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

Southern Wedding Week: The Dress

A few weeks ago when I was in Charleston, Aly and I were window browsing just about every store we could see! There were so many little boutiques (90% out of our college girl budgets) that had dresses and party essentials that we couldn't really help ourselves! Among my favorites were all the wedding dresses that we'd pass from window to window. The periodic tuxedo was so precious too, I mean how can you not just swoon over a tux and bowtie combo? Gets me every time. Although we didn't see Fabulous Frocks, the idea behind it is so cute, I had to pass it on to any ladies in the area after a reader of mine told me about it!

Fabulous Frocks specializes in consigning wedding dresses that have been "wed" already! What a good idea, right? I mean my mom's never gonna wear her dress again, and isn't this a great idea for any bride who won't use her dress for anything else! There are some criteria for each dress to be consigned, but how cute is this? What a good idea for the bride on a budget or looking to get a designer gown for far way less!

Fabulous Frocks has brand name designers (including my 2 favorites!!) ranging from Badgley Micshka, to Carolina Herrera, to Modern Trousseau (one of my favorites!), to Rivini (my other favorite...remember this dress...MY dress?) to Vera Wang. There are currently over 80 dresses listed online for you to check out and have even more in store to choose from personally! Also, go visit store manager and recent Gamecock grad, Mary, to help you out, she's adorable and in the planning stages of her own Southern Wedding!!

Next time I'm in Charleston Fabulous Frocks will be a definite stop just for fun...I mean you can never start too early right? No way! No go follow Fabulous Frocks on twitter at @FabFrocksBridal to see what they've got going on!

xxKatie

Pip-Squeaks and Getting Organized

I think that these markers are the BEST available! I just finally got my big desk calendar today and I'm really big about color coding important stuff:

RED: VC/Ambassadors Stuff/Leadership

RED/BLACK: Football Games (the other team is color coded by their own colors)

BLUE: Business school events/meetings

GREEN: Random events

PINK: Miscellaneous (but important enough to make it on the calendar, i.e.: first day of classes) 

Even though these markers are geared toward little kids (hence the smaller size), I still love them. Senior year of high school, a girl in a few of my classes used them a bunch, and so I went out to get some of my own! I've been using them since. I love Crayola products (markers, neon markers, skinny markers, colored pencils, crayons...even in college you never know when you might need them!) and so I tend to buy them especially during the school year. I'm glad I'm finally getting organized, and soon I'm going to place my order for: 

Lifeguard Press BIG White Zin Agenda

I'll be organized in a matter of days! Then I think my stress level will go down a bit once I have a plan, written down right in front of me!

xxKatie

P.S. As I type this, my favorite movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" is on our TV and they're about to break into "Say a Little Prayer" in the Lobster Restaurant...my favorite scene!!

Planning My Vision

This is the bedding that I have for next year! A few people asked me if I would post it, and as someone guessed, it's Tommy Hilfiger Hibiscus Hill bedding. I'm really excited to have it and my mom got it for a steal! With bedding out of the picture, I'm working on the additions to my room and what the bathroom will look like. I went to Target yesterday to get some ideas and to see what was out there. At first I was thinking about a monogrammed shower curtain in a shade of green to match the bedding. 

As I shopped around I found a few great pieces that would go with that from Target:

The Avocado set of items would be super cute and would  match the bedding very well. They have all kinds of bathroom fixtures just like these that would all match very well. I'm calling this look #1.

After shopping around for a little while I found an adorable shower curtain that's white with delicate "ruffles" that I love:

This inspired an entirely new look for a bathroom that I'm calling look #2. This would include all polished silver instead of the avocado. I'd use these holders:

I love the clean look of the clear plastic and silver. I'd put cotton balls and tissues and all kinds of other fun stuff.

Right now, I'm leaning toward Look #2, but I'd love some votes one way or the other!

I also found some really fun room stuff. I get a desk, desk chair, dresser, and nightstand since it's a furnished townhome. I haven't thought too much about the other stuff that I'd like to get, so I was excited to run into a few items that I could picture in my room (...and most of them happen to be from the Circo Little Girls' section!):

I'm loving these pink tupperwares! They're actually clear with pink snap tops, how much fun!? I used a lot of these for storage last year in my dorm room and they worked out great. I also found some other pink accessories (and how great do both shades of pink match the pinks in my bedding?!):

I enlarged this picture so you can see the shelves better, but they're so sweet. They're big square bookshelves that fit more square cloth drawers. I have about 4 of the drawers already from my own room at home, but I could just pop pink and green ones right into the cubbies and then have a few other cubbies for storage (books, etc.) and the be able to potentially put my TV on top! These shelves also come in white which could be a nice neutral alternative if the wood in the room fixtures is white too. I really think that these shelves would be great in my room!

On a completely other note, I found a total Lilly Pulitzer knockoff dress:

Super cute, and probably no more than $30! I can't believe those designers over at Target...they really can make some spiffy knockoff designs!

What do you guys think about Look 1 and Look 2 (I feel like Dr. Seuss)? I can't wait to hear!!!

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