A Break...

Hey y'all,

I thought I wouldn't have to do this but I have been thinking a lot and I have not been dedicating a lot to this little space of mine on the internet. While I love all the friendships I have made through the blogging community over the years, my commitment to it has lacked. I have not felt inspired to post and I do not want to give y'all lackluster content. So I am going to say farewell for now. Maybe in the fall when my work has calmed down I will return to regular posting but for now as I enter into my third year postgrad I need to spend time with friends and family away from a screen. 

Best of luck to y'all and thanks for reading! I will try to keep reading blogs hear and there but no guarantees!

Life at Carolina

Hey y'all, 

I came across this video one of the recent alumni of UNC created. It is a quick glimpse into life at Carolina as Katie Quine compiled daily clips of her life during her senior year at Carolina. This video just reminds me of all of the wonderful times I had as an undergrad and I cannot believe it has been six years since I took a leap of faith and chose Carolina and two years since I received my diploma. I am blessed that I work for UNC now but I know the experience as a student is vastly different than as a postgrad. For all of y'all still in school or not even in college yet, cherish your time and remember that you learn more throughout college including lessons not taught by a professor. 

Enjoy!



I can honestly say that trips to cookout are memorable (it is a 20 min drive to Durham). Yes, it rains a lot in Chapel Hill and snow days are few and far between. Yopo is still the best (and cheapest) frozen yogurt on Franklin street. I never finished a cross word in the DTH. Who knows how many hours I spent in Davis library? Yes, Dance Marathoners are that crazy in the pit and most of us avoid them during their recruitment weeks. There are countless more memories from college but this captures some pretty memorable ones from a typical Senior Year at UNC.

What makes your University stand out? What are your favorite memories from college?

What I Wore Wednesday

Hey y'all,

One of the requests for blog posts y'all submitted from my 200 follower giveaway was to see more Outfit of the Day posts. I have yet to have time to go take nice pictures of various outfits but I have been making an effort over the past few weeks to snap a few pictures of my outfits. So here are 10 outfits from the past month. The jewelry is typically all the same since I always wear an Anne Klein bracelet watch of some kind (I have a two-tone one, a silver, and a gold watch), my pearl ring, my monogram square ring and pearls. Lately, I have also been wearing my monogram necklace from ElizaJay Charm. Also, most of these are work outfits, minus the last one is from this weekend for a college graduation. If you have any questions or suggestions for blog posts let me know!

Dress: Old Navy (similar) 

Cardigan: Loft (old, similar) 

Bag: Longchamp 

Necklace: Swell Caroline (similar) 

Shoes: Target (old, similar)

Top: Old Navy (similar)

Capris: Target

Shoes: Target (old, similar)

Top: Target

Cardigan: Target (old, similar)

Pants: Target

Shoes: Old Navy (similar)

Jeggings: Target

Top: Target (old, similar)

Cardigan: Target (old, similar)

Top: Dillard's (on sale now)

Pants: LOFT

Cardigan: New York and Company (old, similar)

Shoes: Old Navy (similar)

Pants: LOFT

Top: Macy's (old)

Shoes: Ralph Lauren Gold Flats (similar)

Cardigan: Target (old, similar)

Maxi Skirt: LOFT Outlet

Tank: Old Navy

Bag: Longchamp

 Shoes: Sam Edelman Gigi Sandals (save)

Dress: LOFT Outlet (recent)

Cardigan: Target (old, similar)

 Shoes: Target (old, similar)

Bag: Kate Spade

Skirt: Target (old, similar)

Tank: Aeropostale

Scarf: Lilly Pulitzer (similar)

Cardigan: Target (old, similar)

Shoes: Sam Edelman Gigi Sandals (save)

Dress: J.Crew Factory 

Necklace: Groopdealz (similar)

Shoes: Target (old, similar)

What is on your summer fashion wishlist?

Top 5 Tuesday: Summer Beauty Essentials

Hey y'all,

I am once again linking up with Rachel for Top 5 Tuesday! This week's theme is your Top 5 Summer Beauty Essentials. I am a pretty laid back person about beauty during the summer. I mainly want to protect my skin and then hydrate my frizzy hair. I mean humidity is not fun and with curly hair I just try to make it presentable and do not even attempt to place a flat iron near it.

Let's get started:

top 5 tuesday by postgradprep featuring a leave in conditioner

1. SUNSCREEN! I am of the fair skin variety thanks to my Irish heritage but I also have had members of my family have to have surgery due to skin cancer so I take protection of the body's largest organ seriously. I love a good spray on sunscreen, I tend to go towards SPF 50 and higher. I know that anything above 50 tends to be the same but it helps if I forget to reapply every 2 hours to have that extra bit of protection. Do not forget to rub in the sunscreen and let it sit for a minute before exposure. I also would invest in a nice facial sunscreen if your moisturizer does not already have some sun protection. I love Neutrogena's line of sunscreens for my face since I know it won't irritate or clog my pores.

2. Lip Balm. I tend to go with minimalist make-up during the summer but we all know that lip balm is essential year round. The eos lip balms are perfect for summer since they come in the best flavors and are the perfect summer colors. Do you have a favorite lip balm?

3. Hair Masque. I typically do a deep conditioning treatment monthly during the year but during the summer with the heat and humidity I tend to up it to twice a month or even weekly depending on how fried and dry my hair is. The Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque treatment smells amazing and really treats my hair. I also love the 3 Minute Miracle Collection from Aussie. If you are swimming a lot during the summer, I would invest in a good masque to combat all the chemicals you are exposing your hair to.

4. Moisturizer. I always use the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel from Clinique during the summer. It is so light weight that it does not add to oily skin and a little goes a long way. You always want to have hydrated skin!

5. Leave in Conditioner. I love the It's a 10 Miracle leave in conditioner. I love to use leave-in conditioner throughout the summer to tame my hair as well as protect it. I always have a bottle in my beach and pool bag. For a less pricey option check out the Aussie Hair Insurance.

What are your essentials?

A Whirlwind Weekend

Hey y'all,

So this weekend has been a bit of a whirlwind and I thought I would share a slice of my life. *beware of picture overload!

Friday was very busy at work but I was able to have a nice lunch out with friends during the middle of the day. After work I hit the road and made it to my parent's house in time to enjoy some yummy bbq ribs and chicken. The rest of the night was spent hanging out with my big bro, kDw, and catching some of TLC's Friday Bride Day. I mean, I don't have cable so I need to cram in my Say Yes to the Dress and I Found the Gown when I can. 

Saturday began at 5am. Yep, 5am on a Saturday since we had to hit the road by 6am for kDi's college graduation. We were out of the driveway on time and hit the McDonald's on the way. It had been so long since I enjoyed one of these.

We got to the PNC Arena a bit early so we had to wait in line for the doors to open but hey, we ended up with the perfect seats. The KID sister was one of 100 valedictorians, aka she graduated with a 4.0 GPA! Yep, she is a smarty pants which also meant she was seated at the front of the arena (sorry for the bad iPhone pics, I got the nicer camera later). 

Selfies before the ceremony!

Yep. Perfect seats. She also made it on the jumbotron due to her grad cap and the News and Observer had a picture as well!

via

via

After the ceremony we grabbed a couple of pictures (and yes everyone was commenting and loving the cap!)

With the graduate! I am so proud of this KID!

Yes, her initials are KID and she is the kid sister ;)

The day continued with stopping by her apartment and packing her up. Then a quick lunch at Jersey Mike's commenced before we headed to Reynold's Coliseum for her departmental graduation. Again, we got there a bit early and found great seats. The only problem was that it was 3pm and there was no air conditioning. Luckily, the ceremony was pretty short. 

The NCSU College of Sciences Department of Biological Sciences graduates

SHE DID IT!
She crossed the stage and turned the tassel!

 After the ceremony we had hours to kill before our dinner reservation so we decided to take a picture break since kDi didn't take any senior photos. Here are some of my favorites including some pictures after the ceremony with the family and a few friends.

M and kDi went to Namibia together last summer!

 Outside of the Departmental Graudation

 All of us kids

 Candid pictures are the best. 

I mean, she is a Daddy's girl after all.

 All of the family. 

Myself, Mommy, kDi, Daddy, sDe, and kDw + photobomber

I think the wolf would be proud of her cap.

Then we were off to Brasa (a Brazilian steakhouse) for dinner but of course we took a few selfies in the car. SHE IS ALL DONE! GOODBYE STATE!

 She thinks NCSU is better than UNC.

 Yes the cheesecake was delicious. The entire meal was soooo good!

 This was the sunset on our ride back to our hometown.

Sunday was a lazy day after all of Saturday's adventures. We had a nice big brunch to celebrate the graduate and Mommy. The rest of the day was spent laying around the pool reading and watching some tv. Dinner was a yummy cookout with our family friends and neighbors and then we all watched Saving Mr. Banks.

Today, I had a dental appointment (yes my dentist is still in my hometown) and took the day off so I spent a bit of time with the graduate and my siblings before hitting the road back to the Triangle. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and congrats to all the graduates out there! I'll leave you with this last picture.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hey y'all,

I thought I would share this video from Cardstore about the World's Toughest Job.


I hope you were all able to celebrate your mom's today and if you were unable to you were able to celebrate women role models in your life.

I'm glad I was able to spend some time at home with my Mommy and we had a nice lovely breakfast and a cookout for dinner.

5 on Friday

Hey y'all,

I figured that it was time to bring back 5 on Friday with the lovely ladies of April, Christina, Natasha, and Darci.


one. My best guy friend is up for the weekend! I am so excited to catch up and hang out with T this weekend. We haven't seen each other since September when I attended a wedding with him in Raleigh, but that is what happens post-grad. Out-of-state friends!

Us three years ago at PBX's Spring Formal.
TIME FLIES!

two. Family Dinner! Tonight is family dinner with my sorority fam! My little is coming to town (she also lives in the Triangle) so that everyone will be able to celebrate kBm's graduation!

 

The Fam minus my little, mGk!

three. I am obsessed with this tumbler. My roommate can tell you that I am a big fan of tumblers to drink water out of and I think I take a different one to work everyday. I love my Tervis and Lilly ones but this one holds 35oz of water! That's so great! Plus who doesn't love a monogram?

four. Tone it Up's Bikini Series. I have started the Tone It Up Bikini Series this week (and while the end of the week has been crazy with friends coming into town) and I have been loving it! It is lots of great toning videos with cardio and the community is very encouraging.

five. Illusion! I am not done reading this book in the Chronicles of Nick series so I cannot do a full review for Book Club Friday. However, this is the kind of spin off series of Kenyon's Dark Hunter series but written for teens. If you have read the main series this one is supposed to link back but for now there are a whole lot of things that were just revealed in the middle of this book that are blowing my mind. So I recommended starting with the Dark Hunter series and then starting the Chronicles of Nick series later. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!