Fall Break Recap!

     I had some extra time during my layover on my way back to Charlotte and I wanted to write a blog post, but silly me forgot my camera's card reader back at school during my trip home, so I can't upload any of my outfit pictures that were taken recently yet. :-( So instead here is a recap of my long weekend at home in Maine (via my iPhone!).

     I left for Maine on Friday night (October 10th). The whole week leading up to this was midterms at my college which was quite stressful, and I ended up packing all of Friday afternoon right up until I had to leave for the airport! My parents picked me up, and the first place that we went was my favorite Asian restaurant. They sell one of my favorite desserts in the world, which is fried green tea ice cream. Up until this point I have been unable to find any restaurants in Charlotte that sell this (but some Instagram friends of mine saw this picture and commented with restaurant suggestions for me to try back near school- yay social media!).

     My Saturday got off to a busy start! It started off attending a Fall Festival on my town's Main Street (and while there filling out my voting forms for an absentee ballot #outofstatecollegestudentprobs), stopping in to visit my coworkers at the store that I work at during the summers, and then going to get my hair trimmed! I have been growing my hair out long again and haven't gotten it cut in over a year! It definitely needed the healthy trim and I was really pleased with the results!

     Saturday night was Girls Night Out for me! I arranged to borrow my dad's car (Another #outofstatecollegestudentprob is that when I come home on breaks I don't have my car... it was currently in the parking lot of the Charlotte airport!), and drove to Portland, which is Maine's biggest city. There I met two of my best friends from home for a fun GNO! If y'all have been reading my blog for any length of time you will probably recognize both of my friends names: my friend Katie is my longtime real life best friend and also a blogging bestie, and my friend Shara is my sweet friend and also one of my fabulous blog photographers!

   

   

     I shared this picture in my October Goals blog post, but it was too pretty not to share again! This is the view from the restaurant that I ate at with Shara and Katie! It was right on the Portland waterfront, near the ferry terminal (there are several small islands off the coast of Portland).

     After dinner we headed over the the mall to do some shopping! The little mall in Maine certainly isn't as great as some of the big malls in Charlotte, but it will always hold a special place in my heart, since that's the mall that I grew up going to! I actually found a couple cute dresses at Forever 21 (surprisingly we have a huge Forever 21 at home) and of course we all had to take some pictures together before the night was done!

(My outfit will be in a post up next week!)

     Sunday was an interesting day for me! I started off my morning back at my home church. I adore my church in Charlotte but it is always so nice to be back at the little church that my family has been going to for several years now! After church my dad took some outfit pictures for my blog which will be up tomorrow- I can't WAIT for y'all to see them. Some beautiful fall foliage made it into the pictures! Speaking of foliage- that was the highlight of my time home! I made it home during peak foliage for the first time since I started college and it was such a treat!! It seemed almost every tree was in full color.

   

   
     Sunday afternoon I got to see Tim, one of my best friends from high school! This summer Tim and I used to play tennis a lot when we both had the same days off from our jobs, so of course we had to play a few games of tennis for old times sake. :-) And just for the heck of it I wore one of my old high school spirit week shirts and this baseball cap which was also from my high school to get back into the hometown spirit!

     After I got back from tennis, my mom and grandma picked me up and we drove a couple towns over to go apple picking! We arrived at the orchard as it was closing so we had to pick the apples quickly. But then my mom unfortunately lost her car keys.... let me tell you, the phrase "finding a needle in a haystack" really should be changed to "finding car keys in an apple orchard!" Some of the staff of the orchard stayed after closing to help us look for them, and we were all looking as well, but they couldn't be found. The sun was setting quickly so we had to call my dad to rescue us and to bring my mom's spare set of keys. The extra time at the orchard allowed for a lot of pictures to be taken for the blog though, so expect to see those soon! Here's one that I posted to my Instagram while we were "stranded."

     The story has a happy ending though! The apple orchard called the next day to let us know my mom's keys had been found by someone!


     Monday was a mellow day for me. Tim and I went to brunch at a nearby breakfast restaurant, and then that evening I went out for tea at a local coffee shop with a friend of mine from church. And that night my dad and I got to watch the new Big Bang Theory episode together, and then I baked a bunch of chocolate cookies to take back to school with me! Honestly sometimes the best things about being home are the little things like being able to have access to a full kitchen again and watching TV with my parents. (My dad and I got hooked on the Big Bang Theory after our trip to the Dominican Republic last March- a channel there played old episodes on repeat!)

     I flew back to Charlotte yesterday, and this was the sight that I saw as my plane started to leave Maine:

     All of that beautiful peak season foliage seen from the sky!


     It was a busy few days at home, and I'm glad that I got the chance to see everyone that I did! I am looking forward to Christmas break though and gettting to spend more time with friends and family. There were a couple friends of mine who were out of town that I didn't get to see, as well as some family that I am looking forward to seeing at the holidays!


      Stay tuned for a fun fall fashion post tomorrow!


     xoxo Miss ALK

(Much belated) October Goals!

   

     

     This blog post is coming to you from at home in Maine! I apologize for my unplanned blogging break over the past week- my midterm exams ended up being a lot tougher then I expected, and I left to go home to Maine the day after exams ended. I have been having a great weekend at home so far! This is the first year that I've been in college that I've finally made it home in the Fall early enough to see the beautiful foliage, and that has been the biggest blessing! The above picture is the view that I had at dinner at a restaurant in Portland (Maine's biggest city) a couple of nights ago with my favorite girls Shara and Katie. 

     The month of September felt absolutely overwhelming for me, but let's see how I did with my September goals:

     1. Stay on top of my homework with sorority recruitment. The Formal Recruitment season (which ran during the first month of school) was definitely stressful, and it provided a few really late nights of homework and cramming for tests, but overall I think I did a decent job of staying on top of things.

     2. Look into getting a Charlotte library card. This didn't happen this past month- most of my free time in September was on weekend nights and the local libraries aren't open then! I'm hoping to do this sometime before the end of the semester though. 

     3. Have a memorable and fun start to my 20s. Check....ish. I had an interesting birthday this year! The whole morning was spent in a mandatory three hour sorority recruitment practice, and I ended up babysitting the whole night of my birthday. But some sorority sisters of mine baked surprise cupakes for me and brought them to our morning practice that day, and that afternoon two of my friends from my former college came to Charlotte to have lunch with me (and my roommate came too)! So that was fun. :-) I did feel a little stressed the whole weekend from recruitment and homework, but I am still happy that I got to do a few fun things. I have big expectations for the Big 2-1 next year though!

     4. Get better again with reading the Bible/daily devotions. Sadly I didn't do very well at this! My church attendance also wasn't great for the month of September because of everything happening at school, but it is getting better again. I attend an amazing church in Charlotte (Forest Hill Church) and I seriously feel like I learn so many new things about God and His word after every sermon! 

     And here are my October 2014 goals!

     1. Start trying more new beauty products again. My "beauty favorites" posts each month have been absent for the past couple of months... not because I have been forgetting about them, but because I have really been stuck in a beauty routine!! Over this summer I tried not to buy new beauty products to save any extra money that I could for this school year, and since school started I have been so busy that I have barely that the time to go shopping! Each day when I get ready I find myself gravitating towards the same few products that instead of experimenting my own make-up collection. I absolutely love buying and trying new make-up though, so I'm hoping to break out of the routine that I have been in soon! While home this weekend I picked up some goodies from the Too Faced Holiday 2014 collection that I can't wait to review here on the blog! 

     2. Actually celebrate Halloween this year. Halloween is one of the holidays that college kids go crazy over. And I have sadly missed out on that for my first two years of school! My freshman year (when I went to a Christian college) I had a HUGE test in my Old Testament class the day after, so I spent the whole night in a study room with my classmates cramming for the exam. Last year I wasn't into going out at all so my friend Perrin took me to Hobby Lobby for some craft shopping (it was my first time there and I loved it!) and then we got Mexican food with her family. Both years I didn't dress up or celebrate at all and I was okay with that. But this year I'm hoping to change things... I'm not really sure what I will be or what I will do but I know I want to celebrate somehow!

     3. Do a good job on my Little's crafts. I posted recently that a couple weeks ago I got my Little Diamond Sister (ADPi's version of Bigs/Littles)! It is Alpha Delta Pi tradition for the Bigs to shower their Littles with crafts and gifts before initiation. Our chapter's initiation is in November but I want to get a head start on some of my Little's gifts this month so that it will be less stressful as the deadline gets closer (and so that I do a good job!). For me to do a good job at crafting it takes me a long time, so I will need the extra time. ;-) 

     4. Make a LinkedIn profile. This is something that my boss at my internship encouraged me to do, and I think that I am at the point now in college where I am starting to network with different professionals, faculty and other students and this would be useful! It would be great to already have a LinkedIn profile up and running well before I graduate college (especially if I want to pursue other internships during my college years). 

     Here's to a productive rest of the month! Although the foliage has been beautiful here at home, the temperatures have been chilly- ranging from the 40s to the low 60s. I am hoping that weather this cool will stay away from Charlotte for a little bit longer!! 

     Stay tuned for some fun OOTD posts from my trip home coming to the blog soon!

     xoxo Miss ALK 

     

OOTD: Target Does It Again.

Shirt: Piperlime || Skirt: Target || Tights: Talbots || Coat: H&M || Shoes: {Given to me by a sorority sister :-)} || Sunglasses: Le Chateau || Headband: Charming Charlie || Necklace: Express || Earrings {old} || Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Temptress 

      The title of this blog post, "Target Does It Again," doesn't just refer to the fact that Target continues to come out with amazing (and affordable!) fashion and accessories. I'm also referring to the fact that my favorite Target location in Charlotte continues to provide me with my favorite setting to do blog pictures when I'm here at school! :-) This location (which I've used in several of my blog posts before) is the top of Target Metropolitan's parking deck, located very close to Uptown Charlotte. Honestly I think that this view just never gets old! A lot of times when I'm at this Target just getting groceries or running other errands I park on the fifth floor just so I can take a few minutes to pause, breath, and take in the amazing views.

     And of course I am had to wear something from Target in this post as well, which is this adorable striped skirt! I have seen skirts similar to this popping up at other stores during this season, but I don't think that I have found one as affordable as Target's, which was priced at $22! I knew when I saw it that I had to scoop it up for that price. This is such a great closet staple and I can't wait to see how many outfit combinations that I can build around it! I love the way that the material is so structured and how the skirt flairs out- it is so flattering to wear. If you can't tell I really don't have enough good things to say about it!

      I have never seen the TV show Gossip Girl before (although eventually I will watch it on Netflix, it's in my queue!), but from what I've seen of the fashion on the show I feel like this outfit is my take on a Gossip Girl inspired fall fashion (on a budget!). I felt very preppy and very city chic while wearing it. If I happened to be visiting NYC at all this season then I know I would pack this outfit with me!

     

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     xoxo Miss ALK

My Instagrammed Life of Late.

     My goodness- what a week and weekend I've had!! I thought that once sorority recruitment ended a couple of weeks ago my life would really calm down, but that couldn't be further from what's happened to me. My life has only seemed to have gotten busier! Last week was another busy week for me with classes, but it was other stuff going on at school that made it even crazier! From playing on my sorority's intramural volleyball team, to guest speakers coming into my classes and the Comm department at my college, picking a friend up at the airport, reviews in my classes for midterms next week, seeing friends that graduated last year, and special guests at my internship, it's safe to say that I was quite overwhelmed. But the most exciting/busiest thing of all happened this past Saturday, which was my chapter of Alpha Delta Pi's annual sisterhood retreat. The highlight of chapter retreat is when Diamond sisters (ADPi's version of Bigs and Littles) are revealed. This year I got a Little Diamond sister!! But more on that in the Instagram recap. :-)

     Usually my Instagram blog posts are filled with pictures of my outfits or recent purchases, but today's Instagram recap is solely pictures of what I have been up to lately because that's how busy I've been!

     A couple Sundays ago I went on a crepes brunch date with my sweet friend Olivia from school. (This is the Olivia behind Olivia Miller Photography who did some gorgeous blog pictures for me recently!) We ate at the Crepe Cellar in Charlotte. It was only my second time there but it has already become one of my favorite restaurants to eat at with my girlfriends! I had the nutella brownie crepe and it was heavenly. I considered it a belated birthday cake crepe. ;-)

     On September 24th, I went to a blogging meet-up hosted by two of my favorite fashion bloggers at one of my favorite Charlotte boutiques! Charlotte blogger Caitlin from Southern Curls and Pearls and Boston blogger (but Charlotte native!) McKenna from McKenna Bleu were the hosts of the evening, and the setting was at Vestique, the cutest little boutique (Which I actually did a couple collaboration blog posts with last Spring!! Found here and here.). Both of these ladies have been such inspirations to me with blogging! I have met Caitlin before and she is absolutely the sweetest (and if you aren't following her blog you need to get on that ASAP!). And I was SO excited to finally be able to meet McKenna- her blog features not only her amazing outfits but also pictures from her travels all around the world!! Other Charlotte bloggers in attendance included my sweet friend Kristin from Lily and Lace, Melissa from Simply Sweet Melissa and Morgan from How 2 Wear It. Another fun part of the night is that I got to meet Janet, the Etsy shop owner behind Made by JH Designs who has sponsored two giveaways on my blog this summer! All in all it was a wonderful evening- I love the Charlotte blogging community!

      On Thursdays at my college, everyone goes out to the clubs in Uptown Charlotte (our Uptown is pretty much the same thing as downtown in other cities, like where the big buildings are). And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. But last year it just wasn't my thing. At my former college people didn't really go to clubs much since it was a Christian school, so it was kind of a culture shock for me when I transferred. I went out once last year and wasn't really into it. I much preferred to stay in on Thursday nights to work on my blog or watch Netflix. #lifeoftheparty But this year I am trying to be a bit more social, so a couple weeks ago I actually went out on a Thursday with all my ADPi sisters!! (This picture is me with a couple sisters before heading to Uptown.) Don't worry y'all, I didn't go too crazy... I was a designated driver. :-) But I did have enough of a good time that I'm planning to go out again sometime this month!

     Last Spring I babysat every Wednesday for a wonderful family here in Charlotte. Sadly my busy schedule this semester doesn't allow the time for me to babysit on weekdays anymore, but I have gotten to babysit for this family a few weekends so far this Fall! They have the cutest dog in the world as evidenced by the picture above. He was my #MCM on Instagram last week!

      After fashion and beauty, the topic that probably write the most about on this blog is my internship with the Charlotte location of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation! I have been interning there since last January. One of my co-interns from last semester was Jessica (in the color-blocked dress), who graduated from my college in May. She will be moving to California in January to pursue her dreams of working in TV production and I am so proud of her!! She was back in Charlotte this weekend and came in to visit the studio. From left to right: Max (my current co-intern from my college), Jessica, yours truly, and Mamie, my amazing boss! Love my Seacrest Studios family!!

     And this was the highlight to the end of a very busy couple of weeks- getting my Little! This is Julie. :-) She is a sophomore, and we actually knew each other last year before she joined ADPi! At my college there are these special support/friendship group things that freshman and transfer students can join to meet other new students and to talk about the transition to life at our college. I joined one last year since I was a transfer, and Julie was in my group! That makes it even more special to me that she ended up joining my sorority and then coming into my Diamond family! The picture frame that we are holding is a picture of my Big, Jess. Jess is studying abroad in Amsterdam this semester and obviously couldn't be there for chapter retreat, so I decided she had to be there in spirit. (It's a funny picture of herself that she gave me last year- I was finally able to put it to good use!) :-)



     And you would think that the craziness would stop this week... but it will only get worse as it's midterms week at school! I would appreciate any prayers as my midterms seem to be exceptionally tough this semester. And then this coming Friday night I fly home to Maine for Fall Break! That hasn't even sunk in yet (nor do I know when I'll have time to pack!). Maybe once I'm home I can finally breath?!


     xoxo Miss ALK
     

Today you can find me...

     No new post here today, but I would love for y'all to check out my guest post of the month on the Christian teen girls' website Identity Girls! I was invited to become an Identity Girls Contributor over the summer, and wrote my first post for the site in the month of August. That blog post was all about my favorite drugstore brand mascaras for beauty on a budget. My post for this month is a little bit deeper of a topic and has me sharing my top three reasons for why I'm glad that I have continued to attend church while in college!

     Check out my post for this month on the Identity Girls blog here!


     Stay tuned for my October Goals post tomorrow!


     xoxo Miss ALK