Shopping in Charlotte

For anyone that lives or has ever lived in Columbia (or most of SC for that matter) knows that the shopping here can leave a lot to be desired. So naturally we go to neighboring cities like Charlotte or Atlanta when there is something we want to purchase but want to actually see the product instead of buying online. 

So on Thursday my mom and I made the relatively short drive up to Charlotte to hit up Southpark Mall and mainly Nordstrom for their Anniversary Sale. If you've never shopping Nordy's Anniversary Sale you are definitely missing out! No other store (that I know of) ever puts NEW fall items on sale at the beginning of the season! So if you're on the hunt for a new watch or pair of boots, look no further! 

So the main reason for this trip was Mom saw a watch online she wanted to buy and my Michael Kors watch that I got for Christmas a couple years ago had some of the gold plating on the clasp rubbing off. So mom ended up with a new watch, and instead of replacing my tortoise watch with an identical twin sister, I upgraded just a tad! 

Michael Kors 'Ritz' Chronograph Bracelet Watch

Michael Kors 'Jet Set' Bracelet Watch

As much as I have LOVED my tortoise shell watch, I just could not resist this new tri-tone model Michael Kors has come out with. Unless you have been living under a BIG ROCK, you know the popularity of MK watches has exploded over the last couple years, so when I saw the new tri-tone watch, I knew it was something he hadn't put out before and would be unique to have. Plus my mom also has the tortoise one she said I could still borrow ;)

BP. 'Runway' Boot

After looking at the watches we made our way over to the shoe section, where I immediately spotted these boots that I had looked at online. I have a pair of Steve Madden boots that I have worn to DEATH since I got them for Christmas two years ago and they have definitely seen better days. I have such a hard time finding boots due to my calves so when I saw these and they actually zipped all the way up, I was THRILLED! I ended up getting the black pair since my Steve Maddens are cognac and are still wearable even in their 'well-loved' state. Now I just have to wait until my birthday or Christmas when my mom decides to give them to me! 

Lilly Pulitzer Tumbler - Kappa Kappa Gamma 

We hadn't visited Charlotte in a while so we just had to stop in the new Lilly Pulitzer store in the mall and take a look around. They had a LOT of summer stuff on sale and the new fall line is full of jewel tones and just beautiful! I have been going back and forth about what I wanted to buy from Lilly's sorority line and finally decided to pick up the tumbler and I am so happy with it! I'm even thinking about adding a small pink monogram decal! Thoughts??


I technically didn't purchase these two items while in Charlotte (since we have a Sephora here now!) but they are two somewhat essential makeup items more so than new fun products I thought I would share...

SEPHORA COLLECTION Brush Protectors Set 

Since Sephora has opened I've invested in a couple of nicer makeup brushes for my concealer and face makeup. I had just been using the plastic covers that came with the brushes, but they started to crack and I didn't want the brush bristles to fan out too much, so I bought these brush protectors to keep my brushes looking brand new! 

SEPHORA COLLECTION Ribbon Hair Ties 

These type of hair ties have been getting more and more popular recently. I had received one in a Birchbox way back when but loaned it to a friend at work and never go it back :( They certainly aren't as cheap as the hair ties you can pick up at target ($8 for 8) but they claim not to crease your hair and cause as much breakage. I've only had these a couple days but can definitely say they have done the job so far. Plus they look cuter than a boring ole hair tie around your wrist! The Sephora brand of these are also cheaper than the ones I did see at Nordstrom, which were $6.50 for 3 hair ties!! 

So ultimately our trip to Charlotte was a success! Mom also managed to pick up a couple pairs of shoes, her watch, and a skirt from White House Black Market (which is pretty much the only store she shops at!). 

Hope everyone had a fabulous start to their weekend!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Lilly Pulitzer Tote in Kappa Kappa Gamma print

Lilly came out with four sorority prints last year and lucky for me Kappa was one of them, along with Delta Zeta, Tri Delta, and Kappa Delta. My friend has the DZ tote and these things are HUGE! Since I got my new laptop I've had issues because its too big to carry around in my Vineyard Vines or Coastal Traditions tote. So this would be PERFECT, even though this is my last semester in Kappa :(

Viva la Juicy Perfume

I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with this perfume!!! I was at Kohls with my mom and she had a 30% off coupon so I thought it would be a perfect time to pick up a new scent, since perfume NEVER goes on sale! I originally wanted to pick up one of the Ralph Lauren scents, but both Kohls we went to didn't have ANY :( So I sprayed this on and as I continued to walk around and smell it, I quickly fell in love...even my mom loves it! The bottle I picked up is on the smaller size, retailing for $29, but with the coupon and a leftover merchandise credit I had, I only ended up paying $12!! If you like girly scents I definitely recommend giving this one a try!

TOMS Sparkle in Black

When these shoes first came out I didn't get the attraction. But as I see them more and more on campus the more I want a pair!....specifically one of the sparkle pairs! I originally wanted to gold ones but I love the black too! Anybody have a sparkle pair they just love?

I have made some headway in deciding what I'm doing in the next couple months

Over spring break I had some time to think about my plans for the future. If you have been reading for a while or follow me on twitter, you know I have been trying for THREE years now to get into pharmacy school with little success. With it now being the middle of March and I still haven't heard anything from any school, I've had to make some decisions that right now I am content with. I have decided that instead of graduating in August with my Biology degree, I have decided to postpone graduation to December, when I would graduate with my Biology degree with a minor in chemistry. I only have 7 more hours of biology to complete and only need 8 more hours of chemistry for the minor. Ill be taking 1 class and 1 lab each summer session, so in the fall I can finish up the hours for me degree in addition to taking some classes that are prerequisites for schools that I may be applying to in the fall.

SOOO....that is my plan!

What are you loving this Wednesday?

June Favorites!

Resort Lilly 2009

Resort is here! I love the anticipation whenever I know a new Lilly line is coming out. I've barely bought anything from the last couple lines (shameful I know!) so I'm really excited about these new pieces and the new ORIGINALS collections! Here are a few, ok a LOT, of my favorite pieces...

What were some of your favorite pieces from Resort?

Let it Snow!

This is the picture from our local weather station calling for snow! A good many of the school districts have already cancelled school for the day. Now all USC has to do is cancel classes and we'll be set! With spring break next week, tons of exams and midterms are going on this week and they'll probably wait till 6am like they did last time :(  I'm pretty fortunate that I just have my anatomy exam Thursday afternoon. And I would be studying except my professor won't be telling us whats on the test until Tuesday! He's the kind of professor who the class day before will literally read off the test the exact information we need to know. So whats the point of studying things I might not need to know right? haha...

I was going to post pictures of my last Lilly and Express finds, but Blogger won't let me! I'll try later tonight and hopefully it will work!!

Weekly Recap

Hey yall! Hope you have had a good week. We actually got snow here in SC, well more like a dusting, but that didn't prevent my early morning class from getting cancelled! So with Monday off for Martin Luther King day it felt like a pretty short week. And the forecast for early next week is calling for snow again!!!

Photo courtesty of my friend B :)

I'm also 3 weeks into my Firm bootcamp and lemme tell ya its kicking my butt! It also came with a meal plan, but I realized early on that I was just to tired/impatient everynight to cook a meal at 8:30 at night that I decided to buy some lean cuisine meals and steamer veggie packs and try to eat some of the snacks that they have suggested. My favorite is a chocolate rice cake with a little bit of peanut butter on top YUM! :)

I also did a little bit of shopping!! Whats a week with a trip to the mall right? I ended up finding a super elegant black winter coat from Express. It was missing two buttons so it was DEEPLY discounted! It was originally $298 and with an extra 40% off clearance it ended up being $30!!!

So my mom and I are busy looking for some buttons that she can sew on and then I'll be set!

This week my sorority held its informal spring rush. I wasn't able to go either Tuesday or Wednesday because of my bootcamp classes, but we got 9 new girls and I can't wait to meet them :)

It doesn't look like it on here but I feel like I've been running around these past 2 weeks and I am exhausted!! I'm looking forward to tomorrow at 11am when my weekend starts! My cousin's engagement party is Saturday night and getting together with my family is always a good time!

I don't know if yall are tired of these giveaway posts but the stuff you can win is just too cute not to tell yall about! This one is from Misadventures of a Newlywed and she is giving away a set of Lilly Pulitzer's new stationary!! I actually *mistakenly* got a wholesale kit from their stationary company a couple weeks ago and all of the stuff on there is amazing!! My mom and I are thinking about selling some of it, depending on how much interest we get from our friends. So if yall are interested let me know!

Hope yall are doing well. I've seen a couple bloggers do this so I thought why not! I'm opening up the floor...yall can ask me any question that you want and I will answer them in a future post!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! I hope everyone had a good end to 2008. Mine was slightly stressful with school, sorority, living away from home, work, etc. I am excited though to see what 2009 has to offer!! One of my resolutions this year is to update the blog more often! I thought by giving it a little makeover I would be motivated to keep her looking fresh and new! Thought I would start off with a little Favorite Things tag. I've saw this one a while back on a couple blogs and thought it would be fun. Here it goes....

Clothes

I love Lilly for their bright colors, fun prints, and uniqueness. No matter what kinda of day I'm having, putting on some Lilly makes it better.

City

Atlanta is my absolute favorite city! Everytime I visit I like it even more and can possibly see myself living there after I graduate. Its the perfect combination because it's big city living but still in the good ole South!

Sweets

I could eat cheesecake 24/7. I also love all things peanut butter, so this reese's cheesecake seemed perfect!

Drink

My #1 Addiction! seriously if I don't have my Diet Coke in the morning I am not a happy girl. And chilled in the can is always best. I will gladly take DC over any kinda of coffee any day.

Music

I love so many different types of music I can't pick just one, so these 2 are some of my current faves. Britney's new cd is filled with awesome tracks to blast in the car with the windows down. And bless her heart I'm glad to see her finally get her act together. And Mamma Mia's soundtrack is fabulous! Who knew Meryl Streep could sing as well as she acts?!?

TV Show

Days of our Lives is my TV guilty obsession. If anyone else out there watches soap operas, you know how frustrating they can be, but no matter what you always sit down and watch them! Although I don't know how much longer that'll be the case since my absolute favorite couple is leaving!! :(

I discovered J&K+8 a lil over a year ago but quickly developed an obsession for this adorable family! Aedan is by far my favorite kid, but all of them are just too precious and adorable you can't help but love them all. And there's a rumor going around that the family may be moving to SC!

Film

I couldn't have picked 2 more different movies, but I can't imagine never seeing either one again. Even though I love all Disney movies, Little Mermaid is by far my fave. I can't explain it, but since I was 3 years old I was obsessed with this movie. My parents bought it for me on DVD last Christmas so I could watch it at my apartment since I don't have a VCR!

The Sex and the City movie is just a perfect movie to watch with the girlfriends. It makes me realize that even though me and the girls are all different and have unique interests, we just seem to fit perfectly together. The movie I feel also gave storylines to each character that really showed their strengths and weaknesses and was true to the ladies that we fell in love with on the show.

Workout

I'm lucky enough that we have a Firm gym here in town and therefore I'm forced to go! I joined back in July and it has been the only workout program I can stick to! Next week me and my dad are starting their 12 week bootcamp program to start the new year off right!

Pastry

I can do without all the glazy fruit filled pastries, but give me a bagel and some cream cheese and I'm a happy girl. USC has an einstein bagels in our student union and many mornings after 8am statistics my friend B and I would run down there and grab a bagel with a HUGE amount of cream cheese. I'm not gonna lie it sometimes was the only motivation to go to that class!

Coffee

If I do drink coffee, it has to be something sugary that doesn't really taste like coffee. Starbucks' nonfat caramel macchiato does the trick, especially on those class days when I have to wait an hour for my next class since my 1st one let out 45 minutes early!

Sunday Shopping

Most recent "really shouldn't but I did anyway" purchases...

Where have I been???

I have no excuse for the lack of blogs this past month. Yes graduation was a couple weeks ago but still, these lazy days of summer give me perfect opportunity to blog about my days.

Speaking of graduation, it went GREAT. I expected to be more emotional than I actually was. But my party that Saturday was so fun and relaxing. Everything went well, well...except for the cake. My mom made a cake with fondant icing, and they tell you you're not supposed to freeze it. Well, she did, and the icing flavor soaked into the cake. So it was not too tasty! But it still was BEAUTIFUL!! And all the flowers and pink and green theme turned out exactly as I wanted it too! So yes here are some pictures from that.

What I wore the day of the party:

Lilly Summer 2007

Lilly's new collection seems to have a different vibe than her other more recent collections. The overall colors used are more primary and bold than the colors were used to seeing on Lilly. I do like some of the pieces, but alot of the pieces, unless someone viewed the entire collection, wouldn't know these Lilly pieces from any other brand. I dont know about yall, but besides just loving the colors, whenever I wear Lilly I feel special! I know it sounds cliche, but when I see somebody wearing Lilly, I have a certain "fashion respect" for them. I feel a few of these pieces don't do us and Lilly justice! Alas, there are always a few pieces I will splurge for...

I like this dress, although I think the blue one looks better. But you have to deal with the lack of "Lillyness"

This to me is more of what Lilly's summer collection should be. They have shorts like these as well, but in my area the trend seems to be that madras shorts are EVERYWHERE and its hard to come by a skirt. Also with the color scheme on this one it might be more versital and wearable throughout the year.

This skirt is cute as well...you can never have enough seersucker! Although it is a lil too long for my taste, but I do like the pink & blue combo.

I love love LOVE this bag! And considering its $125, its a better buy than the Kate Spade Coal bag I've been eyeing. And the navy makes is useable into the late summer/early fall.