Five on... Who Knows? Not Friday (Sorry bout it)

Please don't mind that this girl is procrastinating on blog posts. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Well this week I was only at school for half a day. Yes... half a day. It was pretty amazing. The snow/ice/slush combination hit us on Monday night, and just to be safe of icy secondary roads, we haven't been back to school yet. It snowed a little bit more on Tuesday afternoon. (I think it was Tuesday? Either that or Wednesday.) I didn't do much, I stayed up late, woke up (relatively) early, and didn't do much during the day except stay in the house.

I did hang out with my friends who didn't have school on Tuesday. It was awesome to see them, freeze my toes off (I'm the stupid one who wears thin socks with rain boots!), go sledding, and warm up at JSC's house while Snapchatting, editing future Instas, and just chatting away. It was nice to be reunited with my friends.

50 Shades of Snow... from my window.

I thought that photo (above) was pretty cool! Haven't seen that on Insta yet. ;) I love watching the snow fall. It's mesmerizing.

Yay for no school and snow days with my friends!

Left to right: me, JSC, ALD and MF

I got this shot of the girls sledding and it's one of my favs!
MF, JSC and ALD

I stayed inside the house for most of the week! Ah! I'm ready to leave. I was telling J how exciting it was to go grocery shopping... just to get out of the house. When you're stuck somewhere for too long (especially inside somewhere), it sucks. Times like these make me glad I don't live in a tiny, cramped apartment in NYC. Too small for me to stay there for several days! 

Thankfully we've been buying lots of take out to keep us all sane, including sushi, Chipotle (twice), tortellini, and lots of random food.

Without further ado... my five on Friday!

1. Lemon-cucumber water: Quick story: so we had some iced tea and I was talking about how I wanted lemon with the tea. My dad bought me some lemon, but we were already done with the tea. I went on to my second-favorite alternative drink with lemon (well third- second is with San Pellegrino), water! While chopping up an entire lemon (I'm a huge fan of lots of lemon), my mom suggested adding cucumber, since it's something people do to detox. I love the concept of detoxing- taking out all the toxins? Sounds good to me! I tried it, and I'm a fan. 
   
2. Avocado: I typically don't get guacamole with my Chipotle, although I do love me some guac. We had lots of avocados at home this week, so I made my own guac. Chipotle's flavor totally changes with some guac, dang! It is a whole new world. I could eat guac forever and ever.
3. The West Wing: My new favorite show. Ever. My mom told me I'd love it, and my boy GM said the same thing. I started one episode, wasn't totally into it, but decided to restart it and I'm hooked like a fish on a hook babyyyy. I love all the characters and the development. It makes me want to work in the West Wing a gazillion times more. I love Charlie, I'd want his job fresh out of college. I love all of their jobs though for real, Sam Seaborn's job is awesome! I wish I was that talented of a writer though. It's an amazing show! Try the second episode, I promise you, it gets gooood.
4. Snow: There's nothing prettier than watching the snow fall. I took my first timelapse of the snow falling. J and A were impressed, so I was hype.
5. Pinterest: After my girl H got a Pinterest this week, I was hype to rediscover my love for it! Follow me here! It'd be pretty cool for one of y'all to be my 900th follower! ;)

Have a great rest of your weekend/Sunday! :)

Five on Galentine's Day!

Happy Galentine's Day y'all! After I watched Parks and Recreation, I fell in love with the concept of Galentine's Day. A day to celebrate your gal pals and how awesome they are!

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Today was an early release day, and today was the day that singing valentines and roses were distributed! Singing valentines are my favorite thing ever. It's an annual tradition that honors chorus does where they sell singing valentines to raise money for their chorus trips. The chorus breaks off into small groups and sells love songs that they sing. This year's song choices included All Of Me, What Makes You Beautiful, Lean On Me, Hey There Delilah, I'm Yours, Love Story and Where You Lead.

Singing valentines are so cute, awkward and embarrassing. The group comes in the middle of class and the recipient gets to sit in the front of the classroom as the group sings to them! I love them, and they're really good. They have dance moves and everything! Some even have guitar playing.

I sent two: one to SS and one to J. SS knew hers was coming, but J didn't know about his! It was very exciting. Sadly, I don't have the two class periods that the singing valentines came with either of them, but we talked about it and I asked people in their classes! It was really fun. SS sent me a singing valentine as well, and it was really cute! I got Hey There Delilah, which consisted of four boys and one playing guitar! It was so good, and I was smiling the entire time because I was so embarrassed/enjoying every second of it.

One of the volunteering clubs also had a sale on roses, with the proceeds going to the Brown Bag Ministry. I love love love flowers! I think they're absolutely gorgeous. My sweet friend GM, my twin, got me one, as it started off as a joke! SS got me one too. They absolutely made my day.

I'm so appreciate of all the great friends I have in my life and Valentine's Day (and any day) is perfect to express feelings of gratitude and love towards each other!

Here we go, here we go, my five on Friday...

1. Flowers: Forget candy, teddy bears or jewelry, I'd much rather have flowers and love notes. I'm the most sentimental person ever, so I'd much rather have a list of ten reasons why you enjoy spending time with me, or a personalized mixtape, or photos of the two of us. But there's something so lovely about fresh flowers that I just can't resist.
2. House of Cards: New favorite show. It's so addicting. I went with J to lunch (PDQ) this week and got him hooked onto it. You know... BFF probz. I love politics, as crazy as it all is. Call me crazy that I still want to go into it! ;)
3. Cough drops: My BFF this week. I've been waking up with sore throats all week and cough drops and hot water make me a happy Sam.
4. Cheesy Valentine's Day Cards: They make me chuckle. 
    

   

   Images via Tumblr

5. Hey There Delilah: Because it was stuck in my head all of today. It's still the most beautiful song. 

Sorry this was supposed to be posted yesterday (Friday!). Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! 

Sadie's Photo Recap

Sorry for the hiatus from blogging! Time has just flown by, and I'm still recovering from an abnormal sleeping schedule from this weekend! (Getting home at 11:45pm, then staying up til 2am texting on a Saturday night is too much for this old lady!) This week, I've been extra tired and trying to sleep as much as possible to make up for it!

However... Sadie's was a blast! This was my school's first dance in 5 years and it was a success! Our school doesn't have the most school spirit, so this was a big win in our book.

Our Sadie's group!
(Left to right) J, me, GR, AV, NK and SS!

It was a really fun night. While I was really nervous (just because I'm the biggest worrier), it turned out to be, as J says, literally not figuratively the best night!

The night started off with AV and I going to SS' house to get ready. There was lots of freaking out about whether or not we'd have enough time before the guys came, samosas, and lots of laughter. It was frantic, fun and chaos! 

Then the boys made their way over, when we took lots of photos!

J and I had discussed our outfits in advance!

He hadn't shown me his tie beforehand,

But he did have me send him a pic of my dress,

And he said it'd match perfectly.

He was right! He looked so cute. I was very impressed.

Side note: I heard from a mutual friend that he was freaking out

over what tie to wear. Haha. J and I are the same person.

The day ones. No one else I'd rather get ready with,

Or spend my night with.

Left to right: me, AV, SS

SS and I!

Sorry AV, I hated the photos of the two of us together.

I looked so bad.

After lots of pictures, we went to dinner at Daniel's! I've heard many raving reviews about it before, but had never been. AV had been and suggested it for dinner. It was insanely amazing. I got a Caesar salad and shared tortellini with pink sauce with AV. (Thank goodness she suggested sharing one because the portions are huge!) 

I wasn't that hungry because of nerves and samosas earlier, but Student Body Pres said the bread there is the best. I'll try it next time!

We then made our way to Sadie's, it was kind of awkward at first, but I knew I didn't want to spend the entire night standing in the corner talking to the same group of people (love them, but not all night!). We made our way around talking to people! It was so fun meeting everyone's dates and seeing everyone's outfits. 

Before I knew it, Thinking Out Loud came on. AV grabbed GR on the dance floor. I had warned J that I didn't have a dancing bone in my body, so I was a bit hesitant on slow dancing... I asked him, and he said we should. There might or might not have been a very low-key panic moment in my head. But it disappeared quickly after we started dancing. Thankfully slow dancing isn't too much moving... We talked the entire time, which always makes it a lot better. Even without talking, he kept making me laugh.

After that, another slow song came on, so we continued dancing. It wasn't before long before some friends noticed us dancing and freaked out. RR, her boyfriend, Baby T and her boyfriend were together and noticed us, and started freaking out! They did what (I guess) any normal 21st century teen would do, start taking photos of us dancing. We noticed when we heard squeals and screams, and laughed a lot. It was pretty embarrassing, but at the same time, really cute! In the end, I'm glad they did take photos, because my favorite photo from the night was one that Baby T took of us!

The rest of the night was filled with talking, meeting new people, lots of photo booth strips and more dancing (not just slow dancing! Where J learned that I really couldn't dance. It's okay, we both can't dance together...) 

Side note: Do you like our height difference? He'd have to lean down every time I'd whisper something to him... whoops! Note taken: higher heels next time.

RR, me and PP

I love them and our rant sessions complete with T-Swift!

Baby T

She absolutely hates dances and social events,

So I was so glad that she came because me and J asked/begged/pleaded her to.

It was a really fun night, and when the dance ended, J took me home. He had my phone in his pocket for the majority of the dance, and he still had it until we got to my house. As we said goodnight, I checked my phone and there was a text from Student Body Pres asking if we wanted to grab ice cream with him and his girlfriend, MN. Thankfully, J, the gentleman that he is, waited for me to go inside the house, before leaving, so I asked him if he wanted to and he was totally up for it!

I misread the closing times for Dairy Queen, so we got there at 10:33pm, and it closed at 10:30pm. Whoops, I thought it closed at 11pm. So we made our way to Goodberry's which is outdoors, and it was freezing cold that night- I'm pretty sure I almost froze! That being said, I had only like one bite of my ice cream. Oh well. It was still super fun talking to Student Body Pres and MN, both people I absolutely adore! It was J's first time meeting MN, but as we knew they would, they totally clicked. MN is like my twin, seriously, so it was awesome!

Overall, it was an amazing night! It's always a great time with J. Sorry for the super long post, hope it was somewhat entertaining! (If it helps, when we were dancing (not slow dancing), he twirled me and I went the wrong way, whoops! And when he hugged me the second time we said good night that night, I tripped on my heels and fell onto him... Typical Sam.)

Five on Friday (And Recap ft. Capitol Hill!)

Happy Friday! Thank goodness it's Friday. It was my first full week of the new semester and I love the new semester so far. While I miss my friends from last semester, I love my new classes (English, government and business law?! Yes please!).

It was A's birthday on Wednesday! Happy birthday to the real life Chandler Bing! I'm so glad to have such a sarcastic, loving friend!

I'm also loving learning about government this semester. In both AP Gov and business law, we talk a lot about what goes on in Capitol Hill. I love the idea of working on Capitol Hill, and I'm starting House of Cards, as I type this. I literally (not figuratively) just started a minute ago and I'm already hooked. 

My favorite political-related things? Scandal (I love Olivia Pope! She is a badass), Parks & Rec (Leslie Knope is my spirit animal. I'm actually her!), and keeping up with the news through following the NY Times, Time, Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press on Twitter. 

I also met my long-lost twin, GM; we have 2 classes together and another class in common! We're both really into politics and both are thinking about futures in DC. He's obsessed with The West Wing, and I told him I'd start it soon and that he needed to start Scandal. It's so much fun talking and debating about political issues with someone who cares about them as much as I do! I love hearing other people's opinions about the topic.

He is really into mock trial and government. We are having a mock trial in business law (over Tangled! He's defending Mother Gothel, and I'm going for Rapunzel!), I'm so excited, because I know it's going to be amazing. I love being challenged and he's the perfect opponent. I can learn so much from him, which I love! 

I'm also loving AP English... I've already started analyzing my life like no other.

I also got J and I's Sadie's tickets today! I'm excited and he's excited too, so I'm glad! Check out the two dress options I ordered for Sadie's! I'm excited for the dresses to come in. (Hopefully sometime this weekend!) I will definitely be posting pictures!

I also switched to Team iPhone this week! I love how fast I can send texts to my iPhone friends (which is pretty much all of them!) and participating in GMs! While I miss having the weather widget, I think I prefer the iPhone- just because of quickly I can send messages to other iPhone users. I also like the bottom tab where I can quickly adjust the wifi, brightness, volume and so on. I haven't tried out Facetime yet, but I'm excited. Any suggestions on iPhone 5 cases? I love the Kate Spade cases, but my main priority is having a case that has the case part on the front as well. Sadly, I'm becoming addicted to my iPhone and group messages.

Here we go... My Five on Friday!

1. Humans of New York's fundraiser: Have you been following this? I saw this post the day it was released and I was truly moved. Then HONY did a fundraiser to raise money for Vidal's school... and the normal people (like you and me!) donated over one million dollars! One million! How crazy / amazing / wonderful is that? It makes my heart warm. It gives me so much hope to know that teachers are making a difference in kids' lives. Especially kids like Vidal.
   
2. Scarves: Why didn't I realize the genius behind scarves earlier?! They're cute, comfortable and so simple! It's the perfect addition to any outfit. 
3. House of Cards: 4th episode in. Currently obsessed. Simple as that.
4. Best friends: Don't know what I would do without them. I'm so blessed to have so many great friends.
5. Hot water: Because I've had the worst cough all week and hot water is seriously such a lifesaver. #blessed

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Current Cravings

I haven't done a Current Cravings in the longest time! I can't wait to tell you all about my new semester (which I'm already loving- very surprising, as you'll hear about tomorrow) and everything going on!

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I've been in love with the small Kendra Scott necklaces recently! While I have one statement one, I think these are so delicate and are the perfect touch to any outfit! I love how they're styled here on Pinterest:

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And the prettiest ring to match it! It's so simple and sparkly, I love it!

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My cousin has like four of these necklaces and I'm obsessed with everything about them! I love the tassel trend.

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Literally my ideal outfit. I'd wear a variation of this everyday if possible.

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I love J.Crew's selection! This scarf is so cute and cozy.

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Tassels on a scarf? Yes please!

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This shirt is seriously everything I'd love in a shirt. My cousin said "It was so me!" when we went shopping.

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This would've already been mine if it came in my size! Nothing I love more than a cute striped shirt.

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I promise you will never regret buying cute socks. I love the herringbone and the bows and the stripes! Okay I love all of them, sue me.

These are just some of my current cravings. With the new semester, the craving for new clothes has been insane! (And I haven't bought many new clothes recently. My mom keeps pulling the "You don't need any new clothes" card, but seriously I can't resist!)

I'll talk more about this in tomorrow's post but check out the two dresses I ordered for Sadie's!

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I love the drop hem! And the fact that it's 60% off with both the reviews giving it 5 stars gives me hope!

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This is my personal favorite! Classy in the front, party in the back! ;) I just need to see if my mom will approve the low back and make sure my back looks good! (I'll probably have a bra tan line,.. no joke!) We'll see!

The earliest they're supposed to come in is tomorrow, so I'm excited to see when the dresses will come! I'll definitely post photos of me in both! I love them both and can't wait to see them in person and on me!

Which do you prefer? What are your current cravings? Let me know! Have a great rest-of-the-week! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

How to Be a Better You

I've learned recently not to take things too seriously and not to worry too much about the future, but rather focus on the present. I've been living by this approach, taking things day by day.

That being said, I am thinking about upcoming events and making sure I'm prepared... but for the most part, I'm keeping my worries and thoughts on the present. It's a really nice way to approach life, especially since I'm infamous for my constant worrying and anxiety.

Here are some of my favorite things to do to bring out my best self (one of my unwritten now written 2015 resolutions, so general and cliche- I know, I know) and focus on my present self:

• Work out: Over break, I rediscovered the love and simplicity of working out. I hate going to the gym because I hate seeing people I know while working out... (I know, it's so stupid and it sucks! Other than that and the occasional creepy old man, I love going to the gym!) But my fear of running into people is enough to keep me working out at home. I love using the Cafe Mom videos since they're easy to follow, and only 30 minutes per workout (includes the warm up, work out and cool down)- while you still get a good sweat. The one I do the most is the 30-Minute Cardio video, however I've recently started the Cardio Kickboxing one. My goal is to continue doing one a day (time permitting) while school occurs. My favorite thing about working out is not only that it burns calories, but reduces stress and makes you more energized! Perfect break in the middle of doing lots of homework.
• Read a book: Instead of watching another episode of Friends on Netflix (really tempting I know! I haven't done a Five on Friday in a while, but Friends on Netflix would definitely make the list), reading a book doesn't rot your brain like TV and can provide a similar experience! I forgot how amazing it is to read and imagine the story.
• Clean Your Room: When my room is cluttered, my brain is cluttered. I'm pretty sure there's some scientific study that can go with this. That being said, and my indecisiveness of what to wear, my room is almost always a mess. My goal is to clean my room today or Friday to help!
• Stay Organized: I live by Google Calendar. I will do an intense post on how I like to stay organized soon. (I go all out!) It's nice to see all my events in one place, from tests to social events to work, I can organize and plan my time out accordingly.
• Keep Up With Current Events: This might just be the news junkie inside me, but I love keeping up with current events. It helps a lot when people are discussing them and you can contribute to the conversation instead of just nodding along. You become a more aware, smarter and considerate person when you learn about the world that you're living in. My personal favorite way is by following news on Twitter, because I'm always on Twitter, so I have time to read those articles as I'm scrolling through my Twitter feed. I follow Time.com, The NY Times, WSJ and The Associated Press on Twitter.

I'll be writing a post soon on how to be your best school self (since new semester!) soon! Have a great rest-of-your-week.

Sadie Hawkins

So we're having a Sadie Hawkins dance at my school! At first I was a little nervous because it means I have to ask a boy! But it all turned out alright. I ended up asking J... Are y'all surprised? (Read about him in these posts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7) Can you believe those are just the seven most recent posts with him? He's a big part of my life.

How I Asked: I was really nervous, even though I was pretty sure that he would say yes. (A girl has gotta drop a couple hints here and there!) I had talked to literally all of my friends about it and we planned the perfect ask. He works at Kilwin's, a fudge and ice cream shop. I have visited him at work before and we've talked about his job a lot. (He tried to get me to apply there once! Although I already have the best job ever!)

My friend thought of the best pun: I'd be Kilwinning if you went to Sadie's with me! (Get it? Kilwins + winning = Kilwinning!) I thought it was perfect! J and I are both fans of puns (because I'm the type to make puns in daily conversation... it's cool.) I liked it because it was creative and personal!

I wanted to get J his favorite thing from Kilwin's too! While I know his favorite ice cream flavors (salted caramel and Kilwins tracks), I wasn't going to get him ice cream because it would melt! (Even though with the NC weather around here, it might stay cold!)

I came up with the idea to tell him that I was getting a birthday gift for a friend with a huge sweet tooth and I found out that his favorite thing from Kilwins (besides the ice cream) are the salted caramels! (He's a fan of salted caramel... if you can't tell!)

Plans had gotten switched around, but it all worked out for the best! I ended up going to surprise J after work. I didn't want to ask him while he was working, because he was on payroll at the time and working. JSC came with me because she rocks and I needed the moral support.

I needed to buy him some salted caramels, so JSC and I went in to buy them and talk to J. I was nervous, even though I wasn't even going to ask him then. I was probably more awkward than usual, but JSC said it was fine. JSC met J for the first time and said he was very sweet and professional (since he was at work!).

Then JSC and I waited for J to get off work. We ended up driving around the shopping center and parking in the back lot where he'd be leaving from. (Not creepy at all... right? Just parking where all the employees park and waiting for J... Thank goodness he knows me well and still tolerates me haha!)

JSC and I talked while we waited for J to come out. I was nervous, but I always love talking to JSC and we needed to catch up. Then JSC saw people coming out the back door, and the employees were taking the garbage out. She exclaimed "This is so creepy of us, Sam! Duck!"

So we did what any normal girls waiting at 10:15pm for a boy to leave work would do... ducked in JSC's car!

After they went back into the store, we continued talking, then JSC, who had been keeping an eye on her rearview mirror, exclaimed "Sam! Go now! He's in his car! He's gonna leave!"

Hurried, I grabbed the poster and caramels, and ran out of JSC's car, then exclaimed for JSC to come with me. She told me to go!

I walked as quickly as I could to his car, to find J checking his texts in the car. I knocked on the window and he came out, then the car alarm went off. Whoops! Such a typical thing to happen to me, am I right?

I said, "J, I'd be Kilwinning if you went to Sadies with me!"

He said yes, and I was literally over the moon. I told him the whole story about what had happened, and we laughed about it. JSC took photos of us, and we were all ecstatic!

After we left, JSC told me that he tried to hug me after I asked and he said yes, but I was too excited that I didn't even notice. Whoops! Next time. ;)

You can tell by my smile how excited I was!

Sorry for the super long story, but I wanted to include every little detail. It was awkward, adorable and a lot of fun! I was delighted the rest of the night, as JSC and I talked, picked up ALD, and talked some more!

I posted this photo on Instagram and all my friends were so excited! There were so many sweet comments filled with excitement and "Finally!"s. Lots of heart eye emojis were included in the comments too.

So that's the story! The next step is very important... the dress. I don't want to spend too much money on a dress since prom is right around the corner, but I want it to be cute. I'm very picky on dresses, so it will be kind of hard! 

I have a more mature style, but for Sadies, I want something young and fun! Here are my favorite pick so far:

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I love this dress from Nordstrom! My only issue is the low-cut back which my mom isn't a fan of.

This is the only dress that even contends it for me. My only issue is that it isn't available at my local Nordstrom, so I can't try it on before purchasing it.

Do you have any ideas for Sadies dress options? Let me know. I will keep looking and post more soon!