may favorites

♥ ok, so foursquare just might be soooo 2009, but i recently started using my account again and i'm kind of addicted. i refuse to be the foursquare user who checks into their own home and labels it "DA CRiB!" - because foursquare is already waaaaay too TMI as it is. but the badges make me feel special. do any of you still use foursquare?

♥ aviator sunnies! i've worn my marc by marc jacobs oversized sunglasses for over two years, but i decided i wanted to try something different and picked up a pair of cheap aviators. i really like the shape & they feel so much better than oversized glasses. my mbmj glasses hurt my face because they're so big. haha.

♥ cheap face masks from ulta, specifially the freeman brand. i picked up the strawberry chocolate and mint & lemon scents and i've thoroughly enjoyed both. they smell great and are a wonderful way to unwind at night. kaolin clay, one of the main ingredients in these masks, has always helped my skin with blemishes in the past.

♥ i go through phases where i drink tons of lemonade, then none at all. this month was a lemonade month. i might even fancy myself a lemonade connoisseur. simply lemonade (+ raspberry is good too!) is my favorite, followed by minute maid's pink lemonade. 


♥ water marbling is super easy and looks great with pretty minimal effort. i tried it for the first time a few days ago, thinking i'd test the technique on one finger just to see how it looked. i ended up loving it and did it to all my nails! don't be intimidated by it at all - it's a super easy way to have a unique manicure without crazy tools and precision. i'm interested to try an entire rainbow of colors next time! here is a helpful youtube video that shows you how.

♥ of course, no summer is complete without fruity drinks and friends to share them with. although i'm going to be busy this summer, i'm looking forward to getting away for a few weekends to escape to the gulf, fish river or a few other stops... fruity drinks included.

heavy glow

may has been a fabulous month. finals and starting work have kept me busy! i mean, that's halfway true. when i'm not working i'm cooking or being totally lazy. summer classes start at the end of may & i'll be working, studying and trudging along on my way to graduating on time. i finally finished mad men seasons 1-4 & i'm in the process of watching 5. can i just say... why does season 5 feel so different/weird? or is it just me? i could be completely imagining that.

more importantly... I JUST GOT BACK FROM HANGOUT FEST! for those who don't follow my twitter, hangout fest is a music festival, similar to bonnaroo, held on the beach in gulf shores, alabama. this was my first year attending & the lineup was incredible. i didn't make it down in time to see yelawolf and coheed & cambria on friday, but i saw chris cornell, skrillex, red hot chili peppers, edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros, the flaming lips and dave matthews band. 

RHCP was probably my favorite show of all, but i was a little disappointed that i didn't hear a few of my favorite songs. RHCP has so many hits that it's impossible to play it all in a 2 hour set, so i got over it. we got a condo right on the beach and the weather was textbook perfection for the entire weekend. i also tried my hand at making some homemade mojitos with fresh mint, & i think i did a decent job! the key is homemade simple syrup and fresh ingredients. i could not have asked for a better experience for the weekend, and i'm definitely hoping to return to the festival next year.

spring awakening

blood orange cocktail at hot & hot fish club, going to the fair, hiking to the falls at chewacla state park, tiger blood sno cone (in auburn, boo) & recent ulta buys. finals, studying & enjoy the last few days of my spring semester have taken over my life. see you in may!

one year anniversary : april 27th, 2011

i cannot even express in writing how much has changed in a year. i haven't decided how personal i would like for this post to be, so i am just going to write and see what comes out.

april 27th, 2011 is a day i will always remember. it was a day like any other day. i was out applying for summer jobs. the sky was dark and the traffic was heavy as it was late afternoon. the wind was intense, and i had to shove my application to a newly built greek restaurant under the door so it wouldn't blow away. 30 minutes before the storm hit, i was driving down 15th street listening to the radio. i got a phonecall from the manager of the greek restaurant. he had stopped by to pick up the applications that had been turned in that day.

"they say the weather is going to be bad, you should probably head home. we can set up an interview next week."

had i not decided to heed the warning i heard about weather and give up my job search for the day, i would have been right in the thick of the tornado. my only regret is that i didn't look around me and take in the scenery one last time before i headed back to campus. little did i know, it would be the last time i saw any of it.

to this day, my friends & i still struggle with what happened. i don't like viewing pictures of it, and video is far more frightening. although other towns and communities were devastated by storms last year as well, i feel that everyone has their own personal horror story - none are more terrifying than others, each holds its own devastating weight in someone's heart.

that day, i learned who my true friends were. the people i can count on were there for me and we saw each other to safety. we cried together, held each other and watched it all unfold. i will never forget waking up on april 28th, 2011 and wondering if it had all been a dream.

as i write this a year later, i still can't find a "point" to this post. my intention, i suppose, is to show that there is life after disaster. time heals and the world keeps turning. but nothing is ever forgotten and the pain is a scar now that is still visible. it's still there. april 27th is something i still think about, and always will. i cannot bring myself to say something like, "it happened for a reason" because no, it didn't. there was no rhyme or reason for the lives lost that day. it was a "one hundred year event" - something so colossally incomprehensible that it only happens once a century.

please remember to heed the warnings given by your local weather station. never again will i ignore a siren or an order to find shelter. while i imagined that day would be like any other, it changed my life and the lives of my peers. i am grateful to be alive, i am grateful that the people i love are alive, and i am grateful that my community is coming back. the mcdonalds on 15th street opened yesterday after being completely rebuilt from the ground up - i don't even eat mcdonalds, but i have never been so happy to see one in my life. there is lots of progress still to be made.

"mostly it is loss that teaches us about the worth of things." - arthur schopenhauer

hello april

♥ last weekend i drove to auburn to spend some time with the boyfriend & we saw the hunger games. i meant to read the books for the longest time but i never got around to it - i did know the basic premise though. i enjoyed it, but i guess it was a little more brutal than i expected? a game where children kill each other... yeah, i am not entirely sure what i was expecting it to be like, but i was surprised. it was very well done & i'm still interested in giving the books a shot.

♥ on tuesday, i went shopping for patio furniture for the balcony at my apartment. my roommates & i have lived here for almost a year, & our balcony was totally empty! i picked up 3 chairs & a cute little table. i'm looking to get some decorative pillows too.

♥ i'm definitely no gardener, but i purchased a chocolate mint, strawberry plant & begonias for the balcony. the chocolate mint will make a great garnish for desserts, & the strawberries are more of an experiment, so we'll see if i'm totally lacking in the green thumb department. any tips?!

♥ everybody loves funfetti, right? right. making cupcakes mid week was awesome... & my roommates ate them all. goodbye temptation.

♥ i finally got the naked palette!! this has been on my wishlist forever, & i went back & forth between whether or not it was a worthy purchase. i have a lot of neutral shadows, but i'm really not crazy about any of them, & i've hit pan on most. i went to ulta intending to buy a single shadow, but i got sucked in... & i definitely don't regret it. i cannot wait to experiment with this palette! even shades i wouldn't normally purchase, like gunmetal, look like they'd be a lot of fun to play around with. i also got a cute cupcake bath fizz, just because.

♥ i've got a lot of studying to do this week because i have a huge exam coming up, but other than that, you'll find me poolside or binging on mad men.