My belated Christmas present to everyone: hair accessory giveaway!

     I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas! I thought that I'd have more time to post during winter break, but sadly this hasn't been the case! The sad thing is, it's not even like I've really been up to that much so far over break. I've been doing a lot of sleeping mostly (Which I'm not complaining about!). :-)

     To make it up to you all for the lack of posts I have a little giveaway to present to you all today! The sponsor is Miss Raquel from the blog God's Daughter. She operates an Etsy shop called Deus Filia and has offered to provide the winner of the giveaway with a custom made hairclip of the winner's choice! Here are some pictures from her Etsy shop to show you the options of what you can choose:

     Thanks again to Raquel for sponsoring this little giveaway! Check out the Rafflecopter widget below for how to enter. :-) I'll try and post more soon!


xoxo Miss ALK
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Finals are upon us.

...coming ever too quickly are what every college student dreads the most: FINALS.

     Finals week at my college is next Monday thru Thursday. Unfortunately for me, 3 out of my 5 finals are next Monday, so this won't be a fun weekend for me. I also need to start packing up a month's worth of stuff soon. I leave for the airport shortly after my last final next Thursday afternoon. Crazy to think that in 8 days I'll be back in Maine!

     I won't be blogging anymore until after Christmas break begins next week because of all of the craziness. To any fellow college students that read my blog- best of luck to you on your exams! Study hard and rest up.

     I leave you with a few Christmas songs that I love. FYI "Merry Christmas Darling" by the Carpenters is my favorite Christmas song ever. If I listen to it when I'm in a sad mood it almost makes me tear up because its so beautiful.

Much love and many blessings to you all!


xoxo Miss ALK

Going Deeper.

     I decided to title this post after a song that I used to sing one summer many years ago at vacation bible school at our old church. The leaders would lead all of the kids into this song at the start of every night of VBS that went something like "I'm goind deeper with God! Going deeper every day, going deeper that's the way!" Anyone else remember that old song?! Haha.

     It seemed like a fitting introduction though to what I want to blog about today, and that's how my faith has grown since coming to college. If any middle or high school aged girls are reading this post today, I strongly encourage you to think about attending a private, Christian college in the future. It's definitely changed my life for the better.

     In high school, I was really only a Christian by default, or because it was my identity. My parents had switched churches a few times when I was growing up, but they'd always exposed me to Christianity and the bible, and my mom used to pray with me most nights before bed when I was a little girl. I never really remember a specific moment that I was "saved," but somewhere during middle school or my early high school years I came to a realization that Jesus truly was God's Son, and I believed (and still do believe!) that he died on a cross for everyone's sins, and that God loves everyone. It was just the "relationship" with God piece that I was missing.

     As high school continued Christianity became my identity. I didn't party in high school, and I never had a boyfriend (the latter I would have liked but that's another story!). I found that being a Christian was simply a good excuse for being a goody-goody two shoes. As I've said before here and on my old blog, it took me a really long time to find good friends in high school. I often almost blamed the fact that a lot of people didn't treat me nicely on the fact that I was a Christian.

     You'd think though that by not being accepted at school it would make me draw closer in my relationship with God, but instead it did the opposite. I rarely prayed and read the bible, I avoided Christian music and the further that I got into my high school years the less I went to church. It's not like I had decided to become aethiest or practice another religion, but I was honestly angry at God for the fact that I didn't have the best high school experience, and I didn't want to spent time developing a relationship with Him. Which is so ironic- since everyone at school knew me as the Christian girl!

     But here in college everything has changed. I attend a Christian college in the South which is totally different from my high school. The majority of the students that go here share my morals and views and have relationships with God. Being in a community of like-minded people has helped me so much to grow in my own faith. There are so many fellowship opportunities on campus to take advantage of. I'm a member of a small girls' bible study, and I try to attend the once-a-week evening chapel service as often as I can. These two things alone have made a positive impact in my faith.

     I'm learning though that it's really the little things that allow you to grow in your relationship with God. For example, I recently downloaded a free app onto my iPhone that has brief daily devotionals. I read one every night before I go to bed. I've found that a lot of the messages and verses have really spoken to me and applied to my life as of late. I've also made a point recently to pray, out loud, every night for a few minutes before I go to bed. I find that verbally talking to God helps me to stay focussed on what I'm praying about, and the conversation aspect makes Him feel closer to me.

     I've also been doing a lot of thinking about Christian principles and morals. For example, I've thought a lot on the topic of dating lately. In high school I didn't have a boyfriend, but it was only because I was never asked out. Had I been, I was so insecure that I probably would have dated almost anyone, even a guy who didn't share my views on things like purity. I used to think it was so unfair that I never got a lot of male attention in high school, but lately God has placed this peace on my heart that He's saving me for someone special down the road, and it makes me glad that I didn't waste my time and emotions on some immature high school guy. I'm definitely open to a dating relationship (Anytime now! Haha) but it would have to be with a guy who loves God and shares the same morals that I do, and wouldn't pressure me into anything that I was uncomfortable doing.

     All of these little things combined are helping me to grow deeper in my faith with the Lord, and I can't wait to see where this leads in the future! How has your relationship with God been lately?


xoxo Miss ALK


P.S. The pictures that I put into this post are all ones that I've taken on my various plane trips to and from North Carolina and Maine. I didn't choose them for any other reason other than I think the clouds look cool. :-)

So thankful.

     My Thanksgiving post is belated because I've spent the past few days at my sweet college friend K's house with her family. Plane tickets to Maine are expensive and since I spent fall break at home I had to stay down south for Thanksgiving. It's been a lovely week filled with sleeping in, watching movies, shopping and fellowship. K's family has made me feel part of the family, and for that I am so grateful. :-)

      I did want to do a brief post though expressing my gratitude for some important things in my life. And I'm not just doing this post because I feel that it's a blogger's duty to do the annual good ol' Thanksgiving post. I'm writing this because God has blessed me immensely and being at college has made me realize that.

     I'm thankful for:

• My parents: I'm an only child so I've always been close to both of my parents. I didn't always appreciate them when I was younger and during my high school years I frequently complained to everyone at school about how I thought they were too strict, or too hard on me, or too unfair, etc. Now that I'm living 1000 miles away from them I realize how wrong I was. They weren't too strict at all- what they were was being good parents. My mom especially instilled in me how important Christian values are. Yes, back in the day I may have held grudges against them for not letting me wear a ton of make-up at 14 or let me get my license the day I turned 16, but now I realize that this was all for the better. They put up with me through all of the moodiness that came with being a teenager, and still put up with me now (via the phone). ;-) Seriously though, they're the best. They're the most caring parents ever, and they go out of their way for me all of the time. Even while I'm at school I know that they're always a phone call or e-mail away. 
• My college: The school that I attend in North Carolina is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have grown so much in my faith since coming to college, and also gained much educational knowledge. I'm thankful that I like (most) of my professors, and that the things that I'm learning at school will help me in the real world someday. I'm so blessed that my college had a radio station that I'm able to volunteer at, even just being a first semester freshman. Having college radio experience on my resume will help me with finding a job after graduation. I love going to a Christian college. Attending the weekly student-lead chapel services and belonging to a girls' bible study group is awesome. But most of all I'm thankful to get to go to school in such a safe and friendly place. The climate of my college is totally the opposite of that of my high school. Seriously, everyone is so nice and approachable. That brings me to my next topic:
• My college friends: Being a Christian girl with morals in a public high school wasn't the easiest thing in the world, and it took me a long time to find good friends in high school. So I definitely wasn't expecting to make friends in college so quickly! All of you guys are so different, unique and beautiful people in your own ways, and I love you all the more from it. Some of you I met on our class Facebook page last spring before school started, some of you I met at orientation in July, some of you during the events the first week of school, some of you through my classes and some I just meet (and often those are the best friendship stories!). There's honestly too many of you to list here but y'all know who you are! I know that we will be friends for life, and I can't wait to see where our lives take us. And shout-out to M and B who are the ones that usually take my pictures for fashion posts on this blog!
• My best friends from high school: There's far fewer in number of you then my college friends, but I'm grateful for y'all just the same. It may have taken me 3 years to find you guys, but you taught me what true friends look like. I may be the "different" one among you guys, but you love me for who I am. We had some amazing memories during my senior year that I'll never forget. I can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks over December break! Always stay in touch, your Facebook chats, texts and skype calls make my day.
• Bloggers that inspire: Elle, Julianne and Emily, you three ladies have blogs that never cease to encourage and bless me. You all write the best posts; sometimes the make me laugh until I cry, sometimes they warm my heart, and sometimes they make me truly think about my relationship with God. I hope that someday I can meet each of you in person, and be able to call you a friend outside of just the blogging world. :-)
• God: Lord, you have blessed me with so much. This little list that I've made doesn't even begin to cover it. Going to college has opened my eyes wide as to how great You are and how lucky I truly am. I hope that I continue to grow in my faith over the next few years and stay true to my faith. Use me to be a light to others. 

     And a few other important things:

•  Netflix (An easily distracted college student's dream)
• Bojangles, Chick Fil A and Cookout- aka the best fast food in the world. I don't know how I survived for almost 18 years without these amazing eateries. 
• Vera Bradley- because everything that company makes is adorable. And for going to a college where almost all my girlfriends share my love of Vera!
• Spotify- I mean who doesn't want to subscribe to my awesome playlists that sample the best Christian, country and late 90s/early 2000s pop songs?! 
• Cheaper gas in South Carolina 
• The generous amount of Mexican restaurants that are fairly close to my college.
• The fact that many of my college friends are interested to hear about what life is like in Maine and enjoy my stories (strange since I don't find Maine to be a very exciting place).

     What are you thankful for?

     "...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

xoxo Miss ALK

The most exciting item that I've ever crossed off my bucket list.

     A dream that I've had for many years actually came true about a week and a half ago. To be honest, I'm still in shock that it actually happened. It was totally a God thing... and maybe a little bit of being in the right place at the right time as well. :-)

     Yes, that's me with the one and only Karen Kingsbury! Aka, the queen of (amazing) Christian fiction. She's a New York Times best selling author, and beloved by fans around the nation and world. I've read almost 30 of her books and I won't stop until I've read them all! Each of her books hooks me in from the very first page, she's an extremely talented author who uses her gift to glorify the Lord.

     Karen's books encouraged me so much during my high school years. My walk with God was encouraged so much by reading them and I was able to relate to a lot of her characters, especially the character of Bailey Flanigan. Bailey was modeled after Karen's real life daughter Kelsey, and through the years the books follow Bailey through high school, college, a career as an actress and then her new life as a wife. Bailey's high school situation was similar to mine, and the character of her inspired me to take a stand for my faith despite being in a harsh public school environment.

     I'd wanted to meet the woman behind these amazing books for years, but Karen never really did any events in the New England area, where I'm from. She lived in the Pacific Northwest until last year, and now she and her family make their home in Nashville. When it was announced that Karen was going on a tour to promote her newest book, I was so excited that some of the locations were in driving distance from my college! Definitely a perk to going to school down south. I was so delighted by how friendly and down to earth Karen is in person. It was such a blessing to be able to meet the woman whose books have inspired and helped to change my life for the better!

     My sweet college friend B accompanied me. Even though she'd never read any of Karen's books she helped me find the location of the signing and waited in line with me for 2 hours. She's the one that took the picture of me and Karen that I included in this post!
     Karen signed my copy of her latest book, The Bridge, with the bible verse Jeremiah 29:11. She quotes this verse frequently in her books. In the NIV it reads:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

This verse has really inspired me in the past couple weeks. These recent times have been filled with emotional ups and downs for me, and knowing that all of this is an exact part of God's plan for my life gives me this amazing inner peace that I can't even describe! College has really taught me to lean on God for my support.


Have any of you ever met a celebrity, or someone that you've always looked up to?


xoxo Miss ALK
   

Please bare with me.

     These past two weeks have been the most stressful of the college semester for me. Seriously- finals will be a breeze after all of the work that I've had due lately. In the past 2 weeks I've had a presentation, huge test, and 3 large papers due. The last paper of these is due tomorrow, and it's nowhere near being finished. It's also been stressful in terms of college life in general. I won't go into detail now, but let's just say that I'm thrilled that it's a new week!

     I can't wait for Thanksgiving break! I'll be going to one of my college friend's houses. She lives in a different part of North Carolina that I've never seen before, so I'm excited to go somewhere new. I also have a lot of blog posts planned! More of my fall fashion ideas, as well as reflections and photographs from something exciting that happened to me a couple weeks ago. :-)


     Have a great rest of your week. I promise I'll get back to regularly scheduled posts soon.


     xoxo Miss ALK

Where I've been.

     ...I haven't been blogging lately because I was here. :-)

      The end of last week and the beginning of this past week was fall break at my college. I got to go home to Maine and it was my first trip back since I left for college in mid-August! I have acclamated better to college and Southern living better than I ever dreamed, but at the same time I was ready to see my parents, friends in Maine and of course the beautiful beach.

     I was only home for a few days so I took advantage of all the time that I had and tried to visit with as many friends and family as I could. I also made time to see the homecoming football game at my high school, do lots of errands, eat yummy home cooked meals as well as food from my favorite local restaurants... and see this girl pictured below.

     This beautiful girl, K, has been my friend for about 11 years now! I will do a different post soon all about our awesome friendship through the years. :-) It was lovely to spend an afternoon together enjoying the local beach. 

I have been inspired lately with some great ideas for more blog posts, but sadly you'll all have to bare with me a few weeks. These next couple weeks are the busiest for me this semester. 3 big papers, 2 presentations and 1 test! I probably won't be blogging much since every spare second that I have will have to be spent on homework. If y'all could all please pray that I'll be able to stay focused on my studies, well rested and use good time management that would be wonderful!

Many blessings to you all! If any of you have prayer requests for the next couple weeks please leave them in a comment on this post. <3

xoxo Miss ALK

Fashion Post {10/11/12}

     It's been a really long week for me at school. I had midterms in 3 of my 5 classes which was beyond stressful! It was also freezing here in North Carolina for most of this past week- in the low 50s most days! It was actually warmer most days in my hometown in Maine, crazy right?! So what better way to celebrate the end of a tough week and the start of more warm weather tn by breaking out the polka dots?!

• Shirt: JC Penney (August 2012)
• White Camisole (under shirt): Rue 21 (September 2012)
• Jeans: American Eagle (Fall 2011)
• Boots: Shoe Depot (September 2011)
• Necklace: Walmart (2006-yep! 7th grade throwback)
• Earrings: Gift from a friend (Fall 2010)

     I'm obsessed with the peplum trend, so when my mom and I found this shirt on sale at JC Penney this August I knew that I had to have it! JC Penney is one of the few department stores that we have up in Maine. It's definitely not my favorite store, but I have been able to find some cute things there during my high school years. This shirt is really light weight and flowy which I love. I think that peplum is an awesome style of shirt to wear because it hugs and showcases your curves without being super low-cut and showing a ton of cleavage! And the polka dots are just awesome. :-)

     My skinny jeans are from American Eagle. I love their jeans. Technically, these are the "jegging" style, although they aren't real jeggings and fit more like skinny jeans. AE jeans come in so many styles and washes, and are frequently on sale. Plus AE has an amazing free rewards program and sends me coupons all the time, so I rarely pay full price for something there. A lot of skinny jeans are too long on me, but I'm too tall to buy a "short" cut fit. These are regular legnth and are the perfect legnth!

      Aren't my boots just the cutest things ever?! I showed you my old boots in my last fashion post, but these are a pair that I bought upon arriving at college. They were under $40 which I think is a great deal for adorable fall boots! They have a 2 or 3 inch wedge heel built in, but are surprisingly comfortable and supportive. I love wearing heels but it's hard to do at my college because the classroom buildings are far from where I live in campus, so any heels that are comfy and cute I welcome!

     I got the necklace that I'm wearing in this post in the 7th grade at Walmart. Yes... Walmart. It's actually super long so I like to twist it around a few times. For many years I forgot that I owned it and it became lost amongst my other jewelry, but this past year I rediscovered it and was thrilled at how well it matched this shirt! Moral of the story: cute jewelry can be found pretty much anywhere! My earrings were a gift from a high school friend a couple years ago.

     I have another busy weekend (as usual) coming up at school, and then next weekend I get to go home to Maine for a few days since my school will be having fall break! It'll be a crazy week of packing, cleaning, activities and trying to get a lot of homework done so I can have a homework free vacation. Gosh- it's so weird to call going to my real home a "vacation!" 

     I hope that all you beautiful people have a great weekend yourselves! What will you be up to?

     xoxo Miss ALK

Fashion Post {10/2/12 and 10/4/12}

     I got a lot of positive feedback on my first fashion post from a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd share a couple more outfits today! Here's what I wore on Tuesday and Thursday of this week:

Tuesday:

• Tunic: Macy's (September 2011)
• Printed leggings: Ardene [Canadian Store] (August 2011)
• Boots: DSW (Fall 2009)
• Grey camisole: Target (November 2010)
• Necklace: Gift from extended family (several years ago)
• Earrings: Made by me! (Metalsmithing class, Fall 2010)

     I love skirts and dresses, and I love to wear them year round. This tunic (shirt/dress?) is one of my favorites for fall! Fall weather can be so weird and varrying, so this is perfect for this time of year. It's lightweight for when it's warm out, yet it looks great with a black or grey cardigan on top if it's chilly. It's too short to wear on its own, but I adore mixing it with these printed leggings!

     I went on vacation to Sherbrooke and Montreal in Quebec, Canada with my mom in August 2011. We went to a mall while we were there and I loved visiting the store Ardene (where I found the leggings). They were reasonably priced and I thought they were super cute! My fashion tip of the day is that whenever you're on vacation or in a new town always see if you can find some stores that you might not have where you live, that's often how I find my favorite fashion pieces! :-)

     The boots that I'm wearing in this post are aging and looking a ragged, but I love them. I love them so much that I devoted a whole post on my old blog to them! 

     My necklace was a gift to me several years ago for Christmas from either an Aunt or cousin. I honestly can't remember who it's from. :-( When I was given it I was still quite young, and it wasn't my taste at the time. My mom then kept it for a few years, but during my sophomore year of high school I found it in her room and was like "Hey! I actually like this now!" The moonstone matches the colors of my tunic. 

     I had the awesome opportunity to take some metalsmithing classes at my high school during my junior and senior year. We made beautiful jewelry, and that's where my earrings came from! I hammered different design stamps into the pieces of aluminum and then attached them.

Thursday:

• Shirt: Hand-me down from my mom :-)
• Cardigan: Kohl's (Fall 2009)
• Jeans: Hollister (September 2012)
• Shoes: Sears (Featured in this post)
• Earrings: Christmas gift from my sweet friend J (From Forever 21)
• Ring on middle finger: Small costume jewelry boutique in Maine
• Ring on third finger: Gift from my Grandma a few years ago

     My mom and I are almost the same clothing size now, so frequently over my senior year she'd give me things of hers that were a little too tight or things that she didn't wear as much anymore. That's how I ended up with this adorable shirt! I love it. I can wear it at almost all times of the year and with a variety of different pants or skirt options.

     As you'll learn through future fashion posts, I'm a huge fan of cardigans. They're so much cuter than sweatshirts! The one that I'm wearing here was an interesting story attatched though. :-) I first got it back in the fall of 2009 (sophomore year). I wore it a lot, and I wore it with my dress to my schoool's Snowball dance in early March 2010. It was a crazy night though, because I had the dance that Friday and then early Saturday morning my parents and I were leaving for a trip to Disney World. When I came home from the dance I quickly started packing for my trip and through stuff all over my room. 

                                                                  Me in this sweater all dressed up for the Snowball Dance! March 2010

     So I came home from Florida and wanted to wear this sweater to school, but it was nowhere to be found! :-( I looked all over but I couldn't find it anywhere. My guess was that I'd left it at school during the dance since it was such a busy night. I checked lost and found but it wasn't there, and I thought it was gone forever. 

     But this past summer I was cleaning out my closet looking for things to pack for colelge, and low and behold, there was my sweater! It had fallen off a hanger in my closet and was wedged in a small crack between wall and floor behind a shelf in my closet. It had so much dust and lint on it, but I couldn't believe that my sweater hadn't been lost (and still fit)! It took several washes to get all of the yucky stuff off of it, but as you can see from this fashion post it's back. :-)

     I got my jeans about a month ago at Hollister. I'm not really a huge fan of their clothing anymore... I went through a phase when I was 13 and 14 where everything that I wore HAD to be Hollister, but now I find their clothing rather boring and overpriced. However, they have awesome jeans and sometimes they have great sales. Originally these jeans were priced at $50, and I got them for about half of that. :-)

     I'm a huge jewelry nut which most of my friends know, so one of my best friends from back home, J, gave me a bunch of pairs of cute earrings last year for Christmas! These are from Forever 21. The ring on my middle finger I found at a cheap yet chic jewelry store in the next town over from mine back home. The ring on my third finger I almost always wear because my grandma gave it to me a few years ago. Plus I think it has a really unique look! 

     xoxo Miss ALK

Hello October!

      I'm taking a break from my fashion related posts today, because I wanted to celebrate the start of this new month! Typically I'm not really a fall person, but this October holds some exciting things. Including:

• Getting to go home!! (In 19 days from now to be exact.) I love the South and my college dearly, but I can't wait to see my friends and family back home for a few days later on this month.
• My trip home means that I finally get to fly by myself. :-)
• One more note on my trip home- it coincidently falls over homecoming weekend for my high school. The fact that I can attend the homecoming football game means that I'll be able to visit with a lot of my high school friends in one place there! 
• Hopefully the warmest October weather ever! Although this first day of the month has been chilly and rainy, living in the South means that this will generally be a warmer fall than what I'm used to in Maine.
• Growing in my faith with the amazing bible study that I joined last week at school! I can't wait to see what lessons God has in store for me and the rest of the ladies of the Women of Excellence group. 
• Volunteering at more admissions events here on campus to try and recruit more high school students to come to school here. I love meeting them and their families and sharing my love of my college!
• I'm not really looking forward to my midterms in French and Theatre class... but it will be a relief when they're done! And my English teacher gives us two weeks off in October where we don't have to do our daily journals. 
• Finishing up my chapel credit for this semester. I've had great attendance so far so I should have it done in three weeks!
• Seeing what a college homecoming is like!

     I thought a fun way to conclude this post would be to show y'all some pictures of homecomings past from my high school. I didn't go to my freshman year homecoming dance, but here are pictures from sophomore, junior and senior year!

                                                  Sophomore year, Homecoming 2009

                                                                Dress: JC Penney 

                                                       Junior year, Homecoming 2010

                                                                      Dress: DEB

                                                        Senior year, Homecoming 2011 

                      Dress: Le Chateau (Canadian store, bought on an August 2011 trip to Montreal)

(Sorry that there isn't a better picture of me for senior year, I did pictures with a group of friends so I barely had any pictures of me by myself, this is all that I could find!)

     This post is one of the attempts that I'm trying to make in my life to be a more positive and happy person! Sometimes I honestly to forget how much God has blessed me with. My blog is a great way for me to remember all of the good things in my life! :-)

What are you looking to this October?

xoxo Miss ALK

My favorite make-up products {part 1}.

     Happy Wednesday friends!  

     I realize that this is my third post in a row that has to do with fashion/material type things. I don't want any of you new readers to think that those are the only thing that I'm going to post about on my new blog- totally not true! These are just some topics that I've been inspired to write about lately, and also things that I wanted to post about on my old blog but never got around to.

     Since I'm a self-described girly-girl, I do enjoy wearing and playing with make-up. I wear make-up most days. Occasionally if there's a day when I'm not really leaving my house (or now, dorm) I'll go make-up free, but for the most part I wear it regularly. I don't wear what I'd call "a ton" of make-up, but I wear enough so that it's noticable.

     For any younger readers, I don't want you to think that you need make-up to be beautiful! My mom was always strict about how much make-up I could wear when I was younger, and now I'm grateful for that. She taught me how inner beauty is the most important, and also how crazy it is that we live in a society that makes young girls think that they have to grow up too fast. I didn't start wearing make-up on a weekly basis until my sophomore or junior year of high school, and even then it was just light eye shadows and sometimes mascara. I did get to wear more make-up for special events like school dances, and that made it something to look forward to!

     My senior year of high school is when I really got into make-up. It was also the year that I got my car and started driving a lot, and it was just one of many "right of passages" that came last year. A lot of the girls at my high school dressed very casually and sloppily, and to me getting dressed up everyday for school and wearing make-up/doing my hair made me feel pretty and prepared for the day. Now on an average school day at college I wear some light face powder, a little blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss or lip stick. While there's some products that I use almost everyday (such as my face powder) I like to switch up the colors of my eye products and lip products to coordinate my outfits, and also just for the fun of trying something different!

     I thought it would be fun to share with you all some of my favorite make-up products. I have very sensitive skin, so finding affordable and appealing hypoallergenic make-up is always exciting for me! I titled this post "part 1" because there will be more posts like this in the future as I find new products.


1. Almay Intense i-Color Smoky-i Eyeshadow for Hazel Eyes

     I love a lot of things about Almay make-up, but one of my favorites is that they make eyeshadow trios customized for your color eyes. I have hazel eyes (and you can probably guess from what this product is called) and these colors help to bring out my natural color! However, the only shade from this trio that I really use on a regular basis is the top shade, the bright silver. It's very shimmery yet light enough for daytime wear, and it stays on all day without fading! I wish that they sold just the top shade seperately. You can find Almay make-up at most drug stores and places like Walmart and Target.

2. Mally Volumizing Mascara

     I am so thankful that I have Mally make-up products as a part of my beauty routine! :-) My mom first found out about Mally about a year ago thanks to a segement that the company was doing on the QVC channel. It was advertised as being hypoallergenic and since my mom knows I have sensitive skin she bought me a sampler kit for my 17th birthday. I adored all of the products but especially the mascara! This is probably the best mascara I have ever used. It volumizes my lashes so well, stays fairly clump free, and lasts forever. Seriously- they pack a lot of product into this little tube! It is on the pricy side, and since Mally isn't really sold in stores you also have to factor in shipping. However, this is a beauty splurge that I find totally worth it! You can find Mally either on their segements on the QVC channel or through the official website.


     What are some of your favorite make-up products? If you liked this post let me know and I'll soon share more of my favorite beauty products.


     xoxo Miss ALK

My new 'do!

     After 18 years of having pin-straight hair, it was time for a change. So, I got a perm. :-)

     I'm so happy with the results! I wanted to do something different to my hair that didn't involve cutting it all off or dying it completely. I've always been obsessed with curly hair, so then it occured to me that I could try a perm! What do y'all think? It's a little frizzier then I expected but so far I'm really enjoying it!

     One thing that I've been thinking about a lot though since the perm is how although it is fun to play around with different hairstyles and fashions, what truly matters is inner beauty. God keeps reminding me that what He cares about is if I have a loving and compassionate heart. It truly can be a challenge for me to keep my thoughts focussed on Him and not worldly things such as materialism. Here are some bible verses that I found online about inner beauty.

     "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight." -1 Peter 3:3-4


     Have any of you done anything different with your hair recently?


     xoxo Miss ALK

Fashion post {9/21/12}

     After almost 2 years of blogging, here is my first fashion post!! As you can see from the pictures it's still summer weather here in NC, yay! I'm posting this on a Saturday but this was my outfit for Friday, September 21.

• Shirt: Dillard's (September 2012)
• Shorts: Macy's (Summer 2011)
• Necklace: Goodwill (Summer 2009)
• Shoes: Sears (2008 or 2009)

     I am in love with this navy top that I'm wearing form Dillard's! It's a peplum top and I love that trend. It's made of very light material which is good to wear in Southern humidity (still something that this Maine girl is getting used to!). I found it on a clearance rack a few weeks ago. Clearance shopping is the best! Dillard's itself is just amazing. We don't have any back home.

     Macy's, where I got my shorts, is the closest thing that we have to Dillard's in New England. While Macy's can be very pricy you can get good deals here. I can't remember how much my shorts were last summer, but I do like my white shorts. They're a nice change from denim and they aren't super short. The only bummer is that it's easy to stain them!

     My necklace was only .99 cents at Goodwill a few years ago. It's very blingy and "out there" which is totally my style. Goodwill is an awesome place to find jewelry at! A lot of times the jewelry that they sell is new, it'll just be stuff that didn't sell at other stores that ends up there, still with tags and in packaging. Such was the case with this necklace. I went to sleep-away camp in 2009 and my mom took me to Goodwill to find some cheap jewelry for camp. That way I could accesorize my basic t-shirts and shorts and not have to worry about losing anything while there! You can't beat .99 cents. :-)

     I found these sandals on a clearance rack at Sears 4 or 5 years ago. I'm not really a Sears fan, a lot of their clothing is cheaply made and not really my style. However these sandals were a great buy! I love the pretty gems on them, and since they're multicolored they go with everything.

     What did y'all think of my first fashion post? Should I do more of them? I thought that it was a lot of fun! Shoutout to my college friend M for taking this pictures!

     Have a blessed weekend! 

     xoxo Miss ALK

My life on this Monday.

     The past couple weeks have been so crazy and busy for me, and I apologize for not posting more! I have wanted to do some fashion posts but right around the time that I started this new blog my old camera broke. It was just a basic Kodak digital camera, and I'd had it for six or so years, so it lived a good and long life in camera years. :-) However no camera meant that it was difficult to take pictures of my outfits! But fear not, outfit posts will be appearing soon because my sweet parents bought me a new digital camera for my birthday! It's a little Canon and much nicer than my old camera... all that's left to do is to figure out how to use it. :-)

     I've also had a ton of homework lately. This week I have a paper, presentation and huge test... along with other smaller homework assignments and readings and textbooks. I'm stressed to the max right now and also trying to fight homesickness. For the first few weeks of being at school I was so excited to be settling into my new home that I barely had time to miss my old one. But after my birthday it really started to hit me how far away I am from my friends and family back home. I try to cure homesickness by staying busy and involved at school (like joining different clubs and going to activities), and also by skyping with my closest friends back home. If any of y'all have great cures or ways to beat homesickness- do share! I'm always open to new ideas. :-)

     And things are getting finalized for my first give-away with this new blog! I do have some fabulous sponsors lined up, but if you have an Etsy shop or know of someone who does, please pass on the info that I'm looking for a few more sponsors for a fun fall give-away to host within the next couple weeks!

   I leave you with a few songs that I've been enjoying lately. For those of you that are new to this blog, you'll quickly learn that I have varried music tastes. My all-time favorite music is 90s/early 2000s pop (such as Britney Spears's old music and the Backstreet Boys!) but I also enjoy some light rock, dance-pop, country and Christian music.

Dido-Here With Me, Keith Urban-For You, Little Big Town-Pontoon, and Conor Maynard-Vegas Girl.

   

xoxo Miss ALK

A fresh start for my 18th year.

   


     Greetings!


     I'm Miss ALK. I'm turned 18 years old today, and I'm formally of the blog Confessions of a Maine Teenager, but recently my life was turned upside-down (In a good way!) so I decided that I needed a new blog for this exciting stage in my life. My old blog was a safe place for me to vent during the tough high school years, and also a great introduction for me into the wonderful world of blogging.

     As you probably can guess by the title of my old blog, I'm from Maine. Almost 3 weeks ago,  I moved to North Carolina for college. This was a huge leap of faith for me- I'm close to my family and I'd lived in the same small coastal town in Southern Maine for my whole life. My senior year of high school was the year when I finally started to make some best friends, and I knew that it would be hard to leave them as well. But I fell in love with a college down here when I visited in February 2012 and I knew that it was the school for me. I trusted that God had lead me to the school in the first place, and that it was part of His plan for me to go here!

     So far I'm absolutely *loving* college. I've met some great guy and girl friends in the past few weeks, and I'm getting settled into classes and the Southern lifestyle! But since this is a clean break from my high school years, I thought that creating a new blog to celebrate this transition would be smart. This blog will be focused on my adventures in college, celebrating God's blessings in my life and a place for me to share things that I like. One thing that I never got around to doing on my old blog was fashion posts, and that's something that I definitely want to incorporate into this blog! When I had my old blog my parents were concerned about my privacy in the online world since I was a minor, and they didn't like for me to put many pictures of myself up on my blog. This made fashion posts difficult. But since I'm 18 (as of about an hour ago!) and in college now the rules have changed a little bit. :-) I'll still be going as "Miss ALK" instead of my real name though... Miss ALK has stuck and I'm not ready to give that up! Some of my friends in real life even call me that sometimes now. For new readers: ALK is my initials.


     On my old blog I was always concerned about how many followers I had or didn't have, and sometimes I only wanted to post things that I thought would attract more followers. While it's great to know that people are reading and enjoying my blog, this new blog is just going to be what I want to post because I like it, not because I'm trying to impress anyone else. But with that said- please do follow if you'd like! :-) I hope that many of you are here from my old blog, as well as new readers. I think of all my readers as friends and I love making friends!


     One more exciting note- I'll be having a huge give-away very soon to celebrate the new blog, so keep reading! There will also be a more polished design coming, I just put up this temporary background until my blog designer finishes what she's been working on for me.


     xoxo Miss ALK