Friday was blogger day.

     What a wonderful Friday I had! It was a great start to my weekend, and a positive end to a long and stressful week. And why was it wonderful? Because of blogging friends! :-)

     One of my favorite fashion bloggers, Caitlin of Southern Curls and Pearls, was the feautured fashion blogger for Lilly Putlizer of Charlotte's Fall Styling party! I was beyond excited to find out that Caitlin would be in Charlotte, and to have the event take place at a Lilly store made it even better! I have a sorority sister, Hannah, who used to blog, so I invited her to accompany me to the mall to meet Caitlin. I wore my favorite Lilly dress (which made an appearance in this OOTD post)!

Caitlin and I! LOVED her Lilly dress. :-)

My ADPi sister Hannah and I.

     It was so wonderful to meet Caitlin in person! I have loved reading her blog, and her outfits are always so chic and stylish- they sometimes provide inspiration for my own outfits! Caitlin's sweet mom was also at Lilly, and it was so nice to meet her as well. I hope to meet Caitlin again sometime soon!! While in the Lilly store I also got to chance to browse the new fall collection. I wasn't able to afford buying a new Lilly dress right now (sorority dues are expensive y'all), but I did buy a cute new phone case for my iPhone 5S! I got to order the new iPhone when my parents were in town last weekend and I can't wait for it to come in! My iPhone 4 is definitely on its way out... haha.

     Here are two of the dresses that I loved looking at in the store!

     Also on Friday, I got to Skype for the first time with my blogging friend Jessica from Forever Convinced. Many of you might remember Jess as one of the lovely bloggers who I did the "Summer of Something New" blog challenge with this summer! In addition to that, we have actually become quite close over the internet. We exchanged lengthy e-mails all summer, and I have loved getting to know Jess. But, back to the Skype thing. Let me just say that I'm NOT a big Skype person at all, Like AT ALL. I think it's a cool invention, but the quality of my webcam isn't that great, and someone's internet usually starts to fail in the conversation and it always ends up freezing. It's an annoyance. I do enjoy Skyping a few times a year with my Japanese friend Anna, but that's usually about it.

    Anyways, on Friday night I was supposed to Skype with a friend from home, but that fell through. I went on Facebook chat looking to see who was online. I noticed that Jess was, and I sent her a message saying "Hey I know this is last minute but do you want to Skype?" That ended up leading to the BEST SKYPE CHAT EVER. Seriously though! It was so easy for Jess and I to talk, and there was no awkwardness at all. We were laughing and laughing, and I was able to tell her the funny backstories and details to many of my blog posts about my personal life. Unfortunately our conversation had to be pretty short, but I cannot wait until the next time that we can talk! I feel so blessed to have made such an amazing friend through blogging, and I pray that we can meet in person someday (SOON)!


     And lastly, a huge congratulations to my friend mQs from The Shore Life According to M, who finished Rush at her college and ended up also choosing Alpha Delta Pi! So excited that I can call my blogging friend my sister. :-) The funny thing is that the ADPi Leadership Consultant who was at my school during Bid Day also was at mQs's school!! Such a small world.


     Hope y'all are having a great Monday!


     xoxo Miss ALK

OOTD: GNO & F21.

• Shirt: Forever 21
• Shorts (came with belt): Forever 21
• Earrings: Christmas gift from my friend Jules (but from Forever 21)
• Heels: DSW (Also appeared in this post)
• Lipstick: Covergirl Moon Drops Lipstick in 24K Orange
• Nail Polish: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Dive Deeper

     Forever 21 will always be one of my favorite stores. So much of their clothing is exactly my style, and you can't beat the amazing prices!! I scored this adorable shirt and the shorts/belt that I'm wearing in this post back during my last trip to New York City in January. During my last few trips to NYC with my dad we have stayed at the Double Tree Suites that's right in Times Square, and there's a huge Forever 21 flagship store that's just a few minutes walk from the hotel. My poor dad had to wait so long as I tried on tons and tons of things... but I ended up finding some great finds like the pieces in this outfit! I have always mean to wear this shirt with the shorts and belt but I never got around to it until tonight. I always thought that it would make a fun date outfit, but since I'm still single and failing to mingle I pulled it out tonight for a GNO with one of my new sorority sisters and two girls in Chi Omega, which is another sorority on campus! Fun fact: this is the same shirt that I'm wearing in the photo that's used for my new blog button! (The blog button picture was taken on a day trip to the New Hampshire mountains that my mom and I took right after I came home from college last May.)

     I finished off the look with my favorite black leather wedges from DSW and some earrings which are also from Forever 21. Back in Christmas 2011 one of my best friends from high school, Jules, gave me a ton of earrings from Forever 21. One of the best Christmas gifts I got that year, no joke! I love F21 jewelry and the earrings that Jules picked out for me were the cutest. (Speaking of Jules, she comes to visit me in NC in less than 3 weeks!!) 

      

     This week hasn't been the best one for me. In my post yesterday I wrote briefly about how on Wednesday night there was a live cricket in my dorm room, and after realizing I couldn't find the cricket or sleep through it, I had to pack up my stuff and head to my sorority sister Hannah's room to crash on her spare bed (and this was past 1 am). I also didn't do too well on a test this week, and I've had horrible PMS. On top of that I've been missing my former college like crazy, and the whole week I've been wondering if transferring was the right decision. But last night I wore the outfit in this post and I went to dinner with some sorority women, and I had such a wonderful time. It was so nice to get off campus after such a long and stressful week. Below is a picture of me and my ADPi sister Perrin! Perrin and I are both sophomores but like me she also just went through recruitment this year, so we're in the same ADPi pledge class. She's the one that took these pictures for this post. :-)

     And tonight my sorority sister Hannah and I are off to Lilly Pulitzer in Charlotte for the meet and greet event with fashion blogger Caitlin of Southern Curls and Pearls! I have been reading Caitlin's blog for awhile and I've always loved her fashion sense! I'm so excited to meet another blogger in person, and I love how it's happening at Lilly Pulitzer of all places! :-) And on Sunday the Alpha Delta Pi chapter retreat at one of our sister's houses who lives on a lake... I can't wait for a day at the lake with all of my new sisters! Some girl time by the water will be a perfect end to my weekend.

     Hope that y'all will have a wonderful weekend as well!

     xoxo Miss ALK

Favorite Things Thursday: Yogi Perfect Energy Vanilla Spice tea.

     As a college student, I am often sleep deprived. I don't pull all-nighters, and I always make sure to get at least six hours of sleep (minimum), but even with the usual 7ish hours that I get on most weeknights I'm still exhausted the next day. That's where my BFF caffeine comes in. I'm not a coffee fan, and I never have been. I don't like the taste or the smell... weird I know, but I don't like forcing myself to drink something that I think tastes disgusting. :-) I only drink coffee if I need a very large amount of caffeine (like before a big test in the morning or something). I do love tea, but I've always had trouble finding a strong enough tea to deliver the type of caffeine that I need on school mornings (and that tastes good).

     Friends, I have have good news. I have found an amazing tea that can be purchased at most chain grocery stores (I found it at Target a couple weeks ago). Today's FFT is the Perfect Energy Vanilla Spice Tea from Yogi Tea!

   

Image via Google Images

   
     This tea tastes absolutely amazing. I love almost anything with vanilla... the smell, the flavor, and this tea has both, along with a delightful spice blend to add to the taste (but isn't nearly as spicy as chai tea). But the best part about it is that it gives you a very hearty dose of caffeine! It is exactly what I need in the mornings to stay focussed through my classes. In just about half an hour after drinking it I always feel *so* much more awake and alert.

     I am currently drinking this tea as I'm finishing this post. I really needed it today, because my poor roommate and I somehow had a chirping cricket in our room past midnight last night. Since we live on the third floor and we don't open our windows I have no clue how the thing got into our room. My roommate is a bit more of a deeper sleeper than I am, so she was able to sleep through it. I however could not, so thankfully my amazing sorority sister Hannah let me crash on the spare bed in her room last night. I have had a really long and emotional week, and so the cricket incident was the last thing that I needed. But I'm so thankful that I was still able to get some sleep- that's what sisters are for. :-) And luckily I didn't need to wake up until like 9:45 today... Thursdays are my sleep-in days.


     xoxo Miss ALK

Vlog: My first Drugstore Make-up Haul!

     At the end of this past summer, I started to fall in love with the Youtube Channel Eleventh Gorgeous.  It's run by two make-up and fashion loving sisters named Tracy and Stefanie, and it's clear that they have an absolute blast making their videos. Some of my favorite videos that they do are the "Drugstore Hauls," where they raid a local drugstore for the latest affordable make-up products and then review them.

     In the past couple weeks, I've gotten a few new make-up products from CVS and Target with my some of my birthday money. I love some of them, and I'm not so crazy about others. I thought that it would be fun to try making my first make-up vlog in the style of Eleventh Gorgeous's videos!! Obviously my webcam isn't the best camera quality, and whatever I learned about video editing in my digital media class last semester has been long forgotten from my brain, so I filmed this from start to finish so I wouldn't have to edit! ;-) But I hope that ya'll still enjoy anyways. Below are the products that I reviewed in my vlog!

• NYX retractable eyeliner in Purple
• Revlon Brow Fantasy in Dark Blond 
• Physicians Formula Organic wear mascara in Ultra Black
• elf Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick in Pink Umbrellas
• L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen mascara in shade 680 (which is black)

    Here's the video!! I also recently made a Youtube Channel for my vlogs, so you can find it there as well. :-)

xoxo Miss ALK

Why I say no to alcohol.

     It hit me a few days ago that while I've said many times on this blog (and my old blog) that I don't drink alcohol (or do drugs, but I think that's kind of a given), but I've never said why it is that I don't drink. There's a variety of factors that influence my decision, and I thought that writing everything out might make for an interesting blog post.

Image via Google Images

Why I didn't drink in high school:

1. My parents: this is the number one reason why drinking in high school never interested me. I suppose another reason is that the crowd that I hung out with was not into drinking at the time, but I believe my parents were the main reason. My mom and dad are not into drinking, and I can count the number of times in my lifetime that I've seen them drink alcohol on one hand. (I distinctly remember how when my family went on a Caribbean cruise when I was seven and my dad ordered a beer on one of our island stops, I thought that something was wrong with him because I'd never seen him drink before). The only alcohol that is in my home in Maine is a few bottles that my mom occasionally uses for cooking, that's it. Nothing else. So not only did I not really grow up around alcohol, but my parents also educated me on the dangers from a young age. There is a history of alcoholism on my mom's side of the family (both my grandfather and great-grandfather died from illnesses related to it), and there's a lot of mental illness on my dad's side of the family. Mental illness + alcoholism = BAD NEWS, and my parents always stressed that to me growing up. They were also very clear that if I drank in high school at a party or friend's house there would be SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. No more phone, computer, car... etc. I wish I could say that I didn't want to drink in high school because I wanted to honor my mother and father like the Bible says to... but the truth is I was too scared to have my favorite possessions taken away from me, so I chose not to drink more out of fear. Also, as I said earlier, a good majority of my high school friends were not into drinking at the time. Most of the party kids at my high school didn't like me, so I was never really around students my age drinking.

Why I don't drink in college:

1. The Law: I've always been big on following the legal system. And in the United States, it is ILLEGAL to consume alcohol if you are under the age of 21. NO BUTS (college parties are not exceptions folks!). I am currently a citizen of the United States, living in the state of North Carolina, and I'm under the age of 21. So yeah...
2. My faith: I don't believe that the Bible comes right out and condones drinking... goodness, Jesus turned water into wine! But the Bible definitely does warn against when drinking distracts you from staying focussed on your faith in the Lord and living out your faith with others. Ephesians 5:18 says "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit..." (NIV). There are enough things in my daily life that distract me enough from my faith; social media, schoolwork, friends, crushes, family, fashion....etc. I certainly don't need to add something that's currently illegal for me to that!
3. My parents: My parents' influence is still a big part of my decision not to drink while I'm underage. Minus my textbooks, they pay for all of my college expenses. That's a lot of their money! They have also been so supportive of me going to school out of state, and I thank them immensly for not making me stay close to home for college, and instead letting me go where I wanted. After all of that, I couldn't even think about drinking because I know how much they would be dissapointed in me. 
4. My family history: I wrote in an earlier paragraph about the history of alcoholism and mental illness in my parents' families. As I'm getting older, things like family health history start to matter more to me. There is research that shows if you start drinking under the age of 21 then you have a much greater risk of becoming an alcoholic. Since alcoholism is already present in my family then that means my risk is higher to begin with, and that's something that I just don't need to mess with!
5. My headaches: Since I got sick with a bad virus/sinus infection combo for about a month during my freshman year of college, I get bad headaches. This past summer I was getting headaches several days a week. Now it has slowed down to about once or twice a week, but they still hurt a lot. They aren't quite like migraines, more like throbbing in my temples. I never had headaches before I got sick... but I guess the headaches are here to stay (I've seen a doctor about it and they didn't offer me any solutions). Oftentimes my headaches are accompanied with severe lightheadedness. It's gotten a little better since I started my sophomore year, but this summer my lightheadedness was often so bad that I couldn't drive and would have to cancel plans because of it. Anyways, I've heard that even way before a person is "drunk" alcohol can make them experience this. I HATE feeling lightheaded and it makes me feel weak and powerless. When I get those feelings enough in my daily life, why would I drink a beverage that would increase those feelings?!
6. My safety: So many bad things can happen to a college girl that has been drinking. I wouldn't be worried that I would drive drunk (I have a hard enough time driving when I have a headache!), but I am more worried that I would unknowingly get into a car with someone who had too much to drink and then decided to drive. I also worry about date rape, or even being taken advantage of in ways that aren't quite as "far as" sex (such as a creepy guy making out with me or something). Oftentimes alcohol also leads to violence, and I wouldn't want to be around any drunken fights.

     

     These are my reasons why I'm choosing not to drink while I'm underage. I have not yet decided my thoughts about both drinking if I'm out of the country, or drinking after my 21st birthday. I believe that both of these things are personal convictions, and Christians should be respectful of others' views. My parents have told me that they would prefer that I never drink at all (even after I'm legal) because of my family history. I respect their opinion very much, but I also realize that once I am legal they won't be able to decide for me anymore whether I can or can't drink. 

     In December I'm going to be travelling to the United Kingdom with my parents over Christmas. The legal drinking age there is 18, so I would be allowed to consume alcohol. Since I have never really tried more than just a few sips (in the presence of my mom cooking) I have thought about wanting to try a drink in a restaurant or pub while we're there, but since my parents will be with me on the trip I doubt that will happen. 

     I do think that alcohol used in cooking is a wonderful invention though... my favorite type of pasta sauce is vodka sauce, and one of my favorite types of cake is rum cake. The good part about these things is that most of the actual alcohol burns off in cooking, so all that's left is the flavor! :-)

     Lastly, I want to say that while these are my views on drinking underage, I try not to be judgemental of those who do drink before they're 21. Most of my friends from high school drink now, and since my new college is not a dry campus like my old school, I often see alcohol in my building. Luckily the school monitors pretty well and doesn't tolerate traditional "college parties," but underage drinking definitely happens here. I am blessed though to have friends and sorority sisters who respect my decision not to drink and do not try and pressure me. 

     What are your thoughts on underage drinking? If you're under 21, do you drink? If you're over 21, what are your thoughts? I'd love to hear! The comments on this post are a judgement-free zone. :-)

     xoxo Miss ALK