Puppy Love

Colt was born 4 years and one day after me. We got him when he was 8 weeks old and he was a tiny golden puff ball. I wanted to name him Catfish, my dad wanted to name him after the old Baltimore Colts. My dad won. Colt was my best friend. We shared naps, a bed, and occasionally a bathtub... Colt was the sweetest thing on the face of the planet, about 98% of the time. He did have a liking for fine Italian leather, mainly in the form of boots, and one time he tore our porch couch to shreds after being left there for an afternoon. He did also have a tendency to walk away, not run, walk. We would be driving down the street and would see a dog that looked a lot like Colt and then notice the dog had 15 feet of lead and a stake that was supposed to be in the ground attached to him... He also enjoyed visiting my big sister at the pool and going for a dip.
Though he was a little naughty he was much more good. He walked the neighborhood kids to school, first the high school kids and then the elementary school ones. He watched over the many gerbils we have had over the years. And though he wouldn't speak to us for a week after we got Wondermutt he eventually taught him to be a good boy and showed him the ropes on how to beg for people food.
My mom and I had to put Colt to sleep today. He was 14, deaf, and had a bad leg. It wasn't fair to keep him alive just because it was hard for me to deal with. He was completely spoiled today. My mom was carving turkeys for a New Years day party and he got more then his fair share. On the drive up to the vet he hung his head out the window like he did as a puppy. Putting him to sleep was incredibly peaceful for Colt. Saying goodbye was hard but the right thing. I've cried more in the past week then in the rest of my life but I had a friend say something that has helped, "if the death of your dog doesn't drive you to tears I don't want to be your friend." Colters is at peace now, up in heaven. Hes running around with my Grandmas dog Sparky and my cousins dog Madison. It was the right thing to do, but it realllly sucked.
I know it has nothing to do with shopping or preppy-ness but I needed to write it. Though, it should be noted that Colt's collar is lime green with hot pink flamingos... He is a stylish boy.

My Life is Complete.... at least for the moment

OMG, OMG, OMG....
Pardon my teenager moment... I got the most amazing news on Friday... So this semester I was attending CCBC also known as the local community college (I was taking difficult courses, English 101 Honors, Intro to Philosophy, U.S. History part 1, and Art Appreciation) So, I got my grades in:
English: A, Philosophy: A, U.S. History:B. Art Appreciation: C (I didn't turn in a paper.) That adds up to a GPA of 3.25!!! Which I am pretty proud of, I am fairly intelligent but I have a tendency to get bored and not turn in homework. Thats why I <3 college, no busy work! So I got my grades around 11:30 on Friday and I emailed them to my admissions officer at George Mason University and at 12:30 I got this email back, "Although I'm not impressed with a C in Art Appreciation, I am offering an early holiday present. You've been admitted for spring and your admission letter will mail on Monday."
I was at my internship in VA at this time. Its a law internship at the law office where my middle sister works. To sume up I screamed when I read the email, cried in front of the managing attorney while he was eating his lunch, went into my sisters office and opened my e-mail account and had her read the email without telling her anything about it, she got excited and I got even more excited! I called my mommy and my bestest friend and my friend who goes to GMU. I am over the moon at the moment. Plus, Santa apparently is getting my a George Mason t-shirt for Christmas!!
I now have to start my dorm shopping! Luckily my mom saved my older siblings dorm stuff in our attic so I have a travel iron, bed pad, and other boring stuff. I am, however, getting the fun stuff, sheets, pillows, posters, lamps, etc, etc... Any suggestions from those just out of college, in collegem or a more then a couple years out of college are welcome.What is needed, what is fun to have, and what is a waste of money? The only thing I am concerned about is bringing too much clothing, but I am on a academic team that requires buisness suits, heels, stockings, etc. (I know... I am a dork) Luckily, GMU is only 1.5 hours from home and like 15min away from my sister (not that she has clothing storage space... but she does have home cooked food :) ) So, my whole wardrobe won't be too far away. Well, any advice is welcome...
Happy Holidays to all whether its Christmas, Hannukah, or Festivus. And GO PATRIOTS!! Ciao for now!

A Birthday Party with a Stripper

Yup, that was my night. It should be mentioned that my 5yr old niece was the stripper.... she isn't so much a fan of clothing and she is a huge fan of showing all of us her booty...
It was my step-dad's birthday dinner thing tonight. My mom made lasagna and Glenn made his own birthday cake; which was surprisingly good (it was from a box.) So we start of by decorating the tree which goes well and then we eat dinner and do the whole cake thing. Anna then decides she wants to finish decorating the cake which means she needs to wash her hands. This leads to her going to the potty. As she comes down the stairs my sister goes "Anna, you need to pull up your pants." Lo and behold my niece is walking around with her pants around her knees, booty is full view. I laugh as does her brother and my mom. This, of course, only encourages her, so she takes the pants all the way off and bends over and moons us... priceless. She stays naked for a while showing us her but until she is threatened with no visit from Santa and re-clothes herself.
Later on in the evening I asked Anna what she wanted for Christmas, "a pony" Wendy then tells me the story of her visit to Santa: Anna asks for a pony. Santa says, "well a pony needs a barn to live" Anna replies,"I have a barn, at my pop-pop's house" Santa tries again "a pony needs lots of grass" Anna,"oh, there is a lot of grass at pop-pop's house. Santa tries for a third time, "A pony will need pastures to run around in" Anna "There are a ton of pastures at pop-pop's house" Santa has no answer... In her defense there is room for a pony and Glenn once had a horses. However, he is not open to the idea of having a pony which is breaking Anna's heart... I'm pretty sure by the time she is 10 there will be a horsey at Pop-pop's house.
After Anna asked for a pony and I said I can't get her a pony I asked what else do you want,"diamonds." Seriously, it must be encoded in our DNA to ask for diamonds because this girl is a tom-boy. She isn't into poofy dresses or playing dress up or doing makeup. It has to be genetic. After I turned down that idea she asked for "another Dog-dog." Dog-dog is her luvey, she has had it since she was a baby. It even has a real dog tag with its name on it, their phone number, and 'reward offered.' I am now on a mission to find another dog-dog. If that fails I'm getting her a 'make your own lip gloss kit.' Its pretty messy so I feel that will make up for the uber girlyness of it, plus I want to make my own lip gloss.
There were pictures taken tonight but Wendy didn't send them but I'll post them when she does. The girls were too cute.

P.S. Bonnie, the baby, had her first real experience with birthday cakes tonight and it was adorable. Anna and I were pulling the candles out of the cake and licking the icing off of the bottoms and Bonnie saw us doing it and she pulled a candle out and stuck the wick end in her mouth. Luckily it wasn't hot anymore, but it was absolutely priceless. A little sister mimicking a big sister, I'm sure my own big sister has plenty of stories about me mimicking her.

Well, I really should write the paper that is due tomorrow... Wish me luck!

I have Evolved Past Sleep

ok... This post has not point, except that it is quarter of 6 and I'm not tired. I simply cannot sleep this week. Seriously, in the whole week I have gotten maybe 25 hours of sleep total.... thats around 3.5 hours a night... My excuse has been that I have had term papers due all week and I am trying to study for finals.
I will ne so excited on Thursday next week when I take my last two finals, Art and Philsophy. My Art final is 50 questions with multiple choice and true/false... not studying for that so much. I am studying for my U.S. History final since I had an awful professor and have no idea what will be on the exam. Plus, I need to polish my final paper for English and finish my final project for English. (I did however get an A- on my last essay which made my pretty happy!!) The Philsophy final shouldn't be to bad given that it is open note; however, my professor has a tendency to phrase questions in a way that makes them difficult to answer. Plus, he doesn't believe in just having us repeat what he has said, so I don't think the open note will be all that helpful. In any event I cannot wait for next week to be over so I can really get excited for Christmas!
On another note, I HATE my bank. Seriously, I HATE them, I really, really do. Arrg... I have to call them in the morning and have a conversation with them and by conversation I really mean argument. They are charging me overdraft fees when I didn't overdraft myself. (I think I may ask them for a bailout... not sure how that will go over. Or I may say that since I am a tax paying citizen I gave them that loan and therefore I am their boss and I demand that they take away the bogus charges...) Most likely I will brush off my highschool debating skills (I am a nerd, I picked my dream college because of their debate team) and argue with them until I get my way...
In any event I gotta go my puppy is doing her 'puppy nightmare' crying so I must rescue her from the big mean vaccume cleaner... Ciao for now!

A Trip to Target & an Award

So I went to Target the other evening after class for 5min... riiigghhtt. 5min quickly turned into an hour. But it was a very productive trip. I got some fun un-needed Christmas things. A t-shirt to torture my puppy with :) Plus, two new toys to buy my nieces love with. I can't decide if I am saving the bigger one for part of Anna's Christmas present....
In any event I took pictures so you can share in the fun!!!!
My 5yr old neice was a big fan of paint your own pottery + making a mess. Perfect combo! My sister did 'make your own t-shirts' with Anna the last time she babysat so I figured I needed to do a craft project with her too. I think I may need to go out and buy another kit though, cause after seeing this one for a couple days I really want to make my own dish and mug.... I miss being 5.

A Dora the Explorer bubble whistle. Apparently, my neice Bonnie loves bubbles but doesn't get the concept of blowing, she sucks the bubbles into her mouth..... I am thinking this may solve the problem. You load the back part of the whistle with the bubble solution and then just blow like a regular whistle... pretty nifty, right? I fear my sister may hate me after the next time I come over. There will be bubbles in the house plus another toy that makes noise. I do think I will need to buy another because I don't think Anna or Bonnie will be good sharers with this toy.I LOVE the dollar bins at Target. A cute jingle bell necklace for just a buck. I got 3! One for me, one for Anna, and one for Bonnie. My sister is seriously going to hate me.....
A T-Shirt for my puppy!!! I am not someone who constantly dresses up her dog (partially because she wouldn't let me) but I do like dressing her up for Halloween, parties, and Christmas. Blazer and I had a very long photo shoot with her modeling this shirt...

The 'pouty, emo, bangs in your face' pose.

Her 'ruler of the world' pose. She believes she is by the way...

She was not impressed with her mommy.

After this picture she ran outside to get away from Mommy's camera.

Well my big sister over at Diary of the Fanatic Foodie gave me an award! How sweet of her. Though, it should be noted that while she gave me an award she did also have to tease me about my blog. Just like a true big sister.So I am going to tag:

1. Anne-Toiresa at The Devil Wears Kelly Green
2. L,S,&M at The Daily Fax Email Blog I know they don't 'do' awards but it is a hysterically funny blog that everyone should read!
3. Ms. Crocodile at The Preppy Pink Crocodile

And I also have to list 5 addictions....
Here goes:

1. Starbuck's White Peppermint Mocha Latte (Heather, it also hurts me to not say venti, 140, skinny, wpm its in my DNA too...)
2. My UGGs. So warm and cuddly...
3. Cofee flavored ice cream
   
4. Argyle sweaters! Cute, preppy, and a lilttle nerdy.... perfection
5. Monogrammed stationary... I love it! I pretty much love anything with my monogram though. Call it the youngest child syndrome. I share nothing...

Thats all for now. I have to be at work in 9 hours... An 8 hour Saturday shift during the holiday season. Hopefully I won't kill any customers... Ciao for now!

Fast Food

So, I am not a food blog. That is my sister's domain. However, I do enjoy cooking from time to time and I know that when I have my own kitchen and family I will be a cooking mommy. How do I know that? Well, my mommy was a cooking mommy. My mom worked full time for as long as I can recall but she still served a full meal every night. She wasn't a kid food person either. My sister, brother, and I ate whatever my mom was making for her and my dad. That is why I was the odd kid who liked spinach and brussel sprouts. We didn't each chicken nuggets or fish-sticks as a regular part of our diet.Fish-sticks we were reserved for Friday nights during Lent when my mom was making a seafood pasta meal (something I have never been able to stomach.) Fast food was very rare. It was either a treat for getting a shot or used during a long road trip to NC, MA, or Kentucky.(my mom is a huge fan of a road trip, I have seen many caverns and been to many places where George Washington spent the night) In any event even though my mother often worked till 7pm and all three of us played sports we had a real meal consisting (always) of a starch, normally two veggies, and a protein. Dessert wasn't guaranteed and was often fresh fruit.
Why I am writing about this is because I attended a panel discussion that infuriated me. My college picks a community book every year that is built into many classes. This years book was Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I loved this book. It is about the dark side of the fast food industry. It turns your stomach both on a food level and a marketing/employee relations level. In this panel discussion a young man argued that Fast Food is a necessary evil. No! A parent can serve their child healthy food. It may be harder for a parent to cook a real meal but parenting isn't supposed to be easy. Frozen veggies are just as expensive as fast food. I heard a man defending marketing to children. No! Marketing to me is one thing.I have the ability to see the comercial and logically say, "well, while that double cheeseburger looks delicious I know its loaded with calories and while those french fries look amazing I know they are deep fried in tallow (a beef by product) which isn't remotely heathly for me. A child cannot. I guess the point I am trying to make is that I know fast food is easy and tastes good. I get that. Some days I crave a cheeseburger, milkshake, and french fries. And once and while is fine. So long as the rest of the time you get excersise and eat healthy. But a lot of people don't. They see easy and yummy. But life isn't about the easy choices. It would be much easier to stay in bed and sleep in. To not spend time writing papers and studying for tests. But what are those choices doing to me in the long run? They are hurting me. Same as eating fast food on a regular basis. And when it comes to yummy. A salad is yummy. So is my Mom's soup. It is full of veggies and who grain pasta and lean beef. It is pretty healthy and beyond yummy. They make low sodium soups in containers you pop in the microwave for two minutes and while I am sure they are perfect they have to be better then whatever new burger is out on the market now.
Well, I am glad I got that out. I know this has nothing to do with shopping but I needed to rant for a moment.Thanks for listening.... err... reading... I'll get a shopping entry soon. Ciao for now!

My Christmas List

So I have to start with a story, my father sends a Christmas List detailing everything he wants for Christmas. This is a great idea! Picking out presents for parents is always a difficult thing and having a guide is a great thing, plus you are guaranteed to get a present that the receiver likes. So, a Christmas List is a great thing, however, my father sends his Christmas List out on December 24th.... Christmas Eve! I might dawdle a bit in doing my shopping but I am most definitely shopped, wrapped, and ready by the 24th.
So in the spirit of learning from one's parents this is my wish list for the holidays and beyond.....

1. The Dakota UGG slipper. So pretty, so comfy, so perfect! I have the tall boots from last Christmas and the short ones from my sister's Honeymoon in Australia, so, all I need are the flats and I have the whole collection. UGGs are the best shoe to wear on campus... it is like going to class in your slippers... Heaven!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. A brand new, monogrammed coffee tumbler! It is oh so cute from Miss Priss. I love the red and white damask print plus the boldness of the black monogram. Normally I only like the swirly, cursive, girly script but with this print I am in love with the block, diamond monogram. It is only $23 and for something you (or at least me, the coffee addict) would use every day it is totally worth it. Besides it would be very cute in a stocking filled me candy... perhaps Lindt truffles...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. A pink towel wrap. I don't know if anyone else has this fear; but I am terrified that when I am walking from the bathroom to my bedroom my towel will come undone and I'll flash everyone... There have been nightmares... In any event this solves it all. It is lime green + pink, fluffy, and can be monogrammed. It is again from Miss Priss. I seriously love that store. In any event this is a great was to get from the bathroom to bedroom without giving anyone a cheap show :) Plus once you monogram it no one can steal it. Always a good thing.
   
   
   
   
   
4. I LOVE The Office. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it. It is arguable the best show on Television at the moment. Well NBC has a t-shirt that captures one of my favorite moments thus far.
   Dwight: Very good! You have earned one Schrute Buck.
   Stanley: I don't want it.
   Dwight: Then you have been deducted 50 Schrute Bucks!
   Stanley: Make it 100.
   Dwight: We--- Don't you wanna earn Schrute Bucks?
   Stanley: No. In fact, I'll give you a billion Stanley Nickels if you never talk to me again.
   Dwight: What's the ratio of Stanley Nickels to Schrute Bucks?
   Stanley: The same as the ratio of unicorns to leprechauns.
   
   
   
   
5. I don't think I have ever mentioned what my major is, I am a Domestic Policy and Foreign Relations major. I rather like that this is my major.... I think it has a certain level of pretension to it that I like... or at least my mother says it sounds pretentious... I also LOVE to read... When my mom suggested that all of my books don't need to move with me when we move to my STB step-dads house I almost cried. I can't leave them behind... even my children's books they all have too much meaning. Lately though I have been on a political/cultural book kick. In the past year I have read both of Obama's book, Maureen Dowds "Are Men Necessary" (answer:yes), and "Fast Food Nation." However, it occured to me that I have never read my favorite presidents book. John F. Kennedy's "Profiles of Courage"... so on the list it goes...
   
   
6. Tickets to the Innaguration! Please, Santa! Please! I want to see it so badly. I know im going down (there are some serious beauties to living in Bawlmore, hon) but I want to be close enough to see something...
   
   
   
   Well that is all for now, I'm sure I will come up with some more as Christmas approaches... So you've seen my list, what is on yours? But more importantly, are you on Santas nice list or naughty list? Well I've got to go judge a debate tournament so Ciao for now!
   

I Still Exist I Swear

So I seemed to have disappeared, fear not my friends! I am still here and well... very well in fact.
Here is a quick run down of what I have been up to:

1. I voted for the very first time of my life. Let me just say I love that I turned 18 during an election year. Infact here is a picture of me just after I cast my ballot.
   Please excuse my appearence, it was 8am and I was exhausted. I am much prettier then my picture lets on... Plus it was a bad hair day... but I got to vote.
2. Ummm... My guy won!!!!! I am a huge Obama supporter. I am a big fan of his education policies, mainly the idea that if you give to your country your country will give to you and not just for military service. I am a huge supporter of our men and women in uniform but I believe our country needs more then military, it needs teachers, it needs people to build houses for the homeless, and it needs people for the peace corp. I want to go into Teach America for a couple years after college... But it was pretty excited... I may have called my republican father and possibly sung a song about Obama (but hes a huge republican... like he LOVES Bush.....) But as I have said before I would rather you vote for a republican then not do your civic duty...
3. I had a very fun family brunch this weekend for my mom and soon to be step sister's birthday. Some very, very yummy food made by me awesome mommy. Waffles, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and cake! I'm not going to lie I positioned myself right near the bacon because I have a 15 year old soon to be step nephew... 15 year old boys eat A LOT! Especially tall, sports playing 15yr old boys... My STB niece was riding their great dane who took it all in stride, unfortunately my camera was in my other bag so I didn't get to capture the moment on film.... As for presents my mom got a great gift, plane tickets to go to NC to see Neil Diamond in concert with my Aunt Kathy (the aunt I visited earlier this month) she was very excited. I got my mom a new skirt and my sister and I got our STB sister a brown courduroy dress with a pink cardigan to go over it, fun mommy clothes...
4. I got a 98% on my philosophy mid-term!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooo excited given that I am considering a double major in philosophy, which isn't actually pointless for me given that I want to go to law school, now I just have to convince my father of that.
5. I got a B on my english essay on the contamination of meat in American fast food with room to re-submit for a whole new grade! The only thing she said was that if I don't break up my 3 page paragraph she was failing me.... It is already done... don't worry...
6. I am getting ready to order my chocolate making supplies... every year we make chocolate lolly pops and candy with molds, but this year with the economy the way it is I decided that I am going to get cute bags and cute gift labels and give them as gifts to Aunts, teachers, co-workers, etc. I'm still gonna do normal gifts for nieces, close friends, etc but it will save me some money which I like!

One good website I have found is http://www.candylandcrafts.com/index.htm they have everything for every occasion... seriously..... And http://www.expressionery.com/index.aspx has a ton of cute gift stickers... I am trying to find something that is cute and festive but not Christmas exclusive...

Sorry for the long post... I'm procrastinating... I have an English essay on graphic novels due tomorrow as well as my revised fast food essay and I have an essay due on Thursday on Taiwanese Modern Art... fun.... Ciao for now!

Think, Research, and VOTE!!!!!

I can't believe I forgot to say this especially since I just wrote a post. As anyone who has met me for a mere second can tell you I am die hard into politics. This is the first election I get to vote in and I am super excited to exercise my duty as a citizen of this county. That's right its a duty. If you care about education, liberties, peace, our soldiers, you children, your grandma, gas prices, our environment, or you get out there and vote tomorrow!!! (if you did early voting thats cool too!) This election is so excited, we have two very different tickets running. Now I am very happy that in my first election I get to vote for someone I actually like rather then the lesser of two evils.

And if having a say in your government isn't incentive enough if you go into Starbucks tomorrow and tell them that you voted you get a FREE Starbucks coffee.

See you at the polls! Ciao for now!

There is a Reason Why We Develop New Technology

So for all who work in retail: Were you surprised that when you walked into your store on Saturday that it looked like Christmas had thrown up in there? I was. I walked in at noon on Saturday and everything was red and green and Santa and Mrs. Claus and Elves and Angles and Toy Soldiers and I could go on and on. So in any event I change into our new uniform shirt (don't even get me started on the uniform.. its awful... it involves all white tennis shoes) and hop onto the floor. So the day is going totally normally we are pretty busy for a Saturday lots of kids coming in and freaking out over all the new stuff. Which is, admittedly, pretty cute to see. Well later on that afternoon I walk out of the backroom after grabbing more shopping bags to be greeted by my manager telling me the registers are down. At first I thought she meant the credit card sliders or maybe even the credit card service all together, things I have dealt with before normally very early in the morning. No she meant all registers. We had to do handwritten receipts and calculate prices on our own. Which is a little difficult when you work in a store that puts things on sale but doesn't update the prices on the tag only on the SKUs. It was an interesting couple of hours dealing with all of it.
Later that evening I went out to dinner with my mom and her fiance and while we were out we ran into my soon to be step-sister and her husband enjoying a night away from their delightful kids (one of whom is responsible for my cold) and I was explaining to them why I was so exhausted and Matt, who worked in retail as a teenager, told me "I want you to know that that was the way we always did receipts in my day, so no complaining." My response of course was, "There is a reason why we develop new technology."
Luckily Sunday, while we were insanely busy, ran smoothly as far as technology. Though it took us a solid hour and a half to put the store back together and we still had to leave an apology note to the manager opening. Ehhhh... guess the holiday season really is here...

P.S. I have to share the worlds cutest story. I was talking to a little girl who turned three on Saturday and asked her what she was for Halloween (Snow White) and her mom told me that she picked up the routine pretty quickly except after the getting the candy her parents would ask her "Now, what do you say?" The little girl's response was "More please!!" I think her parents were looking for a 'Thanks.' But at least she was being polite and coming out of the mouth of a three year old that would have been freaking cute!

Well I get my English mid-term paper back tonight so wish me luck! Ciao for now!

When it Rains, It Pours

This morning was gray, wet, windy and cold all the makings of a perfect skip classes and sleep in day. However, Tuesday is my busy day as I have Art, Philosophy and History so skipping was not an option. Especially considering the fact that I needed to make up my Philosophy mid-term and I have a History test on Thursday. So I bundled up in my favorite cold weather wear (my highchool sweat pants (Generals!), under armor turtleneck (so very, very warm), Georgetown t-shirt, and my north face jacket. Well my bus was 30min late meaning I was waiting outside for 40min in the rain and the wind freezing my booty off. Not a good thing when you have gotten sicker and not better from yesterday. In any event I have spent the whole day trying to not fall asleep during class and eating the cafeteria's chicken noodle soup which was suprising delic! In any event I'm ready to go home, curl up in my bed and watch whatever reality TV show Bravo has in store for me. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a nicer day and a healthier College Prep.

P.S. anyone else counting down the days until Black Friday? One month and one day today!!

The Holiday is Starting Already!

So yesterday was out store's 'get ready for the holidays' meeting. It was an absolutely blast and I am now sufficiently excited to start holiday shopping and getting ready to decorate.

Last night on of our managers was suffering from a 24 hour bug and I think she passed it to me and Hanson Fan because I didn't wake up til 2pm and I felt miserable the moment I opened my eyes and when I checked Facebook Hanson Fan said she was a sick puppy too. So since I'm stuck curled up in my bed I have been trolling around the internet quite a bit; checking up on some blogs, doing some early holiday shopping, stalking people on Facebook.

My mom used to always send Christmas card when we were little, (she always went with ones with the Virgin Mary on them, which I never liked) however, her mother passed away around Christmas a couple years ago and ever since she hasn't been able to send cards. This year I am hoping she will be able to since so many things have changed in her life since her mother passed (divorce, new house, engagement, her children are grown up) and I'm thinking we should break from the Virgin Mary cards and do something a little more fun. So today I found these uber adorable and uber prep holiday cards. They may not be red and green but I think it will be a refreshing change from the slew of red and green cards that are delivered to everyones house. I know whales aren't the standard choice for holiday cards but they are very cute and express a very traditional holiday greeting. For $22 you will get 10 cards and 11 envelopes (a good thing for someone like me who inevitably screws up someone's address or addresses two envelopes to the same person) plus the cards are made from 100% recycled paper so no new trees had to be harmed in the making of your cards :) Besides the basic holiday/Christmas card use how fun would these be for a holiday party invite?

Well, I'm off to scrounge up some soup and crawl back into bed, I need to be better by tomorrow so I can take my makeup Philosophy midterm. Wish me luck! Ciao for now!

"It's for work" or my Mantra for the Day

So today was a little interesting.... Picture this for a moment... a suburban mall on a busy Saturday the week before Halloween. A girl rushing to Starbucks. In a 1950s sailor girl costume.
Now what would you if presented with this situation?
a. Smile and have a giggle
b. Make a logical assumption that given the fact the girl is wearing a name tag that it is for work
c. Look at her weirdly and respond 'suuurree' when she responds to your look with 'this is for work'
d. Compliment her ass

Now I am fine with choice a. I admit it was probably an amusing sight. I am in love with choice b given that it utilizes both logic and common sense, two things I am a HUGE fan of. Option c slightly annoys me given the disbelief and un-approval-ness (its a word if you can say it) in his tone. As though my choice in costume had somehow offended him. Well, with regards to choice d quite a few young men barely lived today. As with any girl I liked being told im pretty, beautiful, or even cute. I do not like having someone yell 'nice ass' or catcall me accross a mall. Seriously, who raised these boys?

In any event tomorrow is the last day of Hooky Spooky and while my friend L and I were 'precounting' (read: sneaking a peek at) the votes for 'Best Costume' I have determined that it is between me and A for the $25 Starbucks gift card. A was THE CUTEST little bunny I have ever seen. She painted a black nose and whiskers and little bunny ears, a little furry bow tie and a little bunny tail. For actual clothing she had jeans at a tee shirt. But she bunny hopped all over the store today and made little bunny faces and wiggled her tail.

Luckily though she doesn't work on Sundays so I have gotten rid of my biggest competition.
Everyone else had a super amazing costume too.

Manager Fun: was a super incredible wizard. He was boiling hot all day under his robe while all the girlies were freezing.
Manager Sarcasm: was a moon witch. She has the best cackle ever. (though completely sweet normally)
Short Muffin: Jessie from Team Rocket (some sort of Pokemon thing) she looked really cute and had awesome boots. Plus she made her own costume.
Hanson Fan (yes they still exist): a tap dancer. She had a sparkly top hat!! AND tap shoes which she danced in, really well.
Smiles: She was the 'A' from above. Bunny!
Manager Fix it: A goddess. It was beyond fab. The dress was all white and gauzy which stood out really well against her dark skin. Plus some totally fierce 4 in stilettos (she worked an 8 hour shift)
Quiet girl: a fairy. Brown satin-y dress with sparkly wings. plus 4 inch heels because 'Manager fix it was way taller then me yesterday so I had to wear heels'

Sorry for the long post I was just soo excited about today! Ciao for now!
New link tomorrow I swear!

Hooky Spooky or Why I Love my Job

So I work at what I guess I would classify as a toy store. 'Toy store' makes me think of something just for kids and a decent amount of our customers are adults. Its a very fun store for sure and I adore working there. Seriously, I almost left it for Jcrew a little while ago but then I realized how much I would miss the silly stuff that only comes with working in a 'toy' store.
Our store/company has many many fun things we do together as a whole store and one of my favorites is Hooky Spooky. Either the weekend of Halloween (if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday) or the weekend before Halloween (this year) everyone ditches their uniform (not prep) and puts on their Halloween costume!! I <3 Halloween.
Of course, working in a kids store means their are some rules on what you can wear. Most of them I wouldn't break even in the real world. The three rules are no sexy costumes, no super scary costumes, and no odd costumes (I think this rule was directed solely at me and my best work friend.) So this year I have two costumes one for work and one for my friends birthday/Halloween/Hot tub party next weekend.
My work costume is adorable, I am trying to win the costume contest, I'm being a 1950s Navy girl. Its a navy blue pleated skirt with little gold chains around the waist and a white top with the sailor collar and a big red bow on the front. Plus a Sailor hat and little cuffs with anchors!
My party costume is something I am rather proud of because its pretty clever, at least in my opinion. At the party we are watching scary movies projector style outside so I need to be able to stay warm since it has gotten freezing in Baltimore at night. So my costume is me in regular casual clothes (jeans, argyle sweater, and uggs) with a sign that says 'nudist on strike' I'm immensely proud of myself I have to admit.... I'll post pictures later... Sorry for no link, but you got one earlier today.... Ciao for now!

A Day with my Nieces

So today my day was a little out of the ordinary. Rather then sleeping in, catching up on school work, going to the mall, or *gasp* maybe even going to my internship I spent the day with my nieces. Anna is 5 and Bonnie is 20months. My soon to be step-sister is in Ireland (lucky) hanging out and possible running the Dublin Marathon.
When I got to their house this morning Anna was moving very slowly which was driving her father insane. Well to make a long story short it all came to a head when she was told her hair needed to be brushed. She was not a happy camper her list of excuses was extensive, "you're pulling, my hair is too short to brush, I brushed it yesterday, and (the best on of all) my mommy doesn't make me brush my hair" In all honesty the only way it got better is when I had to switch to the pink dolls brush after misplacing the real brush in the chase to get her to sit still.
So I believe I have found what Miss Anna is getting for Christmas....
How cute is this? It even has a nifty ribbon handle to hang up on a hook or doorknob. Its $14 so its a little pricey for a hairbrush but what other hairbrush is this cute?? So worth it. I have bought from Liza Byrd before (shes a local designer who used to come to my school craft shows) and everything she sells is amazingly cute and really great quality. That's all for now! Ciao for now!

Hooky Spooky with a 5 Year Old

This morning I was in my Aunt Kathy's kitchen making a snack and in walked my sister with a bag full of Halloween toys. Barrels of goo, pumpkin parachute men, gummy frogs, and best of all candy chemistry set. Everything was in blacks, oranges, purples, and lime greens so very festive. I hadn't spent much time with a 5yr old boy in a long time so I forgot how much disgusting=awesome. We had a fun day of dropping the goo in potted plants and then having to wash it out. Mixing 'chemistry' (pure sugar.) So I am on a bit of a Halloween kick tonight. I had found these buckets a little while ago but was waiting until closer to Halloween to bring them out. They are super cute and they can monogrammed!!! Soooo cute!

They come in different prints and monogram styles. They are $28. Perfect for a teachers desk, a candy passing out bucket or of course for a little trick or treater and after the 31st pop them up in the attic and pull 'em down for next year. Click on title for the link. Its dinner time so I've got to run. Ciao for now!

A Little Practicality in a Time of Joy and Sorrow

As my sister mentioned over on her blog, www.diaryofafanaticfoodie.com, our Uncle Jim passed away after a fierce battle with cancer last week and we have been down with our family in NC for the past week. It has been good to spend time with my cousins and my family and try to deal with this together. Today was the funeral and after the mass (we are Catholic) we had family and family friends over for a party (that word has always seemed not right when speaking of a funeral) but it something struck me as I was throwing away more plastic wine glasses and loading glass wine glasses into the dishwasher, people were definitely using more the one glass.
Of course this could be that people changed drinks midway through the evening and didn't want to put red wine into a glass that held white wine but, I also think people putting their glass on a table and forgetting which was theirs and then just getting a new one was to blame. Now I am very into the idea of reducing our carbon food print on this world and also I hate loading and unloading the dishwasher :)
So tonight after we spent many hours recounting all of our favorite Uncle Jim stories (and their are a lot) and talking about how great of a person he was (he fathered 4 AMAZING sons and had the type of marriage I hope to one day have) I got on my laptop and tried to solve the problem of too many glasses. I am still working on the plastic cup problem but I have found a way to solve the wine glass problem.How cute are these? They sell them in every theme imaginable, horses, doctor, dancer, lawyer, banker, everything. The Irish are just really appropriate given that this side is the Irish side and we have a lot of Irish pride. While these are super cute and relatively cheap at $14.95 I definitely think that if you have a touch of crafty-ness you could make them yourself with a charm, some beads, a pair of pliers, and a little wire. That might just be my new craft project... Well I must get back to watching my cousin play Call of Duty 4.... oh boys... Click the title for the link. Well Ciao for now!

Think of the Planet, but Stay Cute

Everyone today is very into being 'green' and I absolutely love this. Taking care of our Mother Earth is awesome and a worthy cause. I feel like it everywhere I go reusable shopping bags are being sold. Though, a lot of reusable bags are rather... ugly... which is so not prep. If you look hard enough you can find cute bags enter in this cutie,Its great for grocery shopping, farmers markets, a trip to the mall, or even as a school bag. It is a little pricey at $24 per bag but, if you make a commitment to use the bag for all your little errands it because totally worth it considering how many trees you will save and how much less plastic you will waste. Click the post title to go check it out! Happy shopping and Ciao for now!

Pink for a Reason

So just in case you didn't know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month which means getting to buy fun, cute, and pink things for a good cause! How fun is that? So I was stumbling around google looking for a pencil case because I feel like an idiot having to pull everything out of my bag in class to get to the pens that seem to live at the very bottom. I never buy something called a 'pencil case' I only buy 'cosmetic bags' for multiple reasons. They last longer, are more fashionable, and you have way more choice in pattern. I found an adorable bag that also donates money to providing mammograms to women who cannot afford them.

It is little and pink plus it has a handle and a super cute poodle on it. Tres chic! As a girl on a budget I love cute for cheap so at $15, totally worth it. Plus when school is out it becomes a makeup or jewelry bag. A multitasker! Click here to go check it out. Ciao for now!

My First Post!

So my sister started her blog (a cooking/baking one) this past March and I love reading it. (www.diaryofafanaticfoodie.com) Just like most little sisters I feel a fierce need to compete with Heather (SAT scores are not to be mentioned in my house) and I prefer to win so of course I needed to start my own blog. While I really love to cook and bake and I am fairly good at it I will never be as good a cook as my sister, probably because I would prefer to spend my free time at the mall, perusing the web for some fun accessories or customized coffee mugs. So, I knew I couldn't have a foodie blog so the next type was fashion! I am an avid blog reader and love stumbling upon a nice preppy blog with tons of fashion blogs but one thing I have noticed is that there aren't many for my age group. There are tons of blogs written by preppy mommies (my future goal) and even some by prep blogs by late 20s girls but none (that I have found) by 18-22 yr old college girls. So walla the College Preppy was born! Its mainly about my prepalicious fashion finds, fun events but occasionally it will just be a thought I had that I needed to share ;) Well I should probably figure out if I have a test in Art today so Ciao for now.