If only I had $850 to blow...

I would buy this:
The Lilly "Crown Jeweled Clutch". It is covered in Swarovski crystals in this fabulous print. I would, nonetheless, be very afraid to carry it around, and a cheap knockoff would probably be easy to come by, but still, knowing I owned this baby. I mean, for practicality's sake, I could never and would never buy this, but how cool would it be just to be one of the few who own it? It doesn't really hold much, but it IS covered in pink crystals. See all I can do is pine of this "accessory" for lack of a better name. It's not really a wallet, and it's not really a purse, and it is certainly not a bag by any sort, so for now we'll call it an "accessory". I mean, I guess, technically it's a clutch, but I'm still used to much bigger clutches. The one I had for prom was the size of Texas, literally, that thing was HUGE.

This accessory is tough to find anywhere because I'm sure Lilly didn't make many of them. LP doesn't make many copies of expensive items, which I've learned working at a signature store, so if you like any of the "big ticket items" buy them while you can (i.e. long dresses, heavily beaded dresses, leather shoes, gold accessories, jeweled clutches...). So if you're genuinely interested in this clutch, go for it now, versus waiting in the long run. I think that you will be infinitely more successful if you buy it now, and then you have it, instead of waiting to buy it and potentially walking away empty-handed.

For now, we can all just admire this fabulous piece of artwork!

xxKatie

Prom Ideas

I'm sitting here in my bed at 10:14 pm, very sick. All of my friends are out tonight at this party, but I have zero voice and am coughing my lungs up, so it leads me to thinking about the rest of the year. All that my mind seems to zero in on is PROM. All the craziness, drama, and whatnot that comes with it too. Thinking about prom on a Saturday night, niiiiiiice. Anyway, I am looking up all kinds of dresses that I might be interested in. I haven't seemed to find the perfect one yet. Last year, I wore the Lilly long one (I've talked about it like 80 times on here) that I adore. I will wear that dress to as many functions as I can, for however long it lasts me. I knew that I had wanted to get that dress in August of my Junior year (yes, like before the school year had even begun). This year, however, I am not as prepared. I have no ideas as to what I want, and I don't really know where to begin. I found a few dresses that have caught my eye, but somehow, they all seem to have one "tragic flaw" as my wise AP English teacher would say.

I really have no idea what I want, and all of these happen to fall within the "pink" category, but it's not a requirement. I know that I can't be spending like thanks-a-million, and I know that I don't want to wear Lilly again. I just didn't fall in love with any of the Jubilee dresses, and I don't want to spend a ton. I know I do want a long dress, and I'm not like really comfortable with strapless, but I'd be willing to try. So far, these are my four ideas. They all strike me as wearable, but I'm not DYING to have any specific one.

This is Nicole Miller. I like her a lot. Purple is NOT my thing at all. This is labeled as "fuchsia", but I still question the integrity of the colors online. I love lurex though. I am a HUGE fan of this type of fabric. It is so luxurious and fabulous that I cannot pass up anything with some sparkle. This is a rather conservative dress in it's shape, but I hesitate before spending $465 on a strapless dress that I'm sure I'd be semi-uncomfortable in.
This I love. It is bright, long, and very cute! My problem with this is that I have a small chest, so a dress like this with rather open cleavage makes me weary. I must wear um, helpful undergarments if you catch my drift, and the plunge-y-ness of this neckline, would make said undergarments very difficult to wear. I have, however, seen this dress in person, and it is SO nice. I have seen it in a coral-y color and a robin's egg blue shade and both were stunning. Right above the shoulders is some gold detailing and the website advises to wear this with gold jewelry.
This dress is very NOT typical me at all. Let me stress that first of all. It is very striking, and I wonder how self-conscious I'd be in it. I mean seriously, that's one of the prettiest models ever, and I don't know if I could really "pull this one off". I even wonder if this dress could almost qualify as "trashy". Please tell me if you think it does. I hardly see myself in this dress, but part of me likes it. I do love the detailing on the back beading too. This dress, though, too, would be tough to wear undergarments under, because look at a) how tight it is and b) how could you ever get a brassiere strap with a dress-back like that?!
I find this dress amazing. Bright pink, fabulous, and again, full of lurex. It is strapless, though, but a few girls wore similar dresses to our prom last year, and they were beautiful. One dress was blue with silver lurex in it, and another was white with gold lurex in it. I envied those girls so much, and now I have finally found who made their dresses!

So, as you consider my pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-preliminary ideas, tell me which one you like the best. My mom is going to be reading this thinking that I'm nuts for writing about prom so early and that I'm blogging at now 10:35, while I'm sick. Regardless, it's all I can occupy myself with while all of my friends are out! I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

By the way, the download for the day: "Lucky" by Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Calliat. SO CUTE! I LOVE THIS!

xxKatie

Wonderful Wallets

Recently, I've gotten back into lugging my VV tote around again. I find myself wanting to take more and more STUFF with me when I go places, that I somehow need a tote bag again. I have so much stuff in that bag right now, I swear it must be bottomless. I also, in my bag of wonders, have this fabulous wallet. I got it from Forever 21 awhile ago. It's a knockoff of a HOBO wallet which runs like $100+ while this one is only $10.50. And I am not buying a $100 WALLET. I love love love the pale green one that a friend of mine has. This is the HOBO wallet (in kind of a not-functional patent maroon color):They have so many useful compartments, a closeable section for change, and an easy access pocket for your I.D. However, $100+ is too much for a wallet alone.

I happened to stumble upon this one in forever 21. Mine is a pale pink color with a black paisley coin section. It is a little different than the HOBO one, but clearly inspired by it.The color I have actually coincidentally matches the pink of the VV whale print that is on my tote bag. This color resembles their logo pink more than the shade used in their silk prints. The inside of these wallets are equally as cute as the HOBO ones, and have all of the features of the HOBO model. They have a place to slide in paper money, a coin purse, credit card slots, and an I.D. "window". The inside of this pink one looks like this:Talk about cute. I mean Pink and Navy, this is my second favorite combination only to pink and green! This print is reminiscent of the Lilly "Audrey" shift dress in the "Vanilla Oh Jackie" print:(I don't think I've used this many pictures in a single blog post ever!!) Anyway, the Forever 21 wallet comes in Yellow, Black, Dark Pink (what I featured), Cream, and Purple (which is more like Dark Blue Violet). If you are in need of a larger wallet, go for this one! The coin purse part of it can double as a cell phone pocket if you're not one to carry coins and jingle! They are still available online, so definitely check them out! I myself have used mine for probably close to a year, and all the hardware is in mint condition, none of the fabric has ripped, the I.D. "window" is as clear as it was when I bought it, and none of the credit card slots or money areas have gotten stretched out!!! Happy shopping!

xxKatie

Cozy as a Rosy

So, I'm night-blogging and today ended up just being one of those days that I wanted to crawl back into bed. I went out to dinner with my dear friend Maeve to Nordy's Cafe. I bought a Juicy Couture (which I hardly own anything of) black, velour, plain track jacket that was on sale for $61 and change. Usually I don't impulse buy much (although my parents probably disagree), but it was my size, AND on sale and I just couldn't pass it up. As trendy things go, this in my opinion, is very practical! Black, my actual size, on sale, right where I was, I couldn't pass it up! Anyway, that's all beside the point. As I drove home, all I could think about was crawling back into bed. My phone had been ringing off the hook for some plans that my friends and I are making, and for some reason everyone had been calling! I felt pretty famous...haha, that was our word of the night. My bed is so cozy these days because I added a new blanket. It is simply fabulous. It is cozy, and warm and furry and I love it! From Target, I got this blanket for Christmas.It quite possibly may be the best and worst thing I've ever done for my sleeping habits. Now it takes me an extra 5 or 10 minutes every morning to coax myself out of bed. And for a high school senior with a morning routine, this could be deadly. The "Microfleece Blanket" from Target, comes in several different colors. The one I have is a cream/eggshell/ivory color to match my Lilly Perfectly Patched bedding. I was one of the lucky ones to snag LP bedding when it still existed (R.I.P.)...although, if you search hard enough, there are some sleep warehouses that still carry it...shhhh!

This blanket is a must for all you chilly preps. I am ALWAYS cold, so adding a blanket to my bed made me so happy! I would tell you to scoop up every color of these guys; one for every bed you have! While taking other bloggers' Target shopping spree advice, be sure to add one of these blankets to your list, you won't be unhappy! Happy Weekend everyone!

PS. Anyone have advice on Habitat for Humanity trips? More details to come, but I'm working on a school project to pursue a project! Thanks, I appreciate any info!

PSS. Check out Lady Gaga's song called Pokerface. It sounds like Just Dance, but it's cooler. And check out My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson (I will always like her) and Dead and Gone by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake. I really like all of these songs! Worth a download or youtube-age

xxKatie

I is for Inauguration

So, political agendas aside, Michelle Obama is a fabulous dresser! Today's yellow ensemble was so cute! I have to say that I do love the way she dresses. This yellow eyelet dress with the fabulous neckline was a blogging must! How could I resist not commenting about her outfit! Other than the cold, this knee-length outfit was super appropriate and such a great look-forward-to-spring-on-January-20th look! She was glowing the many times that CNN would switch to watch her during the President's speech.

Now I know that Mrs. Obama has been both critiqued at heralded for her outfit options ranging from the "Black Market/White House" dresses to the Isabel Toled combination she wore today. No doubt that the previously unknown Isabel Toled will be absolutely FAMOUS after today.

I have a hard time understanding how she kept warm, however she looked very nice doing it! I cannot wait to see the rest of her options because as of today, Jackie O. may have a competitor for best dressed first-lady! Also, Malia and Sasha looked adorable in their respective outfits. Although, they did look a bit colder! Both girls were wearing J.Crew coats and they did look adorable as well! Michelle was also wearing J.Crew at the children's inaugural concert, who knows maybe she'll be the next preppy icon also, Jackie O.! I can't wait to see what other kind of outfits Michelle has in store for us, because clearly we like them already!

xxKatie

Coldest Day of Winter

So, today is the coldest day of the winter! I can't believe it, only 7 degrees today when I got out of my bed for school. Being a Lilly Lover, I am NOT a fan of cold weather or snow for that matter. I like sundresses, and sandals, and cardigans, while the vests, and sweaters, and pants hide in the back of my closet! My mom is working on a weekend for a school group that I'm a part of. We are 14 Senior class members, the Prefects, just like the ones in Harry Potter. I'm pretty excited because we're heading to Bethany. It is going to be COLD down by the water, and my neighborhood in Bethany is on the bayside. All the Prefects except one are coming so it will be a long weekend that I'm sure everyone will enjoy!


We are all heading up tomorrow morning for a part planning weekend, part bonding sesh! My mom and dad are the "chaperones" along with our Prefect adviser. My mom has gotten up a few activities like a scavenger hunt and a quiz game that has to do with all kinds of stuff about the Prefects themselves, our school, and our school activities. I am super excited to have everyone out at the house. We can all fit, PLUS my mom, dad, and sister.

All I can think about today is the end of the quarter AND the beach weekend! I am currently in free period at school, wearing a pink cable knit sweater under my uniform fleece. Preps everywhere would really like my uniform: khakis, dirty bucks (suede Bass shoes with the pink bottoms), white polos, and black school fleeces. Since today was SO cold, I thought I'd add an extra layer of preppy warmth! Let me say, boy, am I cozy, sitting here in our Learning Resource Center!

For the boys, the Fridays are always "Pink Tie Friday". It's an unofficial rule for the boys that on Fridays you just wear pink ties. I LOVE THIS TRADITION. I think boys should wear more pink because whether it's a tie, sweater, oxford, they are all fabulous in pink!!!!!

I hope everyone enjoys a VERY winter-y day and the sub-freezing temperatures! Have a fun and relaxing long weekend everyone! I'll be thinking about you while I'm at the chilly beach!

xxKatie

Cupcakes!

So today, for Z-Club, a community service club that I'm part of at school, we had a bake sale!! My friend Audrey's boyfriend is "polar bear plunging". The Polar Bear Plunge is an event held every year organized by the MD state police. People "plunge" into the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of winter to raise money for the MD Special Olympics. He made a big-ish presentation at school at our biweekly morning meeting. He made a bet to plunge in a yellow banana suit if he got $200 in donations. If he got $500 in donations, he would plunge in one of Audrey's bikinis. Now, Audrey is French, so they're small bikinis and Bob, um, isn't her size.

Anyway, we had this bake sale and all the profits would go to Bob's PBP fund. I think we made over $40, so we were all very pleased! The theme of the bake sale was PBP, so a lot of the decorations were themed to go along with Bob. I made cupcakes (I'll tell you about this new kind later) that were white frosting with little pink and green bikinis on them. I am so disappointed that I didn't take a picture of them, because I LOVED them! My friend Mary-Claire made blue frosted cupcakes with banana runts on top. Other members made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter-nutella cupcakes, blueberry muffins, and some of the BEST brownies I've ever had. It was so much fun and it reminds me as to why I love Z-Club!

The cupcakes I used were a new item from Duncan Hines (I think, maybe it was Betty Crocker). I am all for boxed goodies. Its about being simple. Anyway, it was a little red box, with enough batter ingredients to make 12 cupcakes instead of the industrial 24. I mean talk about perfect! They are just like Funfetti ones, except you don't use whole eggs, only egg whites. They are light and fluffy and my mom described them as like more angel-food-cake-y than the regular ones. Now, I am still partial to Funfetti, and I always will be, but these make a nice, smaller, backup. Definitely look for them next time you're in the grocery store!

P.S. I am loving Verizon. I get service in a lot more places, and anyone thinking about switching, it's totally the right call, no pun intended!

xxKatie

My Birthday!!

January 8, 2009: Happy Birthday Katie and Elvis! So, the big day. It was so much fun! I love birthdays! My comes especially close to Christmas so I always find myself looking for things to ask for and usually I come up empty-handed. This year was one of those years. My mom literally ran down the list:
"Clothes?"
"No."
"Jewelry?"
"Not that I can think of."
"Purses?"
"Not really."
"Accessories?"
"No, Christmas is such a problem with January birthdays..."
And it continued like that throughout our dinner conversation.

So my birthday morning came and went, it was a Thursday. Nothing particularly exciting that morning. When I got to school, Emmy, one of my friends gave me a little note and told me that she was going to take me out to lunch someday when our schedules didn't conflict. Meredith, another friend of mine, came up to me and handed me a pan full of brownies, not a bad gift at all! The day continued similarly, and a fellow January 8th-er and I had an unofficial competition that whenever we saw one another we had to yell "Happy Birthday" first. (We tied.) Last period of the day, my anatomy and physiology class enjoyed some very preppy cupcakes (decorated with a "princess" kit from Williams and Sonoma.

When I got home, I walked into the house to see our living room table covered in wrapped gifts, gift bags, and colorful cards. I opened everything and was very happy with what I got.My dad typed up this big long letter that was so sweet all about me growing up and whatnot. I can't wait to reread it on my own time. My parents gave me a beautiful necklace, like nothing I own, from Tiffany's. The "Elsa Peretti Open Wave Lariat" was what they picked out. Now, I'm sure if my mom is reading this, she'll be unhappy that I now know the price, but mom, I tried not to look!!! I promise!! Anyway, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I also got Lilly PJ's that I've worn every night since I got them and they're in the "Animal Crackers" print that is one of my favorites of the PJ line. We also switched to verizon wireless, which my sister and I were DYING to switch to. All of our friends have it and we formerly had T-Mobile, and no one would ever text us! So I got a "LG Dare" when we went to verizon. I got a Coach bracelet from my aunt and it's red and has pink C's all over it, which I love because my real name is Catherine! I hope that everyone has fabulous birthdays from here on in, in the New Year!

PS: inthepinkonline.com is having a sale on Lilly sunglasses. I mean slashed prices, even on the polarized ones! Jump on that while they're still there! My advice is going for the Dylan's and Manda's and Calista's and Randi's!

xxKatie

BlackJack!

Well, I ordered some Jacks from piperlime.com a little while ago, maybe a week. piperlime.com is the shoe website associated with Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic. It has a great selection of all kinds of shoes ranging from affordable to eeeeeexxxxpensive. Anywho, I recently got $50 in giftcards to both Gap and Old Navy for Christmas and didn't exactly find anything. I remembered from prom that I had used a Gap gift card on my clutch from piperlime and it worked out beautifully.

I picked out a pair of black Jacks to get thinking that they would be very practical, wearable, and comfortable after a few wears. Well, for $1.67 out of pocket, I'd buy just about anything. The price plus tax and shipping came out to be $101.67, as I remember. So technically, I got a brand spankin' new pair of Jack Rogers for $1.67, that's less than what I would have gotten with my store discount!!

Moving on, they arrived today, and I was very happy! I open up the green and brown box to see my shoe box. I open up that box to see my new sandals, only to be made even happier. Not only were these the sandals that I had ordered, BUT they ended up being black leather with patent black "lacing"! I was super excited because these were the ones I was looking for, but had previously thought that I had come up empty-handed. So, I got my black matte-black patent Jack Rogers for $1.67. What more can a preppy girl ask for?

Plus, today I finally got my hair highlighted. It had been long overdue, and with my birthday looming, when else?! Anyway, it's now more blond and my mom approves so I was happy!

Plus Plus, day 6 of my New Year's resolution is going well. I am planning away and have all of my homework, tests, quizzes, school events, and games all consolidated into one place. Finally, I think I might be getting good at this! Hope everyone is enjoying the new year!

xxKatie

Love Actually: Greatest Movie I've Seen in Awhile

As a movie reviewer on rottentomatoes.com says, Love Actually is "ten romantic comedies rolled into one". It's a British flick all about love...actually! It starts out with a narrator, aka "The Prime Minister" who is Hugh Grant (and fabulous) and he says,

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

I mean who wouldn't already be melting, and we're probably three minutes into the movie. Some of the taglines are "All You Need Is Love...Actually", "Very Romantic. Very Comedy.", and "The Ultimate Romantic Comedy".

My ultimate favorite movie scene from any movie is in LoveActually. I don't want to give any of the story away, but this should motivate you to go see it, enjoy:


Go out and rent/buy/download/TiVo/DVR this movie as soon as you can. Definitely in my top 5!
xxKatie

Love Pictures and Have Time To Waste?

Well, do I have the solution for you! Photofunia.com is such a fun way to doctor pictures. I found it a few days ago after seeing some of my friends' own photos. It's super fun if you like taking pictures and it will give you a good laugh. You may have to downsize some pictures, but it tells you exactly how as long as you have a PC. I am on a MAC so it's a little tough. Either way, it is a good way to waste a little time. There are a few pictures with a feature that will find your face in a picture and just use your face in part of the pictures. I don't know how it works, but it is definitely cool. Here are a few of the ones I've done:
Now, I know this post isn't preppy per se, but it's cool. Give it a try yourself!

xxKatie

Resolution 2009: Planners

So at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, I told myself that I would get legitimately organized. I tried, and did pretty well actually. I modeled my planning skills after my friend Shannon, who is the ULTIMATE planner. Not only is she super organized, but she knows everyone's birthday, every possible due date you can imagine, ever important sporting event, and every other commitment that she has for the entire year. One can only dream to be as organized as Shannon. On top of all her organizational skills, it's all color coded with highlighters and colorful pens. Knowing I couldn't be as ambitious, I started out with a planner. It was pink and from B&N. Embossed on the front was "2008". I put all my work dates, cross country meets and everything else I could think of in the 2 x 1 box per day. I was impressed with my handiwork.

Then, the rest of the year rolled around. I have another school planner where I put my homework, and putting all that stuff in both planners drove me insane. Eventually, I just used my school-mandated one because I couldn't channel my inner Shannon enough.

For my resolution, I am going to try to get back into super-planning. I think I can do it. I'm crossing my fingers that my teachers don't assign as much work (although I know that it is only wishful thinking...). I already have my second semester mindset in check, and it's not even second semester yet! Not a good sign, not a good sign. Either way, I'm going to try to be more organized with this planner. I have my lacrosse schedule with tryouts, games, early outs, and spring break plans all in there already, so that's my start. (I manage my school's boy's varsity lacrosse, so it's pretty important that I know what's going on.) I am going to focus myself on putting as much stuff as I can into this planner and knowing what's happening when and where. I think I can do it, don't you? I mean I maintain a blog post just about everyday, so why can't I do this?

There are some great planners on bn.com if anyone is looking to put a little Shannon into their life too. I like this one, the "2009 Weekly Desk Mod Squares Magnetic Engagement Calendar". It will only run you about 10 bucks for an entire year! Happy Planning!

xxKatie