Back To School!

Well, here we are once again. The beginning of the academic year. This is my fourth and final year at Cleveland State, and let me tell you, I am so ready to graduate! We are only in the second week of classes and it already seems like the tasks are piling up. I definitely came into this year, though, with a get-it-done mentality. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can't wait to reach it!





This is the outfit that I wore on the first day of school, last Monday. This dress was one of those amazing finds on super sale that fit perfectly and wears so well. I found it over the summer at Urban Outfitters, on clearance! I rarely shop there, because I am a poor college student, but when I'm in Orlando, I often find myself in the store, just browsing and exploring the different patterns and shapes. I really think that if I didn't go into theatre, it would have been some aspect of fashion, be it design, weddings, what have you. I love this dress because it is light, airy, has a beautiful feminine shape and a lovely delicate pattern. I don't always go for the super girly style, but when I do, I enjoy the lace and floral features. To be honest, I probably have more floral prints in my closet than anything else. They are classic and timeless and, let's face it, they make me feel pretty!





This necklace is one of my staple accessories. I can't believe I haven't featured it on the blog yet. It was another lucky Florida find. I was in Macy's and there was only one left, without a tag on it, and I just knew I couldn't leave that store without it. It's one of my favorite necklaces of all time! It always reminds me of the old tales of Coco Chanel and how she wore her sewing scissors on a string of pearls around her neck. French perfection.





I'm going into this school year as positive as I could possibly be! I'm ready to take on the world and finish my education strong. I really believe in the power of positivity. A good attitude brings so many other good things with it. School is tough, yes, but it is one of those things in life that is always worth the work. My old band director used to say, it's 10% skill and 90% attitude. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I completely believe that so much of your success lies in your own self and how you perceive the world. It is a choice to keep your chin up. Is it always easy? Of course not. But the effort pays off the in the end. Trust me.

Are you back in school this year?

Extraordinary

I've been thinking a lot lately about a lot of things. Mostly about where my life is headed and where I want to be in the next few years. But one of the biggest things that goes into that is not only where my career will be or where my relationship status will be. The biggest part of it is where I will be in my growth as a person. My spiritual, mental, and emotional growth.





I have always known that I didn't want to be average. I have always wanted to stand out in life and do things that other people can't, won't, or are too afraid to do (this coming from the girl who won't go on roller coasters because she's afraid of throwing up...). That's why I travelled to Belgium and lived there for a year. That's why I auditioned and work for Walt Disney World. That's why I'm studying theatre. That's why I want to live abroad for parts of my life. I never wanted to just go to school and get a basic degree in something like business and then go get an office job. Kudos to the people who do it, I just never could. I have always wanted to make something big out of myself. I have always wanted to be extraordinary.





Extraordinary is a pretty intense word. It's right up there with spectacular and magnificent. The opposite of ordinary or average. To tell myself that I want to be extraordinary does put some pressure on me as a human being. I am convinced, though, that I have what it takes to be what I want to be. I also think, however, that everyone is extraordinary in their own way. All of those people with business degrees and office jobs, they are extraordinary, too. They may be the best bankers on the planet or the best business owners. I give them major props, because even though I may be adventuress by wanting to go places and do things that others deem "crazy", they are adventuress to me to enter into a world that I see as scary and unsure.





Being this way is not easy. I need to push myself in order to achieve it, and the thing about it is that once you reach what you would consider to be "extraordinary", then there is new level of it ahead of you. It's constant growth and constant change. A few years ago, I would've considered living abroad to be extraordinary. Now that I have achieved that, there are new goals ahead of me. Every day, every achievement brings something new. That's the exciting part about life!





Now about the clothes! I just found this dress a couple of days ago at Francesca's. I may be a tad bit obsessed with that store. I get lost in there, easily. I love this dress because of the print! It's classy, yet bold and fun. I also love the flowiness of the skirt and even the top bodice gives off that flowing vibe. It's actually a size too big, but I like it that way because I think it makes it a bit more casual. I did glam it up a little bit today with my ballet bun, fancy earrings, and heels. By the way, I have those shoes forever. They have a fun story attached to them. Maybe I'll tell that story another day...



What do you think extraordinary means? What makes people extraordinary?

Still Rockin' That Red White and Blue

Even though the Fourth is long past, the red, white, and blue combination is still totally valid in my opinion. I've always thought that those colors go together, regardless of patriotism. I especially like a navy blue with a bright red or with a dark burgundy or wine color. Throw some cream in there and it's a perfectly vintage take on our country's colors.

Did you know that France also has red, white, and blue as their national colors? Being a bit of a francophile, I enjoy the fact that we share colors. Not to mention Great Britain! They are such noble colors, it is only appropriate that they be featured all over the world!

It had been pretty hot that day, even though it has been unseasonably cold these past few weeks in lovely Cleveland. I knew that I needed to get my hair up off my neck but I was so sick of ponytails and wanted to find something new. I got the inspiration from a video posted on Delightfully Tacky. Elizabeth had shown her tutorial for something similar with a scarf and I modified it a tad to fit my type of hair and the style I wanted.

I think I may have used twenty bobbypins for this style. For some reason, I hadn't even thought to poof up the front of my hair until doing this. With this curly mane, I tend to just let it air dry without doing a thing to it. Lately, though, I've taken to trying new things and taking the time to play with it. I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out; I'm sure I'll be doing it again!

What are your go-to hairstyles?

Dancing In The Backyard

*Note: I'm not sure why my photos are uploading slightly pixelated... I'm looking at it and hope to have it fixed very soon!*

If you didn't already know this, I'm studying theatre at school. I am personally very much interested in musical theatre and am always looking for new songs to use for auditions, as well as fun and different musicals, just to inspire me and so that I have a wider vocabulary when it comes to the world of Broadway. Last year, I stumbled across "Title Of Show", which may be the best musical ever written for four people. I can't believe it took me that long to find it. Especially because when I went to all my other musical theatre friends freaking out about it, they looked at me in that where-have-you-been look. Sigh.

Anyways, there is a beautiful song in this show called "A Way Back To Then" and I'm obsessed with it! As soon as I found it, I knew that I had to learn it. Let me tell ya, that didn't take very long! Of course, I struggled with it a little bit because when I had to use it for a class, I was in the middle of a cold and my throat was not having that belt at the end! The struggle.

The reason I bring that up is because the first line of the song goes "dancing in the backyard, KoolAid mustache and butterfly wings". That really captures what was happening in these photos! That is my grandmother's backyard. In other words, my childhood. My sister and I spent many a happy afternoon frolicking there with KoolAid (or something like it) and pretending to be butterflies (or some other creature). Being back there all grown up and dolled up sparked a little bit of that inner child, which is why I was running all over the place and climbing on things and being goofy.

I think these photos have a sort of "Alice In Wonderland" feel to them. I don't know why I kept my arms in permanent Alice mode for some of these. I guess I just had that in my brain. That dress has a whimsical bird pattern, combined with the slight poof of the sleeves and the asymmetry of the skirt, it reminds me of that carefree kid innocence of Alice. Plus I was wearing a pocket watch around my neck, leaving only one question... Where was the White Rabbit?

Do you have any fun childhood memories? Maybe of backyard shenanigans?