Dear Diary, Blair is going to be so pissed

Snaps to Blake for landing her fourth Vogue cover before her 27th birthday

All hail the tall, caucasian, blonde Queen B! My favorite girl Blake Lively has made headlines has once again made headlines in a purely positive way (starlets and B-Listers take note) by launching her own website. Preserve is the shop/blog/editorial's title and serves as an ode to 'preserving' artisan craftsmanship. Guests can find a range of prices and products from curry ketchup to a wooden cutting board in the shape of the continental United States. 

This Lindsey Thornburg wrap dress sold out in 8 hours. 

Aside from the shopping, there is a feel-good aspect to the e-commerce site. Preserve is a proud partner with Covenant House, an organization dedicated to providing to the homeless, as well as the trafficked and abused youth. They state on their Greater Good page: 

"We have set our first goal of giving 5,000 children a meal, 2,000 children a blanket, and 2,700 children a warm hoodie, all within the U.S."

Sounds pretty sweet to me! 

I can't afford to buy this bandana for $62, but you know Serena could and would. 

Many people look at this turn to the local, handmade industry with hope that it's popularity will last for years to come. I certainly hope so! It's a return to the way (I'm assuming) things used to be, before factories and machines made everything we touched. That may be the reason our generation is so nostalgic for hand-crafted goods and farmer's markets, they're things we only heard or read about, not something we experienced growing up. For me, homemade food has always been part of my life because I am blessed with a mother and grandmothers who have a passion for cooking, but it leaves most of my friends shocked. I've made blackberry ice cream at my grandmother's house in northern California, and not from berries in a plastic carton. We would pick them wild off the trail near the river and carry them in sacks over our bike handles back to her house. My mother makes her own tomato sauce and no, she's not Italian. Just this weekend I used Mom's recipe to make cinnamon rolls from scratch (it's so easy I swear) and my friends who ate them with me were bamboozled. 

My 20th birthday gift made by my Jamma - easily the best thing I've ever received! 

I love the direction our popular culture is swinging and I love Blake's latest endeavor. If you'd like to read more about the growing local industry, check out this article from Seattle Pi and if you'd like to read more about Preserve check out any of these articles: 

Vogue // US Weekly // Elle // Popsugar

It's unclear who the 'us' is that the website keeps referring to, or who else is contributing to the web design, marketing or editorial aspects. Maybe Mrs. Ryan Reynolds will be looking for an intern soon? I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, SNL is no longer my primary news source

Co-Founders Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin on The Today Show

I'm ashamed but willing to admit that for the past few years, the primary way I kept up with the news was Saturday Night Live. Keeping up with entertainment news is easy, that's what People is for. Keeping up with major events is also easy thanks to the world's fastest news source, Twitter. But the real action, the day-to-day important events in politics and the world, I generally knew nothing about. The news is so depressing, and the idea of dragging myself through even one lengthy article about anything going on in a Washington D.C. that didn't involve Olivia Pope just seemed miserable. Yet I felt compelled to have some grasp on what's going on outside the Starbucks drive-through line. What's a girl to do?

The top of Friday's Skimm

Luckily, a few months ago I discovered TheSkimm, a daily email that appears in your inbox by the time you wake up that contains a quick collection of top news stories. Its written in an easy format by women, for women and is actually fun to read. You can bet your bottom dollar at least one Mean Girls reference will be made a week and they understand that Uggs are so 2003. TheSkimm only comes on work days, and I inevitably wake up on Saturday mornings a little peeved I don't have a Skimm. That's right, somehow the genius ladies at TheSkimm HQ have trained this formerly ignorant 21-year-old to crave the news. They deserve an award! I feel like if Weekend Reporter Tina Fey and Elle Woods teamed up to write a daily email, this would be the product. So if you're looking to be in the loop on what's going on in our world without crying yourself to sleep after watching the nightly news, or think that being able to participate in small talk about current events might help you pave the way for an extra Like, a promotion, or even a boyfriend, TheSkimm might be the answer for you.

XOXO

Dear Diary, Mother's Day is on my mind

Mother's Day (May 11) is just around the corner! It's always hard to find the perfect gift for my mom because most of the things I would like to buy her are way out of my college-student budget. If you're like me, than you also don't want to waste time trying to convince your dad why your mother needs that $500 ottoman because he'll never agree. I'm a big fan of swinging by the Central Market floral department on my way home from school and picking up a bouquet, but I feel like I need to come up with something more substantial. There's got to be something in-between!

Mother and I circa 1996

Monthly product subscriptions are very hot right now, and it would be a great gift because it would little surprise to remind my mother of me while I'm away at school. The subscription is great because I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting to ship a gift myself every month! I've been receiving Birchboxes for the past two years (check out my article about them here!) and decided I would cancel my account because I'm on sample over load, and instead pay for my mother to have a subscription. The longer I thought about it though, I decided my mother might not like getting so many samples. They start to pile up then you're left with a vase (or drawer) of unused products. So I began to search for other options for monthly subscriptions. Hopefully there's something here that's just right for the sweet mommy in your life. Happy gifting!

Citrus Lane - for the mom who still has kiddos $21/month

Craft Coffee - for the mom who's a coffee lover $19.99/month

Birchbox - for the mom who loves deluxe beauty samples $10/month

UmbaBox - for your etsy-loving mom who never grew out of getting handmade gifts $23/month

Harry & David's Fruit of the Month Club - for the mom who loves the best fresh fruit $69-129/month 

Mouth's Cocktail Hour - for the mom who loves to host $1,120/year 

Love With Food - for the mom who loves organic snacks $10/month

KnitCrate - for the mom who loves to knit $26/month

Just the Right Book - for the mom who loves to read $245-$395/year+shipping 

Her Fitness Box - for the mom who likes to break a sweat $35/month

XOXO

Dear Diary, its Mindy Monday

Everything about Mindy Kahling is amazing. She started her fame on The Office and luckily has gotten her own show The Mindy Project. Why watch Mindy? Because she is funny, sarcastic, and relatable and gets really good looking guys to come on her show and fall in love with her. I wrote an article for our all-Greek newspaper on the star, check it out here!

She is so inspirational. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, the Canadian Greeks are starting something big

The Get Real Movement

This video fell into my browser yesterday because TSM posted it, and it's worth the watch. Greeks at the University of Western Ontario (who knew there were Greeks in Canada?) took a big step towards shattering homophobic notions among fraternity and sorority stereotypes. They worked with The Get Real Movement, whose aim is to stop discrimination and homophobia, starting with small communities, like ours. Well our community is hardly small, there are over nine million Greeks nationwide! This video is powerful and reminds both insiders and outsiders that Greek life is all about friendship, scholarship and service no matter your orientation, ethnicity, race or any other factor. You won't ever be weak if you go Greek!

XOXO

Dear Diary, where is my puppy in Prada?

I was so excited to come across this article on Pinterest this morning on The Best-Dressed Animals on Instagram by Who What Wear. I'm all about following fashion accounts on Instagram, I practically have to hunt for my friends posts cause my feed is cluttered with chic bloggers, cute crafts, and phenomenal fashion. These cute, furry friends with owners who have ample time, energy and trendy accessories and are the purrrrrfect addition to my feed! Plus it helps me hold off my need for a puppy (or bunny!) of my own. Check it out!

XOXO

Dear Diary, I'm jealous of a 4-year-old

I stumbled upon this PRECIOUS little girl on Pinterest today and she is just. too. much! Her nickname is Mayhem and she and her mother (mainly her, based on her not crafty, not fashionable mother's interview) make dresses out of paper, tape and other random craft supplies. Check out the full article from the Huffington Post here. I can't decide if I wish this was me, or if I wish this is the hobby my theoretical, future daughter picks up... either way it puts my newspaper dress for a philanthropy runway show last year to shame. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, BuzzFeed quizzes are everything

I love a good quiz, and who doesn't? It's like someone asking you fun questions about yourself, and you get to think all about #1. 

Last week I stumbled upon this quiz from the best news source after the SNL weekend report (RIP Seth Meyers), BuzzFeed. 'What City Should You Actually Live In' is the title and I was intrigued. I moved to another state for college and even though I'm from Dallas and eventually want to make it back to the Big D, I'd like to live some other places first. 

What I loved about this particular quiz were the relevancy of the questions to my life. How do you take your coffee? Iced, and no other way. Pick your poison? White wine good time. The hardest question is 'Pick a Beyoncé' because there's no wrong answer. I went with Super Bowl Beyoncé. The numerous Mean Girl references, sarcasm, and straightforwardness of some of the answer options make me wish I'd written it, which is the core of why these quizzes are so addictive. 

In the end I got Cape Town, Africa, a place I'd be down to visit. African safari is high up on my bucket list, right next go glamping, so it could be a two three-birds-one-stone type situation. After that quiz, I did "Which Disney Couple Is Your Ideal Relationship?" (Beauty and the Beast), "What Kind of Sandwich Are You? (Grilled Cheese), "What Type Of Dog Are You?" (Great Dane, duh) and about 20 more that aren't worth listing, but it was quite the rabbit hole. I guess I'm proud that I got every answer right in "Who Said It: A Child Or A Serial Killer?"?

XOXO

Dear Diary, let's party like it's 2007

In the spirit of Hanukah and this Thanksgiving-holiday-induced house arrest time, my brother and I decided to use time wisely by making a middle school throwback playlist. What’s that got to do with Hanukah you say? Well everyone in my neighborhood knows that middle school is the time for bar, bat and b’nai mitzvahs. We know this because for some reason we have a wonderfully large Jewish population living in this area of our school district. So far me and my brother have attended over thirty-two mitzvah celebrations, with seventeen dollar checks always in hand. If you showed up without your ballet sweater wrap covering your shoulders and matching eyeshadow you were clearly a novice clueless (sorry, middle school was harsh). But I digress- Some songs were left off because I hated them then and still hate them now, but every song can be found on Spotify. 

1. 50 Cent – Candy Shop
2. Akon – Smack That - Dirty
3. Akon – I Wanna Love You
4. Baby Bash – Suga Suga
5. Beyoncé – Crazy In Love
6. Beyoncé – Naughty Girl
7. The Black Eyed Peas – Pump It
8. The Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
9. Britney Spears – Toxic
10. Britney Spears – I'm A Slave 4 U
11. Cascada – Everytime We Touch - Radio Edit
12. The Cast Of 'High School Musical' – Breaking Free
13. Chamillionaire – Ridin' Dirty (feat. Chamillionaire)
14. Chingy – Right Thurr
15. Chingy – Holidae In
16. Chris Brown feat. Juelz Santana – Run It! - Featuring Juelz Santana
17. Ciara – One, Two Step
18. Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise - feat. L.V.
19. D-12 – My Band
20. David Banner – Get Like Me
21. Destiny's Child – Soldier
22. Destiny's Child – Say My Name
23. Destiny's Child – Jumpin', Jumpin'
24. DMX – Party Up
25. Eminem – Lose Yourself - Soundtrack Version (Explicit)
26. Eminem – The Real Slim Shady
27. Eve – Let Me Blow Ya Mind
28. Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance
29. Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We're Goin Down
30. The Fray – How To Save A Life
31. The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car)
32. Fugees – Killing Me Softly With His Song
33. The Game – How We Do
34. Gwen Stefani – Rich Girl
35. JoJo – Too Little Too Late
36. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack - Main Version - Explicit
37. Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
38. Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body
39. Kelis – Milkshake
40. Lil Jon – Get Low
41. Lil Jon – Snap Yo Fingers
42. Nelly Furtado – Promiscuous
43. Nelly Furtado – Maneater
44. The Pussycat Dolls – Beep
45. Rihanna – SOS
46. Rihanna – Unfaithful
47. Shakira – Hips Don't Lie
48. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars

If you didn’t realize how horribly inappropriate the rap songs were then… you sure will now. 

Today I am thankful for modern technology, the Internet, and my family. I am thankful that the three year peak of my decade of awkwardness is over. I am thankful that the boys grew, and some of them are now (omg) even taller than me. Lastly, I am thankful for the old friends that made these songs bring back such good memories, and the new friends who will hijack fraternity sound systems so we can jam out to this playlist when we get back to school. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, Catching Fire well, caught me

On Thursday ChiO sprung for Catching Fire tickets for us at the prescreening at 8 o’clock so naturally half our chapter was there, including me, and all I can say is wow. All I want to do is live it over and over until I can recite it in my sleep or become Effie, whichever comes first. Am I disappointed at missed details and glossed over issues? Of course. Is it also better than I imagined from the book? Surprisingly yes. 

The visuals were more than better, they were incredible. The costumes, the hair, the make up, the scenery were all dazzling. I already read the books so the story was not what captured my attention, it was the costumes which were all done by Trish Summerville. In the opening scene Katniss has this absolutely fabulous grey, cowl neck, chunky knit, diagonal sweater thing that was the perfect blend of her roots in District 12 and her new world in the Capitol spotlight. I don’t even know what to call it but I want it.

I was underwhelmed by both Katniss and Peeta’s tour outfits. They were in no way memorable, which I guess was fine because the tour was more about the rebellion, but still, a little glitter and jewel tones go a long way.

It was all made up by Katniss’s wedding dress. I was disappointed by her flame dress in the first film, but this was a masterpiece designed by Tex Saverio. The gown was glittery, fluffy, dramatic, cloud-like and just stunning. I was disappointed by the mockingjay dress that it turned onto though because the graphics on the front and back reminded vaguely of an Affliction shirt, but the wings were sick. The people of the Capitol died for that special effect, and so did I.

Everyone was dressed to intimidate here, Effie just had a different audience than the tributes.

Speaking of Capitol couture, we must discuss my new style inspiration- Effie Trinket. She is always positive, polished, peppy and dresses like I would in my wildest dreams. This article talks more about the detail that went into synchronizing each Effie costume with where the characters and the people of Panem are in the story line.

This was my favorite ensemble- those are feather butterflies on her dress and headpiece.

Not a huge fan of this look, but cheers to the sleeves.

Used in ads and in the beginning scenes, I want to scream "IT'S SO FLUFFY!"

Every outfit came with new, matching nails- that's an insane amount of detail.

And finally, the game gear and the boys...

Not squealing when this happened was the hardest thing I'd ever done.

The wet suits the competitors wore in the games were really cool and made me want one, you know, for all the times I swim in the ocean or have to fight for my life in a jungle. In this New York Times article on the costumes of this second movie installment, Ms. Summerville said they decided to dress Peeta's character in a much more masculine way to accentuate the growing up Peeta did from being selected as a tribute to after the games as a victor. How convenient then that Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta, has quite the athletic build. In this movie he was much more convincing as a strong, steady man who could help save Katniss's life. 

Their nightmare-inspired sleeping situation is so precious I can't find words.

Also, at this point in the story Peeta is essentially competing with Gale for Katniss. What really got me was when I read that Ms. Summerville used a lot of subdued greens in Peeta's wardrobe "because Katniss's favorite color is green, "she said, "so subliminally, he's always trying to woo her." I know it's the costume designer saying that not the character himself, but it still brought a metaphorical tear to my eye. Peeta's undying love for Katniss is the steadfast core of the series. It's heartbreaking, tear-jerking and keeps you craving more. I've always been Team Peeta for Katniss, but maybe that's cause I want Gale/Liam for myself?

I'd accept his rose any day.

XOXO

Dear Diary, this #FollowFriday look no further than Sarah Vickers

This summer while perusing Instagram for someone fun to follow, I stumbled upon Sarah Vickers (@sarahkjp) and it changed my life. She is a twenty-something brunette blogger (Classy Girls Wear Pearls) from the Cape Cod area who lives an unreal life of all things nautical, preppy and classic. Her style is inspiring and impeccable. Her hobbies include riding on her cruiser bike, her cute cat, and being fabulous. The social events she attends and posts pictures about seem fake, staged even. But its just an average day for her.

Don’t believe her life is real? Just check out her beau Kiel James Patrick (@kjp) who never seems to leave her side and posts pictures from events they attend together so if you follow both of them, you get different angles on the same event. Every picture they’re in looks like a Brookes Brother’s ad. 

KJP has his own clothing line of crisp button downs, neckwear, belts and bracelets- all hand made in America. He’s been called the best-kept secret in American handmade wares. His passion for quality and integrity comes through in everything his company produces. Did I mention he's done collaborations with Brooks Brothers?

Sarah has her own line of adorable bow bracelets and headbands pictured here:

Additionally for women KJP makes a scalloped oxford shirt I’m absolutely obsessed with, bags, bracelets and Drift Knot earrings.

So basically go follow Sarah and Kiel on Instagram right now, it will always be the best thing on your newsfeed and fuel the fire of jealousy that you're not living on the east coast.

XOXO