Fall Fashion

I recently read this post over at allisonleighann.com about what she's anticipating for Fall and it got me thinking about my favorite aspects of Autumn!

1. First and foremost, fall flavors. Especially pumpkin. Yep, I am that girl. Give me some pumpkin pie, a pumpkin muffin, and a pumpkin spiced latte and I am one happy woman.
   Then, of course, there's the seasonal beers.
   Sam Adam's Octoberfest?
   Hands down the best part about Fall. No contest!
   
2. Bonfires. Yep. Who doesn't love sitting around a bonfire, preparing to roast marshmallows? No one? That's what I though. The smell, the crackling, and the beautiful light; what's not to love?
   
3. Corn mazes! Now, I'm not one for those haunted corn mazes. There are very few events in which I'm okay being scared willingly (see below,) and corn mazes are definitely not it. I just love getting all snuggled up in my Fall clothes and wandering through the corn maze with friends and family. Bonus points if there's a hay ride!!
   
4. Scarowinds!! Scarowinds is when Carowinds becomes absolutely festive for Halloween and it is perfect. Everything is decorated and they have "cast members" who wander around the park and scare you, plus they have little "haunted house" type things that you can walk through all over the park! My favorite thing to do is talk to the monsters; some of them get a little startled and that's a nice turn of events! Oh, and I definitely can't forget to mention: the rides are open. Want to wander through a haunted high school and then hop on a thrill ride? GO FOR IT.
   
5. Fall fashion. I will be the first to admit how much I hate cold weather. If it could be 80+ degrees every day for the rest of forever I'd be mostly happy. But I would miss Fall clothes. I am so in love with the sweaters and boots and scarves and everything in between. Give me a good Fall wardrobe and I'm one happy girl...as soon as I get over that nip in the air.

Now I know everyone else out there has their favorite things about Fall! If you post your own to your blog, don't hesitate to share the link in the comments so I can go take a look! I'd love to see it!

LACK Hack ~ Part 2!

So, you may or may not remember this post.

If not, I talked about the super cheap coffee table I got at IKEA and how I planned to paint it to make it beautiful!

Well, about 3 months later, HERE IT IS!

Okay, it didn't actually take me 3 months to do it. (How sad would hat be?)

In reality, it only took me like a day.

But it took 2 months to actually start.

And then another to post about it.

So, here we are, 3 months later, and I'm finally showing off my finished table!!

I absolutely love it. It turned out exactly how I wanted and it looks soo good in our living room. The contrast is perfect and it matches basically anything, so even throughout the seasons (aka, the 2 we've experience since the first post) it fits in just fine with the rest of the decor!!

I'm so excited it's done and this has given me a new wave of DIY fever.

I WANT TO CRAFT ALL OF THE THINGS!!

I'm currently planning my next project now and I have a gallery wall in the works (did I mention that I rearranged my bedroom? Yeah, I did that. At 5 in the morning. Before work one day. Yep, I'm a freak.)

So hopefully within the next 3 months I'll have something new to show you all! Stay tuned!

LACK Hack

I'm sure you've heard of them: people buy the pieces from the LACK series at IKEA because of the price, and then spruce them up themselves to make them more personalized and, well, attractive!

I didn't intend to do one of these projects for a while, but when I went to IKEA and saw a LACK coffee table for $7 (it was a display piece and had a scratch), I just COULD NOT say no!

So, when I get back from my cruise, I'm going to embark on this little adventure: to hack my lack, if you will.
Okay, that wasn't as cute as I thought it would be. Gold star for trying though, right?

Here's my plan:

Scrape off the sticker residue and then pray it with a white primer, both to cover up the scratch and provide a better surface for painting.

I had a thought of maybe painting a Lilly Pulitzer print (this one, specifically) on the top and leaving the rest white, but I came across a couple of potential issues: I would have to alter the colors of the print to make it match my decor (if you can call it that) and I would worry about having such a Summery print on my coffee table in the Fall and Winter months.

Trivial things, I know, but things that bother me nonetheless.

So then my inspiration led me to Kate Spade. Obviously.

I wanted something timeless and classic.

I wanted black stripes.

Think this tablecloth:

 Only actually painted onto the table!

I'm planning on having the black stripes start on the ends, with the stripes extending all the way down the legs--so the outside part of the leg will be black, as well. Then the stripes will alternate black and white. Duh.

I'll leave the rest of the table white and it'll be done!

This is all probably going to be ten times more difficult than I'm anticipating, but...oh well. It's what I want to do and I'm GOING to do it!

I can't wait until I actually get started on it and get it done! There will definitely be a post featuring the finished product.

What do you think??

In Case You Missed It!

For all of you who live under a rock (or just don't happen to be as obsessed with Kate Spade as I am)

TODAY is the last day of the Kate Spade Surprise Sale!

It ends at 11:59pm PT, so GET ON IT.

I currently do not have the funds to feed my addiction, so I'm relying on you guys to get some fabulous stuff so that I may live vicariously through your purchases.
Thanks very much.

Bring on the Spring

It's bad enough that we had a colder (and longer) than usual Winter, but now even Spring isn't going to be warm?

Not cool, Robert Frost.

There were two days last week where I would consider the weather "Springy." Every other day has been like 62 or below (which, in South Carolina, might as well be Winter.) And let's not even talk about all of the rain. Monday morning, my trusty weather app warned me of "showers;" I was certainly not expecting the torrential downpour I walked into.

And today is a complete tease. The sun is shining and there is barely a cloud in the sky, but the wind basically makes it feel like it's 50 degrees.

I can't tell you how ready I am for hot, long days with seemingly endless sunshine. I have such Spring (okay, maybe Summer) fever, that I've been scouring the web trying to find the most perfect swim suit.

Here are some of my favorites so far:

top: Sailor Stripe bikini at J. Crew

bottom left: Sweet Dots Flounce bikini at Forever 21 | bottom right: Isle Green bikini at Target

So far, I think I'm leaning toward the Sailor Stripe bikini (would that be perfect for my cruise??), but I'm so indecisive!!

Thoughts?

Welcome to my Home: Bedroom Edition

So, I thought I would start posting a room of my apartment once a week so maybe if someone with decorating or interior design skills sees it they could offer a little bit of advice. That's completely logical, right? I thought so.

First up: my bedroom. This is basically where I live my entire life. I sleep here, I exercise here, I eat breakfast here, I read here, I do schoolwork here; you get the point. But there is just so much going on. I have such an eclectic personality and sense of style that I'm not sure what to do with myself.

I want a classic look, so I have my navy/white/black color scheme with my "Old Meets New Hollywood" canvases that I painted hanging above my bed.

But then I love my nerdy things, like Doctor Who and Game of Thrones, so I need to have those posters up too, right next to the canvases of course.

And we can't forget about my obsession for musicals (Oh, I have not mentioned it? Believe me, it'll come up again), so I have to hang the fabulous sketch of Sweeney Todd I bought and the Wicked Playbill that my friend panted for me! Where do those go? With all of my other favorites, duh.

But that's not even the half of it.

I have stuff everywhere on my walls. Some it is stuff that I bought, some if it stuff that I painted, and the rest is stuff given to me by others, but it is all stuff and it is all basically just randomly thrown on my wall where I felt there was a spot for it. But honestly, it doesn't bother as much as I expected it to.

There are just too many things that I love about my room.

    

First of all, it's rather large. (Which, when I move to New York is going to be the biggest adjustment to me. I'm used to living in a 1100 sq. ft. apartment with my one roommate. Definitely not getting that in New York)

Second of all, I have all of my favorite things, even just in my room.

I have my desk, where I can get shit done, whether it be something for myself, for my job, or for a class.

I have my dresser (which was my great great grandmothers. The bed, which matches, was too), that houses my television, my clock, some jewelry, and basically whatever I happen to set on it that day (In today's case, my water bottle)

And, my favorite, I have what I call my "book nook." It's not a nook at all, but I think it sounds. Hey, it's my room and I'll call it whatever I want! This is where I just let go. I sit here in the morning with my cup of coffee (notice the bedside coffee maker. I might have a problem), my breakfast, and my tablet so I can read the latest news, my favorite blogs, and maybe a few chapters of the book I'm currently on.

To some it's not much, but it's mine, and I love it.

(Speaking of love, did you see this fabulous graduation stole that my Big got me??)