happily.ever.after.

They all could be famous one day.

Those faces I see coming and going every day. Sometimes they are on stage in costumes and more makeup than I dare image. I see it crumbling off  hours later as they shovel in spoonfuls of ice cream. As they yell over each other trying to keep my attention from my computer screen.

They could be famous one day.

When they speak there are hushed voices. When they sing people stop and listen. With the standing ovations and packed recitals, they always stand center stage. You can see them in person or live stream it to wherever you are. When the volume is high every voice is distinguishable and individual.

They could be famous.

Because they have raw talent and educated minds. Because they are strong and independent and determined. Because they have big dreams and a plan to get them there. Because they believe that everything, even the fairy tale, is possible.

Someday, their name will be in lights and their autograph will be worth something. Someday they will be their own business with assistants and managers.

But that is someday.

Today. Well today they get to be seventeen.

They get to skip around outside hand and hand with their best friend. They get to have a major crush on the boy next to them in ecology. They get to learn how to skip rocks from their roommate. They get to lay on blankets in crop tops and short shorts with huge diva sunglasses and no one will bother them.

Today I get to witness their lives as they are right now. Delightful beautiful messes all of us. The drama of relationships and college and senior year. The question of which prom dress to wear, who is dating whom, what’s for dinner-- those are hot topics. I provide the never ending candy jar and a couch that is always open for long chats and semi naps.

That’s what I do. I witness lives.

One day we could all be famous. And live happily ever after.

Today, today, we get to be together.

lately

we all have the same school colors, so we thought we'd represent.
i have no idea what they are doing.
BSU, Bucknell, UVA 

sometimes you just need your girls.
and pie.
and you need to eat said pie on the floor hiding from your residents.
hey, it happens

funny faces before getting ready for MORP
no makeup + ponytail
gah, i love being twenty-something!

chaperoning--or something like it
with thapelo--obviously

first day of warmth. 

cheers to the idea that there could be more...springtime anyone?

oh hey friday...

the girls of the GBC, and luka--yeah, it's better not to ask so many questions


what feels like another lifetime ago, my friend ames and i were walking up the main road in kati and somehow my birthday came up. granted at that point we were talking months in the future. we were plotting her arrival in bamako along with as much of the gang of Goodfellas we could get trying to get everyone together between regional training, newbie training, and hot season.

it was fun to think about. certainly something to look forward to. the girls and i decided the theme was to be around Katy Perry's TGIF since my birthday fell, ever so conveniently on a Friday, and anything in the song was fair game.

in the weeks after, when i was alone with my thoughts walking to and from work, i would think about that birthday extravaganza. i planned the kind of dress i would have made, whether or not to have my mom send me my favorite pair of wedges, who would show up. to me it was going to be a bash, which was great because it would also be the first birthday i ever had not seeing my mom. and that weighed on me, so i really liked having something that fun and outrageous coming up.

fast forward and we are all back. sure, i came back because of med stuff and they all came back because mali was evacuated, but here we are. everyone is somewhere else, we are thrown coast to coast. there won't be a big table of goodfellas at da guidos. marcy and i haven't been on the phone for hours going back and forth on what to wear. i don't have 12 people in my apartment avoiding the bamako stage house.

today i got to go shopping with my mom. i got to put on makeup without sweating it off. i drove in a really clean car singing along to the radio. i roamed sephora. i ate out for lunch. i had a muffin. i have chocolate cake sitting in the fridge and kind text messages and facebook posts waiting to be looked at. now i have friends from all over thinking happy thoughts for me and the comforts of home for me to savor. sure, it's quieter. it's not going to last all night. there will be no dancing on tables! today i'm going to enjoy the crazy year that happened and think about the year ahead. with great hope and a little whimsy.

and listen one more time to katy perry. just for the BGC. ;)

TGIF everyone! 

xo

a little birdy

yes, i totally adore this commercial. it could be because in the last week i've watch HGTV like everyday, but it's just a little something cute for everyone's Thursday. 

anyone house hunting this spring?

want it!

don't you just adore this top? the lovely emersonmade has a new line of silk prints and this one is definitely one of my favorites (perhaps it is because i am kinda obsessing over the impending royal wedding). i love the print and the ruffle neckline. it just beams spring and femininity. i mean who doesn't need a little spring in their step this season?

yes please

anyone else totally swoon when they got the march catalog from anthropologie? between the clothes and the jamaican landscape i was totally in love before i opened to page one. 

this look happens to be one of my favorites. the pants are a perfect touch, don't you think?

ahh, the fashion of spring. certainly adds a little somethin' somethin' to the season...

march forth...it's a sentence and a date

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEARY! 

don't you just love birthdays? they are the best. it's a reason for cake, ribbons, and bows. 

so, i celebrate you my dear friend. may all your birthday wishes come true!

photos by NBH. 

if only...

i love the beginning of spring. i mean, not really because the weather is bipolar and people in the virginia beach wear flip-flops way too early. but i ADORE the fashion. the influx of new spring lines. i'm welcoming magazines and website updates. 

when the new j.crew magazine arrived, it was a good day. i really love these pants. i'm not sure i could pull them off. but, i will insist that everyone i know have a pair. the high waist, the ankle length. perfection. 

the shoes aren't bad either. :)

to wear or not to wear?? what do you think?

oh, hello weekend

i've been really lucky this week and gotten some much needed time off. (my own spring break if you will.) so in my head, it seems as though the weekend just snuck up on me! 

so here is what i've been up to, what i've been reading, watching, obsessing over...

the above (minus male counterpart) is what i've been doing lately. such an adorable print, how great would it look over a bed?

i want a boyfriend like this. like for real. 

finally talked my mom into being my date to the theatre...again. i've officially seen 7 of the 10 best picture nominations!! (such a wonderful film!)

new website! certainly adding this to the list of sites to check regularly. 

just finished this (so now i can see the movie) so i started a new one (just before it becomes a movie)

fashion week with my favorite designs and magazine.

sneak peak! oh la love!

one foot in spring

journey is the destination

aren't these just adorable? with the weather freakishly warm for february i've been spending all my free time fretting over what to wear, which of course leads me to window and online shopping. so it was really only a matter of time before i came across the new styles for spring over at TOMS shoes.

 i'm totally digging on the elephants. i mean where would i add safari animals in my outfit if not on my feet? (plus, they're vegan shoes which adds to my attempt at being cool and socially conscious. kudos)

and i like to think that my spring motto should be as the first shoe states....journey is the destination. 

pearls o' wisdom, eh?

spring flings

spring 2 entered the women's section of the store today and i got really excited. it got me more excited about what is to come. 

spring is going to approach no matter what i think. i'm a winter person. i like to dress in layers and wear dark colors and drink hot chocolate. 

spring is a different story. there is a shedding of not only wool and layers, it's a letting go of something else...maybe something more important. 

i've been thinking about what i want to accomplish this spring. what sort of personal spring cleaning needs to happen. i really want to look back on this year and think about as the year that things happened. the year i got things done. 

hopefully it will mean a job, a place of my own, a chance to learn more and be better. 

i'll have to get more tangible ideas flowing. 

what about you? what do you hope to be and do?

(ps...don't you love the maxi dress? i'm certainly looking into what it will look like on my shorter frame.)

i want it

i. LOVE. this.  

i love the length of the skirt (holler to a little length, the mini is of limited use in the real world), the mixed patterns, the fully buttoned shirt. and who doesn't want to rock a scarf as a true parisian would? 

i'm not sure i'll be brave enough to do so much pattern in one outfit, but i am certainly going to try. usually a color hog, i'm definitely going to have to incorporate more pattern (and i've certainly been stocking up on the plaid...i'm seeing some severe outfit trials in the future).

what about you? dare you try some patterns...

(image here)

at work today...

at work this week the new spring line for men and women arrived. and let me say, i love it so very much. it's all cotton and layers, florals, oranges and pinks. while i'm a HUGE fan of winter, there is something idyllic about dreams of wildflowers and warmer days, long walks and later days. it may only be january, but in fashion world spring is really only a hop, skip, and a jump away.

 i think i'll have to pick up a new pair of boyfriend jeans, some cotton cardigans, and a paper thin floral scarf. 

so besides that infamous spring cleaning...what's on your spring list?

(p.s. picture number 2 is lc's favorite whereas picture number 3 is mine...love the model, love the props, love the overall look)