Spring Cleaning... well, kind of...

Today was one of those days where I woke up and immediately pulled the covers over my eyes... WAIT! The sun is out?! Hooray!!! As much as my eyes did not appreciate the sun, I certainly did! After days of rain, gloom, cold and snow, I was THRILLED to open my blinds to let the sun shine in! What a gorgeous day in OKC! It's days like today that make it hard, well harder, to hate (rephrase: dislike) Oklahoma. 

After working on some homework this morning I decided it was time for spring cleaning... well, I don't know if you can call it cleaning when no pledge wipes, swiffer sweepers, or cleaning of any kind takes place... Okay, let's call it spring release... Yes, that's better :)

The criteria: If I have not used something in the past month (or year! eek!), it holds little-to-no monetary value, or it is just taking up space, it gets pitched. I have so much more room in my desk now! I also went through my school notebooks, pulled out any unnecessary papers and filed them in a different notebook; one that I do not have to lug around with me. Whew, it feels so good to get rid of all of the "stuff" in my life. 

Why was it necessary to do this cleansing today? Well, the best way to put it is I needed to get my mind off the extreme homesickness I am battling. However, it is not the usual strain of homesickness... It's the kind that comes with the realization that I do not know when I will go home again (and not merely be a visitor for a few days). I am so excited for all of my summer plans, but I yearn for home. You might be thinking, "But you were just there for spring break!" True, but there is something about living out of my closet/dresser vs. my suitcase, my mom scolding me for not putting my clean and perfectly ironed clothes away, and doing absolutely nothing during the summer that makes it feel like home. 

I am that kid that LOVES going home and being with family. I think my parents are cool and fun... and I miss them terribly when I'm at school. Hmm, this post started out discussing my spring cleaning and now it's about my homesickness... transition much? LOL. 

But ANYWAY, this will be the year that I do not pack up apartment stuff that I NEVER use and put it in storage for the summer... I will give it away... whether I give it to a friend or to the dumpster... I will be a pack-rat no more!! Maybe just a pack-mouse :) Baby steps people... Happy Sunday!

-E

I'm a girlie girl through and through

I must give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Kels for posting this etsy site on her blog this week. I am SO in love with these pillows. Anything with ruffles is right up my alley :) And the pillow covers are surprisingly affordable, that's always such a nice surprise... Check it out for yourself!

-E

Am I a hypochondriac or just a sugar addict?

Have you heard of Cookies by Design? Well if not, let me introduce you! Our family L-O-V-E-S the delectable delights produced by this company. Seriously, check out the site, there is a cookie bouquet for EVERY occasion... you might even adopt occasions just so that you can enjoy the cookies :)

I have a bit of a confession... When I was younger (and it's still true now), I always wanted to be sick enough to get the cookie bouquet below. OMG, that's so pathetic. I'm either a hypochondriac or a sugar addict... most definitely the latter... LOL 

Happy Friday!! -E

Spring where are you?! It's almost APRIL!!!

It is cold, windy, and gray in Oklahoma City today... One week ago I was in 70 degree weather and Carolina blue skies... I want to go back!!! Today is an annoying misty rain and it's gloomy outside. The forecast is not any better for the weekend. Thunderstorms tomorrow and snow on Saturday. C'mon OKC! It's almost April. 

I had to pull these pics off the internet today to make me feel better. I love gerber daisies and tulips. Spring... I'm pretending you are here! :)

-E

  

My heart is in D.C.

I am dying to go to Washington, D.C. I have been fortunate enough to visit twice in my life: First, on our 8th grade trip. Second, for a 10-day youth leadership conference (HOBY, check it out) after my sophomore year of high school. I made some of my best friends that summer and it holds such a special place in my heart.

A couple of OCU friends went to D.C. over spring break and uploaded pictures to Facebook. After I looked through the album I felt a strong desire to go to Washington. I love it!! I really want to go back and walk around the city. And I must admit, I want to go to the sites from the movie National Treasure, like the Library of Congress (I'm such a dork!) Side Note: I almost died when we saw Trinity Church in NYC. If you haven't seen the movie, you MUST check it out!! 

I never though I'd want to live in D.C., but as I think about the many directions my life could take, D.C. is moving up on the list as an option :) How's that Mom and Dad? It's on the east coast!! I don't know when I can visit D.C. any time soon but thank goodness for beautiful pics like these... I can pretend I'm there :) Where do you like to pretend you are?

-E

Spring Break Rundown...

Spring break was AH-MAZING!! Here's the rundown of my week of bliss at home :)

Sunday: I arrived around 3pm and was whisked off to M5 to have a fabulous late lunch with my parents. Yum-O! Had some fabulous Salmon and got my Easter gift: an ADORABLE green/brown bag and a new book :)

Monday: Momma and I started our day early at "On A String." Such an adorable bead shoppe, and I made a new necklace! We then went off to NoFo on Liz and had our favorite salad. Yum-o! We then headed home because Momma had to tutor, and I worked on, and finished, my Entertainment Tech project (for those of you that know the immense amount of work involved, mine totaled to 11 pages! whew!) I also got to visit sweet Stella and Ruthie (and Jeff and Casey, too) I love spending time with little ones! Stella showed "Miss Elizabeth" how high she could jump on her bed and Ruthie was a little chatter-box :) I also love the funny things they think of, for example: We were standing around in the kitchen when Stella looked up to Casey and said, "Mommy, does Miss Elizabeth have a belly button?" I almost died! :) So precious! The rest of Monday involved catching up on "24" and watching the new episode. I seriously think that show spikes my anxiety levels, but I LOVE it!!

Tuesday: Momma and I went to High Point to have lunch with Nanny and visit with Uncle Geoff, Tina, and Aniston. I was so excited to shop at Your Team Store and Uncle Geoff designed me a custom made OCU shirt! Woo hoo!! Momma also got a cupcake flower to celebrate her birthday... omg... all the icing :) Gotta love Sweet Shoppe Bakery!

 

Wednesday-Friday: We hopped on the road and drove down to Charleston for a few days. Had so much fun shopping and enjoying some yummy seafood!! If you get to Charleston you must go to Magnolias. Momma had Tomato soup, I had the trio of grits, YUM! And Momma and I split an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes EXTRA-YUM! We also went by the cupcake place I wanted to visit and they were SO good! I had the Red Velvet cupcake (pictured in an earlier post) and the Black and White cupcake. The shopping was FAB as well! I got two adorable dresses, a new flower headband, and an adorable cupcake luggage tag! And, you can't go to Charleston without picking up some of the homemade pralines. OMG YUM!

We got back into town Friday night and Momma hit the hay early. I watched "Failure to Launch" and Daddy joined me for the last hour or so of the movie. :)

Saturday: Daddy had to drive to a meeting in Winston-Salem so Momma and I went to see "Duplicity." We also caught up on our TV shows that we missed while in Charleston: Damages and Trust Me. 

Dooms-day (I mean Sunday): I flew out at 12:25, hung out in the Chicago airport for 5 hours (eek!!), and got back to OKC around 9pm. Long, tiring day... back to school :(

Summary: I had an AMAZING break and wish I could be back home, but unfortunately education calls... boo school!

-E

A brief moment of nostalgia

I did not bring my laptop home with me over spring break; this is probably the first time I have EVER left it school. It has been weird checking my email/facebook/blog/life strictly via my iPhone. I was sitting at our home computer tonight writing thank you notes and decided to look at some "old" pics on the comp... I came across these pics of me and "my girls." 

I absolutely love my new major (Entertainment Business) and know I made the right choice in my switch (from Dance Pedagogy), but I miss seeing these girls every day (in every class, LOL) and laughing with them. Thank goodness I have pictures like these to make me smile and remind me of some of those crazy moments in Ballet Ped. :)

What would we do without pictures?!

-E

  

For those that do not know, this was the day I had to teach a ballet class to my "5-7 year olds" (aka college juniors pretending to be 5-7 year olds) They are such good students :)

Best Dressed Baby

Spring break is off to a GREAT start. We are busy bees... I felt compelled to post this pic of my nephew sporting the ADORABLE pj's his Aunt Lizey (the spelling my nieces insist upon, LOVE it!) got him. Working at Gymboree last summer may have been stressful at times, but seeing that beautiful boy in those pj's makes it all worth it! 

-E

Spring Break is HERE!!!!

It's finally spring break!! 

I'll be home for 3 days... 

 Then we head to Charleston for 3 days... 

Then back home for about 36 hours... 

I'm so excited to go home and see my family! YAY!!!

One of the hot spots that I want to check out while in Charleston is this adorable cupcake shop! 

Just look at some of the fun flavors... YUM-O! Cannot Wait!

Talk to you after Spring Break!

-E

My Almost All-Nighters

My almost all-nighters are starting to catch up with me. My decision to stay up until 3am Thursday night and then 2am last night is starting to look like a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I got a TON of work done on my drafting project (AND I showed part of it to my teacher today and got a BIG thumbs up!) but my poor shoulders are aching! I hold all of my tension in my neck and shoulders and two nights of intense work are starting to affect me physically. A massage may be required by the end of this project :) 

Now, we are between performances, and I have to sit in the theater to "babysit" the equipment until my sound counter-part arrives to take over the shift. There is something about an empty theatre that makes you want to start belting out your favorite songs. Not that I'm doing that... :) I am thankful for this time though b/c it forces me to take a break from my project and relax a little bit. Currently, I'm listening to "The Last Five Years" and blog surfing :)

I have to give a shout-out to the roomie, Lindsay. She had a GREAT audition today for Music Theatre Wichita and we are waiting to find out what amazing opportunity will present itself for this summer. What a talented performer and pretty great rooms :) LOL, I promised her I would mention her on my blog... Happy Linds? Love ya!

After tonight's show, we have to strike all of the sound equipment and then I can officially "check-out" and embrace the spring break mentality! Whoo hoo!! 

-E

Friday Frenzy...

Last night was Opening Night for the American Spirit Spring Show. It was a great show and sound went very well (Thank you very much! :) LOL). We finished up around 10:15pm and got out of the theatre around 11pm after the photo call. I was crazy hyper after the show. I think the anxiety and nervous energy of the first show turned into crazy energy, and I ended up working on my Entertainment Technology drafting project until 3am. EEK!! I made great progress on it! And I just keep thinking: if I work now, there will be less to do over Spring Break! 

I planned on sleeping-in this morning, but I forgot to turn off my back-up alarm so I woke up at 8:15 :( I worked on my project more this morning and then hit the gym. I'm exhausted now! I may need to take a nap before tonight's show! We have three more shows, then it will officially be spring break! I haven't started packing yet (my favorite thing to do!), but never fear, the list of things to take home is made and ready to go! 

Oh, p.s., it snowed yesterday! I'm sorry, what?! OKLAHOMA... listen up... it's MARCH!! To quote Sheryl Crow "I wanna soak up the sun!!!!" Okay, well that's all for now. 

-E

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

Today is my Daddy's ::cough cough:: birthday!!! I won't tell the world (or the few people that read my blog) how OLD you are Daddy :) A couple of weeks ago, I said that I could never sum-up Momma with pictures. I do not think I can sum-up Daddy with words, but I'm going to write some anyway :) 

My Daddy Is... 

A Go-Go Gadget Man

A Reader

A Provider

A Proud Father

One-of-two key players that make up my Support System

A Motivator

Complimentary

Everyone's favorite pilot... seriously, every crew member I have ever met that knows my daddy raves about how great he is to work with!

Honest, Responsible, Giving, Loving, Empathetic

The one I run to when I am sick

A Hard-Worker

A Proof-reader

A Bank (LOL)

MY PAPAS FRITAS

Things that remind me of my Daddy:

-Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses"

-The Eagles' "Hotel California" (my first concert?)

-Pizza Hut (we would go out for a date after Wednesday Night dance class. We have since moved on to dates at Red Robin and The Palm)

-Golf Carts (He always let me drive)

-The pool at Bluebeard's Castle in St. Thomas (He always played with me in the water)

-My tire air-pressure gauge (every time I see it I think one of two things, either "Daddy put that in my car for me to use. I probably should" OR "Daddy would be SO proud of me!! I am actually using this thing!!"

-Sunglasses (for three reasons... go with me on this one)

1. He used to say that when I was little, he would talk to me when he had his sunglasses on, and it seemed like I wasn't giving him my full attention... I was too busy looking at myself in his reflective "90s-style" sunglasses.

2. When I was little I would put on those SAME reflective sunglasses and be the drama-queen I am. He was an enabler of this behavior though, he would always say, "You're beautiful baby, you're beautiful."

3. Finally, my middle school drama-queen years were filled with an obsession of sliding my sunglasses to the edge of my nose and pretending that I was Audrey Hepburn. Once again, as an enabler, he would call me "Audrey." :)

Speaking of Miss Audrey, most of my Audrey Hepburn paraphernalia has been a gift from my Daddy. So, needless to say, whenever I see something new with Audrey on it, Daddy is the first one I think to tell. :)

Happy 58th (oops... I spilled the beans!) Birthday Daddy!! See you in three days!!

-e

"Show Week" - Day Two

Last night was the second night of tech. We set another record: The run of Act 2 was done by 9pm... say what?! It was great. We broke down the sound equipment and were out of the theatre by 11pm. The dancers still had work to do, but our night was through. :)

I know I said it before but I love my job!! Last night was a great night of running sound with Jenna and Dean Bedford :) Our call-time was 4pm again, but after only 30 minutes, we were done with the setup. We were dismissed until 7pm. Who knew that 2 and a half hours could be such a gift?! I used that time to work on some homework that's due after spring break. 

But anyway, back to the great night of running sound... We got to hear sooooo many great stories about when Dean Bedford was in the Navy and best of all, the story of how he and Jo met!! What a romantic, adorable story!! I cannot wait for tonight when we will undoubtedly get to hear more amazing tales!! Happy Wednesday!

-E

p.s. tomorrow is Daddy's birthday!! :)

My life is a crazy world... "Show Week" begins...

For those of you that don't know... "show week" is a week from, well um, the devil... okay, so it's not really that bad. Friday began "blocking weekend," a time for dancers to get their thirty minutes on the stage to make sure their dances look perfect. It is a loooong weekend of craziness. My shifts were Friday 7-10:30, Saturday 9:30-4, and Sunday 9-2. Not terrible... but, thank goodness I didn't have any homework I needed to work on! 

Monday was the first night of "tech," a time to get all of the lighting and sound cues set. I had to be at the theatre at 4pm and we did not start the run of the show until 8pm. Surprisingly, the run of the first act only took 2 hours start-to-finish. ASTOUNDING! This has never happened before. I am on sound crew, so my night was filled with pushing "play" (difficult I know) and helping the Dean make adjustments to improve the sound quality. I love my job! However, it can be a little bit stressful, and it's labor intensive. My sound-partner and I had to set up 4 huge speakers, 5 tap-mics, and set up/break down the rehearsal system for the dancers to rehearse 30 seconds of a piece. whew... I'm tired...

Today will be a repeat of yesterday, except we will run Act 2. Let's hope and pray for smooth sailing tonight as well. It'll be another crazy day of classes and working in the theatre. Sleep? Who needs it!! :) 

-E

p.s. can we please talk about how much blog-surfing I missed out on yesterday! ::tear::

My Bucket List...

Did you ever see the movie The Bucket List? If not, you MUST check it out. It's great!

For some reason, it came to mind the other day and I decided I'd like to start my own bucket list... so here we go...

1. Visit Australia

2. Visit Egypt (I have wanted to see the pyramids since I was in the 6th grade!)

3. Travel to Rwanda to visit my sponsor child, Melisa

4. Try sushi... Eeek! I'm still working up the courage!

5. See every Cary Grant movie. (You can rent them through Netflix!)

6. See every Audrey Hepburn movie :)

7. Work for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital

8. Have a cake made by Charm City Cakes

9. Attend a major designer runway show

10. Learn to decorate cakes

11. Go on Safari in Africa

12. See Billy Joel in concert

13. Visit Italy (I'm going in June!!)

14. Attend the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl

15. Have a California Closet (Oh man, if it wasn't before, it's official now... I'm an organizational freak... an organized closet is on my bucket list!!!)

That's all I can think of for now, but I am excited to add more as time goes by... What would be on your list? 

-E

Well, that's an hour I'll never get back...

 

"Well, that's an hour of my life I'll never get back." People usually say something like that after a meeting where nothing was accomplished or they feel the time spent was not worth the effort. We all lost an hour of our lives last night and it was completely out of our control...

Daylight savings... In today's economy, saving is always good right? Well, in my opinion, it is not a good thing when it causes me to LOSE an hour of precious shut-eye. Last night I was so physically exhausted, I did not think I had the energy to walk to the other end of the building and down a flight of stairs to do laundry. But, it was the only time this week I had free-time to do this dreaded weekly task... As I hiked my polka-dot laundry hamper onto my shoulder and began the trek down the hall, a memory flashed through my mind... 

When I was in elementary school, my best friend Erin and I would ride our bikes through our neighborhood to a new subdivision. There was a show house for prospective clients to walk through, and Erin and I would mosey in and explore. (Thinking back, we were probably those kids that the realtors felt the need to "keep their eye on"). We would march up the stairs to the master bedroom and head straight for our favorite element of the house... the laundry shoot. I always wanted a laundry shoot, and we would pretend we lived there. 

And now, how the story relates... because of my utter exhaustion last night, I began to wish, once again, that I had a laundry shoot. But alas, no shoot exists in my building. Never fear, I made it to the laundry room and back and tried desperately to keep my eyes open until my laundry was Tide and Downy fresh. Spring break is so soon! I'm looking forward to doing laundry (well, helping Momma do laundry) at home :)

How do you feel about Daylight Savings?!

 

Have You Tried These?

My favorite weekend activity consists of strolling through Super Target... Does it get much better than that? Where else can you find food, clothing, accessories, home goods, kitchenware, and all sorts of entertainment in one location? And there's something about Target... it's bliss...

I was doing the dance of the grocery aisle maze and stumbled upon Nestle Tollhouse SWIRLED Morsels. What a cool baking ingredient! Momma and I like to make brownies with carmel/york peppermint patties/heath bars inside, but it is always takes so much work to cut the carmel into small pieces. This could be the perfect solution! There are three flavors of SWIRLED: Milk Chocolate/Carmel, Milk Chocolate/Peanut Butter (hmm, this could be yummy in brownies), and Semi-Sweet Chocolate/Premier White. I think some baking may be in order to experiment with these guys... 

-E

iTunes... a source of joy

You're driving along listening to the radio, a song comes on, and FLASH-- a memory goes whizzing through your mind. Has this ever happened to you? 

Certain songs may remind you of events, places, people, or times. My mom identifies songs with certain times of her life. It amazes me how she can say, "This song came out my freshman year of college." My response is usually, "How do you remember that?!" I identify music with certain people... I hear any ABBA song or "Butterfly Kisses" and I think of my Daddy... When "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by the FOUR SEASONS comes on, I think of my Momma. We made up a little dance to the horn section of the song. Even if I'm in public, I'm doing that dance in my head. :) The Pointer Sisters' "Jump" makes me think of my best friend Meredith. We took a road trip to Dallas and everytime the word "jump" was said in the song, we would jump in our seats... Not the safest thing, but boy was it fun :) Certain songs make me think of the amazing years I had at Fancy Feet Dance Studio: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," "If You Could Read My Mind," any Motown song... Well, the list goes on and on...

I'm suffering from MAJOR spring fever, so yesterday I listened to every CAROLINA song, or every song that makes me think of home, that I could think of. James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind" and General Johnson and the Chairman of the Board's "Carolina Girls" and "I'd Rather Be In Carolina." It was great. I mentioned this to a group of friends before walking into a class and they all said, "We can tell... your accent is MAJORLY coming out!" :)

What kinds of associations do you make with music? And what cures your spring fever ailments? 8 Days until Spring Break!!

-E

Patience is a virtue I learned while working at the Crew

I have a good job... and a great discount. I love working for a company whose clothes I'm obsessed with. There are many perks to the job... Working the 8pm-2am rollout shift was hard, but I got to see all of the new clothing items before anyone else (perk #1). I get paid to help people pick out clothing (perk #2). And as I said before, I get an AMAZING discount (perk #3). 

However, allow me to be "johnny rain-cloud" for a moment and express some of the pains... I hate hanging up/putting away my own clothes, much less the mammoth clothing monstrosity someone left in the dressing room (pain #1). I have to deal with people that are not nice. Is it really so hard to smile and say "thank you?" (pain #2). That's all I can think of right now.

I have been practicing patience recently, and last night, I mastered it (even if only momentarily). I walked into work a bit overwhelmed with schoolwork, and I was losing my fight with a serious case of spring fever. I began to re-hang and fold at least one hundred items of clothing left in the dressing rooms (I promise, I'm not exaggerating, it took 2 hours to finish the task). As I stood there completely overwhelmed, a fellow associate walked over and said, "Hey, did you see the 75% off list?" My head snapped up, "I'm sorry what now?!" My day was looking up! J.Crew issued a list of select items in the store that were marked down 75% for employees until Sunday. I was engrossed in my task and resolved that I would merely glance at the list later... I didn't need to spend any more money. Fast-forward 2 hours... I finally get a chance to look at the 75% off list, and there it was... the jacket I had been holding out for... It was 75% off! My waiting had not be in vain!! I rushed to the clothing rack, grabbed the jacket in my size, and swiped my credit card.

By saying "No" and waiting a few weeks, I got the jacket 75% off. Patience is a virtue I learned while working at the Crew!! :)

-E

I was a materialistic child...

When I was little I wanted three things. Well, at least these are the three things that stick out in our memories...

1. I wanted a mini-van with sliding doors on BOTH sides. My mom told me time and time again that my tastes would change by the time I was sixteen. I was sure this was NOT true, thank goodness it was!! yikes!

2. I wanted to own my very on Walmart so that I could have all the toys I wanted. (materialistic much?!)

3. I wanted a 10-story house. (I promise my parents did not raise a materialistic child! I think it was a phase!)

Well, after a few years of being rather embarrassed by my childhood dreams, I have finally figured out why I wanted the 10-story house, and how some of that desire is still within me :( Look at all of these amazing rooms/closet spaces/office spaces/craft rooms/overall bliss! I love them and have realized that I would need a 10-story house to incorporate them all!

 

Oh man, maybe that (slightly) materialistic little girl still lives inside me... 

-E

p.s. I've been spending a lot of time on the websites for IKEA, Domino, and The Container Store. If one of these photos is from your blog, Thank You! I cannot remember where exactly these photos are from :)

I'm Going on Tour!!

Ladies and Gentlemen... I am going on tour!! Well, The American Spirit Dance Company is going on tour, and I get to go as the sound operator :) I am SO excited! Not only is it a GREAT opportunity and an honor to be chosen, but I get to hang out with a great group of people! This is going to be such an amazing experience to learn new things, and I'll get to explore Branson, MO!! You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll update you as things move along. The tour is April 13-16, and then three days later it'll be my birthday!! YAY!! 

Ta-ta for now!

-E

Henry Road... I think I love you...

Okay, well HUGE shout out to Cafe Cartolina for posting information about Henry Road. I am now even more excited about moving to LA this summer! I have to visit this store. Just look at these amazing fabrics and furniture pieces!! My credit card will be leaping out of my bag all on its own... the only problem... where will I store my purchases?! LOL. Enjoy!

-E

        

I'm Gonna Do It...

It's no secret... I am an organizational freak :) I love anything that keeps me organized (post-its in every size, notebooks both 3-ring and spiral, a variety of pens, my Franklin Covey calendar, my iPhone calendar, labels, divider tabs, oh man the list goes on and on), and I love BEING organized. I have to tell this story real quick. When I was younger and home sick from school my Daddy would take me to Office Max and buy me new pens to make me feel better. Yes, I am a dork :) But back to my organizational habits... I currently have an inventory of all of the "kitchen tools" that I have for my future apartment/home. This may require some explanation...

I L-O-V-E the day after Christmas Crate and Barrel sale! It is a serious EVENT, and it has become a tradition for Momma and I to get up early and stand in line... oh boy, the damage we do... well really, the damage I do... I don't even have a real kitchen yet and I already have so many of the "tools!" In preparation for last year's sale, I decided to go through everything I had purchased and create an inventory of what I had (to keep from duplicating items)... I took pictures of everything and put together an inventory that is organized by genre (measuring tools, bakeware, cookware, by season, by color, cookbooks, etc.). It's a bit intense... 

But anyway, back to the point... I was surfing A CUP OF JO and found this piece of art by Simon Evans. And I made the decision... this is the year... I'm gonna do it... When I pack up my school apartment in late April/early May, I am going to take an inventory of my shoes and clothing. Oh man, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But it is TIME! I need to know what I have, and get rid of the stuff I do not wear! (Proud Momma?) I'm kind of excited about it... I should probably start now... and stop shopping... HAHA, fat chance of that happening... I do work at J.Crew :)

-E

I wish I could be...

As I explore people's blogs each day (and even multiple times a day) I find beautiful pieces of artwork, craft ideas, and general decorating decadence. It makes me wish I could be more sophisticated in my style :) Okay, well, I realize I'm 20 years old and live on a college campus... sophisticated chic doesn't really fit the bill. But as I think about joining the "real world" soon, I think about what I want my home to be like. 

I grew up in a home that was filled with bright colors, and the blinds were always open to let the sun shine in. I am a "light girl." My daddy would always follow behind me and say, "Why are there lights on in three rooms and you are not in any of them?!" What can I say, I love bright rooms. I get that from my Momma though. She will visit me at school and open all the blinds and turn on all of the lamps. :) So, when I find rooms that scream color I think "That's my kind of room!" However, I then find these luxurious rooms with patterns that don't seem to match and I think "Ooooooh! I want that to be my kind of room!"

I'm the same way when it comes to art. As you know from a previous post, I attended my first gallery opening a couple weeks ago and I went in with the idea "I really want to become an art person! I want to like this art!" Turns out, I didn't have to try hard :) I did like it. Last night at work, it had been a rough day, so the four of us girls were chatting after the store closed and my manager mentioned that she loves to paint. My immediate thought, "I want her to paint something for me! But WHAT?" I want something cool and artistic but something that fits my personality (not cool or artistic, lol). I'm still trying to figure it out. I received my first "real" piece of artwork last year. It's a painting of my puppy and kitty. They both passed away within the last 4 years and my parents had the painting done for me. It's GORGEOUS and it made me want to have other artwork on my walls. 

Today's blog post had a strong artistic theme, that was not the plan, but it worked out that way :) Happy Sunday!!

-E