Holiday Treats!

So the T-Giving Holiday break escaped as fast as usual and I can't wait to be back home. This week I have to study my BUTT off for finals so I won't be posting...yikes. I have 2 finals--one Monday and one Tuesday and then I head home ASAP Wednesday since no flights corresponded with when my Tuesday exam ended. I came back today, tears included, even though I'm going back in 9 days. There are always tears involved since I'm so far away, just departing from the fam as usual!

Enough about school (I find that I tell myself a lot when I write posts, haha!) but back onto my holiday treats! We ended up making the M&M Pretzels, Onion dip, and P's in B's, and then I made some Funfetti cookies to round out Gameday. I didn't have too too much time Saturday so I decided not to cook the other goodies, but all the ingredients are still chilling in my refridge.

While we were shopping for all the ingredients, my mom found some cool breast cancer M&M's which were all pink. Some were dark pink and some were light pink so we decided to go with those instead of the traditional M&M's. Here's how they turned out:

The Funfetti cookies also were another hit! I am a HUGE gigantic cupcake fan, but if you're pressed for time, need a lot of cookies/gifts/etc, or just like cookies, these are a wonderful recipe! My mom even said that these were the best thing I ever made. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 1 Box of Funfetti Cake Mix (buy the Pillsbury Funfetti)

2. 1/3 cup of oil (I use canola all the time)

3. 2 eggs

4. Frosting of choice (I use a whipped frosting from Pillsbury with the Vanilla flavor, its super duper light and not too sweet. I dyed 2 frostings, a pink one with 4 drops of neon pink coloring and a green one with 1 drop of green frosting and 5 drops of neon green coloring. You can buy a "neon" pack of food dye from McCormick and that's what I had.)

Preparation:

From the Pillsbury Website, but you can find this recipe on the side of every Funfetti Box

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness. For this I recommend using a melon baller, whatever size that is, and forming the dough into that small circle. That way they're all similar in shape and have a good size for decorating.

2. Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets

3. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container. I piped my frosting during this step. I made 24 cookies and that was only half of the dough. I had to throw the rest out because it was too late to keep cooking! I probably could have put it in the refridge, but I decided not to.

This is how they turned out:

Here are a few of my favorites zoomed in:

My house was quite the baking haven this weekend because I don't have a kitched readily available in my dorm, so I take advantage of cooking whenever I can!

Sorry about not posting for awhile, but look for a huge update Wednesday! Good luck to my fellow college bloggers taking exams!

xxKatie

Pink Friday

I hope everyone had fabulous PINK FRIDAYS! I did a little shopping today, but nothing major at all! I had to make today's post about how spoiled I am, considering that I had to wear a real winter coat for the first time this season today!! I couldn't believe it, but my Denali North Face fleece wouldn't cut it.

It was super windy today so I needed some protection from that especially. I can't believe how much I've seemingly taken the weather for granted! I know once I get back to school--for all of 9 days--I'll really appreciate how nice it is! Can you get over that, I mean I go back for a week and then I take 2 exams and come home. I also just realized that I'll be home for the Army/Navy game too! It's basically a holiday in my house!

We're BIG HUGE Navy fans in my house since it's my dad's alma mater. Plus, "Go A--Y" (you know what I'm trying to say) just doesn't roll off the tongue like "GO NAVY" does!

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and that you managed to stay safe and sound! Now onto the Christmas music and decorating!

xxKatie

P.S. EVERYONE BETTER BE CHEERING THE COCKS ONTO VICTORY TOMORROW! U-S-C GOOOOO COCKS!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I'm thankful for my family and friends! I'm thankful that I'm home and that I love being home. I'm thankful for all my blog friends and how I feel like I even have blog friends. I'm thankful for all the food that we'll be able to eat and eat and eat. I'm thankful that my parents invested in my education and take it seriously. I'm thankful for everyone and everything in my life, and I hope everyone else is as thankful as we all are today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

xxKatie

Clemson Game Menu

Hey everyone! Since I'm not the Thanksgiving maker (heck, I'll probably be in charge of desserts! ) I'm going to post all the things I'd like to make for Saturday. I'm gonna change it up and post the goodies that I'll be making for T-Giving tomorrow or so. My mom makes a DEEEEE-lish Turkey soup that I actually like more than the traditional T-Giving dinner, but that's ok. Saturday I was to make a big gameday menu so this is what I'm thinking:

1. Pigs in a Blanket

P's in B's are one of my all time FAVES! I absolutely love them and literally can eat about 20 at a time, I kid you not. My extended family even has served them at wedding receptions since we all like them so much. I love mine dunked in ketchup! I make them with regular refrigerated Cresent Roll dough and the "Lil' Franks" that Hillshire farms makes. I've tried making them with Boar's Head mini franks, but they're gross and don't make a good "roll" with the Cresent Roll dough.

2. Onion Dip and Spicy Nacho Doritos

It may sound gross, but I think its great! This is is a "recipe" that I stole from my aunt Megan. She serves hers with regular nacho Doritos, but I love the spicy nacho ones personally, so this is always a staple at parties. Just give it a try, I promise it's good!

3. M&M Pretzels I found a website called foodgawker.com and it has the most blogged about/most commented on/overall best online recipes and good ideas for cooking. This recipe I think looks so delish and so easy to make! I'll either make this OR a Chex Mix recipe called Muddy Buddies. That will be my sweet tooth fix!

4. Pizza Bites I mean they're even called party food on the website! I can't believe it! These are like those Totino's Pizza Rolls (which I happen to LOVE) but homemade. It doesn't get much better than pulling them apart? Am I right? Yet another recipe from foodgawker. Seriously one night, I just spent awhile adding them to a "FOOD" bookmark tab on my Safari!

5. Fried Mozzarella Balls I think this will be a little difficult, but so yummy! I've never really fried anything, so I'm not sure if I'll do this or just grab the ones from Friday's in the frozen food section. Again, I got this from foodgawker too. If you have time, check it out. There are literally 100's of chocolate chip cookie recipes as well as tons of homemade Chinese food recipes!

I'm sure this will end up being tougher than I imagine, but there are 2 fun games on that day. Carolina/Clemson and Navy/Hawaii! I can't wait to see how my teams do! What are you guys making for the Thanksgiving games? I'll do another post about my Thanksgiving desserts (Mom, I'm taking over dessert, FYI! Haha!)

What are your Gameday staples? Any snack that's specific to your family or has a cute tradition?

xxKatie

Faux Pas

Whether its a faux pas or just something I don't understand, I'm struggling with this concept:

I took the liberty of blurring out this celebrity's face. Her name might sound like Anna Alabama or something like that. Anyway, I really don't understand Ugg boots and Booty shorts. Clearly if the weather is applicable to one of the items, it is clearly not to the other. If its cold enough to be wearing Uggs, then its not warm enough to be wearing short shorts. This is yet another college look that people seem to enjoy. I could-maybe-potentially-begin to understand the combo (maybe...) if it was inclement weather and you had no other possible options, but not today. I mean even when the weather isn't nice, I still wear my junky Jack Rogers because I know nothing will happen to them except they'll be a little slippery (and I don't have rain boots here!) but they'll dry fine, retain their shape and not be discolored--like say, sneakers might be. Anyway, this is ALL over campus today! I don't understand!!

xxKatie

PS. I'm about to POP I want to go home so much! YAY!

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Today I've been super duper productive! The farther I get into college, the more I realize how much I like to plan things. Today alone, I've worked on planning two huge events! I'm organizing a big dinner for the class of 2009 since we're high school alumni! I'm trying to figure out a venue that will support a large group but no catering or things like that. Ideally, I'd like a restaurant that is semi-suffering from the economy so that they'll be happy to take a group of college kids between 30-50 in number. I have 3 spots in mind secretly. Facebook has been extremely useful since everyone checks it and it makes RSVP-ing super easy! I've also made my Facebook group for my Lilly collegiate representing and in 5 hours my membership is steadily increasing so I'm very proud! I got my official advertising package with order forms, personalizing forms, samples, etc, etc, etc. I couldn't be more excited to throw a Lemonade party next semester! I emailed the sorority presidents today hoping that they'd pass on my email to the sisters! YAY! I can't wait to see what happens with that! Not to mention, Emma came today and we had such a good visit! Her grandparents came too and made the day very interesting. She was surprised at how much she liked the University, so I was excited. From her high school and my high school, she knew of so many people who had applied to USC which is awesome! Its really becoming popular in MD! Here we are back in the summer:

Tomorrow I have a busy day studying for a test that I have on Monday as well as a party tomorrow night and an important meeting that will take most of Sunday I believe! Then, next thing I know, I'm flying home on Tuesday! I'm so excited!

The more busy I become, the less I think about being home which is definitely good because I am certainly ready for a break. I can't believe that I will be back home in 4 days!!! My closest girlfriends are meeting at a friend's house on Wednesday night to have a HUGE catch-up sesh since it will be the first time we've seen each other since we said our weepy goodbyes! I have so much to look forward to in the next few days that I know I can make it through to Tuesday and then to Thanksgiving and then to the CLEMSON game!!

xxKatie

Feeling Crafty

I rarely ever make 2 posts in one day, but I just had to share this with you guys! Today while I was in line to pay for my breakfast, I saw a sorority girl with a recruitment shirt on that I loved! The slogan was "You can never have enough friends or dresses when they're the perfect fit!" I adapted it a little and made this:

Mine says, "You can never have enough friends or dresses, especially if you're lucky enough to find the perfect fit!" I found a photo of a Lilly shift and thought that it was simply perfect!

I got this fabulous frame as a gift from the Lilly store for a graduation gift. Its from PotteryBarn and I love the silver ball decals, not to mention its engraved with my name! You can see all the reflections around my room and my desk calendar so it looks a little funny in a photo but trust me, I love it on my desk. Usually my desk is super cluttered, so you can't see the photos, but since I'm most likely bringing guests back tomorrow I want things to look presentable! I have photos from my Senior year homecoming, a hand-drawn "Story People"-esque print, a photo of my dad and I from when I was like 5, a picture of me and my best friend Emily, a family photo that I adore from my Baccalaureate ceremony (we all look really nice and I'm in my favorite J. Crew jacquard dress), a picture from the summer before Senior year where 2 of my friends are stacked on top of me and we're all laughing (Its cute because it was very spur of the moment AND I'm in a Lilly seersucker swimsuit. Its not very flattering but it reminds me of SUCH a fun day) and then of course the photo I posted yesterday of my Pink Crab loves!

If you're feeling crafty, make a print like mine and post it! Its too cute!

xxKatie

Visitors!

These are some of the lovely ladies that work with me in the Lilly store! This was near the end of the summer and we snuck in a photo shoot with my mom to get pictures of a lot of the people who work a bunch! In the long dress is Amanda C. Bee, a fellow blogger who's currently studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh and I'm now at college so we had to get this photo shoot in ASAP! The girl with the strapless patchwork dress is Emma and she's a senior in high school right now. She lives a few houses down from me and she's visiting USC tomorrow! I couldn't be more excited to show her around and give her the "unofficial tour". I just get so excited when I hear about friends of mine who are applying this year because I love showcasing the school! This photo is actually printed out and sitting on my desk, so you know its a big deal! We always had a great time working together since we're so close in age and obviously share a lot of interests!!

This weekend is also a big weekend since I have to hit the books majorly! I only have school Monday and Tuesday next week but I seem to have two weeks worth of work squeezed in between now and then! Tuesday night, I'm jetting home until Monday which I'm super excited about! I've only been home once since I got to school and that was about a month ago! Thanksgiving will be too much fun and T-Giving Saturday is the big CLEMSON-CAROLINA football game! I won't be here, but I will have all of that Saturday devoted to watching it (and a little Navy/Hawaii)! I can't wait to see what that'll be like!


Hope everyone has a wonderful day and weekend!


xxKatie

Lilly Bedding is BACK!

Raise your hand if you own Lilly bedding. I hope you're all raising your hands! I know I have it myself in my room back at home. Here in college I have Jillian's Closet bedding that I love. Anyway, Lilly bedding is coming back and looks better than ever! LP is pairing up with Garnet Hill this time around and it seems like both companies couldn't be more excited!

As Garnet Hill says, "Check back in January" and check back will I do! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my current bedding because its the Perfectly Patched bedding:

Just seeing a picture makes me want to get cozy and snuggle-y in my own bed!! Check out another Garnet Hill preview for the new bedding:

SO FUN! I can't wait to see what it all looks like in person! Yayyyyy! Lilly, welcome back to the world of bedding!

xxKatie

New Hair

Hi all! I've had such a busy weekend that I've hardly had time to post. This week I have 5 papers due! I attempted 3 of them over the weekend accompanied by a GREAT football game, party and course registration! Among all this, I've had horrible hair trouble. I told you all that I was going to catch up on my highlights with a box color. When I was at the store, I figured I'd just go all out and color my whole head, I mean I'm generally all over blond anyway, why not? Boy-oh-boy was I wrong. I box colored my hair two Thursdays ago and it was disgusting. I am not even going to post pictures of that color. It was a brassy, yellow-orange with golden highlights. My roots ended up being too dark for the color that I had chosen. I saw all the rules and compared my beginning color to the colors on the boxes, thinking if worst came to worst I'd be ok. Well, I was not by any means ok. I used a L'Oreal product, which I found out when I went to get the color fixed is the worst for your hair.

That following Saturday I went to the Paul Mitchell School here in Columbia. My hairdresser was a student which I had zero problems with because the prices were good. I had a 1:15 appointment for "color correction"...yikes! Long story short, that day my hair didn't turn out like I had imagined because I still had yucky roots AND they ended up charging me twice as much as I thought I was paying. As I'm typing, I'm realizing my root color was close to the shade of the "PUBLISH POST" button...oops!! Needless to say, I called my mom in tears as I walked back to campus. I had scheduled another appointment for the following Saturday with the same girl. Now while you all gawk at why I would do that, I figured she'd know exactly what we did, with exactly the same colors, you know.

So I went back this Saturday and she did in fact remember everything. She told me that she had even consulted her fellow students--in the store they call them "future professionals"--about what to do with me. The first time we tried highlighting the bottom hair so it could catch up with the color of the top layer of hair and then treating the top layer to get the orange out...which obviously didn't work. The next time I went, we tried 2 rounds of toner that apparently my hair wasn't light enough for. Finally, we just did an all-over demi-permanent color (who knows what that is?!) so now I have hair close to my original color.

Here's the final product:

I think its a nice color for the winter. I've recently been wondering what it would be like for me to go back to my original color. As you can see, its still a little light where I originally had my real blond highlights (not overall box color). Since its demi-permanent, it will "fade" which I think means will "wash out eventually" but they had to sell me that statement in the store. Either way, I think I'll be working my way back to my original hair color for now. Maybe come spring I'll see what happens. There's also a good chance that I will go back to my very first hairdresser at home and explain this whole ordeal to her so she can fix it all and get it back to the highlights that I had. We shall see but I'll keep you posted on my hair!

xxKatie

P.S. Don't you love that scarf? Target...$12 and it is super soft and one-tone leopard print!

New Job!

Hi Everyone! Hope all is well with you! This week has been one for the record books. I had my hardest nursing test thus far as well as the hardest test I've taken in my academic career in Chemistry for Nursing. Among the scholastic whirlwind, I actually have a new job that I think you all will enjoy! About 2 hours ago, I just got off the phone with Lifeguard Press. They are the stationary/fine gifts company involved with all matters of the Lilly stationary line as well as the Vera Bradley line! You happen to be reading the blog of their newest COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVE!

I'm representing USC in their newest addition! There are 30 current college reps, but that number is rising quickly as is the rate of colleges participating! We're working with our respective colleges and really hitting the collegiate scene! I cannot wait to host my first party and show the girls all the fabulous stuff that LP&LP have to offer! Here's a preview of what they've got:

Those are the circle notes, as I'm sure all of you know about! I'll be selling cups, pens, agendas, all kinds of wonderful Lilly stationary products!! I'll be getting all my advertising stuff this week, and I'll be sure to show you all! I'd love any ideas from my college bloggers about any input! Be looking for the rep on your campus soon, we're all showing up quickly!

xxKatie

Happy Birthday Lilly! AND HUGE LILLY NEWS!

Today is Lilly's birthday! Happy 78th!

ALSO BIG NEWS: Lilly Pulitzer is going to have their first online sale in TWO DAYS. I believe its a gigantic Jubilee sale that starts staggered from 7am-11am. If you're a facebook fan (which you should be A-SAP) you get to see everything they'll have at 7am. I will be up BRIGHT and early before my 8am class that day!

It is 4 Days Only, but I know it will last WAY shorter than that! All of us who are facebook fans will be getting the cream of the crop right at 7am! There are like 3 Jubilee items that I have SEVERE buyer's remorse that I didn't buy, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they might just be there for me! Maybe I'll snag something early and make it "an early Christmas present" for myself (how does that sound, mom?)! Make sure that you join on facebook to get to see everything that is available especially if you're sizes 4-8, which seems to sell out the fastest at my store!

xxKatie

Workout Ideas

Basically up until college I've been super lucky with not having to pay attention to what I eat because I've been pretty active. I don't think I've necessarily gained the proverbial "freshman 15", but I know I've probably gained 5-6 lbs. I was talking to a friend of mine today and he said that "i have to make sure im not the fattest" during a text conversation we had. Now I know I'm not the fattest, but I do worry that I might have gained some noticeable weight, so I'm starting my pre-thanksgiving break workout regiment. If it sounds official, maybe I'll stick with it. I live in a building that is about as far away from the gym as you can get, but my parents say that's no excuse.

No joke this is our workout facility: The Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. "The Strom" is about a half-hour walk from my dorm so when I go I have to be extremely motivated. I've decided that I'm going to take advantage of living on the 14th floor of a 16 floor building by doing the stairs. I say doing because there is no way I'm in shape enough to run them. Today I did two sets of the stairs and I was able to jog up the first half both times which I'm pretty proud of. After the sets I did 100 calf raisers to see what that might do! I'm feeling pretty excited about this workout and to see what my maximum rep's of stair sets will be. My goal is to add a set every day, but that might be tough. I've downloaded a bunch of great workout music and did my sets for today. I wrote everything down and I'm going to try to stay with it!

What do you guys do to keep in shape? Any ideas or suggestions for me would be greatly appreciated!! I hope everyone is getting excited for Thanksgiving!!

Guide to Being a Good Friend

Enlarge this photo and check out the advice for being a good friend! (From Glamour Magazine)

1. Gossip yes, but don't get mean. She'll wonder whether you're talking that way about her to everyone else.

2. If she's got a poppy seed in her teeth, mascara under her eyes, or deodorant on her sweater, tell her.

3. If she's crazy about him, pretend he's your brother and never, ever date him.

4. Do not--repeat, do not--side with her mother.

5. Have that scary fight about how she's been bugging you. If you can go there for a guy, you can for her, too.

6. Keep her ring size filed away in case you-know-who calls for advice about you-know-what.

7. Oh, just wear the bridesmaid's dress.

8. See straight through her attempts at cool perfection and love her more for the weaknesses she's trying to hide.

9. Remind her that she wasn't that into him, either.

10. When the guy dumps her, the cat gets cancer, the job explodes, simply be there.

What nice sentiments! Always good little tid-bits to keep in mind to be a better friend. I think its a good goal that we all can have!

xxKatie

Best Purchase Recently

So on the Lilly facbeook page, some woman posted a photo of her Blackberry Pearl Lilly-fied. It was wonderful and had many many comments! I am SO excited to say that I took the initiative of making her project my own and transformed:

this plus this

into this:

As well as turning this:

into this:

All this is thanks to uniqueskins.com. They have no idea how popular they are about to get thanks to the lady who Fall 2009 Lilly-fied her Blackberry! She should work for them!!

Grace, if you ever read my blog, your phone cover will be coming home soon as long as I can get around to it. If not, I'll have it for you at T-Giving. Miss you!

xxKatie

Perfect Weather

Today was just about as nice a day as I can ask for! It was sunny and bright and so comfortable. If you stood in the sun you got warmed up and it was so nice! Unfortunately, it seemed to be just about the only warmth I could find though. The nights here get pretty chilly and they're not turning the heat on in my dorm until Thanksgiving break. I have a feeling its going to be a chilly 3 weeks inside the room! I've had to lint roll my jeans a couple times a day after wrapping up in my cozy fleece blanket as I sit in my room. Everyone I talk to who has had their heat turned on, tells me that I should be happy since the USC heat seems to be "wet". I can only imagine that the heat will be a little muggy for the first few days. I remember at home when we first get the heat started it really smells like something is burning, yuck! Anyway, I will be very happy if the weather continues to be this nice if our dorm heat isn't turned on! I wore this today since it was so nice out (I'm really starting to LOVE polyvore if you couldn't tell): 

Novermber 3 by letsbepreppy featuring Bandolino shoes

If you all didn't notice in my curls photo, I do have highlighted hair and its beginning to grow out. I haven't colored it since I got to school, so I'm quite due for a color job. I'm a little nervous to try any hairstylists out down here just because I don't know anyone's reputations. The amazing girl I go to has a great rep in our hometown and we've told many people to go to her as many people told us to! My mom, sister and I all get our hair done by her and this will be the first time since I was 15 (literally from my 15th birthday) that I haven't gone to her to get my hair done. A friend of mine who came here from a rival school back home has done peoples' hair that I know and so I talked to her tonight and I'm gonna go to her! I figure I can try her "styling" out for all of about $10 and if it doesn't exactly work out, I can get it fixed at home for the regular price. I need some advice on home hair coloring if anyone has experience. I'm heading over to Target tomorrow with another friend to go on what we're calling a "Target date" and she's gonna go shopping with me! I'll probably pick up a kit or something tomorrow and have Jacey do my hair some weekday this week! I'll post before and after photos for sure!


Right now, I'm very guiltily watching Natalie Morales and Kate's interview from John and Kate Plus 8. She seems so sad. I do love Natalie Morales though, we're a Today Show family at home!


Hope everyone else is enjoying this fab weather!


xxKatie


PS. Gracie Beth, man the USC Gamecocks did not show up against your Vols! Congrats on the W!!

Southern Songs

SO Gracie Beth at Preppy Southern Princess started this whole Southern Songs blog post, and I'm going to follow suit. I'm not a native Southerner, so my post my end up being a little different.

Sandstorm by Darude- This song is Carolina football (along with 2001, click the link to see what I mean. They play this song in the few seconds before the Carolina football team takes the field). Students chant for the football DJ to play Sandstorm. This video is the USC student section cheering at the Ole Miss game which is undoubtedly the most talked about Gamecock game this season.

Carolina Girls by General Johnson and The Chairman of the Board- I couldn't find this song for the longest time, but if people are shagging here, they are shagging to this song...Carolina Girls: Sweet Southern Pearls...Sweet Carolina Girls

Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie and the Blowfish- Hootie and his good old Blowfish graduated from the institution known as University of South Carolina. See the photos in the top right corner with the big columns and the teeny tiny one on the left in the middle? They're taken at Longstreet Theatre, which is ON campus. This is Hootie and the Blowfish's first album cover!

She's Country by Jason Aldean- No matter where you are, this song will get played and when he sings "She's a party all-nighter from South Carolina" every girl in the place will proudly be yelling these lyrics from the top of her lungs. I may be guilty for doing so at a tailgate or two!

Carolina by Corey Smith- (or any song by Corey Smith for that matter) The student paper here named Corey Smith as the "official musician of freshman" in their 50 Things I Learned my Freshman Year publication.

Hillbilly Deluxe by Brooks and Dunn- This song reminds me of when the state fair came to Columbia and all the times I see people riding in the beds of 4x4 trucks. I still don't know if its legal here or not!!

History in the Making by Darius Rucker- He (is or was) the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, so he's another Gamecock! Darius was heard for the first time singing in the shower of his dorm (which no longer is standing from what I've heard)

Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond- This is another stadium song. Our band will play it and everyone will sing along. Try to hear 80,250 people sing such a goofy song is a blast. My mom always says that she and her friends sang this is college and now its one my college songs, too cool!

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison- Generally any song that people know the majority of the lyrics to is a hit in college. This is such a good song especially for those girls who have Brown eyes! If this is every played, everyone sways back and forth and sings making it a fab time!

xxKatie

Halloween!

So for Halloween, my promise to myself was to a) not pay for my costume ideally and b) not look trashy. I am not a huge fan of Halloween, and in my family we try as hard as possible to not celebrate it. Since I've stopped Trick or Treating when I was like in 5th grade-maybe-I've followed in my family's footsteps and never really been into the holiday. However, since being at college Halloween is taken VERY seriously. I attended 3 Halloween parties and attempted to have 3 different costumes. My goals were clear and simple and I somehow managed to fulfill both believe it or not! For my residence hall, we had a "Rave to the Grave". I'm on my residence hall government so I helped a lot in the planning of the event. I was more than happy to help run it but I had left my costume options up to that day...probably not the best idea! I used the trusty old google and ended up being an "autograph book" and had people sign me! Well, not only did it go over well, but I used highlighter for people to sign so it doubled as rave-wear! I'm not a huge fan of this photo, but its a good one of my shirt:

                                         

On the front it said "Are You Famous..." and on the back it said "...cause I could use your autograph". I loved this costume and would definitely recommend it to anyone! These are all people from my hall: a gorilla, me, Lucy Liu, and a USC frat boy (there's nothing in that cup :).

For night 2, a friend hosted a Halloween party at her apartment. Again, wanting to look classy and have an inexpensive (NOT CHEAP) costume I looked through my closet to see what I could come up with. I decided to go with a tried and true costume that I've worn for spirit week. I went as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde!

                                       

I wore a pink and green polka dot shift with a big pink coat on top! I wore Platinum jacks and was so so so comfy! My friend here is dressed up as champagne! I ABSOLUTELY loved her costume! I told her it was just about as sophisticated as a Halloween costume could get! She wore all cream colored clothing and super sparkly gold and pearl jewelry. She even had a logo on her sweater but I'm blocking it...oops! I loved the gold and opaque gift bow she wore on her head and she had a cork in her bag. Too cute!

Finally for the last night, I was basically all out of ideas. Night 3 in a 3 night ordeal that I don't usually celebrate. I broke down and googled "cheap easy Halloween costumes for college kids". Quite a wordy search so I didn't expect to get much. Well, there are some very creative people out there who suggest wonderful costume ideas! I saw a suggestion for Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune, and knew I could do it! My mom recently bought me a black floor length dress from forever21 that I knew could work with some blingin' jewelry and big high heels (Lilly "the High Life Sandal" actually). Vanna always has perfectly coiffed hair, so I decided to borrow a girl's curling iron from 2 doors down, Lucy Liu actually. These were the curls I came up with (thinking of all Summer Wind's curling tips, which work great by the way):

                                             

The quality isn't too good since its from a mirror (EW! so myspace-y I don't ever do it but it was the only way I could get a decent hair shot). I carried around the letter E on a piece of computer paper and asked people if they "Wanted to buy a vowel?". That was when they really knew who I was! Here's a better shot of the whole costume:

                                                    

This friend of my went as Mrs. Polamalou (I'm probably killing the spelling of that name). We went to the last get together with each other!

I'd say that my 2 goals were accomplished both nights successfully! What were you all for Halloween? See any FABULOUS costumes you can't wait to steal next year? Hope everyone had safe holidays!

xxKatie