Fall Favorites

These are a few of my favorite things about fall:

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes

soup, apple cider + pumpkin bread

big sweaters + leggings

boots, booties + suede

scarves, jackets, fur + layering

the leaves changing colors

the crisp air in the morning while walking to class

sleeping in oversized sweaters + coffee

little cuties in halloween costumes

leaf pile jumping

pumpkin carving

Fall also brings me New York City this year which is enough of a reason 

in itself to be excited 

Weekend Escape: New Orleans

My Photo Diary of New Orleans

The pictures say it all: 

Juan's Flying Burrito for dinner followed by Brocato's gelato 

Breakfast at La Boulangerie -- mocha + almond and chocolate scone

Perfect details scattered all over New Orleans

The French Quarter

Bourbon Street, Royal Street and the Cathedral 

Lunch at Mahoney's Po-Boy shop

shrimp po-boy + onion rings + barq's root bear

Lili's Vintage Boutique 

Obviously we found Free People

Sucre for an afternoon snack of macarons 

Dinner at Dat Dog

Kendall: crawfish hotdog

Frances: original hot dog

Ann Marie: italian sausage

Me: sea dog (fish)

Breakfast before hitting the road at Morning Call

coffee + beignets + gumbo

Pit stop in Jackson, MS to eat at Brent's (where a part of The Help was filmed)

grilled pimento cheese sandwich + fries + vanilla milkshake

Catching Dreams

I know all of you know that song by Hall & Oates "You Make My Dreams Come True." If not:

Well you see, Wednesday morning (yesterday),  around 5:39 a.m. to be exact, I received an email from Teen Vogue informing me that I've been accepted into their program Teen Vogue Fashion University, which is a weekend in New York full of seminars and special events. Teen Vogue and my parents made my dreams come true!

I applied for this weekend randomly a few weeks ago before school started. I found it online and thought this would be an incredible experience, and my new life motto these days is about applying to anything and you will get whatever you are meant to get. I sent in my sketches, answered some questions about who my fashion icons are, and sent in photos of myself in my favorite outfits so they could see what my sense of style was like.

On September 5th I remember looking on Twitter and searching keywords about TVFU because it had been a few weeks since I had applied. I saw that so many girls got their acceptance letters that day and the day before so I assumed I didn't get in. I told my friends I didn't get accepted, but this morning everything changed! This Hall & Oates song has been on my mind all day. I cannot contain my excitement and I am feeling so blessed to be able to have this opportunity.

Thankfully I have the most incredible parents who support me in what I want to do, and I have the most incredible friends who are going to join me in the Big Apple! All I did was tell them and invite them, next thing I know me and six of my best friends are planning our trip on October 17th to NYC!

I will get to attend seminars by the owner of Warby Parker, the DANNIJO sisters, listen in on panels held by Teen Vogue, attend a private event hosted by Shopbop and more! Also, I will be live tweeting for Hello Perfect the whole weekend. I'll give more details on that later and what hashtag you can keep up with.

New York City, I am coming for you!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mama!

Why my mom deserves a great birthday:

She put Easter eggs on our ears 

We wore really cool jogging outfits on the same day

We didn't chose the thug life, the thug life chose us.

She is the Lorelai to my Rory

She is sweet, caring and giving 

She is a mother, daughter, sister and friend

"All I am I owe to my mother"
- George Washington

Happy Birthday to the greatest mother I could have ever asked for and the best friend that I have ever had! I am always thankful for your love and kind heart. You haven't aged a day since you won Most Beautiful at Franklin High School!
I love you!

NYFW faves

My Instagram feed is outrageous these days and I am seething with envy. The geotags of Lincoln Center, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and rooftop bars/ restaurants overlooking Manhattan are a lot for this girl to handle. By following all the top designers and the main Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Instagram account, I have been able to successfully stalk every show and all times of the day. Especially during my Philosophy class where I am dazed and confused.

My favorite photos of New York Fashion Week so far are:

Janelle Monae performing at Rebecca Minkoff's Spring 2014 presentation + everything on the runway

Watch here

Tory Burch Spring 2014

I love the floor, it looked like everyone was walking on water

Everything from J. Crew + when can I become best friends with Jenna Lyons?

View all of J.Crew here.

Nanette Lepore's neo-romantic inspiration // I like her clothes because I would actually wear them

Anna Sui's florals

Rachel Zoe because she is fabulous + so is her Spring 2014 line

I would like all four please *swoons*

If anyone would like to take me to New York Fashion Week next year, I would gladly accept.

I'll buy my plane ticket tomorrow.

all photos not mine

from official mercedes benz fashion week website

Happy Birthday to my favorite twins!

Why Jennifer deserves a great birthday:
1. While she was always the smallest of the three of us, she coined the nickname "Big Jenny"
2. In second grade, when we became friends, Jen and I shared a locker. Remember poo-chis? We kept one in as our pet our locker. Little did we know this would only be the beginning of pets we all three tried to own together.
3. Jen is going on a mission in just a few shorts months! She will be learning portuguese so, feliz aniversario!
4. You can find Jen singing one of these three songs: It's A Hard Knock Life" from Annie, old Taylor Swift or Eminem's "Lose Yourself." All other songs she will gladly sing along too, but she won't know about 99% of the words.
5. In elementary school and middle school I would make Jen play Zenon or Harriet the Spy with me because I had a strange obsession with both. I'll always thank you for that!
6. When she was younger she used to think that people were sharpening knives in the room next to hers.. Glad we finally got over that one
7. Jen dated a unicorn......
8. She was always there to support me with whatever I was doing. Whether it was coming to a Friday night football game to watch me cheer & cheer on the Cougars herself or like the night Stanley, my dog, had to be put to sleep and Jen came over. She brought me sour candy with a note that said, "Sorry your day was sour!" She is one of the most caring people I know!

9. Her AIM username was AngelGirl92
10. You're the sweetest and most caring Lil' J and are always thinking of others. Your kind heart is going to be used perfectly in Brazil!

Why Marissa deserves a great birthday:
1. Once when Marissa was mad at a boy in middle school who she liked, she called him "the scum between her toes," and that's just one of those things you can never let someone forget.
2. Senior year she became Daisy and worked Las Vegas like no one ever thought she would

3. Birthdays are the biggest deal among the pookies and while Jen loves them, Marissa is the one to go above and beyond. It always involves decorating your car, cake, gifts through out the day, breakfast from your favorite place, balloons and one year it even involved a fish that I had to carry around with me all day during school.
4. Marissa lets no one do you wrong. During our little soccer career together (okay, our whole life before college), if anyone sought out to get me or Jen, or even worse, hurt us during the game, Marissa would charge across the field at them.
5. Marissa used to decorate her room with Johnny Depp and she even had a mini statue of him.
6. She's hilarious. I can't even tell you how many times Marissa makes me laugh a day & it got to the point in high school where it was almost a problem if we had a class together. Nothing would get done. We were either pushing each other's desks into the middle of the classroom or embarrassing the other one on a regular basis.
7. Marissa is my go-to hair girl. Both years for prom I got my hair done at a salon, then frantically called Marissa and had to get her to come and fix it. Finally I realized that she was way better than any salon, and look where she is now - hair school!
8. She loved the Sims as much as I did and would stay up into the wee hours of the night making sure their houses were perfectly decorated
9. When the holograph of Stevie Wonder came on at the Celine Dion concert, she really though Stevie was in the room with us. Maybe on day we will see him in real life! And never forget your glasses to a concert again.
10. Your the fiery redheaded best friend that everyone needs by their side and my partner in crime!

And together..
We all drive the same car, just different versions

We have gone to Las Vegas, Gatlinburg, Gulf Shores + the lake

Seen Celine Dion, Taylor Swift, Idina Menzel, been to the Grand Ole Opry + CMA Country Christmas taping concert

Went to see Mamma Mia at TPAC, Cinderella with the Nashville symphony performing + all the TPAC plays Grandaddy took us to when we were younger
We've played soccer, powderpuff football, ran cross country + played basketball

Met Sheryl Crow, Kimberly Williams Paisley + Barbara Orbison

Celebrated 15 years of birthdays

Celebrated 15 Christmas Eve Eve's

We are the pookies & are part of The Girls Club
We have supported each other in every other aspect of our lives that we strangely didn't do together (really, if you found us apart in high school it would have been weird)
We are one big family

Finally:
I'll never be able to thank you two enough for your friendship and love. We were meant to be best friends and go through life together. The term "best friends" doesn't even begin to describe us though. I am thankful for you two every single day and would not be where I am without you both.
I can't wait to see where the next 14 years take us, and many more!
love you both more than a thousand suns always 

Happy 21st Birthday to my favorite twins!

As Wicked says,

"I've heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason,

Bringing something we must learn, and we are lead,

To those who help us most to grow, if we let them, and we help them in return.

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true, 

but I know I'm who I am today 

Because I knew you.."

I can't wait to celebrate when we are all together & reunited in May of 2015..

 It seems like a long time (it is), but no time or distance will ever separate this friendship!

LET'S CELEBRATE YOU TWO!

How My Roommate Became My Best Friend

My Hello Perfect post about how Ann Marie went from being a stranger to my best friend!
"How My Roommate Became My Best Friend"
click the link below and it takes you to the post on HelloPerfect.com 

http://www.helloperfect.com/how-my-roommate-became-my-best-friend/

Happy 21st Becca!

Eleven reasons Becca deserves a great 21st birthday:

1. Senior year we carried around a little baby (pictured below) named Kevin and photographed him everywhere we went.

2. Just like Meredith's post, we bought our CMT Award tickets in the middle of the wilderness from our iPhone

3. Spring Break would never have been the same without her. The four of us were all perfectly molded together and we each brought our own aspect to the group. Becca was always there to take pictures of us and document the entire trip.

4. From the beginning of our senior year to graduation day Becca carried a flip camera around with her every day. She took it to birthday parties, normal school days, senior day, and even graduation. Since she made this video, we will always remember senior year and I will always be thankful for that video!

5. I'm not sure if you have ever heard of a drink called wassail, but Becca introduced it to me (and I think our whole grade) & it was forever a staple when we would have get togethers at Becca's.

6. If it was socially acceptable to still play The Sims, she would.

7. Becca, Anna, Meredith & I went on Spring Break together our junior year and senior year of high school. Each year Becca without any hesitation would somehow break her swimsuit and it was always hilarious. One day we have to all venture back to Edisto, but this time we will all hope you don't break anymore swimsuits

8. We took really cool pictures like this in 8th grade:

9. Becca looked like Kit Kiteredge as a child, the American Girl doll. 

10. Becca and I would always alternate for goalie when playing soccer, even though she was the more talented one and wasn't afraid to dive for the ball. Thankfully she led us to victories while I was too afraid I was going to knock a tooth out. Becca is so intense because she was a competitive cheerleader and was also the soccer goalie, and, well, you really can't beat up someone like that.

11. One day senior year we went to school but didn't answer for attendance so we could sneak across the street for lunch & creep on our teacher who was going on a date. We were quite the star students in her class and even ended up with hats that said "Creepers" on them for our senior gifts.

We ended up getting invited to her wedding though so it was completely worth skipping school

12. Becca is so sweet and caring, always there to tell you how great you are & she is so good at loving people. She is incredibly trustworthy and reliable. I admire so many of her qualities and am so thankful I can call her a friend. I'm so glad that after going together all of middle school we finally became friends in high school and were able to go on so many fun adventures from that. One year Auburn will play Ole Miss on a perfect weekend where we can finally visit each other!

Love you Becca and HAPPY 21st!!

I can't wait to celebrate when we all get home!