I'm Here! I Promise! & Holiday Spirit Week

Sorry for the unnoticed absence of leave from Preppy in NC. But I'm back! (I promise!) I have loads to share with y'all, including my recap of Holiday Spirit Week, Christmas, my trip to Houston (surprise! If that makes up for my absence. Sorry. Lots to come about that), and of course my 2014 recap! That's a lot. I got back from my trip from Houston, Texas today, so there's loads of catching up (and loads of photos!) to do.

Holiday Spirit Week was so much fun! 

This was our school's first time having a holiday spirit week. Our school isn't exactly the best at school spirit, but the people that did participate enjoyed it. I had a blast thinking of costume ideas for each day.

Monday: Funny story, I've always wanted a Tacky Christmas sweater, but I'm not about to pay $30 for a cheap one at Target that I'm only going to wear once. In our Student Council Officers GM, RR and J were running all over town looking for Tacky Christmas sweaters. They couldn't find any anywhere! Even Target was sold out. (This is what we get for procrastinating!) 

I found this idea on Pinterest and I had showed them, so these are our somewhat-attempts at them. I created mine before school Monday morning because I had a ton of homework on Sunday night. 

J and I being our typical selves

STUCO Officers take on Ugly Sweater Day
With our homemade sweaters haha.

Shop my outfits! Green sweater (only $24!), jeans, riding boots (now 20% off!), holiday decorations (home)

Elf Day was Tuesday. At first, I had no clue what to do other than an elf hat from the Dollar Store. I was talking with my friend KTL, and I brought up how cute the Christmas bow skirts were. And she thought it'd work for Elf Day. I knew this was my opportunity to try it out! I was so excited. I went the Dollar Store and purchased bows and thin garland. I safety pinned the garland on the top of my skirt and around the bottom of it. (I didn't go all the way around for the garland, just the front half, since I'd be sitting in a chair for the majority of the day). 

The only white skirt I had was from J.Crew, and I wasn't sure whether or not it'd be ruined if I safety pinned the bows. I didn't want to risk it, so I used gorilla tape. I couldn't figure out how to work the safety pins with the bows as well anyways. The tape was somewhat... successful. Aka not really. Aka only seven bows remained on my skirt at the end of the day. It was my fault for rushing out the door in the morning and not bringing extra bows and tape. 

It looked so good! I loved the garland.

As you can see, this is halfway through the day,
Bows have fallen off.

Elf Day was one of my favorite outfits of the week. Most people went to the Dollar Store and bought elf hats. (The local Dollar Store must've been very thankful for Holiday Spirit Week because the entire school bought elf hats, reindeer antlers, snowman headbands, and Holiday Spirit Week accessories there!)

Shop my outfits! Red blouse (old, Lauren Ralph Lauren), white skirt (only $18 with code STYLE2015!), leggings (unknown), flats (similar), elf hat (not shown, Dollar Tree)

I don't have any pictures of Reindeer Day, but it's okay, because that outfit was pretty weak. Just a brown shirt with reindeer antlers, thanks to the Dollar Store.

KTL and I were planning again for Snowman Day. All the photos we saw on Pinterest had the girls wearing tutus and it was so cute! I was very disappointed because I didn't have a tutu and there weren't any for sale near me. Why aren't tutus sold?! I'd wear one for every possible costume. 

Wednesday night, KTL texted me saying her neighbor who dances had an extra tutu. I was so excited! The tutu for me was Christmas colored- red and green. While it wasn't white, I knew this was my chance to wear a tutu to school! So much fun. The stares I had gotten from all my extreme costumes didn't phase me, I was hype. I also safety pinned giant black pom poms as my buttons onto my dad's oversized white buttondown.

So snowman-y! I love it.

Shop my outfits! Button-down, tutu (KTL's neighbor's!), leggings (unknown), flats (similar), snowman headband (not shown, Dollar Tree)

I don't know why, but I was just exhausted from the chaos of the entire week and didn't really have any motivation to do anything but study for my tests (tests on the last day of break... seriously?!). My outfit was kinda lame, and I just wore a Santa hat and red shirt. KD gave me the cutest infinty scarf (called a snood?) as a Christmas gift, it was green, so I knew it was perfect to match the Christmas theme!

I wasn't crazy about my outfit, but the Sophomore Pres really wanted to take pics with J and me, since we hadn't taken any all week. It was fun though!

Typical.

How cute is that infinity scarf?! Or snood, as the label read.

Shop my outfits! Shirt (old, Ann Taylor), scarf, jeans, riding boots (now 20% off!), Santa hat (not shown, home)

And that's one week down. Much more to share... coming soon! Do you think I'll finish before 2015?! Stay tuned to see!

Holiday Gift Guide: Not Your Typical Gifts

Gifts that are much more fun than your usual "gift card" gift. They're especially perfect for parents, close friends or boyfriends! Just make sure you get a peek at their calendar before you purchase these gifts!

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Movie Tickets for Two: Buy movie tickets for a movie you both want to see! If you want to get extra crafty, make a voucher for a "Popcorn on Me!"

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Or even better, concert tickets! Or tickets to a musical. Take them to their favorite band or a play coming in town. Tickets to Wicked would be an amazing gift!

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Food tours are another great gift for your favorite foodie. From meet and greets with local chefs, trying new restaurants, lots of different food, exploring the city and quality time... there's no better gift!

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Another great option is to sign y'all up for a cooking class. Food, friends and fun! Art classes are another great option!

What do you think about these gifts? They're my personal fave.

Holiday Gift Guide: Sentimental Gifts

My all-time favorite gift to give are gifts that have memories behind them. The best gift I have ever received was from A for my last birthday, and it was a scrapbook of all of our memories and a mix tape (so many songs, it was broken up into 6+ CDs. One playlist was just songs that were inside jokes between us.

I think sentimental gifts are the best gifts. While material items are great, sentimental items are much more memorable. I think the best gifts should be memorable, sentimental, and let the receiver know that you put a lot of thought into the gift, because you care a lot about them.

Here are some of my favorite sentimental gifts to give:

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Picture frames are one of my favorite gifts to give. I love the frames with a lot of slots, but if you don't have lots of photos with the person, I love the option of a really pretty frame. 

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While a little bit more pricey, I love this gift of a photo in a snowglobe. You can even personalize a message to be written on the snowglobe and it plays a song! 

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Here's a much more affordable (only $12) option! (No song or message, but hey it's a photo in a snowglobe!)

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I love the idea of giving a book for the holidays. Books are a really personal gift. Make it a gift you think they'd enjoy! It'd be perfect for a future book talk.

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Key tip: if you want to make the gift really personal, pull a Jess from Gilmore Girls move, and annotate someone's favorite book. Not exactly English-class annotate, but highlighting your favorite quotes and writing in the margins makes a gift so much more personal. H showed me this author on Instagram and I'm a huge fan of his quotes! 

I have never actually done this for a gift, but I think that the books that would work the best would include the recipient's favorite book, poetry, or something with an inside joke or personal connection.

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Mix tapes are a never-fail gift. What better way to show you care than making a mix tape for someone?!

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A cute version of friendship Mad Libs, a great way to relive all the memories and even get the chance to include some photos of the memories you discussed in the book!

My favorite DIY ideas include...

• A scrapbook with letters, photos and everything in between
• A journal full of letters, pictures and things just for them
• For the news junkie, a collection of articles that you think they'd find interesting cut and pasted into a journal
• A book full of quotes, photos and other things that remind you of them (Use Tumblr and Pinterest for inspiration!)

What are your favorite sentimental gifts? Please share your ideas! I'm always looking for more. Let me know if you do any of these ideas and how it ends up!

Holiday Gift Guide: My Personal Wish List

With all the gift guides floating around, I just wanted to share some of my favorite things that I'd love to receive this Christmas...

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While I don't know if I could personally justify spending more than $15 on a book, I've been eyeing this book for a while. It provides itineraries for 3 day trips to different European countries. It's definitely a great gift for any wanderlust friend of yours. They have these 36 Hours books for all the different continents!

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You can never go wrong with a bottle of nail polish. My personal favorite brand is Essie, but my friend told me I should try out butter LONDON next.

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One of the bloggers I follow has this plaid blanket scarf from Target! It's so cute and I'm a huge fan.

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After debating between a crossbody and a Longchamp for the longest time, I think Longchamp has won. It's such a chic bag that goes with everything.

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I still need a rain jacket! After too many rainy days at school, this is a need.

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I love 1/4 zips! This Patagonia is so pretty and I love the material it's made of. J just got the guys' version of this in navy and I'm in love! I want one for myself.

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I want a vest for all my buttondowns and this vest is so cute!

More of my favorite things coming soon! What do you want for Christmas? Or just are on your wish list?

Loafers

I love when men wear loafers. If I could, I would buy every guy a pair of Bass loafers.

Recently, I've been interested in the look of women's loafers. They are cute, but I'm just not sure how much I love them and if I'll wear them enough. But at the same time, who cares what others think?! I am dressing for myself, not for others.

Here are some of my favorite looks with loafers:

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I love all the neutrals, yet it doesn't look boring!

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I love how simple the outfit is, and with the additional of velvet loafers, it all comes together.

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An outfit from J.Crew that I already wear all the time. I get a little nervous from mixing patterns with gingham and cheetah print, but J.Crew has shown me it works.

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I love the aspect of the fun loafers, while still keeping it professional.

I have been eyeing for a pair of leopard/cheetah print shoes... I was looking at a pair of either chunky heels, flats... but I think a pair of cheetah print loafers could be my next purchase.

What do you think about loafers? Cheetah print? Cheetah print loafers?

Five on Friday

Another Friday in the books. I'm taking the SAT tomorrow for the first time, and I haven't gotten the chance to study yet. Whoops! Instead, I'm watching my new favorite show... Gilmore Girls!

On Thursday, I went to grab pizza for lunch with MS. It was fun. We talked about ways to ask people to Sadie's, prom, and politics... the usual. I'm going to miss MS next year when he's in college!

I also found out that we're having a Sadie's dance in February. As STUCO VP, I'll have to go, however I'm not crazy about the idea of a Sadie's. Actually I love the concept, but me having to ask a boy... Ah! That's scary. I don't deal with rejection well. Thankfully, J reassured me that it'd all be fine.

Today was a good day. For one, our lesson in calculus involved Krispy Kreme doughnuts. (Best doughnuts ever!) However, for the other calc classes, they used play-doh instead of doughnuts. We win.

After school today, J and I went to buy holiday decorations since we're decorating the trees by our school with ornaments!

There was so much going on with the first full week of school in a while... the perfect way was to unwind with a $3 Starbucks frappe with J after holiday decoration shopping.

His smile is my fav!

I convinced J to try a frappuccino. J doesn't drink coffee, he usually gets hot chocolate from Starbucks. We both got gingerbread frappes. It was my first time trying it, and it was good! I prefer the gingerbread latte, but hey I must be getting to be my 20 y/o self...

I thought that we'd just grab a drink, sit for a couple minutes, then leave, but we ended up talking for an hour! It was really fun. J's calc teacher (aka coolest lady ever aka Starbucks addict aka also SS' calc teacher) came into Starbucks while we were there. I didn't even know her, but I was listening to the conversation, and she started talking to me. She's so sweet!

After she left, I asked if she went to Duke, because that's what I thought I heard. J went on to tell me the story about how got accepted to Duke, but went to UNC. She went to UNC because her boyfriend at the time was going to go to UNC, and now they're married! I thought it was so cute. So did J. :) 

I know it's rare, but there's nothing I love more than the idea of high school sweethearts. The two STUCO advisers for prom last year also married their high school sweethearts. I think it's the cutest! I wouldn't mind only having one boyfriend who I ended up getting married to. Just saying.

Without further ado... my Five on Friday!

1. Holiday Cheer: I forgot to mention! I found out that we're having a holiday spirit week for the first time this year. The themes include tacky sweater, reindeer, elf, snowman and Santa. I'm all about the holiday spirit, so I'm beyond excited! I was telling J how excited I was to finally have a reason to buy a Tacky Christmas sweater. Lots of photos will be posted during that week. I'm already planning ideas for it.
2. Supportive Friends: I know I say this often, but I'm so thankful for my supportive friends. Sometimes little things, as simple as a tweet that I'm not sure whether it's meant to be funny or an insult, can get to me. I love having friends that I can rant to, and are always willing to back me up. Thanks y'all. #ProtectSKC was almost a trending hashtag this week.
3. Gilmore Girls: This show is love. I have a huge huge huge crush on Jess. He's great! I literally texted MN at 1:30am on Wednesday confessing my love for Jess. 

   

   Image via Gilmore Girls Wiki

4. Long talks: There's nothing better. I forgot how amazing it is to just sit and talk with people for hours. I love texting and phone calls, but there's something special about hanging out with each other in person.
5. Helping others: Nothing broke my heart more than when my sweet friend texted me asking for help, through my Student Council position. We have a class Twitter, and we have a lot of followers. She asked for my help to use the Twitter to help spread the word about a special cause. Just because some people think something is "uncool" and they bash on it, they don't realize how hard some people have worked on it. It breaks my heart. I love being able to help others though.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and sleeps in! I will be up bright and early taking the SAT tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Seasons Greetings

Happy December!

While I'm not crazy about cold weather or the end-of-the-semester stress, it all evens out, because it's the most wonderful time of the year... the holiday season!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I love being with friends, family, wrapping up the year, high spirits, great mood, and all of the festivities.

It doesn't really feel like December yet. With all the stress that comes with the semester coming to an end soon and the fact that it's 50 degrees outside... but listening to some Mariah Carey "All I Want For Christmas Is You" helps. I need to break out the cocoa and start baking cookies.

Many more holiday-related posts to come soon! :)