christmas gifts

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I had a good day and celebrated here in Florence. My dad came out to Florence for the holidays and we have kept busy by seeing major Florence "to-dos," like going to the Ufizzi and Accademia museums and the Boboli gardens, Rome for a day, and of course, eating some delicious Italian food at my favorite restaurants.

A few of my Christmas gifts:

A new Longchamp to replace my old one. I had my old one for seven months and wore it almost every day. I often cleaned it, but then eventually, even cleaning it wasn't enough - it hit the point of no return. I got great use out of it, so it's nice to upgrade to a new one. The surface on this one has a beautiful gloss and the Longchamp pattern. It's black, too - hopefully it will disguise any dirt or marks!

 Europe also destroyed my riding boots, so I got a new pair of Italian leather ones from a shop in Florence. I love them! They're very comfortable and go with everything, and will be nice to wear especially now, before I take my riding boots into a cobbler.

Some new bracelets: the top one is from Stella & Dot and the other silver ones are from a Seattle boutique.

Happy holidays!

xo-ally

happy thanksgiving! "friendsgiving" and 80s night photos!

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated in Florence with a "friendsgiving" last night since we'll all be traveling tonight and going to different places. I'm definitely not blessed with culinary skills (maybe it's just being lazy about cooking, ha) so I helped with groceries...and that's about it. Oh, I helped eat it too. Does that count?

Sam and Mollie made the most delicious turkey:

We also had mashed potatoes (my favorite side dish), carrot souffle, green bean casserole, and apple pie.

There was also a store-bought cake that I jokingly told everyone I made from scratch. One of the guys believed me. The rest knew me too well. ;)

On Tuesday we hosted an 80s Rock party at one of the bars in Florence. It was a lot of fun to dress up and listen to the music.

I straightened Rory's massive curly hair! Cam drew on fake (and pretty funny) tattoos. The boys were wearing crazy printed leggings, a lot of denim, and wigs. So great.

Tonight I'm off to Prague for the weekend. There's been a lot of weekend trips lately. I'm excited because I haven't been to the Czech Republic yet and I've heard Prague is a beautiful city.

Hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving with family and friends!

xo-ally

friday's fancies - stars + stripes

This week's Friday's Fancies theme with Long Distance Loving is stars + stripes. I recreated a very similar outfit to the one I wore yesterday (unfortunately didn't get photos - however I know I'll definitely be re-wearing it sometime soon!) I went a little crazy at the J. Crew sale - where I got a very similar shirt and skirt -  I'll definitely post about the awesome sale sometime within the next few days.

shirt, skirt, sandals, necklace, watch, bracelets, earrings

xo-ally

dresses for the fourth of july

I can't get enough of fun, summer dresses and have spotted so many adorable options when perusing shops online. Here are three of my current favorites that would be perfect for the Fourth of July!

dresses: left, middle, right

I also have a really fun giveaway starting tomorrow!! Stay tuned and check back July 1st at midnight PST to enter!

xo-ally

bloomsday/cinco de mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Hope you all have a fun day. Since it's my last Cinco de Mayo in college, I'm going to celebrate for sure at the lake in Coeur d'Alene. It's such a nice, warm day (my fave weather) so a bunch of us are going to the "beach" part of the lake. Yay!

This morning I'm running Bloomsday, a huge road race in Spokane. This is my first year doing it so I'm excited. I enjoy running, but today I'm not doing it competitively or with a set time in mind. I'll run part of it and walk part of it with some friends.

Enjoy your Cinco! I'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow with an outfit post.

xo-ally

easter sunday

Happy Easter! I hope your day was filled with love, laughter, good people, and some chocolate bunnies.

This morning I went to church and then a midday brunch with some friends. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and spent some time outside.

This was what I wore today:

The kids choir came out on the stage and sang a song at church. It was THE most adorable thing ever!

Hope you had a great holiday!

xo-ally

friday's fancies - st. patrick's day

This week's Friday's Fancies theme with long distance loving is St. Patrick's Day. I don't know if I will be celebrating this year since it's the Sunday night before school starts again post-spring break, but I normally love finding fun green pieces to add to my outfit!

Since I am currently without PhotoShop for the next couple of days (don't have wi-fi on vacation right now) here is a fabulous, green, sparkly dress I would LOVE to wear if I were celebrating!

 Dress from Asos

 

xo-ally

friday's fancies - new year's finest

This week's Friday's Fancies theme with long distance loving is New Year's Finest. I can't believe it's almost 2013!!! When I think of New Year's attire, the typical black or gold sequined body-con dress with a fur vest comes to mind. Here's a fun, totally glam outfit to wear while ringing in the new year that stands out from the black-and-gold crowd:

dress, heels, large clutch, necklace, black and cream bracelets, pink bracelet

xo-ally

christmas plans

What we did tonight:

Family dinner

Played the board game Sequence (so fun)

Watched Home Alone 2 (still get emotional at the same parts every year!)

Tomorrow morning:

Open gifts

Christmas brunch

Going to the movie theater to see Les Miserables

Calling extended family to catch up and send Christmas wishes

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Eve and enjoy the Christmas day!

xo-ally

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

....inside the house at least. (It's raining in Seattle. Snow is not in the forecast, as per usual. I've never had a "White Christmas," actually.) 

However, we've got gifts all nestled under the tree and decorations up too. :)

Are you getting excited for Christmas?

xo-ally

christmas playlist

Yesterday morning my roommates got together to make a pre-Christmas breakfast before we leave after finals! We made eggs, hashbrowns, and coffee cake while listening to my Christmas playlist from last year. While I like the Pandora Christmas station, I always go back to these faves of mine - some of which have been on my Christmas playlist for literally years and years.

You can't go wrong with The Beach Boys or Michael Buble! And I love Christmas Eve by Celine Dion - it reminds me of our family friends' house at Christmas time :)

The Greatest Time of Year has been a staple on this playlist since junior high, partially for the nostalgia and partially for the exciting holiday spirit I get into when I hear it.

Have you listened to Drummer Boy by Justin Bieber and Busta Rhymes? It's actually pretty cool. He puts a modern spin on the song by both singing and rapping. 

Watch this awesome hip hop dance to it. THEY ARE SO GOOD.

(I also prefer "Drummer Boy" over "Mistletoe." I can't take the line "Shawty will you, oh, oh, oh" 40+ times seriously in a Christmas song. Haha.)

Maybe This Christmas and Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time are two of my indie Christmas faves. Sufjan Stevens's whole Christmas album is great, but this one by him is so upbeat and exciting! 

Maybe This Christmas has been on every holiday episode of The OC so I've favorited that one over the years as well.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

xo-ally

PS - sorry for the lack of outfit posts lately! I've literally been wearing leggings and gym clothes all week. Because either I'm studying for finals or at the gym. Haha. Maybe I'll decide to put on a decent outfit soon :)

hints of holiday :)

I love the hints of holiday that are everywhere during the Christmas season. In high school my friend Liz and I would always get excited on the day Starbucks put up Christmas decorations and started using Christmas cups. At lunch I would get a slice of the gingerbread cake and Liz would get a cranberry bliss bar. I haven't had a gingerbread slice this year, but when I saw the adorable snowman cookies I just had to try one!

On a different Starbucks run after Thanksgiving, I was with my dad and he said, "If they had these snowman cookies when you were little you would've said daddy daddy can I please get one?" Aww. The cookie is really good though - I thought it was just a sugar cookie but it actually is a frosted graham cracker cookie.

My favorite store has holiday bags. I really like them! I like the colors and the design. It makes shopping even more special :)

What are your favorite hints of holiday this season? Have you been Instagramming pics of holiday happiness? (I wish I had Instagram...there's not an app for my phone yet....I know...totally out of the loop...I wish I could see thousands of the same pics of red Starbucks cups. Haha. But really.)

xo-ally

kate spade accessories

I've been loving the statement accessories by Kate Spade lately. And I don't just mean "statement" like a statement necklace - these accessories literally make a statement! The phrases make me laugh and make a simple accessory so much fun! These would also work great for gifts too.

Pick Up Your Heels Sock Set
#HandsomeStranger Tote
Arm Candy Wristlet
#BaconEggAndCheesePleaseWallet
Sense & Nonsense Journal

xo-ally

thanksgiving evening

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope yours was filled with love, laughter, and lots of good food. We spent ours with football and a traditional dinner (and also a turkey malfunction that actually ended up turning out okay).

xo-ally

currently packing...

This is the shoe collection in my closet.

 This is the size of my suitcase.

Oh, the decisions one makes when deciding to bring which shoes home for a few days. I often tend to over pack. I think, what if I want to wear this instead? Or, what if I need something dressier (or more casual?)

#Indecisive

#ThoughtsOfAnOverPacker

I leave for the airport in six (yes, six!) hours to fly home for Thanksgiving break. Luckily, my carry-on (I don't check bags for Thanksgiving) is packed and ready to go!

I decided on four pairs of shoes: two-tone boots (for matching many neutrals), black Tory flats (very versatile), brown booties (I have a particular outfit in mind), and my Nikes for exercising.

Safe travels to everyone this holiday!

xo-ally

happy november

A few things I like about November...

the beautiful changing leaves - especially the BRIGHT red ones

it's not quite heavy-duty-coat season...

...but it is boot season

college basketball is officially starting up with pre-season games

thanksgiving

11:11 on 11/11

the CMA Awards (on right now!)

hints of Christmas decorations popping up throughout the season

xo-ally

happy halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Since Halloween is on an awkward Wednesday, there was much debate over the past few weeks on deciding which weekend to celebrate - the weekend before, after, or both? What about Wednesday night?

Well, being the wonderful college students we are, most of us decided to celebrate starting last weekend, up until this Saturday. YOCO (You Only College Once? Yeah....)

I was the black and silver Spider-man (Spider-girl?) on Friday and a mermaid on Saturday. (Check out my mermaid costume from last week's Friday's Fancies!) I'm debating on whether I have time to buy materials and create a loofah costume for tonight. I saw some other girls wearing a loofah costume, and it is SO cute! I'm obsessed. I might have to jump on the loofah bandwagon.

I also might revive my Twitter costume from sophomore year...now that people actually use Twitter and know what it is! I wore a blue dress, yellow tights, and wrote "follow me" and the Twitter logo on my arms with face paint.

I lost the feather boa though... :/

Here is some more HALLOWEEN, one of fall's favorite holidays!

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Halloweentown! This was/still is my best friend's favorite movie. [photo]

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[photo]

xo-ally

PS - what did you dress up as (or planning to dress up as) this year?

labor day

Shorts: J. Crew Checkered shirt: Forever 21 Headband: Lacoste Shoes: Sperry

This post is going up so late because I was debating whether or not I wanted to put my outfit photo up! I'm kind of squinting and my shirt looks funny...whatever. I am wearing patriotic colors complete with my new glitter Sperrys so I thought it was deserving of a post!

Happy Labor Day! Enjoy the last few minutes of the weekend!

xo-ally

TWENTY-ONEEE

I turned 21 years old this week! In America, that's a landmark year and calls for a big celebration. My lovely friends did indeed make me a sash, with shimmer puffy paint, just like I hinted :) we had a little party at a friend's house and then went to a bar at midnight. Pretty typical for a college 21-run, but seriously so much fun! It was great to see everyone who didn't stay on campus this summer to kick off the beginning of senior year.

More pics from the night:

Closeup of the sash and crown - my roomie also gave me nail polish and a necklace from Bauble Bar!

xo-ally

21st birthday - I need ideas!

Hello all, so next week I will be 21 AND a senior in college! I have a general plan of what I'm going to do, but my friends are being a little secretive, so I'm not totally sure of what will happen. Basically the general plan is to have a little party the night before my actual birthday and go to the bars near campus on midnight. The next day we might go out to dinner - or so I've been told, haha.

I've been talking about wearing a birthday sash instead of a sign with "challenges." A lot of girls will wear a big poster board with challenges to do throughout the night but I really don't like the idea of wearing a giant rectangle...it sounds...silly. (And it would cover up my outfit.)

This is where you come in! I have been thinking of ideas for a sash, and I was going to make one, but my friends said they'd do it for me. I want to give them an idea of what it will look like though - I'd love to hear any ideas of what it should look like (Pinterest only has so much...) something with glitter, or just sparkly...if you have any ideas please link up to a blog post or pins or whatever!

I'd like it if there is glitter on my sash :)

[photo-pinterest]

Then for Labor Day weekend I've been entertaining the idea of going out to the lake. It will still be really hot, and of course to celebrate being 21, I thought it would be fun to take a cooler for drinks. I want to DIY a cute one, preferably 21-themed, in the same realm as these:

[photo-etsy]

[photo-pinterest]

A lot of girls seem to do Lilly prints. Any other ideas for prints or colors?

What about....

Crafting/Painting tips?

Rhinestones vs. Glitter?

I'd love to hear your tips! Please help a girl out here :) This post sounds extremely tedious but hey - you only turn 21 once! And I plan on celebrating BIG!

xo-ally