I am a huge fan of brunch. However, not just any old brunch. It has to be a perfect brunch.
Some of my favorite elements of brunch include...
Croissants (toasted to crispy perfection, with a side of the jam of your choosing. My preference is strawberry)
Omelettes (my personal favorite way to eat eggs. With some onions, tomatoes, garlic powder, and a dash of chipotle cheese melted on top. Extra point if there's freshly sliced avocado on the side.)
Pancakes (chocolate chip, please!)
Fresh fruit (whether it be strawberries or pineapple... I'm up for it!)
Bacon (because what's brunch without bacon)
Coffee (lots of it)
Lemonade (fresh-squeezed, of course!)
San Pellegrino (my favorite drink, with fresh squeezed lemon)
What are your favorite elements of brunch? Oh, how I love sleeping in and waking up to find a delicious brunch. Just some of the joys of Sundays.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! As I'm stuffed on mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and the most delicious cornbread ever... I'm thinking all about everything I'm thankful for, which is a lot of things... I have to share how thankful I am! Here's a message...
To my friends...
To my lunch crew: Thanks for always being supportive of me and understanding when I'm gone to every club meeting possible! I don't know what I would do without you calming down all my crazy and I'm sorry when I interrupt every story.
To my APES class: Thanks for always listening to all my problems whether it be boys or APES tests... y'all are the most supportive and I love you all so much for it!
To my calc group R^ 2 & P^2: I love telling y'all anything. I'm glad you're #TeamSC and are willing to back me up in any fight, and even throw in a punch or two. ;)
To J: Thanks for always being there for me and being my everything. You're my best friend and we are the #DreamTeam. I wouldn't be half the person I am today without you. You've made me accomplish goals I never even knew I had.
To A: You a tru homie. You swaggie yo. Thx for always being there. U cool, u cool.
To HM: Thanks for always listening to me and my millions of rants. I love all of our conversations, and I love telling you everything.
To MS: There's nothing I love more than our talks. From politics to life, you are so inspiring and I'll always be a loser with you.
To SW: AYE. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you this Thanksgiving, but I'm always thankful for our rants about school and I love telling you everything. You get my cheesy lame jokes and you rock.
To the swim crew (ALD and JSC): I never have loved a car ride so much until we went on them. I love talking with y'all about everything and learning all the high school details.
To my family...
Thanks for putting up with my crazy, from mood swings to singing every lyric.
To all my readers...
Thanks for reading. Preppy in NC would be nothing without y'all and it's truly my escape into the blogger world, having my own space in the Internet is so cool!
Happy Turkey Day, y'all! Hope you have an amazing day.
What's better than Black Friday sales? Pre-holiday sales! Especially the ones that you can do from the comfort of your home. Here's my round-up of some of my favorite products on sale!
Kate Spade Surprise Sale: While Kate Spade has these pretty often, this sale has some of my favorite items I've ever seen. I think I might get some items, at the very least, some gifts for friends!
Happy Sunday! Today is a very special day. It's J's birthday.
So here's a very special post just dedicated to him...
Acting silly at the football game.
We can't really do serious.
After editing each other's NHS essays and applications,
We made it! Here's us at inductions.
17 Reasons Why I Love J:
He's my #1 supporter. Whenever I'm worried about something, I can always go to him for encouragement. He's the best at pep talks.
He's the voice of reason in my life. I'm known to be pretty stubborn. However, he helps me slow down and evaluate the pros and cons of my decisions. If I'm ever at a crossroads, I can just tell him the situation, and he'll talk about both sides, before offering me a final verdict on his take.
He's always there for me. While this is similar to the last two, it just means through the good, the bad and the nonsense, he's there for me with open ears, a smile and kind words.
He laughs at my lame jokes. I love making calc jokes and APES jokes. But hey, he actually thinks they're pretty funny.
We think alike. We have the same worries, and while I might be a little bit more worrisome than him, he always gets where I'm coming from. We have a similar style of thinking and humor.
He's kind. I don't know anyone who has something against J. Everyone knows J as a fantastic guy. He's likable, courteous and fun to be around.
We could talk forever and not get bored. This was proven during our almost-nightly phone calls when they'd turn into 90-minute phone calls because we'd get off topic quickly.
He always has something to say about every topic. I love learning every detail about him, especially when we talk about... well, anything. I love hearing about where he's from, Melbourne, Australia.
He loves to listen to me talk about my passions. What other boy will start the conversation about shopping and J.Crew? He loves talking about how much I love Washington D.C.
He shares the same interests as me. Well he is Student Council President... so we have that in common. ;) We have similar taste in TV shows (Sherlock, Arrow, White Collar, Psych and much more), places (he loves DC and traveling!) and even restaurants (Chipotle, Noodles & Co!).
He remembers the little details. Whether it's a tiny detail I mentioned several months ago, he'll bring it up when we're talking about the same thing months later. Nothing makes me happier than to know that he's paying attention when I'm rambling.
I look up to him. Whether it's his incredible work ethic to his awesome leadership skills, I'm always learning from him.
My mom adores him. This is lame, but my mom doesn't usually say much about my friends. However, when she met J, she fell in love with him. He's courteous, mature, responsible and just a great guy.
He makes me laugh. Whether it's a casual joke thrown in there or a hilarious text where I'm actually laughing out loud, he knows exactly what to say.
He's smart. Not just his 4.0 GPA, but he knows what to say and how to act. Not something I can say for all high school boys these days.
He knows everything about me, and accepts me. I'm definitely the same weird self I always am when I'm with him. I don't mind saying everything on my mind, and you'll always catch me whispering to him.
He's my best friend. Every time something happens, he's the one I tell it to. As little as that moment was, he loves hearing about it.
Even volunteering with him is fun
Country Day!
He was wearing a cowboy hat on top and I went country club.
Happy birthday J! I'm so thankful that you're my best friend. I love you!
This week wasn't that exciting, except for last night. Last night was our football game against our rival school and the theme was a rave! It was so much fun. Even though there was powdered paint that was thrown in the air (SO COOL!), but some of it got on my brother's sweatshirt I was borrowing and he was not happy... It was a very hype game, and even though we lost pretty badly (7-21), the excitement was still there and there was a lot of cheering!
Reunited with my fav, Maya.
Maya goes to our rival school, so it was great that I got to see her last night! She used to live in my neighborhood before she moved. We were both rocking the Uggs, which was a good decision on our part, because it was freezing! Kai-D and SS' toes were literally frozen at the end of the night.
SS, Kai-D and I snuggling to stay warm! It was freezzzing!
AK and I. The funny part about this photo is that I'm super short, and it appears that she's super short... however I was standing on the bleachers and she wasn't. She's actually super tall, haha!
The yearbook posted a photo of our QB doing this pose, and had a contest asking people to mock this pose. After some convincing from the girl in charge of the contest, J and I decided to give it a shot. We look pretty funny with our serious faces, but it was hilarious!
It was such a fun game! Our school got more hype than ever before, and it was fun to be there for that!
And now... my Five on Friday!
Friday Night Football Games: Even though this was our last football game of the year, it was so much fun! I'm already looking forward to next year. This was J's first home game... ever, so I was glad to hear that he had a blast. (He had been to one away game since he had some friends on the other team!) I love this photo one of our cheerleaders took during our "I Believe" chant with powder paint.
Something Stupid: As I got into the Christmas spirit this week, I listened to Michael Buble on Spotify. I found this old song that I'd never heard of. It's so cute!
#Beautiful: Another song I discovered on Spotify. Mariah Carey rocks it!
Reuniting: I got the chance to talk and see some people I haven't talked to in forever! I was so excited to see Maya for a brief moment at the football game, see a kid from my elementary school at the game (first thing he said: You don't look any different from 5th grade! Oh... thanks?), and talk with SW, who I miss so very much! All the memories come flooding back, and it's so much fun.
Holiday Gift Guides: I love reading all the bloggers' holiday gift guides to get inspiration for gifts to give! It's interesting to see what items appear on everyone's lists and learn about items I've heard of. I have already posted one for stocking stuffers (all items are $25 and under!).
Today, I'm planning on relaxing, napping, catching up on Netflix, and finishing my homework. Tomorrow is J's birthday (get ready for his birthday post! Warning: it'll be long and sentimental!), and I'm hoping to go on a lunch date that won't be cancelled this time with ALD and JSC!
As I sit blasting Michael Buble, I get in the all-time best mood. He has the voice of an angel! I'm getting in the holiday spirit, and I'm getting really excited to see my family again soon. Christmas is truly my favorite time of the year. I get to be with my family and celebrate traditions we've had since I was born! Here are some of my favorite things that I might need this season...
This dress is absolutely gorgeous and I'd love to pull it off at Christmas dinner. Not sure if I'm willing to pull off that $400 price tag though. I'm realllllly picky when it comes to dresses (I have made a mistake here and there, but overall, I have to find the perfect dress.) So when I find a dress I like, I love it.
How cute are these tights?! I pinned these last year, and I'm so excited to see that Anthro is selling them again. I think it's a sign that I might have to buy them. But seriously how cute would they look with a full solid-colored skirt? I feel like they can be elegant, quirky or a little of both! I just have to find a skirt or dress to wear these with. ;)
I am such a fan of black tights, I think they make every outfit look more winter-y, and gives me a perfect excuse to wear more dresses and skirts in the winter. These tights are the icing on the cake, with their sheer dots, they add a little touch to all these outfits.
And what is a holiday outfit without a festive pair of shoes? I am such a huge fan of loafers, but was never sure until recently. With a cute pair of pants and a buttondown, I'd love to rock these all winter. I personally think that they would be super cute with a dress or a skirt too! (With a pair of tights!) I could see myself rocking these at holiday parties and dressing them down for school as well.
Another pair of loafers I absolutely adore. I love the color emerald green and I love wearing it. These would be perfect for all holiday parties. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how many outfits I could match a pair of green shoes with... They come in black and nude as well, but I am just in love with the green.
Is it really Christmas without a tacky Christmas sweater? I've always wanted to go to a Tacky Christmas Sweater party. Any takers to throw an awesome Tacky Christmas Sweater party with cocoa, cookies and candy canes galore? I need my first tacky Christmas sweater, party or no party, because I want to wear it on the last day of school before break! Target has also some cute ones!
Stay tuned for more Holiday-themed posts! Have a great rest of the weekend. Yay for tomorrow being Friday!
Let me clarify, I'm not that person who is usually one for celebrating Christmas before December. But with the goal to get the perfect tacky Christmas sweater, desserts to bake for friends and family, and my love for Christmas music... this year might be different.
A friend shared this video on Facebook today, and I couldn't resist some Michael Buble and Idina Christmas music. This is actually the cutest music video. Who wants to remake this video with me?! Those kids are more fashionable than me, I love it. Something about Christmas trees, hotels decorated for Christmas, and kids in holiday outfits... I can't resist.
I had to share this video! Please watch it. It's the cutest thing ever, I just saw it a couple minutes ago and it's my third (and not last) time watching it...in a row! Every little detail was planned perfectly.
This was one of every girl's all time fav Lilly prints, am I right? I have always loved sailing, kayaking, boats, anything dealing with water. I went sailing with my Girl Scout troop on a camping trip focused on sailing, kayaking and canoeing, and I fell in love. While I'm not the best to set up a Sunfish boat, I'm amazing at manning the sails. That's actually a dream date: with friends or boyfriends... to go sailing! It's so relaxing and just so enjoyable.
This girl who I have the highest regards for, HJ, is a rower. I read Carly's blog, and I remember hearing about her rowing adventures. It's always seemed like a cool sport. The only thing stopping me was the fear that I'd be behind since I started so late, the time commitment (M/Tu/Th/F/Sat), and how far away the location was (45 minutes away!).
On Friday, I was talking with the sweetest girl in my calculus class, and she was talking about how she wishes she did rowing or fencing or a rather uncommon sport, (she plays soccer) because it helps a lot with college admissions. It sparked my interest, since I was already interested in rowing, and I seriously considered it. The other girls in the conversation listened to me weigh the pros and cons (are you even surprised?), and I don't play a sport yet... My next semester won't be too hard.
Today, I talked to HJ about rowing, and she got really excited. She said I'd have to come to the "try-it-out" round in February. I might be a coxswain, except I believe I might weigh too much, I'm not sure though. I'll talk with her more about it, and do lots of research before February. Seeing as how its such a huge time commitment, I'll have to talk to my mom. I also have to see if I actually like the sport. We'll see, but I'm really excited to dive into this world and maybe find my calling?
It just seems like an ideal sport for me. The whole "starter pack" is trending on Twitter right now, and HJ made one for rowers which included Patagonias and Bean boots. Yes please! I love the water, and the sport itself. It's so interesting and I love how preppy it is (I am Preppy in NC... right?). It seems like the ideal sport for me.
Is anyone a rower? A coxswain? I'd love to hear about your experience!
As I was reading all the blogs this weekend, I was delighted to see Holiday Gift Guides pop up. I love reading Holiday Gift Guides to get inspiration about what to get my friends and family. I've always prided myself in giving gifts that people don't want to rewrap, so I knew I had to share some of my favorite things to give out! This Holiday Gift Guide are just little, cute things that people would actually want to keep.
I might be a major nerd, but I love stationary! I think it's a practical holiday gift, because what's better than a pretty notebook... for doing homework, making lists, journaling... Anything! This leather bound notebook is from Marc Jacobs and it's only $18!
This cute amplifier is perfect for your friend who lives off her Spotify playlists. It comes in the cutest color or in classic black for only $12 from J.Crew!
So cute! You fill in the blanks for this sentimental gift. Like a friendship Mad Libs. Relive all your favorite memories with your friends. Bonus if you add photos of all of the things you wrote about in your book. This sentimental gift is only $10 from J.Crew.
This dainty bow bracelet is only $10 from Marc Jacobs! It's absolutely perfect for those gift exchange parties! (Especially when they have price limits!)
The main thing this week: Taylor's new album. Two things: 1) I really want her to put it on Spotify so I can listen to it all the time. 2) It is gooooooood! JSC had 3 computers open in 2nd period yesterday trying to buy T-Swift concert tickets.
Last Saturday, I got to film part of my APES PSA video on obesity with some girls in my APES class. They're seriously the funniest people ever, so the hardest part was not laughing while filming. I had NHS Inductions on Monday night.
J and I at NHS Inductions! Check out that height difference though...
The funniest girl alive, Amena, and the wittiest, coolest dork ever, HH.
My dress is from LaRoque. I was debating between this dress and a sweater/skirt combination. I sent the photos to H and she loved the dress. She was right! Once I put it on (I haven't worn it since I bought it), I fell in love with it all over again. J said he loved my dress, so that's how you know it was the right choice, right?
Tuesday was Veteran's Day, so we didn't have school, and I got to work!
On Friday, I went on a lunch date with J to zpizza, and Friday night, I went to a football game with JSC and MN (read about MN here!), and I met their friend BC. The game was against the school JSC, MN and BC go to, and it was freezing! It was a lot of fun though, and my school won, and we advanced to the semi-finals. We also ran into ALD at the game! I loved the poster the other team had saying "Tell your girlfriends you'll be free next Friday!" That was witty.
Reunited! Me, JSC and ALD. Don't mind the horrible photo. Flash does not work for us.
Next week is against our rival school, and it's going to be huge! Our last game against them, we won
by one touchdown, and that was the regional championship. I'm hoping to go, and hopefully it won't be as cold. Our rivals are out for revenge, especially since they're salty that they lost the regional championship to us, by one touchdown.
This weekend, other than blasting T-Swift, I'm going to finish filming my APES PSA video with my group, study study study and hopefully hangout with JSC and ALD! They want to meet J, so we might visit him at work! ;)
My Five on Saturday...
1989: Taylor is still on her game. While she isn't exactly my favorite person, I respect her and I love her new music! I'm listening to Blank Space all the time now.
Sweet texts: You know, those texts that you screenshot and send to your friends? Yeah. Those are pretty cute.
Fuzzy blankets: We got two of these (similar) on a whim at Target during their Black Friday sale. Aka we went for the excitement and just ended up buying the entire store. #Typical. We ended up buying two more after we tried them out. So cozy, I'm bundled in one right now!
Publix: I finally visited a Publix for the first time and it is soo awesome. I tried a sample of ham and cheesy sweet potatoes. Those cheesy sweet potatoes are out of this world good! I'd love to work there... cashiers make $8.50/hr! The samples are a must and their sushi is amazing! J said their subs are really good, so I'll have to try those out soon! It's always so busy there!
Week of October 20th: Full of highs and full of lows. As the quarter comes to an end, stress levels are at an all-time high. But we survived, right?! And we have a teacher workday on Wednesday. I'm more excited about the fact that I'll get to work on Wednesday. Quick recap of my week's highs:
Wednesday: We had another hour lunch since the sophomores were taking the PLAN test. MS and I took advantage of this and made our way to Lime. It was so much fun! I love hanging out with MS and I miss having a class together. (Literally all we did last year was talk!) We talked about everything from the concept of a Sadie's Hawkins to birth control for teenagers. Our conversations are always really interesting and I tell him everything. I love hearing his opinion and when we're together, I get a little a lot nostalgic for the old times. Last year, we talked about him applying to college and he just finished applying to colleges. Time flies. Nothing is better than good food and even better company. I'm excited for our next lunch date together.
Friday: After some rough tests, I was so excited to go to the State Fair with MNR and a French girl staying with her for the week. It was soooo much fun to show our Frenchie North Carolina through the State Fair. Unfortunately, my phone has been spazzing out recently, and the phone storage is damaged aka no photos on my phone. MNR has all the photos and will be sending them my way soon. It was so much fun, and we had deep fried Girl Scout cookies, freshly fried corn dogs, root beer from the cutest vendor run by an elderly couple... we were so stuffed afterwards, we couldn't even get the fried mac & cheese, corn, fried candy bars, or anything else! We usually eat a lot more, but it was all good. We went on several rides, but not as many as past years, because we were showing our Frenchie NC. That was okay though, since MNR and I have gone every year and done most of the rides. It was a fun experience and it was always great seeing MNR and meeting her sweet Frenchie, who I learned all about French teen trends from.
Saturday: I had plans to go to the State Fair again with SS, Kai-D and AV, but the timing just didn't work out since I had work later that night. It was okay though because I was exhausted from spending 6 hours at the fair on Friday... typical. I napped then went to my job's Halloween celebration. It was sooo much fun. Confession: We had a bet before the event started on the number of Elsas that'd attend. They kept count, but I don't know the answer yet! One of my bosses guessed 261... haha! It was so much fun, and little kids in their Halloween costumes are the cutest! There was the cutest Buzz Lightyear who was playing with the "ghoul inside a balloon" we had. He gave me the balloon back and I said thank you and gave him a thumbs up. He started walking away but kept glancing at me, then gave me a thumbs up back. He was probably three years old and my heart melted. So cute! I got to see some of my favorite coworkers who I haven't seen since summer, which was really exciting!
Week of 10/27...
This week was pretty good. Especially with a teacher workday on Wednesday. I got to go to work
And here we go... my Five Three on Friday!
Loon Lake: One of my favorite new bands who I found through Spotify. I love their song Thirtythree. I asked my friends if they've heard of them, and TD has! I showed them to MS the other night and he really liked them. There's nothing cooler than people who like the same music as you!
Halloween costumes: There is nothing cuter! One of my coworkers was a dog and he was the absolute cutest. Another coworker was the Mad Hatter, and he's seriously my fav person ever. He is amazing with the kids, and the kids had so much fun interacting with him. Another coworker was a photo booth strip with photos of herself, and her actual face has one of the photos in the strip! There were sooo many Elsas and superheroes; a family was the Flintstones. One of my bosses was a spelling bee, a bee with letters all over her!
Pumpkin flavored everything: I had my first PSL of the season, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin chocolate chip everything. It's one of my all-time favorite flavors.
Week of 10/3/14...
This week was full of meetings and an early release AND pep rally on Friday! The highlight of my week other than my school's football team making it to playoffs for the first time in 10 years! (Sadly, I couldn't go to the game, which I really regret...)
...But I was pre-shopping for a huge charity sale at Belk. I got the Sam Edelman Penny boots I've been wanting for the longest time... for $90 through the sale. Frye boots were also crazy marked down. The Frye Melissa boots were marked down to $208! Jack Rogers were around $66. My favorite Wacoal bras were only $33 a piece (huge deal since they almost never go on major sale!). Clinique was 20% off. I didn't go too crazy... I got 3 Wacoal bras, $105 worth of Clinique (which became $85!), the Penny boots and a Vineyard Vines polo for only $12! It was fun, and I went shopping with my godmother, which is why I was hesitant to go crazy (out of fear my parents would kill me (haha)! Surprisingly, my parents were surprised I didn't buy more. I almost bought a pair of Lilly Callahan shorts for $26, but I have so many J.Crew chino shorts, I didn't think it was necessary.) I also fell in love with this Free People dress, but it was at a price I wasn't willing to bite at. But isn't it the cutest holiday dress?
Yesterday, I volunteered at Carolina Tiger Rescue with some of the kids in my AP Environmental Science class. Even if it meant being at school at 8am, so we could drive there, and tasks like trimming thorn-y hedges. However we were doing this, so they can eventually clear land to make room for two new habitats for two tigers they had to rescue. So we were saving two tigers! The best part was the tour at the end. We saw lots of different cats, big and small, and we learned a lot about them. I convinced J that he had to come volunteer with us, and he was very glad I convinced/forced/told him to. ;) Here are some of the many photos I took!
Me & J with the beautiful white tiger, Jellybean. Sadly, it's a really sad story about how white tigers like Jellybean came to be, Breeders will inbreed tigers with the white gene to have white tigers, For every normal white tiger, there are three with some sort of disorder.
I also finished Season 3 of Scandal on Netflix. Sooo good; I'm ready for season 4 to come on! It was a good Saturday.
My Five on Friday Sunday for this week...
Organization: I am an organizational freak. I taught J some of my ways and now he's hooked! ;) We were talking about them in AP Environmental Science, and it was so funny. When taking notes on pros/cons, benefits/consequences, etc... I use + and -s for the bullets. It turns out another girl at my table does that too, what can I say? #soulmates. We talked about color coordinating our closets, and much more.
ex: Blogging +Fun +Way to relieve stress -Time-consuming -Commitment
Twenty One Pilots: TD loves this band so much, and when driving back to school from Carolina Tiger Rescue, JG played The Run and Go. The music is catchy, upbeat and I'm hooked.
Riding boots: I've wanted a pair since 5th grade, and now that I'm getting them any day.. I'm so excited! I think they're the prettiest pair of shoes ever. I have already officially decided, that if I still want them, I'll be getting the Frye Melissa boots next.
Chocolate dipped Cheetos: This might sound really gross, but when I was volunteering for chocolate summer camp last year, we tried it, and it was amazing! We had chocolate fondue last night, and I shared it with my family. Sooo good. Flamin' hot Cheetos dipped in chocolate are also really good. Try it. You'll see!
No Rest for the Wicked: Another song because I am hooked on good music.
