I'm on a Boat!

I am procrastinating BAD! I don't know if it's a bad case of senioritis or because spring break is only a week away, but I cannot write this ten page paper to save my life! Oh, and it's due tomorrow. So now I'm at Starbucks, caramel macchiato in hand, struggling and I mean struggling to write this thing. I'll give y'all a glimpse to where my brain is right now.

My mind is on a Carnival Cruise ship to Mexico, which is what my sorority sisters and I did last spring break. (I'm the one in front with the huge sun hat ha. I have a thing for big hats and big sunglasses, the bigger the better in my eyes). Heres my advice for  sorority girls and non-sorority girls out there, go on a cruise with a huge group of girls! It is the most fun trip you will probably ever take in your life! 

I know what you're thinking. It's Mexico! (said in my Sex in the City Charlotte voice), but honestly the ports you go to are so Americanized that you're not in the scary parts, and if you stay in a big group and nobody pulls a Natalee Holloway you'll be fine (if you're doing something that you think could be turned into a Lifetime movie, just stop). We went to the Cayman Islands and Cozumel and had a blast! 

me and my seesters

me and my cruise roomie, Liz!

this pic gets me every time! notice the other Emily's face right next to mine hahaha

Have a wonderful Wednesday! (and pray I get this paper done! fingers crossed haha)

xo,

eMr

Lilly-fied Desktop

This may just be a weird quirk of mine, but I love changing my desktop background. It's like having a clean slate and it's so fun opening up my laptop and seeing something new, pretty, and colorful on my screen. It just brightens my day! 

In other words, I love Lilly-fying my computer screen with new patterns. The best site I have found with Lilly backgrounds is Canadian Prep's blog (http://canadianprep.blogspot.com/p/lilly-desktop-wallpapers.html). She basically has all of them and they don't end up being blurry on your screen. She also has some Vineyard Vines ones! Here are the ones that I most often change between:

Have a wonderful and colorful Tuesday! 

xo,

eMr

 

This Means War

I have a bad case of the Mondays. I only have one class today, but I know it's the start of a whirlwind of a week! I have so many papers, tests, and projects due it's making my head spin.

 But I do love Mondays for two reasons. One I get to meet with my Bible study group for dinner tonight at Taco Mamacitas (one of my favorite restaurants!). I think every almost or freshman in lifer needs this! It is so important to surround yourself with women who have the same beliefs and morals that you can confide to and have them to keep you accountable. And secondly, (even though I've sworn not to watch it since Ben kicked off Kacie B) The Bachelor is on tonight! 

Also, if anyone is looking for a good movie to go see, This Means War, with Reese Witherspoon is so good! I saw it yesterday and it just made me love Reese even more if that was even possible.  It's a romantic comedy with some great action scenes (a.k.a you can drag your beau to this kind of movie), not to mention it has some great eye candy to boot! 

Have a great Monday!

xo,

eMr

It's In The Wrapping

Presentation is very important to me, whether it's myself or something that has my name on it. This includes gifts!

I went to one of my sorority sister's bridal showers today and everyone just loved the monogrammed tag I put on it, along with the wrapping. It was so cheap and easy to do this, so I'll let you in on my little secret.

If the bride and groom registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond you're in luck! I just found out that they offer a free gift wrapping station where you can wrap the gift yourself or ask for an associates help who will wrap it for you. I decided just to use the paper and skipped out on the purple bow because I had some old Christmas ribbon that I thought would be much prettier. I bought her a glass cake dome and then decided to buy a pastry/cake serving spatula because I like for my gifts to go together in some way. I just wrapped the cake dome and then tied the spatula to the bow, which everyone seemed to like that little touch (It really is the details!).

(sorry the quality is so bad! I took it on my phone haha)

Instead of a card,  I made this monogrammed tag with my name on the bottom, being surrounded by southern belle sorority girls this was right up all of our allies. They, of course, all loved it! The bride even wanted to keep it! Here's how I did it:

First I downloaded the monogram kk font from here: http://www.fonts2u.com/monogram-kk.font 

The instructions for downloading are here (this will be different depending on your computer. I have a Mac and it was pretty simple): http://www.fonts2u.com/faq.html

After putting my font in Microsoft word I created 3 different text boxes with each initial inside (this way you can overlap them) 

After playing around to figure out what size lettering I wanted (the bride and groom initial letters are 120 size and the last name initial is 180 size), how much overlapping I liked, and which color looked best, I then added a from tag by adding a separate text box below the monogram and centered it (I used Edwardian Script font for my name)

I printed it out on card stock, cut it into a square, and voila! Instant professional looking tag! This is a great way to give a gift a little pizazz whether for birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, etc.  Definitely something every freshman in life should know! 

Hope y'all had a great weekend! 

xo,

eMr

We're All TANGLED Up

I love skipping the downtown scene and having a chill night with my girl friends every once in awhile. Sometimes you just want to stay at home and relax, but of course my roommate K and I turned it into an event. We decided to make it a Disney princess movie night and watch Tangled, which is one of the cutest movies ever! Now I'm making my favorite funfetti cupcakes with rainbow chip icing which I'm going to put crowns on, oh and did I mention they have princess cupcake wrappers on them? adorable. Plus, they're making my apartment smell super yummy right now! K and I are also going to make sugar cookies that have Cinderella shoes on them and popcorn. I know, I know, we are 22 year olds having what seems to be a 12 year old slumber party (which I would still be super excited about!) but don't worry Olivia and Meagan are bringing wine so it's still a big girl's night haha.

I hope y'all have a fabulous Saturday night!

xo,

eMr

Don't Sneeze on Me

My germaphobia is in full swing after hearing that a bug is going around campus (uhmm. LIKE MONO! yuck!). I have to stay healthy! How else will I ever graduate?! So here are a few things I do and take religiously:

1. HAND SANITZER
I have it on my key chain, in my purse, car, and tote bag. Since our hands are a major carrier of germs, especially when they touch your nose and mouth, I use hand bac after almost every class. My favorite hand bac to use are the ones from Bath and Body Works. You can usually get a deal on the pocket bac ones when you buy a group of them. My favorites so far are Caribbean Escape for spring and summer and warm vanilla sugar for fall and winter (yes, I change my pocket bac scents with the season like perfume ha).

2. VITAMINS

I take a daily dose of daily vitamins. Right now I take One A Day Women's which has worked well for me (just make sure you take it with food! I feel so sick if I don't.) I also take Emergen-C when the weather begins to change or if I just notice that a lot of people are starting to get sick. They are packets of powder packed with vitamins that you put in a small glass of water.  I like the orange flavor, but they have raspberry and other flavors as well. 

3. SLEEP

Never and I mean NEVER pull and all nighter studying. First off, if it's for a test, your memory will be worse than it would be if you got at least 7 hours. Secondly, this is the time your body has to regenerate cells, which is crucial to your health and body. Lastly, not getting enough sleep is bad for your skin and can make you gain weight. If it's hard for you to go to sleep I suggest taking a bath, it's the quickest thing that relaxes me and makes me want to crawl up in my bed. 

These are just a few things that work for me. I hope y'all had a great Thursday and don't get sick! 

xo,

eMr

No Kacie B. or Emily Thorne?!

Wednesdays can only mean one thing for me. Revenge.  It’s the only show that has yet to disappoint me this season (unlike the Bachelor when Ben kicked off Kacie B.)

I’m OBSESSED with Revenge, but of course, a special edition of 20/20 is on instead…so now my once looked forward to Wednesday night consists of eating left over Valentine’s day candy, catching up on shows on ondemand, and doing homework. Oh well. 

Hope y'all have a great Wednesday! 

xo,
eMr

Mardi Gras

I’ve never really celebrated Mardi Gras since New Orleans is a couple hundred miles away from my little abode, but this year I’m feeling festive.  So in honor of Mardi Gras, and a seemingly southern tradition, my mom and I made gumbo this weekend and I brought some back to school to enjoy. We found the recipe online from Paula Deen and let me tell y’all it was absolutely delicious! The whole time we were cooking I kept sneaking in spoonfuls! For the gumbo recipe:  

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/gumbo-recipe/index.html

I also wanted to have King cake, another Mardi Gras tradition, but seeing how my little budget couldn’t afford to mail in a cake from New Orleans I went with the much cheaper do it yourself option. I found aKing Cake Knots recipe from Plain Chicken’s blog. They’re easy to make, cheap, and not to mention super cute! For the Easy King Cake Knots recipe:

http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/03/easy-king-cake-knots.html

Why not take an ordinary day and make it into something fun!

xo,
eMr

An Almost New Beginning

It’s about to happen. In less than three months I will graduate from college. I almost had a panic attack when I looked at my planner today and realized just how close my graduation date was. Am I excited? Yes. Am I terrified? Yes. Of course, I’m looking forward to no more homework, final papers, exams, and pulling all nighters, but life out of school? What’s that even like? Paying back student loans, pounding the pavement for jobs, and possibly moving back in with the parents...hmmm being a grown up doesn’t sound that appealing after all. I guess I’ll just have to find out as I begin my journey into becoming a freshman in life.