cruise line

in about one week, i will be road tripping down to florida for the typical college spring break. it is hard to believe that it's already time to pack the bags and hit up the sand, especially by the looks of my nearly albino-like skin... and my empty suitcase. 

this year i decided to cross off an item on my bucket list and scream "i'm on a boat!" while actually on a boat. plus, it's where i'll be joined at port with over 40 of my sorority sisters and my closest friends, so i consider it an opportunity i couldn't pass up. but there is one issue. i have not a clue what to wear. throughout the years, i've had vacations in new york, colorado, and obviously, a whole lot of beaches. but otherwise than a cruise trip turned horror story when i was eleven which i thankfully hardly remember, i have never been on a cruise. for the fear of being nagging, i have steered clear of asking my friends, but at the same time, i'm at a loss of direction. 

yet, after a little online research, i have found some direction... and added a few items to my packing list. 

1) long skirt

{a little bit of flow and flirt}

2) stripes, stripes, and more stripes

{playing up the nautical theme}

3) cocktail attire

                

{who said cocktail has rules?}

4) clog heels

{no reason... but they're shoes}

5) flippy floppys & a floppy hat

{sun protection, obviously}

6) oversized sunglasses

{yes, victoria beckham style}

7) color me up swimsuit

{looking at vs swim models makes me slightly depressed, but if the suit fits...}

8) suncreen

{i have had enough dermatologist appointments to last me a lifetime}

i hope if you were lost like myself, this list provides a little bit more direction! good luck & happy cruisin'!

the jersey shore effect

as i ventured home this weekend, so did my excitement for a weekend filled with my favorite activity, shopping. as cliche as that sounds, i can't deny how much i love the excitement of pretending i am styling for a magazine cover shoot when overwhelmed by overabundance of clothes within a department store. yet, as i surround myself with some of the most fashion forward, i also see myself gaping at what seems to be a new trend... and one i can hardly tolerate.

it was friday night, and as much i like to see young teenagers that take me back to my glory days (... scratch that, i hate the screeches and omgawd's that would make dogs bark), it also made me sick to my stomach to  find multiple girls dressed like they just walked out of seaside heights, new jersey. they are dressed head to toe in a full on snooki bump (hair clip included), revealing top and shorts that make me uncomfortable just looking at them. although i do remember my middle school days being filled with a little controversy over clothing, it might as well been school girl clothes compared to what i saw. maybe i've been under a rock being in southwestern virginia for the past three years, but has the teenage idolization really gotten to the point where life is starting to mimic art? 

don't get me wrong, the jersey shore is one of my all time favorite guilty pleasures. but love it or hate it, you know why it's popular... and it isn't because it's the classiest show in the world. yet, although paris hilton was the girl of the hour turning my hay day that didn't mean i wanted to dye my hair platinum blonde and wear skimpy clothes! the fact that young girls are wearing clothing that risque has just got me thrown. 

and it's not the clothes i matter, really. whatever you wear is what you wear, as far as i see it. but it's the meaning that gets thrown with it... especially from the opposite sex. trust me, i've been there and when you are wearing something that would be more appropriate for the beach versus the local mall, it's possible that guys begin to associate you with something much less than what you're worth. 

beyond my whole babbling, i want to set this message straight. clothes don't define the human being, but it can certainly leave an impression. and i know for a fact that those girls weren't the trash they looked like when walking through the store... so i'm not entirely sure why they played themselves out like that. i know i can't control the media much like i can't control the weather, but i just hope at some point girls start showing off their beauty on the inside before any guy gets a look at what's on the outside. 

{some of my most loved confident yet beautiful girls of the hour}

ladies, it's up to you... but if you want a guy that will respect you & like you for more than what he sees on the outside, choose confidence over the camel toe and wear something that shows off your beauty, inside & out! 

and as a little "get happy" to this beautiful weekend weather... and the fact i just heard that i will be an aunt any second now, here's one of my favorite songs at the moment!

"This" - Darius Rucker

what to make of... harem pants

i'll be the first to admit, since the start of this blog a majority of my posts have taken on more of a diary versus what i originally made this blog out to be about (but what does go the way it's supposed to). so in effort to make up for that, i bring you the great debate over a fashion statement that seems to be making quite a statement in the fashion world. 

people seem to see harem pants seem as a resemblance to a fancy cuisine (not literally, obviously). either you love it and can't have enough of it's unique style and fresh look it gives you or you absolute despise them and want back to your ordinary favorite. personally, though... i feel like it is a slice of each, it just depends on how you cut, or in literal terms, wear it. 

choose carefully. this is not your ordinary pair of levi's jeans. if you pick one that's too billowy, you may risk looking more like a disney character than a fashion forward girl. 

and if you are not six feet tall and actually have hips and a butt, be wary of the cut. the pant should be just loose enough in the crotch to resemble a harem pant, but also try to include some tailoring and pleating, so it has some control and gives your body shape, but in all the right places. 

{fletcher by lyell pant, $78 at urbanoutfitters.com}

to make yourself resemble less like mc hammer or aladdin, save this style for when you are up to wear the stilettos or some type of heel to give some height. if you don't, it has an odd way of cutting you two inches instead of adding a few. 

{alice + olivia, $253 at saks fifth avenue}

and if you want to look even more exceptional (as we all should), i suggest having the hem be several inches above the ankle. if you want to alternate between having a shorter and longer hem, get a pair that has a looser fit at the hemline in order to roll up or leave as is. that looser fit also provides for a more gradual, slimming look that makes you less boxy. 

all in all, if you play it right, you could turn out looking like a fashion superstar. but if one thing doesn't look quite as it should, you could end up looking a little bit more like mc hammer than you had originally  hoped. play around with it & have fun. like any tricky style, it may seem like an endless battle trying to find ones that work but once you find the right pair for you, it will be more than worth the hassle. 

all my best <3 

a new year, a ________ me

 whenever the clock strikes midnight on december 31st... a new year has begun and it allows us to click the refresh button in our lives, our bodies, our wardrobe, our attitude... what have you. like many of you, my resolutions for each year tend to be like any other, lose the holiday weight gain, be more sociable, be less sociable and work harder, etcetera, etcetera. 

this year however, i plan to do my resolutions not as a way to improve or better myself, but to simple enjoy myself. and with that in mind, i hope that i can make that time to really just do something enjoyable, by my standards, every day. 

a few examples have come to my mind.

{get back on that elliptical & get those endorphins running}

{start something i have never done before, possibly hot yoga or painting}

{be open minded}

{take more photos of nothing}

{love someone with all my heart}

{wear something i love everyday}

{learn that uggs are the enemy}

{accept my awkwardness & make something of it}

{learn that conquering the world isn't all that important}

{but being with loved ones is}

{take my mind off my phone & computer and into something way more valuable}

{put  60% of my effort into school,  40 % into all else}

{110% into love}

{be someone i can be proud of}  

{talk less, listen more, care equally} 

it's a hard list, but one of which that is in continuation from 2010 and the resolutions i make up for myself everyday. they don't have deadline, they aren't goals and they certainly aren't dreams either. they are just guidelines to keep my life in order when all else seems to be in complete disorder.

much love & peace

twenty-ten

with two days left in the year, a lot has been going around about "best of 2010." whether it be music, celebrity news, news in general, or my personal favorite, the best dressed... around this time we always like to pay homage to what was the best, and sometimes, the worst. my own year has definitely had it's best and worsts, all of which have made 2010 a growing one. but without it, i believe the following year would not have the same potential it has. 

so in true spirit (and to make up for the lack of photos in my last post)...

in 2010...

{constants became un-constant. in may, my big & grandbig graduated}

{gained an incredible little, whom without i'd have a lot less laughter and hugs}

{gave domestic violence a one-two punch}

{went to a fraternity formal weekend & gained countless laughs}

{made mistakes & sang somethin' country on the nissan lawn}

{celebrated a start to the summer with a getaway to delaware with my mom}

{threw what i knew at a nationals game}

{became a mexican while catching up with old friends}

{touched the sky in denver, colorado}

{celebrated the end of a sweet summer with a vacation to hilton head island, sc}

{made a house into a home}

{raised $8,900 for alzheimer's at uv nights}

{learned that quality is better than quantity}

{found my family}

{gave back & went to a dungeon}

{just "suz'd" it during homecoming 2010}

{...and the obvious, turned the big two-one}

{celebrated a championship}

much love to all of you & the best of fun on new year's eve! after nearly two weeks straight of work, i will be quietly celebrating at home with lo mein & my favorite bottle of champagne... but right now, nothing sounds more appealing. 

hear from you in the new year <3

decisions, decisions

all my life i have been fearful of very few, distinct things. spiders, men who don't understand social distance, and... spiders. it has been up until recently that these fears have never expanded or deflated... but now, i have added one more item on to that list. the future. 

since i was a freshman and possibly my entire life, i have always been a planner. whether it be for just the next hour or next decade, i had a plan. in elementary school, make friends & do your homework. in middle school, pass your standard exams & keep your friends. in high school, excel in everything and get into college, and for me that college has always been virginia tech. and i rarely looked any further passed that. 

after taking a few fashion marketing classes and always being one that took what i wore very seriously, i looked into apparel programs across the east coast and conveniently, the one at tech captured my interest the most. may it be the smaller program, which i love, or seeing pictures of clothing sewn from students currently attending across the walls... i immediately knew there was no place else. 

but, like i said, i had only gotten that far. i knew i wanted to be an apparel student... but i wasn't entirely sure what i wanted to do after being an apparel student, and i still am not. but when i joined virginia tech in august 2008, it didn't concern me. but now, as i research internship after internship, try to connect dot to dot, i seem to have lost that long lived plan i had for myself. 

so the question is... what do i do? do i do what brings the most money or what i enjoy? do i try to be compromising and meet somewhere in the middle between enjoyment and finances? do i even have an idea of what i enjoy? 

recently, i made the decision that i would love to make a career out of writing. but unfortunately, it will be very unlikely that writing for a magazine, especially a fashion magazine, will be my next step. so, here i am... wondering where my next step will be. what move to make next... do i stay comforted in the city i've called home for years and take a paying internship here or do i break my roots for an experience that could very well be a disaster but equally be one of the best summers of my life? and as i know many of you sit there and may think, this is such a simple decision given those relative to the "real world," but for me, a girl who is split between being a homebody and wanting to constantly break out and do something extraordinary, i am caught at a major catch 22. 

and as much as i wish i could give you a conclusion with this post... i can't. so like all the best stories, this is to be continued. in a new year, with a positive, new direction. 

{my apologies for the lack of photos... it is a resolution to take more in 2011!}

'tis the season

as i turned in my last scantron and finally hit my bed instead of my management textbook, finals week turned into the best time of the year... winter break. for an entire month, i can dedicate myself to nothing but sleeping & watching hbo, with working here & there before the festive holiday hits this saturday. 

but this break didn't start according to plans. 

as i woke up thursday morning, i didn't have one of those "excited to wake up to snow" feelings. to see that blanket of snow cover the back patio of my sorority house only made me queery. i had been wanting to get home and sleep in my own bed since finals started, yet within an overnight low-pressure systems that brought five inches and a glazing of ice to my front door, i was pressed to reconsider my return date.

despite my joyous mood, i toured the house to find the leftover house girls in our great room (special name for living room) congregating with the same irritable feeling. yet, being in the company of others, especially those in a similar situation, suddenly brightened my mood. 

to make the long story short, the day that could have very well been one where i sat in my room and ate and felt sorry about myself turned into one that gave me a great opportunity to have some serious sister time. not one filled with recruitment or meeting procedure, but an entire day filled with having fun, laughing and getting to know each other even better than we did before. from noon that day to two in the morning that night, we had our own little snow day and it couldn't have been more memorable. 

now, as i am faced with mall goers and holiday humbugs, as well as adjusting back to being with my parents for an extended period of time, i have to remind myself that happy times DO exist as long as we let them. an attitude has a huge impact on your memories, it can either brighten them or taint them forever. so in the spirit of the holiday season, i suggest looking at the world sunny side up- as this is the one season filled with joy and miracles, forgiveness and gratitude, family and great holiday music, it goes by too quickly to pass up.

happy holidays everyone! 

{opening my american girl doll on christmas day, a favorite christmas memory to date}

and just as buddy the elf said...

"the best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear"

{my all-time favorite christmas tree at rockefeller center...

this picture does not give it justice}