Procrastination at it's finest.

Hey y'all,

As I currently write this I have a million things that I should be doing instead of blogging such as packing since I leave later this afternoon, finishing up the birthday gifts to my littles, putting away my laundry and cleaning my room before my big trip and I'm sure the list continues on but I am too excited to be returning to Chapel Hill for the weekend. 

Besides going back to a southern piece of heaven known as Chapel Hill, NC home of the University of North Carolina I am excited for the following:

Seeing my lovely Phi Beta Chi sisters including my fam:

I'm sure plenty of laughs will ensue.

& my lovely former roommates

& visiting the house now with sisters living inside it!

& of course lots of time eating amazing food from McAlisters, The Loop, Alpine Bagels, Tomato Jakes, B*skis and YoPo.

Not to mention a drink or two at Topo:

Jan 2012: rMc's 22nd Birthday at Topo!

& so many more fun adventures!

I hope you all have lovely weekends, I am off to start mine early!

Tied up with some pearls...

Hey y'all,

So this past week I got an amazing surprise in the mail from my swap partner from The Preppy Student's earring swap. It was a lot of fun shopping for only one pair of earrings but I was so in love with the pair I received from Kailey of a Pearl Kind of Girl.

Aren't they adorable! I thought a bow made of pearls is a perfect addition to my jewelry collection and are perfect for work since they are small studs/not overpowering.

What are your favorite pair of earrings like?

Monday Motivation.

via

Hey y'all,

I really need some motivation this Monday since there are only 3 days of work (including today) until I will be packing up to visit one of my favorite places in the world--CHAPEL HILL! That's right, I am finally going back to UNC and can't wait to see some of my best friends, sisters, and of course the atmosphere of UNC itself.

via

But before I jet set/road-trip up to Chapel Hill I have work, job applications, packing and a to-do list that keeps on growing. So here are some quotes to start my week off on the right tone!

via

via

via

via

via

via

Also, while I was on pinterest I found this image. It's strange to see that 43 people repined a photo of me from my Tumblr(which I recently deleted, I mean if I can't keep up with my blog I should probably let some social media go.)

Beautiful photo taken by Cristina Guzman

Sister, Sister

Hey y'all,

This past week has been very exciting and therefore, blogging has been at the bottom of the to-do list. But some of the most exciting things this week involved family. I learned that my favorite cousin and her husband are expecting! I can't wait to go shopping for her and the little one in the coming months, to bad we are going to have to wait until Spring to see the little guy or gal. Apart from that great news I spent the weekend with my parents in celebration of my father's birthday! I will not reveal his age but I am so proud and glad that I was blessed with him as a father.

Daddy at my graduation in May rocking UNC even though he's a UMD Terrapin. 

And another exciting thing to happen this past week was BID DAY! Phi Beta Chi's Kappa Chapter welcomed some adorable little lambs and I can't wait to meet all of them especially since one of them will join my family as my great-grandlittle.

The New Members

The Whole Chapter at Bid Day

My adorable glittle and little in the plane since it was a flying theme.

Now speaking of sisterhood, I have been loving finding my sorority sister's blogs! It is so great to see what is happening in their lives on a daily basis so I figured I would share them with you!

Christina's style blog Style Storm perfectly describes her. Christina is so sweet and I'm so excited to share her blog especially since we were Associate Members together. I miss her dearly now that she no longer lives in the state of NC but I was blessed to see her a few times my Senior year and hopefully I will be able to visit her in the future. 

The beautiful Christina! This is from her photo shoot with Nikki Lugo and you can read more about her style and outfit HERE

Whitney. Although Whitney graduated before I became a member of PBX I did meet her through older sisters and Alumni events. I am so excited to hear all about her upcoming wedding and all the other exciting happenings and crafts she gets up to through her beautiful blog, Blessed Southern Tarheel.

The beautiful Whitney!

Caitlin. Caitlin is seriously one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and I am very blessed to have her as a sister and a role model as she was even the President of PBX when I was a member! Her beautiful blog, Catholic Cookie Jar discusses a lot about love, relationships, and faith especially through her own relationship with her husband Thomas. It is a great read no matter your marital status and together they are a strong couple in their faith and love for one another.

Caitlin and her husband, Thomas. I still can't believe that they have been married for over a year now. 

McKenzie & Brian. McKenzie, a sweet sister writes about her and her husband's adventures especially since they are moving across the ocean to Japan. Their relationship is similar to Caitlin and Thomas, built on faith and love and such an example. I await more updates on their life as a military couple surviving the big adventure in a foreign country.

McKenzie and Brian are bound for Japan!

Travis. Travis, another sweet sister (let's agree that all of my sorority sisters are sweet!) has just begun to blog about finding the little moments in life at The Little Moments, finding the beauty in the uncertainty. As a SENIOR this year at UNC I understand the need to capture the small little moments of beauty.  I can't wait to read more about her adventures as a senior and beyond since I know she will be successful post-grad.

Travis

I hope you find some great reads on my sorority sister's blogs!

Bookworm Life

Hey y'all,

Welcome to post #2 of the day. If you missed #1 CLICK HERE. So It has been a month since I have linked up with Heather of blonde...undercover blonde and I unfortunately haven't read that many books since then, but here goes:

5 of 5 stars

Synopsis from GoodReads, "Callie Perry is a successful family photographer living in upstate New York. She adores her two daughters, has great friends, and actually doesn't mind that her workaholic husband gets home at 9 p.m. every night-that is, when he's not traveling six months out of the year.
Callie's younger sister, Steff, on the other hand, has never grown up. She's a free spirit, living in downtown Manhattan and bouncing between jobs and boyfriends. Lately, she's been working as a vegan chef, even though she can't cook.
Lila Grossman is Callie's best friend and has finally met the man of her dreams. Eddie has two wonderful children, but also a drama queen ex-wife who hates Lila. And then there are Callie and Steff's parents, Walter Cutler and Honor Pitman. Divorced for thirty years, they rarely speak to each other. The lives of these colorful characters intersect when they each receive a shocking note that summons them together for one extraordinary summer in Maine and changes their lives forever. This novel is about the hard choices we have to face, about having to be your parents' child long after you've grown up, and about the enduring nature of love." I was crying throughout the end of this book. It is a great story about love, sisterhood, and the beauty of the smaller things in life.

3 of 5 stars

From Goodreads "When you meet the man of your dreams on girls night out, it's hardlyPerfect Timing In this fresh and funny contemporary romance by bestselling author Jill Mansell, Poppy Dunbar's whole life gets turned upside down after a chance encounter with a handsome stranger...

Never a troublemaker, Poppy had always been content with the way things were supposed to be donewhich included marrying predictable Rob McBride. But that was before she met Tom Kennedy the night before her wedding. Could she really be falling in love with a stranger?Unable to forget Tom, or go through with the wedding, Poppy runs off to London. Her new life and colorful friends are anything but predictable. Misunderstandings, family secrets, and jealous quarrels ensue, but can Poppy stop running long enough to figure out whator, rather, whois in her heart?" This book for some reason to me seemed to drag on and on. A cute story but I was never completely invested in the characters. 

LABOR DAY WEEKEND MEANT SEEING MY BFF, aMl=NO TIME FOR READING.

4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: "Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow." I loved The Giver  as a child and with The Hunger Games Triology my love for dystopian kids literature returned. Enter, Matched. The story of a girl in a very structured society gets a small glimpse at a mistake, a chance for choice which leads to questions of love in the decision of the Society matches. A place where only 100 songs, 100 poems, and 100 pieces of art remain, the rest destroyed by the government to give a small glimpse of culture but not enough to spark creation and a love of the arts (aka. I would probably die in this society with my English major/Art History minor/Clarinet playing/former ballerina ways)While this book was good, the ending really captured me and intrigued me....

Enter, (STOP HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS ABOUT THE SEQUEL TO MATCHED)

5 of 5

Synopsis"Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his sure death--only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever." I was sucked into the sequel of Matched and loved the second perspective with the use of Ky's voice. It was so interesting and I now can't wait for the conclusion in Reached, this November. 

What are you currently reading?

Peace and Blessings,

jDl

All Polished Off With....

Hey y'all,

Since I have been a horrible blogger between looking at all my PBX sister's photos on facebook during recruitment this week, applying to 15 jobs this week, working, ordering and crafting for my Littles and Big's birthdays I have had very little time to sit down and blog/become creative with a blog topic but you are in for a treat since today I am posting 3 times. Yes you read that right. I didn't want a humongous-ly long post so I am splitting up my rambles into three parts today so stay tuned. So here we go with post #1 on this lovely Friday!

So a few weeks ago I joined Meghan and Angela's nail polish swap. I am starting to get addicted to swaps if you couldn't tell. I mean who doesn't like meeting new blog friends, searching for the perfect gift and then getting an amazing surprise. I was partnered up with the lovely Kelly of Living the Before and y'all, I was seriously spoiled.

The sweet card and little makeup bag

The beautiful polishes. Told you I was spoiled. 

OPI's Brisbane Bronze
Essie's Recessionista*THIS IS THE PERFECT COLOR FOR FALL!
Essie's Going Incognito
Sally Hansen Top/Base Coat
Small blue sparkly polish
Revlon Nail Files.

So now that you have seen my beautiful gifts, I have a confession. I am a nail polish addict. Well, more like a big collector and this past week I have found the best deals so of course I grabbed more. I had been doing so well all summer in not picking up polish but here is what I have grabbed.

My collection of mini polishes in my new makeup bag.

I might have a few polishes.

Julep Polishes from their September Mystery Box. If you haven't heard about Julep you can read my post here. But they offered the Julep Mavens a mystery box worth between $60-200. I got a smaller box with these four colors(L to R): Portia, Jennifer, *No Name(unreleased color) and Eva.

The un-named color reminds me of Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order

Current nails: butter London's Royal Navy with Julep's Portia on top.

Portia reminds me of fish scales/mermaid scales with the large chunky blue/green glitter.

So during Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty I picked up the butter LONDON's buy one get one free deal. I got (L to R): Slapper, Henley Regatta, Royal Navy and Macbeth(English Major Nerd Choice). I was torn because I also wanted HRH and British Racing Green

I also found these OPI colors on Clearance at Ulta.
I Brake for Manicures
William Tell Me About OPI
Suzi Takes the Wheel

And last but not least in my nail polish deals of the past two weeks, I found Essie at Marshalls!

Glamour Purse
Little Brown Dress
Absolutely Shore
Exposure

Tonight I am rocking my letters as I write this since today, Friday is Kappa Chapter's BID DAY! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Do you collect anything? Favorite nail polish color?

Peace and Blessings,

jDl

Falling for Fall + Motivation Monday

via

Hey y'all,

I know that it isn't officially fall, but here in NC whenever the weather drops below 90 degrees for the majority of the week we are all excited. With beautiful weather comes dreaming of autumn staples. Currently I am enjoying this weather on the porch and checking out some of my fall favorites like:

Scarves. I seriously have a love for scarves. They are the perfect way to jazz up a neutral fall outfit with a bright color or print. Currently I am lusting for the Lilly Pulitzer NC Murfee State Scarf and the new Murfette Scarf in Bright Navy Tusk.

Who doesn't love elephants?

North Carolina Lovin'

Hot Chocolate & Tea. I do not drink coffee and don't like pumpkin so fall for me means a nice cup of tea in an adorable mug or to-go cup. I especially love the hot chocolate at Caribou and as far as tea goes my favorite is probably raspberry. A cup of tea and a book=this English major's perfect getaway.

Don't you think I need this mug?

Cardigans! Jeans+cardigans+riding boots=perfect fall outfit. My favorite cardigan ever is from LOFT which I got on clearance! But I am currently lusting over this sweater from Old Navy(let's hope it comes back online since my ON store has the slowest check out, last time I was there I gave up and walked out since I knew it would take forever to check out):

Old Navy Boat-Neck Sweater

Deep nail colors. Now typically I don't necessarily always fall the darker colors of nail polish in the fall/winter but this season I have been gravitating toward deeper colors. Next on my list of colors to paint will be butter LONDON's Royal Navy, which I picked up this morning at Ulta during their buy one get one free sale.

Gorgeous!

PJs! I love throwing on a pair of pj pants to lounge around in during the fall. Comfort=Fall to me. Other comfort picks would be sweatshirts and fuzzy socks.

Now here are some Pinterest finds for some Monday Motivation!

via

via

via

via

What are you excited about this fall?

Peace and Blessings,
jDl