Melmac Monday: Life is Good.

Hey all! Happy Monday! 

I'm trying really hard to get back in the swing of things for school. I feel like I'm almost there (if it weren't for those darn 8 ams - seriously, 4 out of 5 days this semester? Not cool.) 

Anyway, some exciting things that happened recently. 

1. I got the DSLR today that I'm renting out for the semester while I take Digital Photography. I am SO pumped. I walked into the office after getting it and just started happy dancing. I'm so glad I work with people who don't judge too much. 

2. I found the coolest thing in the office today - pictures are sure to come. 

3. The only homework that I have tonight is to read the Giver (which I haven't actually read before). I knew it was a good idea to take Young Adult Literature. 

4. I have been seeing really awesome patterned Melmac on Etsy lately and thought I would share them with everyone - anyone who surprises me with that last set will instantly become my best friend for life. 

PA Dutch

Roses

Little Red Riding Hood

Mushrooms

Daises

Leaves

5. I hit over a 100 followers this weekend! I saw that and I literally screamed out loud - and then felt bad cause a friend was talking to me about an issue they were going through. Oops! Sorry about that! 

Anywho,  thanks to everyone has made the decision to follow my little corner of the blogsphere. I greatly appreciate it! 

xoxo, 

Laura 

School Days

 Hey everyone! Hope that you are having an awesome day. 

I'm sorry about the picture overload that you are about to experience, but I am just so excited about these photos. They are from yesterday, which was the first day of classes and I think they may be my new favorite outfit photos. 

I am so happy to being taking outfit pictures with Amy again, because pictures like the one above just happen. I could never fake giggles like that. Those laughs are all natural, folks. :) 

Even though my semester is going to be pretty busy and hectic, I'm pretty excited for  my classes so far; two I haven't been to yet, so hopefully those are pretty awesome as well. I asked Amy how she felt about school so far, and she went  "Loving every minute of it!" It is because she is living with me, in thee coolest attic room  everz. 

 Let me just tell you how much I am in LOVE with my outfit. Seriously. It was comfortable, cool, and if I may be so bold, supermegafoxyawesomehot. (Sometimes when I'm excited I quote, A Very Potter Musical. It just sort of happens.) And Amy's outfit? SO adorable! I'm loving the sequins. We sort of have a problem with sequins in 408. They kind of turn us into party animals. (Read party animals as: "girls who listen to Justin Bieber too much.") 

Laura's Outfit Deets: 

Silk Shirt: Thrifted  - Also, I could tell you how awesome it is and why you should thrift silk shirts, but I'm going to let Jentine do that. My shirt was $1.50, to give you extra encouragement. 

Skirt: Thrifted 

Necklace: Thrifted 

Sandals: Thrifted 

Amy's Outfit: 
Shirt: Kmart - This shirt was called "Navajo Bling". We aren't really sure if that is considered politically incorrect or not. 
Pants: Hand me ups - they were from her younger brother; he was going to give them to Goodwill; Silly boys.
Sandals: Wal*Mart
Rings: The turquoise one was from a flea market and the purple one was a gift from Amy's boyfriend he bought it off of Etsy. 

xoxo, 

Laura and Amy 

Hey, Nice (Clothing) Rack

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to share this little project I worked on last week during my brief period of non-office working. 

In my house for the summer, I didn't have a closet. I didn't know what I was going to do, because  a lot of my clothes are ones that should be hung up. My mom says to me, "You know, I have this old clothing rack downstairs in the basement. If you help me clean all the old jackets off of it, you may have it." Who can say no to a deal like that?! (Also, besides 20 year old jackets there was also a bunch of my mom's old clothes from high school like this dress. I swear, I was like a little kid on Christmas morning.) 

Now, the rack was in okay shape. A little shake-y and rusty at the bottom. My mom said, "Laura, you should paint it!" So, my sister-in-law gave me the left over materials that she used to paint my niece's bed and  I now have a lovely orchid colored clothing rack, that is looking lovely in my dorm room, I might add. 

First, I put the rack on a tarp because I didn't want to kill the grass. I used a wire brush and sandpaper - 150 grit, I believe (see Dad, I know things) to get a majority of the rust off the bottom. 

Then I sprayed it all over with Rust Off Primer. Then I went and watched 2 episodes of The Big Bang Theory, because that would be an hour to let the primer dry. (Bazinga! - sorry had to - if you don't understand watch this. So hilarious) 

Then, after I was done watching Sheldon's antics I went out and painted the rack with American Accent spray paint in orchid. I let it dry for a little more and presto- I now have a lovely, rust-free clothing rack, perfect for holding my dresses! 

The swimsuit is being sold at my Etsy shop! Check it out. 

Why must cats always photo-bomb my pictures? 

Have a kick butt day everyone! 

xoxo, 

Laura

P.S. Thanks to Miss Lauren for directing me to the amazingness that is Pic Monkey. 

Melmac Monday: Home is Where the Heart Is

Hey everyone! Hope that you all had a wonderful and happy weekend! 

I moved into my dorm this past weekend and started working in the office again - I'm a student associate in the Enrollment Center. I'm settling in and decorating my half of the lovely and homey attic roommate that Amy and I will share when she moves in on Wednesday. I am actually glad to be back in the swing of things, even thought I wasn't really looking forward to coming back to school. I'll explain why in a second. 

Anyway, these top pictures (with the red background) are some of the pictures that I managed to save after last Monday's escapade. The bottom pictures are ones that I took today, that are a little better. (I can't wait to get my hands on that DSLR, though). I was going to go back to where I took the top pictures, which was a Dumpster near my house for the summer, but I never got a chance with all the hustle and bustle of moving. So, I just took some near the library after I got off of work. 

 The color of these cups are definitely closer to these library pictures, but I wanted to share both sets of pictures mostly because I have been thinking a lot about the concept of "home" lately. 

See, the reason that I wasn't really excited to go back to school was that working at my church and living in town with my housemate and her adorable dog felt like home. I guess I was just worried that because that felt so much like home, that school wouldn't really feel like home anymore. I would always say to perspectives that I picked Juniata because as soon as I stepped on campus I instantly felt at home, and I didn't want that to feel like a lie this year. 

And that isn't to say that my parents house still isn't home, because it is. It will always be my home, my first home. It is home, but not really my house anymore, if that makes sense, because I haven't and don't really plan on living there for a long period of time anymore.  A lot of people asked if that made me sad, that I wouldn't live with my parents anymore. And honestly, it does a little bit, but just because that means that I have to been an adult in the real world and that is coming soon rather than later. However, I'm also really excited because my "future" is coming, what I have been working so hard to do and be.  It is still a little bit of a new idea for women to be working and living on their own from my area; it just doesn't happen very often.

 So, I felt all confused. Three homes? Church, school, and my parent's house? I felt  like that I couldn't possibly have more than one home, but I realize now that was a pretty stupid thought. Home is a place where there is love overflowing (yes that is from the Wiz. I have been listening to the music from the Glee episode called "Home." check it out here, here, and here - I'm also pretty sure I used that as a title for this blog post). So, if that is the case, I'm just so lucky and blessed that I have 3 places right now that I can call home, because there is just so much love there. 

 xoxo, 

Laura 

My Brain is Too Tired to Think of a Cute-sy or Awkward Title

Hey everyone! It is almost Friday - yay! 

These past couple of days have been difficult, not working at the church. I don't feel ready to go back to school yet. 

Wednesday was really my bum day, but I really can't take not working for long. So, today I worked on a special project (pictures soon to come!) and had a lovely supper at my brothers and sister-in-law's house. That is where these pictures were taken, by my daddy. The lighting was weird and my father impatient, so they didn't get as good as I would like. As frustrated as I am with my camera, I got the exciting news today that for my photography class I am able to rent out at DSLR for a whole semester! Words cannot describe how excited I am! 

Isn't this necklace just so lovely!? My mom handed a package in the car on the way to my brothers and I freaked out! I won this wonderful Hattitude necklace made by Hattie from Marisa's lovely blog. (Wow, that was a lot of linkage.) I had another necklace on when I left the house and I swiftly put this one on instead. 

Romper - Thrifted (restyled here) 
Sandals - Thrifted - they were 25 cents. Best. Deal. EVERZ. 
Necklace - Giveaway from Hattitude Jewelry

Oh, also, this is my brother's dog. His name is Abraham Lincoln Whitman, or just Abe. He is a pretty awesome nephew dog. He is sort of my leading man, nbd. 

Have a lovely day everyone! I'm off to catch some zzz's. 

xoxo, 

Laura

Weekend With My Sister

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent Friday and Saturday at my sister's house, which doesn't get to happen too often. We always have a blast together. Somehow, we also always end up grocery shopping together, so Friday after a junk food run, we watched Blue Like Jazz.  

Saturday was the day that I started taking pictures (mostly because we weren't in our PJs, like Friday!) So, enjoy! 

It was a gorgeous day, so first my sis took me to her "secret spot" when is a like park that overlooks the Susquehanna River. 

Then we drove into Lancaster City, where they have eleven custom piano placed around the city for the summer. Melissa has played piano for a long time, so I convinced to play for about a minute! (Read more about the pianos here.) 

We got to see some gorgeous spots near the Lancaster Central Market that just make me want to live in the city so badly. 

We went to look around in the most gorgeous bead shop ever. 

Had a bit of a tear-y moment here. Zap and Co was this amazing vintage store in Lancaster that I went in probably twice. I can't usually afford to buy anything from a vintage store, so I just like to spend time and look around, but in high school, I had a bonus check or birthday money. So, I had splurged and bought this amazing 1960's sequin beanie hat. (I need to show that off soon!) During my freshman year of college, my sister had texted me with the horrible news that the building and all of the gorgeous clothes had burnt to the ground. The store owner was injured and was in the hospital for quite some time. They are now trying to rebuild and get more inventory. (Read more about the fire here). You better believe that I will be there when they re-open. 

There is also a store right across the street that is called Mommalicious. The have excellent vintage and the prices aren't that bad; just more than my college student budget can afford. But, I would love to come back to buy a dress for our winter formal, Madrigal. 

We also, went to this awesome and huge antique store, where a bunch of different vendors could sell in one spot. We took this picture for one of my brothers, who works at the park and likes antique things as well. His favorite antiques are amusement park memorabilia. 

Finally, we ended up at Rachel's for some Nutella hot chocolate and a banana, peanut butter, and Nutella crepe! Yummy! 

It was a wonderful day to spend with my sister. She isn't all that much into vintage/thrifting, so I'm so appreciative that she would spend a day doing something, just because she knows I love it. I have the best sister in the world. Next time, we will have to do something you want to do, Sis! 

xoxo, 

Laura