What I Wore: On Christmas Eve

shirt: I'm actually not sure where I got it! | skirt: Maurices | tights: Target ($5) | necklace: Maid of Honor gift from Ruth | watch: American Eagle Outfitters | bracelet: MoH gift from Eileen | shoes (not shown): Movember TOMS

Went to see family and go to church, and needed to look like I actually put some thought into my outfit. This is what I ended up with.

Why I Embrace the Face

Through For the Love of Blogs I found a Post called Embrace the Face. Started by this lovely gal, it's basically a chance for you to chat about those features of your face that you love and hate.

I know everyone has things about them that they love, and most people have things they hate. I'll be honest, I'm one of them! I hated my name when I was younger, and I hated my hair... Since then I've grown to love both my name and my hair!



So I'm putting myself out there. I'm gonna chat about what I love and hate about my face. Maybe it will help me embrace the features I'm not as thrilled with.

I love my blue eyes. I love that generally my eyebrows behave themselves. I adore my crazy freckles. I like that I generally don't get acne (though that wasn't always the case). I love my nose piercing and I'm glad that I did it.

I don't love that I always look like I have dark under eye circles.... people must think I never sleep. I don't like the little bump on my nose, thanks to a dangerous tennis ball in middle school. Sometimes I look like I have a double chin.

I rarely wear makeup, except for special occasions. It really comes out of laziness of putting makeup on. Though sometimes I think that having a tiny bit of makeup on wouldn't hurt every once in a while.

So there you have it. I random picture of me, with what I like and don't love about my face. Go link up with FLOB or These Hazel Eyes, for a chance to win some cool stuff, and just feel good about getting it out there!

Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday & Etsy Folks You Should Check Out

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I love small businesses. I know many small business owners, and I just think they're fabulous. My parents and I did our part and went and supported local small businesses and crafts people this weekend.



I've been looking for something for the extra bracelets and jewelry that don't fit on my hanging jewelry holders... and this cool bowl made out of an old record was super cool and fun! Now my dresser looks less cluttered!

And now I want to share with you a few small etsy buinesses folks I'm loving at the moment... This is definitely not a full list, but just a few people I want to share with my friends. :)



Megan has an etsy shop with a ton of cute things. I have this watch. I'm loving the hats, and pretty much everything in her shop! She also has a blog, as well as a blog with her sisters (she's a triplet!)



These eco friendly cat toys are awesome. I especially love these made from wool sweater scraps. I definitely want to get some of these for Charlie!



I'm actually known for drinking cold Starbucks drinks in the wintertime, even though it makes my hands freezing cold! I love these cozies, it would be the perfect thing to keep my hands warm(er). I love the best friend cozies, but there is such a variety!



I love these! Olivia started this business in college and it's taken off. I just got mine in the mail on Friday and I have been wearing them since! She has tons of colors, and a huge variety. And the best thing is that when I take my hair down, it doesn't leave that dent that you sometimes get from other hair ties.... and I can just put it on my wrist and wear it like a bracelet!





If you're a pinterest addict like I am, then you probably saw these legwarmers. After these hit pinterest, Melissa, the owner of Sienna's Closet, got so much interest that she's had a steady stream of people going to her etsy store and facebook pages asking for them. I ordered a teal pair that I wore when we got some snow last week, and they are gorgeous as well as being cozy and warm! Your best bet is to check out her facebook page, she will keep you updated as to what she has in stock and when!



I happen to think that you cannot go wrong when you mix pearls and ribbon! Twillypop does just that! I have my eye on a few of them.

Also, I did not get paid to mention any of these lovely folks... I just like sharing good finds with others! All photos/banners belong to the shop owners!

I love this color so much, I want to marry it.

That is how I feel about this shirt. I am in love with the color. It goes great with my pale complexion and red hair. But yes, if I could marry a color, this would be it. Yep. I might be going a little overboard about my love for this color though.

I love what an outfit can do for a mood. There are just some outfits that make you feel so good! This was an outfit I loved as soon as I tried it on. I wore it on Wednesday while I ran some errands, and it was a gorgeous day. Wednesday also marked one year since Casey Irish, a young man from Maine, lost his life in a car accident. His sister Sarah attended the same college I did. Although I never met Casey, if he is anything like Sarah, I'm sure he was a very kind, sweet, generous young man. So in remembrance of Casey, Wednesday was "Calves for Casey." So this outfit was my way of showing off my calves in remembrance for Casey.

I'm thinking I might have to create a regular feature where I talk about fun feel good outfits. :)

What the People Really Need is People

The other day a certain big company's career website's application took about 4 times the "45 minutes" the website claim's the application takes. It was mostly because the page was ridiculously slow to load. So it was frustrating, but I know that I just have to keep at it, because something will come along! Though I do wish that job searching was different.



This one part really struck with me. "What the people need is people." I just wish I could print out my resume on my nice resume paper and hand it to someone. I hate that I have to spend hours filling out an online application that I'm not even sure if anyone is going to see. I just wish they could tell me that they even got my resume. I just think that Human Resources should have a lot more of the Human that is in the name. But what can I do. Hopefully the job search will be better. I know that I will find something eventually. I just hope that it's soon so I won't have to stress about my finances as much!

But I was very excited {earlier} that same day (like before the whole job application thing). My mom and I ran some errands and went to a few stores. And since I look a lot younger than my age, I don't ever get asked to open store cards. And although I'm sure some people hate getting asked to open a store credit card, I wish they'd ask me. Because at least it means that they think I look closer to my age than most people think. Like when I was at the mall and got asked if I was looking for a dress for homecoming. Like my last homecoming was in 2007! No, I'm not looking for a homecoming dress! So for you to ask me to open a store card, I will for sure thank you, and tell you that I'm flattered before I say no! But I got asked twice!! the other day. I was thrilled.

One of the rare occasions where this is a style blog

Generally, this is not going to be a style blog, and it will rarely feature "What I Wore" kind of posts... because I mostly dress in jeans and t-shirts and don't consider myself to be very stylish. But I'm very excited to share with you a nice little outfit I wore for a little while today. :)

Dress - H&M, Tights - Vera Wang for Kohls, Boots - Payless, Watch - American Eagle Outfitters, Belt - Merona for Target, and necklace - loveisrising on etsy.

And now I'm in jeans, a white tshirt, and a sweater, though partially it is so that my beautiful stylish outfit doesn't get covered in pet hair.

Though there is a story behind this dress. I was shopping in the mall with my sister and I saw a girl wearing this dress in a store. I pointed out to my sister that I thought that the dress was gorgeous and that I wanted it. I didn't see it in that particular store, so my sister finished paying for her stuff. We walked into the store directly next to it, and there it was, right in the front of the store. I couldn't believe it! I tried it on, and was not sure about it. I liked it but it didn't seem like it was perfect for me... but I bought it anyway since I loved it so much. But once I got it home, put on a belt, and wore it in front of my parents and friends, they all agreed it looked good! So I am very happy I bought it anyway!

I did not get paid by any of those brands to mention their names... none of them even know who I am!

Crafty Productive Weekends

So, I'm feeling like the last two weeks, I've been crazy productive on Saturday's.

I've been applying to jobs, getting things crossed off my to-do lists, and especially have been really crafty on Saturday's.

I've been making more of those survival paracord bracelets like the black one I posted last week. I made some turquoise ones last Saturday, and then made more turqoise, white, and pink ones yesterday. I even mentioned to my mother making and selling them, and she thought it was a great idea... which is awesome that she is behind me on this.

She also suggested making cat and dog collars, and I ended up finding reflective cord for making animals easier to see in the dark, which I think is awesome. So supplies have been ordered!

 



I also made this, which I found on Pinterest, and found a tutorial from here. It was so easy, and I actually had all of the items on hand. My mom agreed that it looked great, and although I love it, I'm thinking it will make an awesome Christmas present for my dad, who is the one person in our house my dog loves best, and he loves her too. I know this would be something my dad would love!

And then, and I'm sure people are going to hate me for saying this, but I started my Christmas shopping for folks. I know it's October, but it works out. I've been saving on getting great deals, and it will be nice when my school loans come due that my shopping will be hopefully finished.

Fun Little Small Town Saturday

Warning: This post is very picture heavy.

I had a lovely day, which started off by getting my hair done at my favorite hair salon! I got bangs, which I was worried was going to make me look younger than my age, but my stylist told me she thought it would look good. So I went for it. And I am so glad I did. Bangs just make me feel fabulous. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to show you because I'm not happy with how the ones I've taken have come out.



I attempted to do some organizing in my room.

I did get some file folders put together, and ended up putting together a nice place for all of my fun paper type things to go.. like coupons and Charlie's paperwork.



I also got some clutter off of my desk... seriously, the picture on the left is way cleaner than my desk usually is.



I still have to work on the clutter and organization and storage in my room. The picture on the left shows some jewelry holders I made. They're great, and I love how they turned out. They were super easy and inexpensive, but you can tell by the picture that I have way more stuff that I need to put on top of my dresser. That doesn't even include a fun little thing I bought online recently... but I'll save that fun little thing for another post!



I'll probably steal these shelves that we have down in the basement and hang them up in my room. As long as they are hung up to where Charlie can't reach, I think it would be perfect for displaying artwork and trinkets, and maybe even moving some of my jewelry so that it is farther out of Charlie's reach.



 

 

 

I'll probably also steal this desk from our basement too. It's never used, and I think with the closed storage (for Charlie) and the amount of workspace it would be great in my room. I could also do a nice paint job on the top, and even change out the handles.

 



 

 

 

 

Also, as far as getting some containers for storage, I'm loving these paint can containers from the Container store. I think they are adorable, and definitely show off my love of interior design. Though I love most things from The Container Store. I just wish we had one closer!



I'm also loving AMAC boxes, which they also have from The Container Store. Unfortunately, they look nice but I'm not sure how functional they would be.

 

 



In other really fun and exciting news, I'm gonna open a small Etsy shop at some point soon. It's going to be called Cool & Pretty Things, and some of my first items I'll be selling with be survival bracelets made of paracord, like the picture on the left. That black one is the first one I made, and now that I have more cord and also, buckles to make it easier to put on and off, once I get a bunch made, I will be putting them on Etsy!



I also kind of went crazy with my camera. I took this picture of Charlie. It was completely accidental but I love the way it turned out!

 

 

 

 

 



 

I was also excited to find this delia's catalog in my mailbox today. Although I'm sure people consider it more of a Juniors/Teen store, I love their Bailey jeans. They have some of the best fit jeans for my body that I've tried. And as you might or might not be able to tell from that picture, Jeans are by 1 get 1 for 1/2 off. And you can save 15% off your purchase. I'm also trying to shop smarter. Although I've been treating myself to a few things here and there, I know that the more I save, the more I can put towards my student loans, and the faster I can pay them off and the less interest I pay... which is a WIN-WIN!