March Favorites and April Goals

Hey chica! I just settled back into my tiny little dorm this afternoon after a short weekend home (I'll share some pictures later this week) and I must say, these past few days have got me pooped. Actually, these past few weeks have got me pooped! I'm welcoming this new month and all the fun I have planned with open arms, but not without the understanding that it will also be filled with lots of school work as well. Curse you term papers and finals!

Anyways, so far on this blog I have shared my "favorites" at the end of each month but I've decided to modify this routine as I begin to get a better feeling as to what I really want this blog to be and what I want to share with the people I love on here. I think monthly posts focusing mainly on the material things I loved during the month are a little shallow and I feel like each month should be commemorated with posts with a little more substance. That being said, I want to focus more on all the fabulous things I got to experience at the end of a month and share some of the goals I have for the following month! I'll still share a couple favorites, its just they won't make up the whole post.

 

This month's favorites are more of discoveries I would say! At the beginning of March I was thrown into a ton of school work and during one of my study breaks that are actually just whole afternoons I spend procrastinating on the internet, I found a new blog. Sweet blogger Victoria writes about her marriage, faith, goals, and lots of other really cute/inspiring stuff. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's my favorite! I spent pretty much a whole weekend reading through almost every old post (probably creepy, but oh well) and I truly believe her blog is a blessing to my life.

 

This month I also discovered an email service called the Skimm that sends you a brief email every morning about the top headlines from the day before with easily understandable and sometimes funny explanations. I subscribed last weekend and am so happy I did! At home, I had always watched the news but still felt out of the know most of the time, especially now that I'm at school and attend political science classes where everyone seems to know everything that's going on. I also never understood what a lot of news meant even if I had heard it, mostly news in international relations. The Skimm emails are so easy and quick to read, plus they make me feel like a participatory member of the adult world :)

 

 

March was a wonderful month, especially given I got to go home and see family twice! Like I said, I expect April to be equally as busy and fun because I'll be going to Juno beach this weekend and celebrating my birthday later this month as well. Here are my goals for April:

1. Make summer plans

2. Go three nights without social media so I get more work done studying

3. Get a new devotional book

4. Celebrate my 19th birthday

5. Finish my 101 in 1001 list and post it on the blog (more on this late)

6. Try harder not to procrastinate on assignments

 

April's scripture focus: {2 Timothy 4:17}

 

What are your goals for this month?

 

xoxo, Olivia

Pretty Polish Picks: Spring 2014

Afternoon beauties! I hope everyone is having lovely weeks so far and happy Wednesday! I know y'all are probably sick and tired of me talking about spring (if you want a good laugh, look at my past blog post titles from this month, sense a theme?), but I promise this will be the last spring specific post... I hope. I just can't help it, spring is my favorite!! 

 

 The nail polish addict within me gets giddy once polish displays in the stores change to bright and pastel hues, making spring the ultimate. Another geeky  nail  polish guru tendency of mine is to associate specific brands with seasons. For example: Spring = Essie. Well in all honesty, Essie is always my favorite polish brand but whatever.

 

Kay, now back to what I was actually trying to get at. Here are 5 of my favorite Essie polishes for (you guessed it) spring!

 

{From left to right}

Topless and Barefoot, Bachelorette Bash, Sparkle on Top, Bikini So Teeny, Fiji

 

Topless and Barefoot: I searched for a perfect nude for like a year and a half and finally found it! So fresh and simple, just like I like it.

Bachelorette Bash: My sweet mama sent me this one in a Vday care package and I love her so much for it because I had also been on a hunt for a nice dark pink over that last few months. I don't think people traditionally think of dark pink as a spring color, maybe more summer, but this one is beautiful! Perfect for a pedi.

Sparkle on Top: If you want an iridescent chunky glitter, this is the polish for you! It compliments almost every color because its basically reflective pastel rainbow glitter. Looks amazing over Topless and Barefoot by the way.

Bikini So Teeny: I think this one was part of their spring collection last year and I saw it everywhere last year. It's the perfect blue and compliments a tan gorgeously (this ones probably my fave out of the bunch)!

Fiji: The most classic pastel blue-toned milky pink you will ever find. If I don't know what color to paint my nails, I'll probably end up with this one. Simply love.

 

Thanks for listening to me ramble, love ya for it! What's your favorite spring nail polish? I'm always looking for more fun colors, as if my collection wasn't large enough already...

 

xoxo, Olivia

You Never Forget Your First...

Over the last couple of years I have fallen head over heels in love with Lilly Pulitzer. The prints make me smile, the designs are perfectly classic and fun, and Lilly's story warms my heart! Nothing screams fun Florida girl more than Lilly :)

Lilly Pulitzer recently announced their new campaign titled "You Never Forget Your First..." on the Lilly Pulitzer blog. They're celebrating the barefoot queen of pink and green by asking Lilly girls to share their firsts: first Lilly dress, first love, first celebration, etc! Submissions are even entered to win a sunny getaway! The submissions so far are just so stinkin' cute and you can see them here!

Now, for the story of my first Lilly! I had been simply obsessed with Lilly for quite some time at this point, but didn't own any Lilly clothing yet. So, when I saw this dress while shopping for graduation dresses last spring, I knew I had to make it mine! I got it for a steal at Marshalls or TJ Maxx (I can't quite remember) and I was so smitten with it. I wore it to my high school graduation party and am so happy to have celebrated such a special occasion in Lilly! It's so comfy and nautical, but it most importantly made me feel beautiful (despite my frizzy hair and shiny face in these pictures, lol)!

The Kalen dress in True Navy Hanker for an Anchor print:

 

So happy to revisit such a sweet time with even sweeter people! Feels like I graduated just yesterday :)

 

xoxo, Olivia

Spring Break: Part 2

Hey y'all! Happy Monday and St. Patrick's day! I'm back on the study grind since I got back to school last night after a wonderful, but short, break home. Now for part 2 of my spring break story:

Wednesday night I got an itty bitty hair trim and Tor and I treated ourselves to ice cream (and selfies obviously) with our sweet Hannah. Nothing beats soft serve ice cream!

 

Turtle faces while eating surfin' turtle ice cream :p

 

Thursday started bright and early when Tots and I set off to Holopaw (basically just a bunch of redneck land in the middle of Florida) for a day of adventuring in the Jeep! Lots of sand and bumpy trails!

 

 

Droopy peace sign swag Holopaw stunna shades selfie (sorry, I had to)

Dang, that is one photogenic piece of machinery ;)

 

The makeshift gun range on this property is essentially a glorified dump, but in a weird way, I love the way brass and shotgun shells glitter the ground!

 

That night, we had a scrumptious dinner with my Abuela and then settled on the couch as a family for the night!

 

Friday, I had lunch with Tor and one of my best friends Kasey who I hadn't seen since SUMMER!! Too long without my bestie who I love so much and missed even more! Second time at bagel world that week so I was one happy camper! After lunch, Tor and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach which was sadly a bit chilly in the beginning, but thankfully the clouds disappeared eventually and the sun warmed us up quickly! After our time in the sun, we headed to the Mall of Millenia with mama... again. Oops! But I assure you, we got some cute spring goodies at good deals :)

 

 

Saturday was spent at the beach with the whole family, including my brother Nick, his fiancé Rachel, and there pup Chance! This was my first time meeting my "doggie nephew" and he was so hyper and cute at the beach, love!

 

 

 

Friday night we attended a sweet celebration with family friends that I was so thankful to see during my short time home! Especially my boys Jackson and Parker who I babysat this past summer. Such little cuties!

 

 

Sunday was sleepy and I basically just packed everything up to go back to school. Tor and I did however take a detour while returning books to the library to visit the beach one last time before leaving :)

 

 

So pretty (minus the black spray paint graffiti that kills my heart)!

 

Congrats for making it this far, again! It was such a lovely trip because I really do love my home! I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Sending warm hugs to get you through this Monday!

 

xoxo, Olivia



Spring Break: Part 1

Sunny mornings followed by rainy afternoons are arguably the best of days, and are my favorite signal that spring and summer are coming! Today has been refreshingly relaxing, filled with quick errands with Tots (my Daddy), tiding up, and reading. I mentioned earlier last week that I wanted to share some of my spring break on here so I decided to split it up into two posts.

Tots picked me up from school and drove me home after I finished one of my finals on Friday afternoon. That night we went out for dinner to celebrate my sister Victoria's birthday, a sweet way to begin break. Fish tacos: yum!

 

 

Probably didn't need to include this but obsessed with the wrapping on my gift to Tor, ily target <3

 

 

The whole fam :)

 

 

Birthday girl! I can't believe she's 17!!!

 

Saturday, we all ran errands to pick some things up from the good old wally-world for a little bonfire for Tor at home that night. More birthday festivities!

 

 

Mom, of course, posted this pic on fb captioned "#errands #norts" Oh lordy..

 

I baked these cupcakes for that night and oh my goodness, I will never buy frosting again!! I never realized how easy homemade buttercream was, and it tastes a million times better than that nasty canned stuff. Obviously these were a pinterest find I was saving for Tor's birthday because she loves mint chocolate chip ice-cream, and these cupcakes tasted exactly like it!

 

Sunday, the girls of the fam headed to Orlando for a little retail therapy at the mall of Millenia. I never really liked this mall very much, but they recently added an H&M and I discovered they had an Anthropologie, C. Wonder, and Kate Spade too!

 

I haven't had Zaxby's in almost two years so I was more than excited to enjoy a buffalo and bleu salad :P

 

This is probably sad, but one of my favorite parts of the week so far was going into Anthropologie. I had browsed online tens of times before, but never set foot in an actual store yet. It was closing so I didn't have much time inside but my goodness, everything was gorgeous! It only made my lust to be able to decorate my own home own day even greater!

I spent half of Monday sleeping (not kidding, accidently slept until 12) and the afternoon reading and tanning by the pool. That night, I went to a gluten free bread making demonstration with mama and grandma.

 

Yesterday I started the day with breakfast at my favorite breakfast place of all time, bagel world, with Tots. We ran more errands and I tanned and read more later. I also spent a couple hours catching up with one of my besties, Ariel :)

 



 

My one purchase from Sunday: new $5 "stunna shades" from F21

 

I got my smoothie in a mason jar by the pool too! The weather was gorgeous yesterday!

 

Like I was saying, today was a lazy day and I'll be going to get my hair trimmed soon. I'm so thankful I decided to split this into two posts because I'm pretty sure just one would have been way too long and I highly doubt anyone made it to the end of this post! Cheers to you if you did! It's been a wonderful week so far and I hope everyone else is having sunny weeks as well :)

 

xoxo, Olivia

Happy Birthday Victoria!

Happy 17th Birthday to my best friend, my sunshine, and most importantly my sister, Victoria! You're the Mary Kate to my Ashley, the Kylie to my Kendall, and the Serena to my Blair! I'm so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such a sweet, caring, funny, silly, supportive, stylish, and understanding sister. I can't believe how old we're getting but I know you have a beautifully bright future ahead of you! Keep dreaming and smiling big! I'm beyond ecstatic to see you tomorrow and give you the world's snuggliest hug Toodle Bear! I love you :)

xoxo, Olivia