-sphere, right? So I've decided to try posting once a week of all of the giveaways I find, what is being given away, and when it closes. Most of these will be from blogs I follow, but if you're having a giveaway, let me know and I'll post it on here--no other requirement necessary, just traffic for your giveaway!

So far these are the ones I've found this week:

Where: Latter Day Style
What: DownEast Basics one item of choice
How: Several ways to enter
Closes: July 20

Where: Leefy Not Beefy
What: a 15 mL roll-on in the perfume of your choosing (from the owner's etsy shop)
How: Subscribe by email required and then a lot of other ways to enter
Closes: July 17

Where: The Daybook
What: Two $50 gift certificates to Chicwish
How: Leave a comment saying what you'd like to win
Closes: Doesn't say

Where: Totally Tessa
What: DownEast Basics one item of choice
How: Leave a comment saying what you'd like to win, extra entries as well
Closes: July 18

Where: i believe in unicorns
What: a pair of Blowfish shoes
How: Give name of favorite pair in comment section, extra entries as well
Closes: Doesn't say

That's all I've seen for now. Let me know if you'd like your giveaway posted on here!

Random Thoughts

- I have been reading like crazy this summer. A little while ago I discovered an amazing app on my ipod touch called iBooks and then I discovered an even better website where I've downloaded all my favorite books. So now wherever I go, my ipod goes, and I find myself reading everywhere. It's pretty much the best. I have 70 books on there and they only take up 0.1 GB, so it's awesome! Whenever I finish a book, there is another right there waiting for me. Maybe one of these days I'll write a book post to share what I've been reading. Also, it's time for me to start reading Harry Potter again...round number 12... ha ;)

- I saw this on pinterest and now I really want to do it. This is an amazingly cute idea to used Christmas lights year-round!


- Lately, I've been missing ballet. Like, a ton. I've been dancing around the house more than usual (my uncle laughs because every once in a while I'll just be standing there talking and then do a grand battement--basically a kick--out of nowhere. It's just so natural to me!) and I've been watching tv shows about dance, namely Dance Academy (netflix) and Bunheads (new show on ABC Family). So I decided I'm going to take a ballet class in the fall! I haven't taken one for about two years, but I'm totally ready and excited for this. It's only 3 days a week which is good, I did a class that was every day freshman year and it was too much. I'm not an amazing dancer by any means, but I'm ready to jump back into it. I'm only at school for another year, so might as well take advantage of the classes offered.

- Only two more weeks in Boston. I'm not really sure how I'm reacting to this yet. It's sad, but I am excited to see my family and friends again. I literally cannot believe how fast the summer flew by. But it's been a good summer, so far. I've really been cherishing it and having a blast here. I love the east coast.

I guess that's all for now. Nothing else is popping into my head and I better get some sleep so I can wake up for church in the morning. That's another thing, I've been sleeping in SO much! Guess I still haven't fixed my habits of reading late into the night...haha oh well, gotta go!

Elle's Hairbow

So one thing about me is that I love doing other people's hair. I like trying out stuff on my hair as well, but it's pretty thin so a lot hairstyles don't even work on it. Little girls are the best for doing hair because they love the attention and they love feeling cute! Last Saturday I sat Ellie down and did this bow hairstyle for her. I actually did it for Gracie too right before I left, and little girls seriously just love it! And it is so easy. Double win :)

I used this tutorial in case you want to try it on yourself or a little girl. It's a great tutorial and the hairstyle only takes about 5 minutes. The only difference I did was that I put the extra hair in front and then pulled it back, instead of vice-versa, and I think that worked better.

Haha Ellie sure loved posing for the pictures I was taking of her.

Happy hairstyling! :)

Visit from my Mama Llama and Others, pt. 1

About two weeks ago I had the best time when my mom, my aunt Zildy, and Zildy's kids all came to visit for a week. They had actually only planned to be here for 4 days max, but it was extended to a week when the flights were pretty much packed for the whole week (my aunt works for Jet Blue so she and her kids can fly standby for free and others can use buddy passes to fly standby for cheap...so they were all flying standby). It kind of frustrated them but we were happy they got to stay longer! The whole week was jam-packed with tourist stuff to try and pack in as much fun as possible.

Sunday we went to a graduation party on the Cape. The house was gorgeous and they had the most beautiful view. There was a lake practically in the backyard and you could walk down the stairs and be right there. After the party we went to the coast to see more of Cape Cod. It was really windy and a little cold in some parts, but beautiful nonetheless.

Tuesday we went into the city to walk around, see the Boston library, and go to the Boston Gardens. I love libraries and the Boston Gardens has a certain feel similar to Central Park (which I've actually never been too). There are the swan boats in the Gardens that are really cute and cheap so we took a nice ride on one. We went through Faneuil Hall and also stopped to get some pizza for lunch.

The rest of the week will be blogged about shortly! I'm trying to catch up on stuff, especially considering this all happened in June.