Happy Things

How beautiful is my dog? I just saw this picture that my sister posted on her Facebook page, and I needed to have an "I love my dog" post. I can't remember if she took the photo or if I did. (I'll have to ask her later. Some of my dog's hair is shaved off, so this was probably taken soon after she was sick and needed an IV, but she's all better now. :) 

Also, an update on my Happiness Project! Tomorrow is the first day of February. For Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, she decided that February was the month to "Remember Love." Here are my resolutions for this month! 

1. Write something good about myself or something good that I accomplished that day, every day in my journal. 
2. Reach out to others by making more of an effort to spend time with friends. I especially want to spend some time getting to know my sorority's new members. I've met them only a few times, but I can tell they are really sweet girls. 
3. I will stop myself from saying negative things about people, even when I'm really angry. 
4. I will mail letters to my friends and family as often as I can, since snail mail really does show how much you care. 
5. I will not let myself get myself down. If I start to think negatively, I will try to see the positive side of things. 

So here's my list. I am open to changing some and adding on a few more. Do you have any suggestions? 

- Catie

Accessorizing

Although in the past I have not shopped much for accessories, I'm starting to realize that often it's the little things that make an outfit work. Here are some of my picks from online shopping.

Betsey Johnson Lip Stud Earrings: $25 on Piperlime

I have found yet another owl that I adore. * See my post about my Owl Ring here. This necklace is $22 on FredFlare.com 

Going with the animal theme. I also found these adorable Elephant Earrings. They are $8 on FredFlare.com

Haha I guess I'm really feeling the cutesy accessories right now. But hey, Valentine's Day is soon and the entire month of February always makes me want to buy adorable things like these accessories, pretty stationary, and shaped chocolates. What accessories are you craving right now?

Memories of High School Days

Look how beautiful my high school is. I'm really missing it right now. This picture looks across the baseball field towards our pond, main building, and science building. While I did not take this photo myself, I really love that there is someone who seems to be doing a cartwheel or handstand in the background.

Also, kind of random, but I'm debating about cutting my hair short like this again. This was what my hair looked like in the summer, and now it's about an inch and a half past my shoulders. Or, if I'm daring enough, I'm even considering a pixie cut. Bad idea? Let me know lol :) Perhaps it's just my insane week that's making me want a drastic change right now.

Stressed

I've definitely hit a lull in my happiness project. Because Recruitment is taking up so much of my time, I haven't been able to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, or exercise. My eating has been awful, since there's very little time to have food, and yet we always have an abundance of candy. Now, don't get me wrong, I really love my sorority, but right now I'm just having one of those days that I've been trying to prevent with my Happiness Project. My life is seriously out of whack right now.

What do you think is a good way to get out of a funk? Honestly, right now every aspect of my life is stressful, and I haven't even been able to post on this blog for a while because of it.

Here is a picture of puppies that I found on WeHeartIt. It's really cute, so I hope posting this will cheer me up. Sorry that this isn't really a well-planned out post or anything, but I promise that I will try and get some good posts up as soon as I feel better! Hope things are going well for all of you :)

New Phone

Here it is... my beautiful new phone! And just in time, too, I might add. At last check my old Rumor phone had about 2 hours of battery life, even after charging it all night long. I'm so glad that I got to get my upgrade pushed forward 2 weeks, because they couldn't fix my old phone (which was already a replacement phone for the one I had originally) due to the lack of parts. Why is it that phone companies make you sign these long contracts and keep a certain phone and then they'll stop making parts for the phone? It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm so happy because this phone really is my dream phone. It's really tiny and light, has a touch screen but a real key pad, and has cool apps. I know it has nowhere near as many as the iPhone, but since my family has Sprint, that wasn't really an option. And this phone is actually (I think) cuter than the iPhone.

Happiness Project Update

It's been a little more than 2 weeks since I started my Happiness Project, (based on "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin: Go to her blog! ) Already I feel that I have more energy. I don't require a cup of coffee to last me through the day. Pretty much everyday I've met my goal of waking up without pressing snooze, though I will admit that this morning I slept in for about 15 minutes. I have no idea why I wanted to wake up at 8:45 this morning, since I wasn't planning on doing anything until 11:00, when I went to Church.

Do you have a Happiness Project of your own? What kind of goals do you have for the New Year? If you haven't made some, why not make some right now? It's really nice to see how small changes in your life can lead to more happiness, and who doesn't want that?

Other things I am trying to pursue include trying out Yoga. I've just done some beginner/intermediate poses, but it's actually harder than I expected it to be, but enjoyable. I think I prefer it to the elliptical, which is what I normally work out on. Yoga is great because you can do it anywhere, even in your dorm room! Do you enjoy Yoga? I'm trying to learn it on my own for now, since classes in Boston can be tremendously expensive.

Photo from WeHeartIt

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Maybe it's because my sorority is preparing for Formal Recruitment, but I'm really loving the television show, "Greek" on ABC Family. You can watch the episodes online for free! Currently, I think they have every episode online. I'm still like two episodes behind and the new season is starting soon. I used to be a big Cappie fan, but I'm really loving Evan Chambers right now.

Though he does not have Kappie's ability to come up with witty one liners, his attempts, bad as they are, come off awkwardly cute. It's okay not to be funny, Evan! I'll still love you :)

Greek starts back up on January 25th, so be sure to mark that in your calendars.

Also, I recently watched a favorite movie of mine, Penelope, starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy. Reese Witherspoon also is in this and has a hilarious character role as a bad ass mail delivery chick who rides a vespa with wings on it. For those of you who don't know the plot of this movie, it's about a girl who is born with a pig nose. Generations ago in her family, a witch cast a spell so that the first born girl would be born with the face of a pig.

So, seriously, watch this. It's a wonderful movie. And if you like it, be sure to check out Stardust, which is a movie that is much in the same vein in that there are fantastical elements and wonderful characters, as well as lessons to be learned that don't come across too preachy.

Another thing I'm really loving is gold earrings. This pair is absolutely gorgeous and only $35 on Shopbop! I love that they're simple but still beautiful.

Finally, I saw this spectacular bag on Shopbop by Rebecca Minkoff. I love the gold detailing on the bag, and the practicality of the size and shoulder strap. One thing I'm not sure about, though, is that when I first looked at this I thought for sure it was black, but Shopbop calls it Navy Blue. Am I going colorblind or what? This would have to be the blackest Navy Blue I've ever seen.  Sadly, at $595 this bag is merely on my wish list, for when I win the lottery, or if I can find it on sale closer to my birthday. Does anyone know where I can find something similar to this? 

Pictures found on Google Images and Shopbop and not owned by me. 

Things That Make Me Happy

This morning started off not exactly the way I had planned for the first day of school. I woke up to find my ethernet cord was stuck to the wall and to my laptop. :( So, here's a list of things that make me happy to cheer myself up:

1. Walking by the magazine rack and seeing a new magazine issue. 
2. Reading that magazine in a Barnes and Noble while sipping on a latte. (*Trying to drink coffee only once a week is hopefully going to make this experience even more happy) 
3. Clothing/Houseware displays at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. It makes me just want to pack up my bags and move in.
4. Blogging :) 
5. Listening to new music ... I just bought Vampire Weekend's album, along with an album by "Everybody Else" and another album by "A Fine Frenzy." 
6. Sunlight - Since we've passed the longest night of the year, every day now there is a little more sunlight. 
7. First day of classes - While it does make me nervous to think about the work ahead, the first day of class is always great b/c everyone's full of expectations and hoping that this semester will be a great one. 
8. My sorority - I'm  really glad that I ended up joining a sorority. I almost didn't because I was worried about all the bad things I heard about sororities. I'm happy to say that my sorority does not haze and that my sisters have made my sophomore year thus far a really great year. 
9. Trying out new accessories - I wore this beautiful necklace that my roommate last year gave me that has a deer pendant. I'll put a picture up soon. I'm just so excited I got to wear it b/c I thought it didn't go with anything that I own. I wore the jeans/dress combo that I showed you guys before and the owl ring, as well as a cute bracelet I forgot I had. 
10. Time - I love having some free time. Today I only had an hour of class and I found out that I don't have class on Friday b/c my professor won't be in school. Not to mention we have school off on Monday! 
11. Singing in the shower or at my voice lessons 
12. A very cute pair of flats
13. My Moleskine planner
14. Writing in my journal
15. Seeing really cute dogs on the street, and also my dog Lila who is a golden retriever. 
16. The feeing you get after going to the gym and having a nice workout. 

Well, that's my list for now. Hope you enjoyed. I'm going to get ready for the gym now. 

Under the Weather

It's the day before school starts and I'm sick. Ugh. I've got one of those head colds with a very sore throat, dry eyes, and stuffed up sinuses. I'm running around, trying to get things done before school begins and I'm even more stressed out, but right now with a half unpacked suitcase, a ton of random things strewn all over my desk, a headache, a semi-working phone that ought to be replaced ... I'm just not sure how I will get everything done!

But this negative attitude is exactly what I'm trying to combat. So, here's my plan of attack: take out contacts, take a 20 min. nap, finish unpacking my suitcase, go to CVS to buy floss (which I left at home) and contact lens solution (which I'll probably be out of after taking my lenses out), pick up my textbooks that arrived for me in the mail room, eat dinner, clean room as much as possible, and then have some free time.

Happiness Project Update: I managed to get up early this morning and on the first alarm! I got up at 8:15 in order to get to my sorority recruitment training workshop. But even though I got up almost 2 hours before it started, I was late because I was confused about where the workshop was being held. I was on the completely wrong side of campus.)

Nail Polish, Shopping, and Other Matters

Since I haven't done a fashion post in a while, here are some things I'll be spending my money on after I get back to school (and start getting my paychecks at my part time job again).

My favorite nail polish brand has to be Essie. They have the best colors, the best finishes, and the polish comes in really cute bottles with even cuter names. Here are some of my favorites for this winter:

The nail polish featured above is "Angora Cardi"! Essie describes it as a "deep dusty rose."

Now let me introduce you to "Huckle Buckle," a wonderfully whimsical shade that Essie describes as "iridescent deep lilac."

At $8.00 a bottle, these nail polishes are more than worth their price. The polish also lasts a very long time, which is another reason why I love these nail polishes. If you want to buy some polish to put some sparkle in your winter, go to Essie's Website.

My picks off Piperlime include a few cute tops and skirts.

This top has a beautiful shape that exudes a kind of classic, yet chic look. It is the Cynthia Steffe Adalia Tank. Unfortunately for me, it is $95, so I don't think I'll be purchasing this unless it goes on sale or I get a big paycheck soon. You can buy this at Piperlime

And finally, an update on my Happiness Project! I am still making the bed every day now. However, I'm having a hard time trying to get up early in the morning. Hopefully this will change once I go back to school and immediately will have tons to do on my schedule again. I'm going to keep up this blog for sure, but the posts may be a bit shorter until I get the hang of blogging while at school.

January: My Happiness Project Begins

Sometimes I feel like this girl... so tired that I literally want to fall asleep under my books, but this semester will be different. I've decided to embark on a "Happiness Project" (Don't know what this is? See the post below) I will still post about other things, but I definitely wanted to share a bit about how my project is going. This January I will focus on ways to have more Energy, like Gretchen does in her book. Here are my goals for January... (I tried to make them simple and something that won't be too much of a hassle)

1. Wake up without pressing Snooze
2. Make my bed everyday (So I won't be tempted to fall back asleep)
3. Have a Bedtime Routine
4. Do Yoga, Meditation, or Stretching for 20 min. every day
5. Make the switch from caffeinated coffee to decaf or decaffeinated tea (Coffee on weekends is okay but only one cup)
6. Go to bed early, wake up early.
Aim for Bedtime @ 11:30 on weekdays and Wake up @ 7:30 on weekdays.
Weekends: Be asleep by 1:30, Wake by 9:30

The hardest one for me is the bedtime one. While I usually never pull all nighters on the weekdays, I've definitely stayed up way too late on weekends. Last semester I usually woke up around 8:30 on weekdays to get some homework done, but that was when I had class starting at 11. If I can push my wake up time to even earlier than 7:30 that would be ideal, but I've had an aversion to waking up before 8, so I'm making my goal more attainable for now.
Also, if you guys want a chance to win a copy of Gretchin Rubin's Happiness Project, which inspired this post, go to Snickerdoodles and please mention Chocolate Lemonade when you enter the contest. Good luck!

~ Catie

Photo Credits: weheartit.com

The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin's the Happiness Project just reached # 2 on the New York Times bestseller list! I haven't gotten a chance to purchase it yet, since I'm still recovering from spending a ton of money this December on Christmas presents, but I went to Barnes and Noble and read the first chapter. For those of you who haven't heard about this, Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project details the changes she made in her life throughout the course of a year in order to pursue happiness. View her blog at www.happiness-project.com

What do you think of her way of finding happiness? Would you be interested in making your own Happiness Project? I think that I will try and form my own project and post on here about how it's going. 

Getting into the Winter Spirit

Yesterday I went skiing for the first time in probably 2 years. The hassle of getting clothes and equipment together and my distaste for the cold made me think that I was just not made to ski. However, after the first few runs, I found myself enjoying gliding down the mountain. After skiing, I had a nice hot cup of hot cocoa. I remember when I was little my mom would make hot cocoa with mini marshmallows for me and my siblings after we came in from playing in snow forts, making snowmen, and going sledding. Hot cocoa is the perfect thing for warming you up. This got me thinking about the other things that I love about winter.  I decided to make a list:

1. Snuggling with a good book under a blanket, while the snow falls gently outside - Snow has a way of making everything seem more at peace. This creates the perfect ambience for reading books. 
2. Baking warm chocolate chip cookies - For some reason they always seem to taste better in the winter.
3. Playing with my dog in the snow - She loves sticking her nose in it, rolling around in it, etc... She especially loves trying to catch snowballs in her mouth. 
4. Sitting by the fireplace - This always feels so nice and calming. Add roasting chestnuts on an open fire and you've got the perfect afternoon. 
5. Ice skating - My family went ice skating on our pond again this year. There is something very charming about skating in the outdoors. 
6. Catching snowflakes - I love catching snowflakes on my mittens and looking at the intricate design of each one. The saying really is true ... no two snowflakes are alike. 
7. The Classic Snowball Fight - everyone in my dorm began an impromptu one during the last weekend of school. It was really fun to have everyone play in the snow together before going home for the break. 

What are your favorite things about the winter? Do you live somewhere where it doesn't snow? Do you think the charms of winter outweigh the negative aspects (i.e. slippery roads,  frostbite, and long periods of nighttime?)

Photo Thanks: WeHeartIt

Vampire Weekend

I am so psyched for the new Vampire Weekend album, "Contra", that is coming out on January 12th. I absolutely adored their first album, which combined many different elements of music to make their own unique sound. These guys also have a great sense of fashion. While most bands seem to pick their clothing from the same "Music Hipster" wardrobe with black tight skinny jeans, and identical plaid shirts, these guys stay true to their preppy roots while still maintaining an edgy style.

I absolutely adore Ezra Koenig (the one standing in the picture above and the one in the pic below)

 

Not only can he sing and play guitar, he's also freaking gorgeous! So, are you a Vampire Weekend fan? If not, what albums are you looking forward to listening to this month?

Kiss This :)

Origins Lipstick: Flower FusionTM Hydrating Lip Color in "Hyacinth"

I bought this lipstick today after a discussion with my friend in a Barnes and Noble. In order to start the New Year in a good way, I decided that I wanted to start to change my look a bit, so as to keep things a little interesting.

I used to wear lip gloss, but somehow lip gloss reminds me of middle school days and school dances. While I'm not trying to knock lip gloss, and certainly there are times when a dab of lip gloss will leave me feeling peppy and fun, I thought it was time to try a lipstick. Now that I've tried it, I realize that lipstick can really make me feel more confident and grown up. After all, I'm going to turn twenty years old this upcoming August! :) So, here are a few pictures with my lipstick on.

 Let me know what you think. Is lip gloss better than lipstick? I'm definitely feeling this texture over some of the more gloopy glosses I've come across. What are your favorite colors to wear on your lips? Do you prefer to play up eyes, instead, or do you switch it up?

Cleaning The Room

It took me almost 2 weeks after getting home from school to finally decide to clean my room. Until today, I even had my suitcase still on the floor and half opened. In the past, I have made excuses for not cleaning my room. Examples include: "I think better in a room that's not perfect", "It takes too much time," and "It's only going to get dirty later." But, when I think to the times that I have felt content being in my room, these times were generally when I had just finished organizing, vacuuming, and giving the entire room a good clean.

I recently read in a book called, "Organizing Your Day: Time Management Techniques That Will Work For You," that perfectionists will do things like refuse to make their beds because they would rather not try at all than settle for a half done job. Somehow, this description had me down to a T. I always found myself annoyed by the slightest wrinkle in my bed sheets, whenever I tried to make the bed. I guess it got to the point where I thought my refusal to make the bed was a kind of statement that said I had other, better things to do. This book, by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims really opened my eyes to the bad organizational habits that I had. While I thought that not making my bed was important to me, what was really happening was that I was too afraid to make the bed imperfectly. Be sure to check out her website at www.messies.com

Tomorrow, I will venture into my bedroom closet and try to get rid of things that I don't need anymore. Who knows what could turn up in there!