Tervis Tumbler First

Today my mom, sister and I went for our first official college shopping trip. The other day I got a gift certificate to Bed, Bath & Beyond that was obviously put to good use. We got Twin XL sheets (I'm happy to have a long bed!), a twin XL bed topper, a pink metal trash bin, and my first Tervis Tumbler for $12.99! This 24 oz. one with a pink sea shell was the one I scored. I can't wait to start using it! I'm sure you've all heard of these glasses. They keep cold stuff cold and hot stuff hot and have zero condensation because they're double lined as you can see in the photo! We didn't go all-out on this shopping trip because lots of "big box" stores have a program where you pick what you want online or scan it in a store, very much like a bridal registry, and then you pick it up in the store closest to your school. This is GREAT for students like me who live a lengthy distance away and really can't take an entire family, my (partial) wardrobe, and every other thinkable supply needed for college life. They really helped us out here. For all the big stuff and "grocery" items as we've begun calling them, we're just going to get it when we get down there after the grueling 9 hour trip driving in our Honda Pilot. Yikes!

Back to Tervis Tumblers, there are 100's of designs to pick from. My other favorites include a USC one with the gamecock on the front in pink: Very cute and I can't wait to pick one up before school to accompany my other maroon Gamecocks cup I got at my accepted students day when we loaded up on USC paraphernalia.

Another (semi-obnoxious, but I still like it) favorite of mine is the "princess" tumbler: Like I said, a little obnoxious, but it does have a crown!

You can also personalize your tumbler. A co-worker of mine, Catherine, actually had hers circle monogrammed in bright pink and it looked fabulous. Tervis sells some tumblers with just initials on them, and I even considered buying a black script "K" one instead of my shell but I liked the shell more because it was pink!

P.S. Just a few minutes ago my Longchamp bag arrived from eBay. It was a little dirty (Gracie Beth now you can bid on a cleaner one!!) so does anyone have any ideas for cleaning it? My mom suggested just taking it to the cleaners since there's leather on the handles and the top. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!

xxKatie

Nail Color!

So, when you get a compliment its usually about your great new pair of sandals or your fabulous dress, but is it ever for your nail color? Not for me, however, recently I've been getting tons (4) of compliments on my nail polish color. And no, its not anything like super special. Its not even a manicure I got or anything. I painted my nails the other day this pale pink that I got from Happy Harry's (Yes, a real place, and if you haven't been you're not living. Just kidding. Its a glorified Walgreens.). "Pink Chiffon" by Revlon seems to be the miracle color. 3 coats + a clear topcoat really did the trick for me. Now, I kind of have long nails so you may not need as much, but it really is a good sheer-but-enough-color color especially for summer. On top of my "Pink Chiffon" (I really just can't get over the name!!) I put a Target brand nail color on top of that called "Paparazzi Pink Glitter 103A" by N.Y.C. As my sister says, I have a small problem with periodically liking tacky things, like glitter. Now this is really not GLITTER glitter (although I do like that...), but its more of a sheen that looked nice over this pink. All it really did was add a little pop.

If you're going to go with summer nails and want something more than nude or clear, "Pink Chiffon" is definitely a color to add, just make sure to have a topcoat and enough time to dry fully!

xxKatie

Lilly Desktop Backgrounds!

For those of you who are facebook savvy, make sure to friend request Lilly Pulitzer! They have provided desktop backgrounds much like the one on my own computer as seen above. This summer print makes a very fun opening screen for me and I'm sure it would be the same for you. There are a few options on the facebook page. You just pick your screen size (1280x1024 is standard for most computers, as higher resolution has a nicer quality, I know because I tested them all out to see which would be best for a mac) and download away! You can choose from the "Multi Hollywood Squares Patch" which is pink and blue and green and very cute or the "Multi Happiest Hour Patch" which is the one I downloaded for my own computer for its summery color scheme.In order to download the backgrounds, scroll down about 1/3 of the way down the page and the options to download should be on the left side column as pictured above. The top box on the facebook page should pop open to give you the Happiest Hour print and the bottom box will do the same only with the Hollywood Squares print! Now there's no need to go find some photograph someone took of a Lilly fabric and make that your background. Lilly's done all the work for ya! Enjoy!

xxKatie

Blogging Help

Everyone, I have a question. I changed my layout a little over the weekend and added a few more page elements, catching up on blog awards and adding a wishlist. My question is how you can get the "gadgets"/page elements on both sides of the page? I can't figure out the blogger layout at alllllll and writing computer codes is 100% foreign to me. Any help would be appreciated! Whether it is the layout I need to change or some HTML code I need to add I would love the help! Thanks!!

xxKatie

Orientation 2009- I Love My School!

I just got back late last night from USC orientation! It was a blast! This photo is a dorm that I really liked, and where my University 101 class is. Most of the buildings at Carolina (my mom and I are trying out the real nickname and seeing how it works...) look a lot like this. Very grand, Southern-style, gorgeous. We got down there a day early so that I could take my Latin placement test (ugh, what a bummer) which I was not excited about because I haven't taken Latin since junior year. It ended up to not be too big of a deal because I got a good enough mark to test out for nursing school so I was excited. After I took my test my mom and I went exploring through Columbia. There are a couple of "cultural" spots right close to the campus. Columbia is a super small city compared to most cities, and it seems to really be intertwined with the campus. Beyond the campus in 2 different directions are "the vista"-a more upscale area where you'd take your parents for a nice dinner- and "5 points"- the college-y area with bars, thrift shops, Greek life stores, and nice restaurants that you'd go to with your friends.

Our first stop, naturally was the Lilly store in Columbia, Pink Sorbet. Yes, I was extremely touristy in fact and took a photo of the front of the store. They had a darling store front, the picture hardly does it justice!That store was ADORABLE. They had a wonderful inventory and a layout inside that was set up beautifully. They also had one of the most generous sale sections I've seen at a Lilly store- 40-65% off! I met the owner's daughter who was extremely friendly and made me really want to go back there! She even gave me a Pink Sorbet koozie! I'll definitely be joining their mailing list asap...with my university email! How cute is their koozie (on my retired Lilly bedding...)?!

I can't wait to start in the fall at school. It is rapidly approaching! Everyone keeps warning me, "It will be here before you know it!" and I couldn't agree more! My dorm is SO cool. I'm rooming with one of my best friends (I've heard all the stories of rooming with a friend, but I have a feeling this is going to be different actually). She's in a special program at school for some students on an almost-Honors College track. "Capstone" Scholars, as they're called, live in a cool building, have some separate classes, and a bunch of other stuff. My preferred roommate is in the Capstone program and since we both put each other down as roommates but had different dorm choices, we didn't think we'd be rooming together. That was ok, you know, if it worked out it worked out, but if not it wasn't a big deal. Well, since she's a Capstone scholar, she gets to live in that cool building...AND SO DO I! Believe it or not, that supersedes everything, and I'm sorta tagging along. The housing people said that it happens periodically so its totally legal. I'm pumped! Its awesome to have someone to really get excited about school with!! This is us! Woo hoo! Go gamecock nurses!

xxKatie (now officially a gamecock!)

Happy Father's Day!

Katie and Dad circa 1994 maybe? This is me and my dad back in the days! I was teeny tiny and I look a little different now, but my dad still looks basically the same. Here's to the best dad ever! Happy Father's Day to my dad and all the other dads out there!

xxJ.R. Junior

Summer Lilly!

Today with the last of my "spending" graduation money (that I am now not allowed to touch!) I treated myself to 2 Lilly Summer dresses that I can take to sunny South Carolina. One is the patchy Jubilee dress with the cool back, and I'm totally excited! I can't wait to wear this one out and about!

The other dress I got was the throwback-ish shift in a totally Lilly pink and green print that I love. It is more casual than the Jubilee dress, and there are even white bows along the front!
It it super cute and long enough for my tallness too! I am so excited about both of these purchases and I'm sure it helped for business for the Store on a rainy, gloomy day! And to make the purchase even sweeter, I had a $10 store credit!!! I am so pumped and I can't wait to rock these at work and around!

Happy Summer Lilly Shopping!

xxKatie

"It's Better When You Win It"

I agree! I bid on my first few eBay items this week and won something! Who'd thought, on my first bid EVER that I won!
This Longchamp le Pliage bag (14x9) was $38 and $4 shipping! Woo hoo! I can't believe it! It's a little damaged here and there but I'm pretty excited, if you couldn't tell. I literally refreshed the page 20 times after I saw the time was less than 58 seconds. My mom kept warning me, "You'll lose it at the last minute! You'll lose it then!". I won though! I have 2 more working bids right now, one on a Lilly and another Longchamp khaki colored bag but it is way smaller than this one-its the purse size. I'll let you all know on how it goes.

Any eBay pointers? Not for selling, just bidding!

xxKatie

Get to J.Crew ASAP!

Today my mom and I went back to the Rehoboth Outlets today to get MORE J.Crew shorts. The first time I went this week I dropped $85 on 2 pairs of their Buttery Twill 5'' Inseam Chino shorts in navy and rose, 2 shirts, and a cute mid-length-sleeve sweater previously from madewell. I've already worn the blue ones twice. After deciding that these shorts were made for 6'0'' people, they coincidentally make the best "short-short" for the tall girls out there, we went back to get 2 more pairs in dark khaki and white. Two more very functional colors. I'm telling you GET A PAIR in every color functional for your wardrobe. You will not be surprised how durable, comfortable, and well fitting these shorts are. They also come in a 3'' version that had a bunch more colors but I'm still partial to the 5-ers.

*Not to mention they're all only $20 at your nearest J.Crew outlet. TWENTY DOLLARS THATS NUTS! Online they're $39.50, so go to your outlet!!!

Not only are they functional, but I feel like I'll be able to get a lot of use out of them in sunny South Carolina. This is really the first bit of stocking up that my mother and I have done for school, so does anyone else have any ideas? I'm really getting ready to start looking at packing and beginning shopping, so ideas are totally appreciated!

Two months from tomorrow I'm in Columbia, SC! Classes start 5 days later!!!

P.S. Today as the fam was getting dressed for Church, my mom and I were dressed IDENTICALLY. Now, matching is not abnormal for our clan, but my mom and I both had Lilly skorts both that had patchwork patterns on them, white polos, popped collars, and bright sweaters that matched our respective skirts. It was quite a sight to see, I'm sure, but then again, this crowd is the one who would appreciate a good unintended mommy-and-me look. Well mom, chalk it up to another matching day.

P.S.S. Just got an invite to RueLaLa! This is their standard message but it sums up what the site is about well: "I just found Rue La La, the destination for 2-day only boutiques, filled with designers we love at private sale prices. It's free, fabulous and invitation-only. Here's your invitation!" This is my link if you want to join the network: http://www.ruelala.com/invite/letsbepreppy if it doesn't work just copy-paste it into your browser! Enjoy shopping!

xxKatie

Commencement 2009!

Well, now that its all over-graduation and all that it entails-I have some time to write. I'm actually back from my school's beach week because I decided that it WAS NOT for me and headed back with (a saint of) a girl who was making the way back-thank you a million times, Kate! Baccalaureate was a raving success and I had SO much fun there. There were such good performances by a bunch of my classmates and they really showed off their pipes! This is a picture of Kathleen, me, Lizzie and Sarah. We're all at Baccalaureate and headed to USC. We have gotten a bunch of "South Carolina Girls" pictures. The 4 of us are all going there and Kathleen even wants to be a nurse too! This is me and Ben. We've gone to school for 12 years together, sorry Ben, I had to break the pattern, I decided to choose USC over...MIT. Yeah, the real MIT from the movie 21. No joke. He's 6'7'' and going to play basketball there, and he's just a little smarter than I am!! He-he.

Graduation was a blast too. My friend Evalyse brought up a great point. It was really one of those like "life-long" moments and she kept telling herself, "Remember this. Remember this. Remember this!!" This is a shot taken of my "group". I ended up wearing my Kate Spade shoes just for fun, and hey-both my PRINCIPAL and some other Director said something. Literally, AS I WAS WALKING ACROSS THE STAGE TO GET MY REAL DIPLOMA. I will always remember my walk across the stage. As you can see I'm the only one without some kind of neutral shoe on. It was awesome. Actually no one else in my graduating class had shoes like mine!

Also, I know I promised a photo of my USC bedding, and here I am to follow through! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this and my mom picked it up kind of as a surprise. She just found it and had to buy it and thank God she did because it is perfect!!! Hope everyone is having a fabulous beginning to their summers! USC move-in is officially 2 months from Monday!

xxKatie