Nesting

I'm definintely in 'nesting mode' right now for no particular reason. I think it's mostly because I'm more than ready to be out on my own, in my own tiny place. It may also be because winter is cold and I would rather stay inside where it's warm and make my spaces cozy and welcoming, compared to the bleak cold outside.

All of these spaces are cozy and welcoming to me, and I plan on stealing a few ideas from them once I get my own place.

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New Year's Eve!

 so fitting for NYE, right?

Hey y'all! I hope you all had a great Christmas, I definitely did. It's been nice to be forced to take a few days off from job searching and just enjoy the season. A mini vacation, if you will.

Now that Christmas is over, it's time to focus on ringing in 2013! I've already posted my resolutions for the year, but I'm thinking about turning them into a list of goals/things I want to do during the year and updating them regularly--kind of like Mackenzie's 101 in 1001 list.

As for celebrating the holiday, I'm heading to San Antonio to celebrate with two very dear friends and sorority sisters! I am so excited!! I haven't seen these girls since this summer and it's going to be so great to catch up on everything. My sister and her husband will also be in town starting tomorrow and I'm thrilled to see them as well.

What are your plans for welcoming 2013? Here's a few words, courtesy of Ron Burgundy, to keep in mind no matter what you've got going on...

Check back to see what I'll be wearing to celebrate!

Resolutions

I don't normally create New Years Resolutions, but this year I am going to try it out. Here are a few things I'm hoping to accomplish in 2013...

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1. Conquer French braiding, curling irons, etc: I'm not the greatest at doing my own hair, so one goal for 2013 is to master whatever's tricky hair-wise. This includes but is not limited to: French braiding, using a curling iron, finding the right hairspray for my hair, eliminating split ends, finding bobby pins that actually stay in my hair...

2. Train for and run a 5K: I run, but not as often as I would like. Nor am I as disciplined about it as I want to be either. I think signing up for a 5K lateish in the year (let's say July) would be the perfect way to kick my rear in gear and start running consistently.

3. Create and stick to a daily routine: I desperately need structure in my life. If I don't have a set schedule for each day, I go a little bit insane. I can be flexible with my structure, but not having a reason to get up in the morning means I won't get out of bed ever...and that's not okay. And since I am currently unemployed and have completely open blocks of time, I need to get the structure of a routine back so I don't lose my mind. This means scheduling time to work out, time to run errands, whatever.

4. Start talking like a real person: I have a horrible habit of saying 'yeah' and other non-professional things all. the. time. and since I'm heading into the real world soon, I should probably start speaking a bit more professionally/intelligently/mannerly on the reg, instead of just when I'm trying to be on my best behavior. (This includes not saying "on the reg"...)

What's on your New Years resolution list?

Merry Christmas!!

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Merry Christmas sweet friends!! Today is such a blessed day and I'm so happy it's finally here! I hope you're all having a great day filled with family, friends, fun, relaxation, and of course a few new presents! I personally can't wait to see what the wrapped presents underneath the tree downstairs hold for me...eeeeep! As excited as I am for presents though, I'm thankful for the real reason for today: the birth of Christ.

If you don't celebrate Christmas, well, I hope you're having a great Tuesday full of all the same things and a little bit of winter cheer!

What Kate Wears: Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning

For Christmas Eve, my family typically eats a nice dinner then everyone gets dressed in nice clothes and we head to the Christmas Eve service at church. It's usually somewhat cold here, but this year it's warmer than normal, so I'm taking advantage of that and going bare-legged!

Here are some ideas, since I haven't quite figured out what I'm wearing yet!

blouse//skirt//boots//bracelet

dress//heels//earrings

I wish I could tell you that I was the type of person who wears cute matching pj sets on Christmas morning, but honestly I don't even own a set of matching pajamas...so I'll most likely be wearing some sort of cozy-yet-comfy outfit. Actually, let's be completely honest: it's almost a guarantee that I'll be wearing sweatpants or boxer shorts and a ratty t-shirt. #theshame

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a splendid holiday!

12/21

 cozy, cozy.

Congratulations. If you're reading this, you obviously survived The Apocalypse, you lucky little snowflake!

Since I am the one writing this, I obviously survived as well and the world will continue to go on as we know it. Hooray and let's continue on to Christmas on Tuesday!

I'm going to *try* (try being the operative word here...) to finish some Christmasy/NYE posts that I have in my Drafts folder before then, but ya know, I have presents to wrap and cookies to bake/eat...and things may not get done. It happens, the world will go on turning, we'll all live.

Happy Friday!

5 Days!

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5 days until Christmas! Ahhhh! Are you ready? Because I am most definitely not ready at all. I have to finish shopping, start wrapping, bake cookies...the list goes on and on. It doesn't even feel like Christmas here in Texas either...shorts on December 20? Definitely the reason why I'm having trouble getting myself in the holiday spirit.

What are your plans for Christmas??

Girl Crush: Rashida Jones

*I'm starting a new little feature where I highlight women who inspire me...I hope you enjoy!*

I am a total Rashida Jones fan. And really, what's not to like? She's smart (she graduated from Harvard!), hilarious, philanthropic, talented, and a woman who really fights for what she believes in. And duh, of course she's beautiful but in a totally natural, un-plastic way.  

She seems like she'd be that cool girl you could just hang out with, doing whatever and you'd always have a great time and probably laugh so hard you couldn't breathe. And I am always a fan of people like that.

Rashida 4 life, y'all.

 

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Day of Silence

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Today I'm taking a day of silence to remember and honor those sweet angel babies and heroes who were taken far too soon from their families and loved ones. Words fail me so that's all I'm saying today. All my prayers go out to Newtown.

xx

Treat Yo Self

I've recently become obsessed with Parks and Recreation thanks to Netflix (yes, I realize I'm a few years late on this...it happens...) and I share Tom and Donna's idea that you should Treat Yo Self at least occasionally.

Familiarize yo self with how you should treat yo self with this little video, and then check out the little ways I sometimes treat myself below.

1. Nail polish: New nail polish is a rare splurge for me. I often check out the selection at Target and Ulta, but rarely do I take the plunge and buy a new bottle. I'm an obsessive polish chipper, so it's easier for me to go unpolished, so getting a new color and then polishing my nails is a super indulgence.

2. Read a book: I love to read, but it often falls to the bottom of my list because it feels so self-indulgent to be absorbed in a book. I have to finish a book once I've started, so I can't just pick up and put down a book at random...I have to read it all at once. But that's what makes it such a treat--I can read a book without feeling guilty or thinking of the million other things I "should" be doing.

3. Pore strips: This is a weird way to treat myself, but I love the way my skin looks after using a pore strip on a patch of less-than-perfect skin. It's a great way to get the gunk out and since you have to let the strip sit until it's dry, it also forces me to slow down and spend those 10-15 minutes on me.

4. Sleeping in late: I love to sleep. I need a ton of sleep, and a lot of times I just don't get as much sleep as I really need to feel 100%. I have class or work or other things that force me to get up early, so being able to roll over and snuggle back into my bed for an extra hour is a perfect treat. Bonus treat-points if it's raining outside!

How do you treat yo self? Are you into big or little treats?

{side note for P&R fans: I totally had a Ron Swanson-approved dinner tonight on accident: pancakes then a little bit of pot roast. That sounds gross, I know, but I used separate plates and spaced them out a bit too...just living my life WWRSD-style.}

Sunday Social Link-Up!

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Today I'm doing a fun little link-up, courtesy of Ashley at Ashley's Carnival Ride! She does a Sunday Social link-up each week and I thought these questions were a great way for y'all to get to know a few things about me.

Enjoy, and check out all of the other participants here.

1. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?
Lock screen: gold clover/quatrefoil wallpaper from For Chic Sake (get yours here!). Home screen: Lilly Pulitzer print (not sure which one...I guess that makes me a bad Lilly-lover!)

2. What do you keep beside your bed?
Currently I have my humidifier, hand lotion, medicine, tissues and a scented oil diffuser...with a million other random things as well.

3. What is your least favorite chore?
All of them? Ha, kidding. I think my absolute least favorite would be scrubbing the shower. Ugh so horrible.

4. If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be?
Cooking. I would much rather have someone cook for me than spend my time cooking.

5. What do you do to vent anger?
Run or take a shower and just cry in the shower.

6. What is your favorite holiday of the year and why?
Saint Patrick's Day! One of the most underrated holidays, at least in my opinion.

Holidazed.

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I'm not quite sure why, but I'm definitely having trouble getting in the holiday spirit this year. Maybe it's because I've already had a busy and stressful December, but I have zero excitement for the next ten days until Christmas and even less for the few days after that until New Years.

Does anyone else just get holidazed like this? How do you avoid the holiday blahs and get back into the holiday spirit?

Penguin Drop Caps series

You've heard of the different editions of classic books that Penguin releases, right? They did the fabric-covered ones a few years ago, then these Mr. Boddington ones this past fall.

Well, they also did a "Drop Caps" series with covers and spines inspired by typography. And they are absolutely gorgeous.

Per the Penguin tumblr: "Penguin Drop Caps is a series inspired by typography—its beauty and its power of expression. A drop cap, or an initial cap, is the first letter of a word when designed and set larger than the surrounding text. It is used to introduce a new idea, paragraph, or chapter. We may recognize such elements from books of our childhood, from sacred and historic texts, and from beautiful early editions of classic literature. Whether they appear in illuminated fifteenth-century manuscripts set by scribes or digitally displayed on Jessica Hische’s own Daily Drop Cap blog, a drop cap letter impresses upon the reader the arrival of something of which to take note, something unique and special that deserves to be savored."

Check it out:

How perfect would these books be as a gift for either the book lover or design geek on your list? I want to stare at the covers for forever, but the spines would look amazing lined up on a bookshelf as well. And just think of the graphic impact of all those brightly colored spines in an all-white library! I. Die.

All information and pictures from the Penguin tumblr.

Ahhhh

Life has literally been crazy for the past week or so...and will continue to be so for the next few days. Since the last time I blogged I've graduated college, packed up all of my stuff in Auburn, interviewed in Atlanta, driven 12 hours back home to Texas, and now I'm currently working on cleaning out what's in my room here so I can move all of my stuff in. Yikes. I'm so ready to be settled and not living out of a suitcase!

I'll try to get back to a regular posting schedule ASAP!

painting

Planning...and Not.

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You may or may not know that I am an obsessive planner. I am relatively ("somewhat" might be a better word?) easy-going in the majority of the areas of life, but schedules and plans and itineraries and to-do lists are absolutely essential for me. I get stressed out and anxious if something isn't scheduled or if I don't have a set plan of what's going to happen and when it's going to happen. Planning is one area in life where I am uptight and obsessive and can be absurdly rigid and honestly, kind of a bitch. (We all need grace for different aspects of our personalities, obviously this is one where I require a huge amount of grace from everyone in my life.)

Needless to say, graduating and having no clue what I'm doing after has been one of the most stressful experiences of my entire life to date.

Long story short: my original plan for graduation was to find a job pre-graduation, then start job right after...my revised plan was to move home after graduation and then concentrate on finding a job.

Well. Fast forward to today. All of my stuff is packed,we have a truck coming in the morning to take my furniture to Goodwill, and I get a call from a company in Atlanta (my #1 target city for a job! 2 hours away from Aubs!) that they want to interview me.

I'm pretty sure a million thoughts went through my head in about half a second, mostly along the lines of "umm...what? This isn't my plan!!" Well, no, it wasn't my plan, but it was God's. I can just picture Him listening to me making my plans and clinging to them for support, laughing the entire time about what He has in store for me and how it's so much better than anything I could ever dream up.

Coincidentally, the topic of my daily email devotional this week has been God's timing and plan. This is all just a way of the Lord nudging me and saying "Hey--your plan? Nowhere near as good as mine. Follow me, lean on me, cling to me and it'll all be okay. Better than okay, even. I'm always there, I hear you--and I've got it."

Right now, my heart is peaceful and thankful for such a loving God who shows His plan at the most perfect of times. Life is good.

30 Day No Spending Challenge: Wrap-up

Remember this post about consumption and how I was trying to reduce my spending/consuming of 'stuff'? Well I guess it's time for a wrap-up about that, since it's now December and all.

Overall, I did decently well. I did really really well for about 3/4 of the month, and then I had major wardrobe boredom the week before Thanksgiving break and treated myself to a new pair of shoes and a new flannel top. I feel like I made other random little purchases, but maybe not? I don't know.

I think I did pretty well for my first attempt at this though! I think I'll try again in the spring or summer and see if I can go for two months or longer!

What Kate's Listening To: Study Playlist

I'm currently in the midst of my last finals ever (!!!), and I've been going kind of crazy just studying in silence. Normally, I'm not a music person, I actually prefer to study or work in silence, but for some reason this year it's making me fidgety and generally just kind of ADD.

If I ever do listen to music while I study, it's very chill, calm, relaxing music. You know, acoustic and whatever. 95% of my iTunes library is acoustic and the other 5% is random stuff. I am definitely not that person who's up on the latest music or bands or anything...so don't expect any of that from me. In fact, at one point, I hadn't updated my iPod in about 8 months....shameful.

Here's what's keeping me sane this week:

1. Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
2. Let Her Cry (Hootie and the Blowfish)
3. Wedding Dress (Matt Nathanson)
4. Christmas Song (Dave Matthews Band)
5. She Is Love (Parachute)
6. Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show)
7. Austin (Blake Shelton)
8. Details In The Fabric (Jason Mraz feat. James Morrison)
9. Highway 20 Ride (Zac Brown Band)
10. All My Loving (Jim Sturgess, from Across the Universe)
11. Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
12. Welcome to the Black Parade (Piano Tribute Players)
13. Only Wanna Be With You (Hootie and the Blowfish)
14. Closer to Love (Mat Kearney)
15. Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor)
16. 5:19 (Matt Wertz)
17. To Sir With Love (Glee Cast recording) (go ahead and judge me for that one...)
18. Brielle (Sky Sailing)
19. Chances (Five For Fighting)
20. Stand By Me (Ben E. King)

What do you listen to when you're trying to focus?

Update: I just re-read this list of songs...y'all, I swear I have a) upbeat songs in iTunes and b) female singers/bands/songwriters. I am seriously not this depressing in real life...

What Kate Likes: Neiman Marcus x Target

You've heard about the Neiman Marcus x Target collaboration, right? I've had today, the launch of the collaboration, marked in my planner since I first saw a preview of the pieces over the summer...as pathetic as that may be. I'm nearly always a fan of the Target collabs, mostly because I just love Target that much.

Anyway. This collaboration is definitely a new one for T, but I think it's a great direction for them to head in with future collabs. I think that the items all look to be high quality, but as I haven't seen them in person yet, I can't be 100% sure that they're worth the higher prices than Target usually charges.

Here are my picks...

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This Tracy Reese sequined top is so pretty. It would be so versatile--throw it on with jeans and boots for a touch of glam for day, or skinny black pants and heels for a night out. I wish the back was sequined as well, instead of being solid blue fabric, but that's minor.

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I love these Band of Outsiders cookie cutters! These would be such a fun little gift for a friend who bakes a lot or as a stocking stuffer. I'm already imagining all of the ways you could ice that little necktie...I may pick these up for myself :)

3.

Have a Tory-obsessed friend? This thermos would be a perfect Christmas gift, paired with a box of hot cocoa or her favorite coffee. I love a good thermos, and this one is eye-catching enough that it wouldn't get lost in a cupboard or pantry. Such a chic way to keep your drinks warm...I'll also most likely be picking this one up!

4.

Ahhh I love these Tracy Reese plates!!!! I am a total sucker for anything that's a) brightly colored, b) damask patterned, and c) a dessert plate, so obviously these plates check all of those boxes. I need want these so badly...and I have no use for them. These would be such a perfect hostess gift for your super-stylish friend who loves to entertain since you can never have too many plates. These would also be such an adorable wall decoration for a kitchen or living room as well.

5.

When I say that I've been dreaming about this Lela Rose top since July, I'm really not exaggerating. I am obsessed with this top. It's everything I love in a top: delicate details, a sleeveless shape so it's seasonless and easily layered, lined, not cropped...perfection. I just emailed a link to this to my mom so she can "forward it to Santa" ASAP because I need this in my closet. This top would be great with skinny jeans and fierce booties, black pants and glittery heels, colored pencil skirts and neutral heels, a cardigan  and jeans...really the list is endless. LOVE.

You can see the entire collaboration here. What's on your list? Anything you absolutely need? I want to hear!