Giveaway: Capitol Letters Makeup Bag

What's perfect for the girl who has everything? Something to put it all in!

A great choice for a girly gift is a makeup bag!

Capitol Letters on Etsy is giving away a makeup bag to a lucky winner!

Not only is this a great gift, but a good makeup bag is a holiday essential for anyone traveling. Do you spend Thanksgiving with your maternal grandparents and Christmas with your dad's parents? Do you go from coast to coast? Do you fly or drive? 

SO MUCH TRAVELING around this time of the year! That's certainly one major thing I've learned since traveling a lot to and fro college and home!

I love the fun, whimsical details on the bags too!

In order to qualify for this week's Giveaway Monday giveaway just use this Rafflecopter widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Giveaway Monday!

Safe travels to anyone heading home or to their Thanksgiving destination if you're leaving today!

xxKatie

Home Sweet Home

I've been at home for a few days and I came across this today! I had to share it with everyone to show where YOUR Lilly-fied home is!

xxKatie

Weekly Gratitude

This week has BLOWN by! I have a lot of thanking to do!

1. Thanks to Maryland for being my home. You've welcomed me with open arms despite all my trash talking and MD-hatin' I did last summer. For that I am sorry and thanks for taking me back. I look forward to repairing our relashe as soon as possible.

2. Thanks to the man in Barnes and Noble for judging me in the business section. While yes I may not look like your traditional business student, nor am I typically in the Economics section of any bookstore, but putting you in your place when I told you I was looking for "Nudge" made me extremely happy. As a worker in a bookstore, "You should never judge a book by its cover." #owned #sins

3. Thanks to Lilly Pulitzer for making clothes that do not fit me. If it weren't for your too tight pants, my bank account would be drained. For the first time, I love that you fit models are not my dimensions. This is the best problem to have as a broke college student.

4. Thank you to some rando country song I heard on the radio (now I know it's called 1,000 Faces by Randy Montana) for mentioning us wedding obsessed girls, "There’s debutantes, drama queens, glued-to bride magazines..."

5. Actually thank you to country music in general. It's like you're reading my mind. Props.

6. Thanks to my planner for being 18 months. We have been on a roller coaster together for this whole year. Let's make the last 7 months the best ever! BRING IT 2011.

7. Thanks to everyone in SC who has put up with me at home. My name is Katie and I miss y'all like CRAZY. Hit a sista up!

8. For anyone that knows me personally, they know I sleep with a frog. I've had him since 3rd grade. He is the best travel companion a girl could ask for. He's lumpy, and used to be covered in fleece, and smells like us. Thanks frog. (He, it's a boy, but he doesn't have a name. Nothing has stuck all these years.)

9. Thanks to my BlackBerry for finally updating. There must be something (besides rain) in the air here. And I love it! It's seriously like having a new phone! Anyone with a Curve 9330 has most likely had this for 4 months and it's old new but I am one happy girl!

10. Thanks to my iPod (hmm electronics trend much?) for almost being full. You come so close to capacity and yet I can still squeeze that perfect country song (or 5 or 6) on to you!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Exams All Day Erryday

April 27 by letsbepreppy featuring hair bow accessories

So I'm smack in the midst of my exams. I've finished 2 of them and have 2 more to knock down. I will also be here until the last day of finals which totally stinks because all of my friends will be finished by the time I still have my last one! (#bitter) I am so ready to be done with these classes but I am SICK to my stomach thinking that I'm halfway done with college. I can't believe it! Anyway I've been sticking with comfy clothes to study for exams and I'm always carrying around a sweatshirt just in case we start studying where it gets too cold! All the buildings tend to CRANK up the A/C since everyone's inside now and I'd say we all highly appreciate it.

Anyone else in exams? I am thinking of all of you in between the Boolean Proofs, Balance Sheets, Production Possibility Frontiers, and Expressionist paintings that I'll be studying this week!

xxKatie

Christmas Card Time

So this is the Christmas card we decided on! This is my B-E-A-U-tiful sister and I and the photo we liked the best..."Mom pick 23 NOT 16". We took this out on our back porch with the goofy nautical flags that surround the screened in porch. We actually took this on Thanksgiving day and I wore the fabulous dress that the wonderful ladies at Pink Sorbet helped me pick out! I loved it and can't wait to wear it again! 

I also wore leggings for the first time! They were super comfy, but I'm VERY far away from ever wearing them as just "pants". I wore them more as tights under my dress, but they were super cozy nonetheless. That night we went to go see HP7 which was quite enjoyable. The last time we saw a movie, like all 4 of us was Toy Story 3 so we were a little overdue. We all seemed to like it although now I'm yearning for the next one--which is the goal of the producers and actors and everyone I'm sure.

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Traveling Home

October 13 by letsbepreppy featuring a duffle luggage

I know I just did an OOTD post, but I couldn't help this one. I wore this coming home on Wednesday and it was quite a comfy travel outfit. I never know how cold or how hot a plane/airport will be, so there's always a lot of variability. Not to mention, Maryland weather is just as volatile as South Carolina weather, so packing was an entirely different nightmare. Although, when I was packing, I realized I needed a different bag, to then discover that I packed Wellies to bring to school with me:

Foolish me forgot that I brought any with me! Anyway, I'm typing as I listen to my new Darius CD that I still love (it's very rare these days to find an entire CD that you like in the age of singles, but I'm loving jammin' out to this one).

Back to the OOTD, I love this skirt. My mom picked it up for me YEARS ago from Vineyard Vines and I wear it all the time! I love it paired with black tights and black polos especially (as you can see). It's a super fun salmon color and I must seem like a walking billboard with my tote as well. It was a good choice for traveling since traveling in a dress isn't always the best option. I was comfortable and looked appropriate to be in an airport. I don't think people realize how much goes on while you're in an airport and how many people you come in contact with. There's no need (unless you're going on vacation) to look sloppy in a t-shirt and workout shorts. There's also no need to be wearing anything low-cut because there are so many professionally dressed people all around. Also, you'll be going through security and being searched sometimes and that's no time to have a wardrobe malfunction.

I'm ready for the real fall temps to drop a few degrees so that I can break out the tights and fun boots! I'm already thinking of what I can do with my wardrobe! 

xxKatie

Home Sweet Home

In a few measly hours, I will be back to the place I love. Naptown, ANA, ANP, the 410, whatever you call it, I'm headed home to see my family, maybe some friends, a Navy football game (although it will be tough to watch anything after this weekend's performance), and one of the best cities in the world.

80, 250 > 34, 000 (sorry Dad)

Oh Crab, how I've missed you!

I have a beyond awful logic test (only one of two tests for the entire semester...the other one's a final...) that I have to surmount before I leave and a community health lecture to sit through, but my goodness I'll do anything! By the time I land in MD, I will have been out of my house for just over 3 months! I think it's the longest I've ever gone without being in my own house...weird. I'm so excited to sleep in my bed, hang out with my sister and get to catch up with my parents!

xxKatie

Engagement! (This might be a teeny bit obnoxious...)

So my friend Mary Claire and I were shopping yesterday in forever21 (yes, this ridiculousness started in f21) and were inspired about engagement rings. We kept trying on huge ones and were determining what our favorite ones were (which mostly included the rings that still had their crystals glued in them...) and what our favorite shapes were. Naturally we both brought up Tiffany since it is too much fun to look them up and dream! Also, Sweet Home Alabama (a personal favorite of mine...) was on TV on TNT and we watched it together and reminisced about weddings and planning and all that stuff. Absolutely adorbs (and horribly unrealistic, I'm well aware):

When I got home from shopping, I got home and popped on the T&CO website just for fun to see which ones were my favorites. I narrowed it down to these babies:

Tiffany Novo

Round Brilliant Square Cut

Round Brilliant with Bead Set

Now I know that this is a little obnoxious (and people are probably reading like "GIRL PLEASE YOU NEED A MAN FIRST") but a girl can dream, can't she? This is all in good fun-they're just too fun to look at!

xxKatie

Smoothies...Yum!

One of my favorite things about being home is a place for smoothies called Robeks! They have the best smoothies I've ever had and all the flavors are good. They're pretty healthy too and all my friends and I seem to have our personal favorites. Mine is called Polar Pineapple and is actually pink! It has papaya juice, strawberries, pineapples, pineapple sherbet, and ice and I highly recommend it.

Now I love these smoothies, but does anyone have good recipes to try? I'd love to try to make a few on my own to see how they come out, but I need some tried-and-true good ones (preferably without bananas...or just not taste the flavor. I'm not a banana fan at all!) that are delish? Please let me know if you do!! Thanks and I'd love to try yours out!!

xxKatie

"That Summer"- Summer Concerts Anyone?

Beyond being one of my absolute FAVORITE songs, Garth Brooks has one of the best summer songs! I am leaving to go home Saturday morning and my room is all packed up for the most part. It looks very very weird, and I honestly wish that I had about 2 more weeks with my friends to decompress after exams. My mom and I were talking about how abruptly school comes to an end for students who live on campus. It is weird to think that next Monday, I won't be waking up at 8:30 to go to my 9:05 psychology class and then to my 11:15 anatomy lab. I'm not excited about saying my goodbyes but I am excited to see my family. I felt a little bad when my sister picked up the phone and said, "Oh hi! Long time no talk!" so I owe her a lot of catch up time. (She just won an award for graphic design at school--you go girl! It just goes to show I picked a wonderful blog artist!)

Anyway, that whole entire preface was to talk about summer concerts I'm excited about! I'm a big fan of country during the summer and there are great outdoor venues close to home.

May 22: Darius Rucker
GO GAMECOCKS! I am a major Darius fan. He is a great singer and a Gamecock! I know his concert would be good and he'd be a wonderful live singer too! There he is singing the National Anthem in USC's opening ceremony for the new baseball stadium!

June 5: Toby Keith
Huge TK fan and have been since about 7th grade when country music hit its peak (circa 2004-2005-2006) or so I like to think. It seems like a lot of the good songs came out right around then, and still stand as some of my faves!

June 6: WMZQFest
Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram, Eric Church, Heidi Newfield, The Eli Young Band, Jonathan Singleton and The Grove, Lost Trailers, Ryan Bingham, Emily West are all playing! I only recognize about half of them, however I love music festivals. This one is on a Sunday and starts at 2:15. The last time I went to something like this, it was called Sunday in the Country and started around the same time and ended around 10. I was a sophomore in high school and it was SUCH a fun day!

June 19: Brooks and Dunn
This is their last tour-oh no! I would love to grab tickets to this concert just because you know it will be good. They sang on the CMA's (or whatever the last country music award show was...) and did such a good job. Plus they'd be singing all the good songs that everyone will know the lyrics to.

July 30: Jason Aldean
Jason Aldean singing "Big Green Tractor" would just about make me melt. David Nail is also opening up for him, so that would be the double whammy for a concert! This would be a very fun one to go to as well with a big group of people!

August 7: Corey Smith
Corey Smith is another one of my favorites! This concert would be back when I'm moving in to my apartment at school, but would make a very fun roadtrip for sure!! I have to find someone who's willing to go with me to this one, I'm dying to see him in concert soon! He's coming close to me at home, but isn't as well known in MD as he is here, so I definitely want to catch him at least once!

What are some of your summer concert faves? Any great memories?

xxKatie