Somehow over this past semester, I've fallen in love with the way that ruffles well, ruffle. I love how they just cascade out. I did a little shopping around of some things that are cute and ruffly. Enjoy!
Probably the thing that born this love of ruffles in me was my XA fall formal dress. It is black lace ruffles. Gorgeous. I found this wedding dress, which I'm not in the need for a wedding dress in any way, but I think it's cute. It's from a cute little wedding shop on etsy called yourfairytalewedding. To clarify, I didn't search for a wedding dress with ruffles, I just typed "ruffles" into the main etsy search and this dress found me.
J Crew, I do love you. I love vests. I love ruffles. This is perfect.
I think my favorite ruffle-y things are from etsy shops. There's something about an independent designer/creator that makes my heart happy. Elizaandaxel is one of these shops. I love how the ruffle on this fades from color to color and the spontaneity of a ruffle of this luxurious beauty being on a tshirt.
Cascades of ruffles next to the sound of cascading water of a cool shower on a hot summer day sound like a peaceful moment straight from heaven. Urban Outfitters has this cute little shower curtain that I'm not sure why, but it captured my heart when I clicked across it.
This necklace would never adorn my neck because I'm not sure how it would look on me, but there's something about it that is simply elegant. This piece is also from an etsy store which called Cobblestone Lane. I wish I could see someone wear this.
This is probably one of the most adorable ruffled items. It's a hedgehog pillow! There's also several others on the etsy shop WinckNCrane. They are so fun!
Cascades of ruffles! Haha! Urban Outfitters carries four colors of these ruffles, but I really like the soft grey color pictured here. This bed looks so comfy. I kind of just want to curl up in it and take a nap! (Too bad I'm a horrible napper!)
I've seen several cute banners lately, but they are always themed. Themed banners are cute and I'm sure they serve a purpose but once the event is over, what do you do with that banner? Throw it in the back of a closet and forget about it? I love the simplicity and versatility of this simple white and ruffly banner at 31vintageroad. At this point, you should know it's a cute shop on etsy!
It's everywhere around me: photography, painting, arts and crafts, music and Be Kind and Rewind. What's Be Kind and Rewind? It's a film that I'm not even sure what's really intriguing me to still watch it. It is about a video store that all the videos get rewound and erased. These films are redone by the citizens of the town. There's a lot of creativity in this film that is very different than what seems to come out of Hollywood nowadays, except it's from 2008. I'm enjoying it despite it being very different than what I normally watch.
So what's the problem with creativity? I have the desire to paint a mural on the couch over my wall. It's not a good idea. My roommates aren't here. My neighbors are all at work or out of town. I feel like I should have someone supervising this situation so there aren't colors on the wall that weren't there this morning.
Maybe I should go find a coloring book... Maybe it's a good thing I still can't find my paints?
I'm in the process of back reading blogs. I unintentionally gave up blogging, or at least reading, during the hoopla of finals, UTXA formal, Stephamiah's wedding and Hanna's graduation. In catching up, there's some awesome things I've missed over the past couple of weeks. I am in no way through reading as I can only read so much when I'm down at Grandmom's between working and pretending to work. Here are some of the finds I thought I'd share (but beware! they're mainly photoshoots, design, music and cute things):
My friend, Calli, alerted me to this photoshoot which I fell in love with because I do love the movie UP!
I'm thinking if I randomly decide to do a themed birthday party, Where the Wild Things Party might be an option.
This photoshoot is from a long time ago, but it is precious. My favorite photographer + little kids + the wild wild west = fantastic!
I don't know if I'd wear this as a wedding dress, but how fun would this be for a '40s themed party? Since we're on the subject for dresses. I somehow fell in love with lace and this dress.
My friend, Kathy, alerted me to Straight No Chaser. This is an acapella mens' group and I love their sitcom medley.
I'm not really sure how I found out about Johnny Stimson, but I sure do like his '60s feel.
I must be in a music-y mood today but I can't not share with you my love for Miracle by the Robbie Seay Band. I'm pretty sure that I just sit for hours with them on repeat.
If you've ever had fast food with me, you know I'm not a McDonald's fan to say the least. I'd pretty much rather not eat than have to put one of their cheeseburgers in my mouth. Want to know why?
Some things in life are just ridiculous. Bumper stickers are sometimes one of the most ridiculous, but these may take the cake.
I'm not sure what to say, but I really do like videos shot in black and white, although both of the ones being on here just happen to be shot in black and white. That wasn't planned.
There's something about trailers that I love. It may be the traveling aspect they make me think of, but who knows? I also really enjoy food. The combination? Awesome.
Hello Summer, I sure did miss you during the school year. I can't wait to see what adventures we'll have together and other shenanigans we'll get ourselves into when I'm in College Station this summer. It would have been good if we could have gone to Costa Rica, Spain or Argentina together, but I'm okay with our plans. I'm just glad you are back in my life right now. Love, Karlen
I feel like this should have been posted a long time ago. I had a wonderful friend named Calli whom let me kidnap her for a day a few weeks ago. We road tripped, ate and did portraits all over the area. It was a fun day, albeit not very sunny. Here's a few of my favorites from that day (which by the way, "a few favorites" is really hard to choose from the multitudes of pictures Calli let me take of her. Without further ado:
I struggle with a sin called worry. I struggle with a sin called stress. I struggle with anxiety. Over the last few weeks, Jesus and I've been talking about a beautiful thing He did on the cross. He covered my sins: worry, stress and anxiety when he was nailed to the cross. He gave me freedom to live my life and not be a captive to these things. This is kind of an oversimplified explanation of what this means in my life, which I hope to come back and explore in the future.
In the meantime, it's finals week. It's a week where the libraries, coffeeshops, and really any spot on campus gets flooded with people hacking away at a paper on their laptops, readings are being furiously highlighted and many study early into the morning with coffee cups glued to their hands. One common fear binds us all in this. We won't make the necessary grades. We won't do well. We worry, we stress, we give our lives over to anxiety instead of giving it all to God. My WILgroup for ASC has been discussing this a lot lately. Here's some verses that the girls, especially me, are clinging to:
"Look at the ravens. They do not plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that what's the use of worrying over bigger things? ...Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need." - Luke 12:24-31
My lovely WILgroup leader, Jana, sent me this the other day on facebook:
"Isaiah 41 starting around verse 21 it talks about idols and at the end it says " Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. See they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind" -so do not put things above the Lord..those things are of Satan and they are meaningless without God...whatever you do-do it for the Glory of God...so if you are going to study hard to get good grades...do it for HIS glory...not your own..and do not let it consume your thoughts because whatever you think about is what you will care about and what you care about will stir the affections of your heart...I urge you to pray before you study and have the Lord do what he wants with that time..."
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:6-7
"For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore... do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles." - Matthew 6:32b-34 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39
"I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid" - John 14:27
"Come to me all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28
"I will never fail you nor forsake you" - Hebrew 13:5
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9
Jeremiah and Stephanie are two of my friends that I've had the privilege of getting to know through Impact, the dorm experience and living life in general over the past two years at Texas A&M. I love hanging out with these two, which definitely didn't change on the day of their photoshoots. The first shoot was posted awhile back. These are some of my favorite shots from our second shoot we did a couple of weeks ago. Our morning ended in us sitting around Dairy Queen enjoying some ice cream and each others company. How fabulous!
I’ve had my fair share of rounds of tests, papers, and projects that have accumulated throughout the semester. A lot of times all of this stress seems to erupt in one crazy week of rushing around trying to multitask a million things, studying as much as possible within a short amount of time and relying on Starbucks to get me through the many sleepless nights. This seems to be a part of the college experience as all of my friends and I struggle with a time management problem called procrastination that seems to result in long to-do lists with no time to do them in.
I think the problem is procrastination, which lurks on the internet in a various of ways, such as: twitter, myspace, facebook, youtube, itunes, hulu.com, blogs, email, instant messenger, addicting games and the list continues. See if any of the following applies to you:
- Watching full movies on youtube even if you have to wait 5 minutes between every part so that it loads. That’s the best time to take a bathroom break and get a new cup of joe, right? - Memorizing all of the lyrics to “Hakuna Matata” in Spanish, Portuguese and having the desire to learn the German version next. You never know when you’re on a gameshow and will need to bust this song out in Portuguese. - Discovering a new TV show (Mary Tyler More, Quarterlife, Joey) and watching every episode made of that show. We act as if they are only on that website today and will be deleted the moment our paper is submitted. - Editing old pictures and posting them on your facebook complete with tags and captions. There’s no better time to post those pictures of your friends playing in the February snow when it is 85 degrees outside and you’ve got a book to read before you can write a paper over it. - Deciding to start a tweeting experiment on twitter where you write a musical with some friends. It definitely won’t be annoying and will probably be so well written that it will be the next show on Broadway.
These things are all ridiculous in light that our studies aren’t yet done. We are running out of time before the test. Would we really rather have a B or a C on the test just because we chose to learn the lyrics to the German version of “Hakuna Matata” instead? As college students, we are trapped in this seemingly neverending cycle of needing to procrastinate in order to get anything done. What would happen if we didn’t log on to facebook before sitting down to do research for our papers? What would happen if we didn’t think that for every 5 minutes of studying, we need to watch 5 videos off of youtube? What would happen if we discovered playing online tetris really won’t help our project to finish itself?
You know what would happen? We’d probably have better grades, be less stressed and have more free time when it really matters. Here’s some ideas to overcome procrastination and help you finish that paper not only before it is due but before you start a marathon of FRIENDS episodes you just found on the internet:
Open your computer with just the word document for your paper and any necessary materials. Facebook is never a necessary material unless you are writing a paper about social media. If so, good luck and schedule a longer amount of time to work on it. - Print out all the necessary documents needed before your study session begins. This way, you won’t accidentally slip a twitter.com into your browser search while looking for that last document that’s on your test. I know you’re sure Ashton Kutcher uploaded in a tweet, but he really didn’t. - Don’t bring your computer. If you bring it and don’t need it, don’t turn it on. You’d be surprised that upon signing out of social networks and shutting down, computers do not in fact explode due to a lack of use. - Get online only during study breaks for a brief timed period. Once your time is up, do not hit the mental snooze button no matter how much you believe the alarm will alert you when 5 minutes have passed. In three hours after various time wasting activities have taken place, you will realize differently.
It’s time to go study! Now, put down the headphones. We both know you aren’t going to listen to classical music while you type and instead plan on “just hearing the latest episode of The Office play in the background”, which really means that you’ll end up watching it and two more. This won’t end well unless you put procrastination off instead of putting off all of your school work.
Probably the thing that born this love of ruffles in me was my XA fall formal dress. It is black lace ruffles. Gorgeous. I found this wedding dress, which I'm not in the need for a wedding dress in any way, but I think it's cute. It's from a cute little wedding shop on etsy called yourfairytalewedding. To clarify, I didn't search for a wedding dress with ruffles, I just typed "ruffles" into the main etsy search and this dress found me.
J Crew, I do love you. I love vests. I love ruffles. This is perfect.
I think my favorite ruffle-y things are from etsy shops. There's something about an independent designer/creator that makes my heart happy. Elizaandaxel is one of these shops. I love how the ruffle on this fades from color to color and the spontaneity of a ruffle of this luxurious beauty being on a tshirt.
Cascades of ruffles next to the sound of cascading water of a cool shower on a hot summer day sound like a peaceful moment straight from heaven. Urban Outfitters has this cute little shower curtain that I'm not sure why, but it captured my heart when I clicked across it.
This necklace would never adorn my neck because I'm not sure how it would look on me, but there's something about it that is simply elegant. This piece is also from an etsy store which called Cobblestone Lane. I wish I could see someone wear this.
This is probably one of the most adorable ruffled items. It's a hedgehog pillow! There's also several others on the etsy shop WinckNCrane. They are so fun!
Cascades of ruffles! Haha! Urban Outfitters carries four colors of these ruffles, but I really like the soft grey color pictured here. This bed looks so comfy. I kind of just want to curl up in it and take a nap! (Too bad I'm a horrible napper!)
I've seen several cute banners lately, but they are always themed. Themed banners are cute and I'm sure they serve a purpose but once the event is over, what do you do with that banner? Throw it in the back of a closet and forget about it? I love the simplicity and versatility of this simple white and ruffly banner at 31vintageroad. At this point, you should know it's a cute shop on etsy!
