A New Year

A new year is starting and I feel like it was just yesterday that I was getting ready for 2014. 2014 had a lot of highlights and it was year for the books. Aside from graduating high school, starting college, there were many other parts of the year that made it perfect. I celebrated 16 years of adoption, many river trips with my best friends, meeting new people, starting the blog and seeing how it has grown, and most importantly I am finally seeing myself grow too. If you asked me last year who I was I would have given a different answer than what I would say now. Last year I made simple resolutions, like be healthier, figure out what I want from my friends, and go to college, and I'm happy to say all of those worked out. This year after four months in a new environment, I've learned that I need to change some more things. 

I'm walking in to 2015 with a different mind, and I also cannot wait to see what 2015 holds for me. Cliche to say, I know, but I can't wait to see where the blog goes, I already have big plans for the summer and I also have the support of my family and friends which is all I need. 

I stumbled across this article on Thought Catalog and it will be the resolutions I stick to this year. Read it here

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and cheers to the new year! 

- Lily 

Merry Christmas To All

The Jefferson Hotel Richmond, Va

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas! This Christmas is extra special to me because it will be the first Christmas at home. This past summer my parents moved to new home right down the road from my grandfathers where we usually celebrated Christmas. This year Christmas will be happening at our house and I couldn't be happier. 

Merry Christmas ya'll! 

-Lily 

Six Ideas For Her

Over the years I have learned two things about gift giving. One, when giving a gift make sure it is personal. Two; make sure it is versatile and can be used for many years.  I think I've almost figured out the key to gift giving from help from my mom and sister. My mom usually collects gifts throughout the year and saves them, and my sister and I are basically the same person so its easy to pick gifts for each other. Here are 6 ideas for the sister, friend, or girlfriend that she is sure to love;

One; Kiel James Patrick bracelet They and are easy to wear and go with anything in anyone's closet. I have multiple and never get tired of them, They are timeless and with the variety you are bound to find one that is perfect.

Two; Kate Spade earrings; A few years ago my sister gave me a pair of rose gold bow earrings from Kate Spade and they are just as versatile as a pair of pearls. I wear them almost three times a week and get multiple compliments.

Three; A plaid scarf; Another versatile piece that can be used for many years. Make it personal and get their monogram on it. It is the perfect piece for the winter time.

Four; J.Crew sweater; Every year I ask for one of these exact sweaters because they are so simple and classic. The colors range and they can be dressed up or down. You can wear them with a pair of jeans and boots, or a skirt and blazer. They also keep up nicely and will last for many years. Another versatile piece that can also be monogrammed for the extra personal touch.

Five; J.Crew vest; You can't even walk around campus, go on Pinterest or Instagram without seeing someone blogging a J.Crew vest. Another piece that is sure to last many years and is worth every dollar you spend, and yes you can get it monogrammed.

Six; Lilly Pulitzer tote ;  Once again my sister was able to get it on the nail. For my birthday this past year she gave me a Lilly Pulitzer tote and I can't stop using it. I have used for an over night trip, walking around campus and more.

Good luck shopping everyone!

-Lily 

December Playlist- Christmas

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far! 

-Lily 

Thanksgiving Ideas

 Dress/Scarf/ Nail Polish/ Bracelet   

Sweater/ Bracelet / Skirt/ Scarf  

Two different ideas for Thanksgiving I've come up with. My family family always travels to Pennsylvania, I'll most likely be wear tights with my outfit and a pea coat. 

Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving! 

Also can't get enough of this song. I love the holiday season. 

November Playlist

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

-Lily 

Currently; Anthropologie Dresses

Can we take a moment to talk about the new collection from Anthropologie? I'm pretty sure more than half the time my mom and I go in there we just swoon over the dresses and for some reason right now I can't enough. I basically just want every single one. I've narrowed my choices down to four, and each one would be perfect for any occasion. 

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What are your favorite dresses from the new collection?  

Five Things I've Learned From College So Far

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1. Be open to everyone you meet: I originally was only suppose to have one other roommate and when we got our housing assignments in June my original roommate and I had been paired with one other girl in a triple dorm. My first reaction? NO WAY! I was upset that I wasn't getting my way and that someone I've never met was going to be my third roommate. Pretty childish I know. The outcome now? I love her, she is now one of my best friends at the school and wouldn't want to be rooming with anyone else now. Both of roommates have become so near and dear to me these past few months. So give everyone a chance, you never know what can happen. 

2. Your Parents Won't Always Be There For You: I love my parents dearly and in high school it was so easy to just go home and cry to my mom and call it a day. Now after a bad day I go to my dorm, and just want to curl up in a ball and ask my mom if I can home for the weekend. I am fortunate enough that my school is only 3 hours away from home but my mom gave me the toughest love last week when I asked her if I could come home and she said no. I am only allowed to come home when it is needed and while I was upset at first I realized that if she allows me to come home whenever it won't be good for me. I still call my mom everyday and while I wish I could go home I know it's best if I learn to deal with things on my own. 

3. Stay in Shape: The freshman 15 is no joke, (I've noticed with people I went to high school with) and I am always exercising to avoid it. Running everyday, eating healthy, going to the gym, ANYTHING will help. 

4. Change is scary: I sure didn't know who I was when I started school and now I'm even more lost. I have already changed so much in the past few months which is scary, but it's something you can't help.Change is going happen if you want it or not. 

5. Your sister will always be there for you: What sparked the idea for this post is that I came across the e-mail my sister sent me on move-in day. It was the longest e-mail I have ever received and it had advice from classes, to roommates to anything you can imagine. The e-mail brought me tears on move in day and now when I go back to it for advice it still hits me. My sister has been though college and having her by my side for help is the best thing I could ever ask for. It's great having someone by your side every step of the way. 

Sweater Weather

 

Pretending it's sweater weather and also just falling in love with pink lipstick.

Shop my favorite sweater down below.

 

J.Crew Factory
Madewell

Urban Outfitters

Forever 21

LL Bean

 



Riding Boots

Like every other blogger now I must do a post on the fall staple, riding boots. When packing for school my dad had made a comment about how I don't need any more boots. Okay, seven pairs might be a little extreme, but they all are still in perfect condition My go to pairs of boots are my Frye boots, and then would be my J.Crew ones. Shop my favorite riding boots below.

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A Breather

I apologize for my lack of posting this month, but moving twice in one month is not fun. After making one move to a whole new city, new home, and then having to move again for school was possibly the most stressful thing I have ever done. Saying goodbye to close friends, the home I lived in for 16 years and possibly the best summer I've had so far was hard, but now I have finally settled and can breath. I can say it's all okay and I am so excited to start the next chapter in my life. 

I promise I have many posts coming up about fall styles and now that I have my closet back I hope I can do more outfit posts. 

Thank you all!! 

-Lily 

A Few Things for the Weekend

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Have you seen the J.Crew Factory arrivals?  Including the herringbone vest

The Bess tunic ever

Save 25% this weekend for Mackenzie's birthday!!!  Time to get these earrings?

A recipe I must try

How to organize a dorm closet

The perfect flat for fall

Casual Friday

Enjoy your weekend! 

-Lily 

Black on Black

I have a confession, my favorite color is black. I know not the preppiest color, but if you look at my closet I own a lot of black (and navy but sadly I can't wear them together). Leather jackets? Yes. A little black dress? Yes. Big black sweaters? My favorite. After having a job where I could only wear black a lot of my clothes started to be black on accident and now I am IN LOVE with the all black look. It's so clean to me and I feel so chic. Black is too boring? Don't forget you can add a statement necklace or shoes that pop. For both homecoming and prom I wore black dresses and for homecoming I put on red heels, and for prom a statement necklace. 

Read how to wear all black here

Shop some black pieces here 

Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters

Madewell

Steve Madden

J.Crew

What do you think about black on black?

-Lily

August Playlist

-Lily 

Trend; Booties

I'm always reminded when we have cool summer days that I am someone who was meant to love the fall. I am already planning different outfits to wear this fall an one item I have been using a lot our booties. I love the simplicity of them and the fact that they can be dressed up or down. Check out these booties that I am currently swooning over 

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What do you think about booties?

-Lily 

A Few Things For the Weekend

In love with this maxi dress

Macaron making? Good job Mackenzie

It's true Bess, vintage Lilly is the best

Read up

Loved this post from Ms. Maxwell

Also, I cannot wait for next Wednesday because I just bought my ticket for Under The Sun. Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth?!?! So excited!! 

Enjoy your weekend! 

-Lily

Printed Skirt

Found this lovely skirt sitting in the sale section of Anthropologie and knew it had to be mine. It's an easy skirt and for a hotter day I paired it with a yellow tank given to me by Haley. However on a cooler day I will be pairing it with my chambray shirt. Every single detail in this skirt is perfect. 

Do you wear printed skirts? 

-Lily

A tiny anchor

It's no secret that I love anchors and when a good friend gave me this necklace for graduation I almost cried because of how thoughtful it was. So simplistic and the perfect necklace for casual wear. 

-Lily

Enjoying Time Off

Today is my fifth and final day off from work in a long time. I work at a local restaurant and for the past year and half it has been a daily thing. I enjoy the job very much and recently it hit me that my time there is coming to an end because I'm moving. 

While I thought I was going to Florida this July I took off five days, however plans changed and I was actually just staying home. Although I wasn't going down south anymore I still just took the time off for myself and family. Here's a recap of what I have been up to. 

With the job I have I work crazy hours at night therefore my eating schedule is out of order. I usually skip dinner and just have snacks throughout the day. When I woke up this morning I was CRAVING bacon, fruit and an egg. It was nice to enjoy myself this morning with a nice breakfast. 

I finally had time to finish the book I had been reading. The Other Wes Moore was a book that my school required me to read and it was perfect. I'll admit it took me a while to really get into it, but I recommend it very. It was amazing to read both stories of a man named Wes Moore and how they both ended up in life. 

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And as always it wouldn't have been time off without Pinterest. Looked for some outfit inspiration and falling is love with maxis and long hair. (maybe I can hold off on a haircut) 

Also have you checked out the sales going on? 

J.Crew  

J.Crew Factory

Madewell

How do you spend time off? 

-Lily

Monday Blues

Shirt/ Banana Republic SOLD OUT, try this Skirt/ J. Crew Bracelet/  Kiel James Patrick

- Lily

Currently Inspired; Florals

Five floral dresses I'm loving 

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Do you wear floral? 

-Lily

A Few things for the weekend

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40 different places with student discounts

J.Crew factory clear the clearance sale

Love this outfit!!

Love this quote 

Christmas in July  

Wanting fall after seeing all of these outfit ideas

 MUST try this

Enjoy your Sunday! 

-Lily 

Side Braids

This past spring break I had fallen in love with side braids. They were so simple and easy to have when I was on the beach, and my hair had also been long enough for the first time in 5 years. (I usually have my hair just past my shoulders). After spring break I found an Instagram account where she has adopted the side braid to be her thing. Check it out here and her tumblr.

The only reason I haven't cut my hair shoulder length yet is because I love side braids now. 

Do you wear side braids? 

-Lily

Kiel James Patrick

If you follow me on Instgram you know that I'm usually wearing a Kiel James Patrick bracelet on my wrist. They've become my staple piece for the past two years, and I just bought my 8th item from them. They are so classic but no one here really owns one so they were different. I always get stopped by someone wondering "where on Earth did you get that?" A lot of the time I give them as gifts, but I also ask for them as a gift. My parents gave me my first two, my friend gave me 2, 2 pairs of earrings, and an oxford, it's safe to say I'm obsessed. 

Shop the the entire Kiel James Patrick store here  

Shop the bracelet I got here  

Do you wear Kiel James Patrick? 

-Lily 

Free People

So excited for the new Free People store that just opened at my local mall. I fell in love with almost every single dress in there and my good friend Haley is always wearing maxi skirts from them. There will always be a little bit of boho in me from my mothers and Free People is my go to store for all things boho items 

Do you shop at Free People? 

-Lily

A Few Things For the Weekend

Swooning over this dress

Can my wedding be like Olivia's?

My latest purchase

A sale you can't refuse

Is it possible to get all of these dresses?

A new Instagram account I can't get enough of

Also if you are looking for new Pandora station, summer hits of 2000's. 

-Lily

Fourth of July

Photo is actually from my sister's Instagram

Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July! 

"History started on July 4th, 1776. Everything before that was a mistake" - Ron Swanson

- Lily

July Playlist

A few things for the weekend

The new G-Eazy album is out NOW!!! Go listen to These Things Happen now. 

Another great find at the J.Crew warehouse sale. 

Envious of Bess's outfit in this post

Have you checked out the Anthropologie summer sale yet? 

My next purchase will be this dress

"Il y a des fleurs partout pour qui veut bien les voir" - Matisse

J.Crew Warehouse Sale

Every year, maybe twice a year my mom and I drive about two hours to attend the J.Crew warehouse sale. The sale happens in Lynchburg Virginia and it's a huge warehouse, filled with brown cardboard boxes of all J.Crew items. I cannot even explain the amazing deals you get. They have sweaters for $15, shirts for $10, shoes for $25, jackets for $35 and it is all so worth the drive. 

Each time I go I am never disappointed because there is so much to pick from. I always walk away with neutral items. I get sweaters that will last, minnie pants, and jackets. 

  Drum roll please for the purchase of the decade...

A Barbour jacket that I am never taking off.
Have you ever been a warehouse sale?

-Lily