Outfit of the week!

Excuse the mess, and the crappy quality of the photo...

     I am absolute obsessed with coral and teal together! I just got this skirt a few months ago from Forever 21, and this is only the second time I have worn it, but I must say I love how it fits especially for how cheap it was! I paid less than 10$ for it.
     I always like to pair tight skirts with loose tops, cause I think it balances each other out well and it looks best on my body type. The shirt was bought at jcpennys forever ago. I finished the look off with chunky teal jewelry that I have had for years (from avon), and I wore my rainbows.
      This is probably one of my favorite outfit combonations because it is super adorable, and looks like I spent a ton of time getting ready but its also super comfortable and easy to throw on on those lazy mornings.

I love this jewelry! 

What's Life Without Friends?

       I find myself wondering that quite often. My friends are what turn normal days into unforgettable memories! When I was in high school I always seemed to have a lot of friends, but I didn't really spend a whole lot of time outside of school with anyone because I was so wrapped up in dance. I had two friends that I would spend time with outside of school, but other than that everyone else was strictly "School Friends" meaning I like them, I enjoyed talking to them but I never saw them outside of school. Now that I am in my fourth year of college I have realized that my group of friends has changed drastically, and that I see the term "friends" a little differently.
       Of course when I left high school everyone insisted that we needed to stay in touch but as we all know that never happens, everyone goes their own way and honestly get too busy to think about those old friends. The old friends get replaced with the new girl in their class, or that funny guy that lives next door. Basically, what I am saying is when I transitioned from high school to college my view of friendship altered. I still use the word friend loosely, but my honest true friends are a smaller knit group, that is spread throughout many states. In high school you are put in classes with the same group of people every semester, of every year for four years, so you can't help but become friends with them but in college that is a whole other ball game. Yes you still have those friends that you have a lot of classes with because they are in your major...but you have to work a lot more to keep in contact with friends that are in other majors, or at other schools or even in different states. By having to work hard to stay in contact it solidifies your friendships a lot more, and you end up with people you know you can count on for anything!
      I absolutely love my group of friends, and I also love the fact that all of our lives are so different from one another. Although we are so different when we are in the same place and do have time to get together its always a great time, and we always end up with some amazing memories! I look forward to making more memories, and enjoying the ride, because lets be honest life would be boring without best friends, girls nights, bonfire nights and all those fun things you do with friend!

First Week!!!

    No I'm not talking about First Week, as in the seniors in High School go to the beach first week, but I am talking about something even better!!! The first week at Clemson, I don't know how the first week of school is at other schools but it absolutely crazy and soooo much fun here at Clemson! There is always something going on all week the first week. Basically the first week is just slammed packed with specific events for freshman and events open to the whole student body and the public as well.
    When freshman come to Clemson, they always move in the Saturday before classes start...and when I say they move in I mean they park and a whole bunch of student volunteers move all their stuff to their room...literally all the new students have to do is pick up their loft if they got one, and unpack their boxes. It probably is the best idea ever. That is the best feeling ever when you are a freshman moving into college for the first time, you really get a big sense of family cause there are all these really nice people who are complete strangers offering to carry your heavy boxes up four flights of stairs just to help you out and welcome you to the school. Clemson strives on trying to make the huge campus (19,000 undergrads, 4,000 grads) feel small, and family oriented. That is a huge reason in why I personally chose Clemson, it also happens to be the best college for engineering in South Carolina.
     Sunday is when all the upperclassman move on campus and it is a chill day to allow freshman to adjust and settle into campus. Monday on the other hand is super busy for all the new students on campus they have their huge Convocation, which is basically a pep rally/ceremony to welcome them and give them some encouraging words from the higher ups here at Clemson. Then later that afternoon the Football team held their fan appreciation day, in which they open the stadium to the public and all the football team and head coach Dabo are throughout the stadium signing memorabilia. Nichole and I attended the lovely fan appreciation day and received several signatures, my tiger rag is covered in names and numbers of the players! After the fan appreciation day there was the president's picnic in which the President invites all the new students and returning students to come and enjoy lunch with him and his wife on their lawn. President Barker goes well out of his way to make the new students feel welcome and welcome back the returning ones. He makes a point to shake everyones' hands as they enter the picnic. Our president is truly amazing and very student oriented. Monday finishes out with one of the craziest events here at Clemson. Its the Target Back to School Event. Basically the Target closest to Clemson literally opens its doors after hours to just Clemson students and throws a huge event for us. It includes free stuff, awesome giveaways and a random dance floor in the middle of the store. When I say crazy I mean crazy, the line to go to the event literally wraps around the shopping center, and the shopping center has several other large stores in it. If you go to this event I guarantee you, you will not walk away empty handed.
    Now Tuesday  wraps up all the required events that freshman and new transfers must complete and the day ends with a huge Welcome Back Festival in Downtown Clemson. The Downtown area in Clemson literally is blocked off so no cars car drive on it, tents are put up and local businesses give away free things or sell neat stuff for super cheap. This year Bi-Lo was selling backpacks full of food for only 50 cents! The festival also has a stage set up where part of the TigerBand preforms, as well as the Rally Cats and other local bands. Its a great atmosphere and another great way to welcome students back, both new and old!

Earring Board Tutorial! DIY

      So for several years now I have had a terrible but convenient way of storing all my earrings. I was keeping them in a pencil box but as my collection has been growing it has made finding a matching set in the pencil box nearly impossible! I had been brainstorming for a while to find a way to store them but also display my collection and keep it neat, organized and easy to find. Last night I finally bit the bullet and made myself an Earring Board, and I must say I am super duper excited about it! 

Here is the finished product, hanging and adorned with my collection!

So to make this you really don't need much at all.

and it was a pretty cheap project. 

1. A cheap bulletin board, any size you want (mine was a 16" x 22")

2. Fabric of your choice ( I bought a yard, and had plenty left over!) 

                               3. Ribbon of your choice (I only had to buy one spool)       

                               4. Scissors

                               5. hot glue gun and glue sticks

My total cost would be:

                                                                    board  =   $5

                                                   +     yard of fabric =   $6    

                                                   +              Ribbon  =  $2 

                                               __________________________

                                                                TOTAL  =  $13

All the material I used (minus the scissors)
Notice Dusk in the corner, he was excited for craft time! 

The fabric I used to cover my board

To start the board you will need to measure the dimensions of the cork part of the board, then cut a piece of fabric this is about 1" longer on each side. 

(Ex: My cork was 15" x 21" so my fabric was cut in a rectangle of 17" by 23" )

Next you need to fold the extra inch of fabric back and glue it down to create a smooth solid edge that won't fray on each side of the rectangle. 

Following that run a small line of hot glue along the inner edge of the frame and slide the solid edge of the fabric into the glue so that it looks like it is inside the frame. (it is best to do the small lines in sections, and make sure the fabric is pulled tight!) 

Once the fabric is glued smooth to the inner edge of all four sides of the frame it is time to add the ribbon to the board to hold the dangle earrings. 

Start by measuring and marking where you want the ribbons to be placed on the board (there are three ribbons on my board and they are placed 4" apart.)

Once you have that marked you need to mark where you want to glue your ribbon down to create ruffles that will hold your earrings. (I marked my fabric in 1" increments, I would not recommend doing any smaller) 

My board with the marks, see they are  about 1" apart

Once you mark off the places you want to glue go to town, first glue one end of the ribbon to the inner edge of the frame, then place dots of glue on your marks and place your ribbon on the glue (be sure to add a little ruffle between each glue spot so that you have a spot for your backs to hang on.) Finish the ribbon by gluing the other end to the inner edge of the frame.

Here is my finished product! 

    When I started the board I didn't leave a ruffle between the glue spaces so my first ribbon (the bottom one) was too tight to fit earrings into so I used it as boarder for where my stud earrings were going to be placed and hung my dangle earrings on the other two ribbons, but you could easily make the bottom ribbon ruffled as well.

      Now its finished, all you need to do is add your earring collection to the board, and hang it on the wall!

   

All my dangle Earrings fit, and look organized!!!!
Amazing! 

I put all my earrings on my board before I hung it, and I also used a push pin to create holes for my stud earrings so that I wouldn't break the posts of them trying to get them in the board. 

Notice all my studs are on the bottom, below the last ribbon
and at the top I have all my hoops and earrings with odd closures held up
with push pins. 

Here is a photo of the finished product of my board on the wall!

     I absolutely love the board and I am so happy with the final product! I must say it is soooooo nice not digging through a pencil box to find the right pair of earrings. Not to mention it is so much easier to see my options this way too!

      I hope this inspires you to make one as well! It was super cheap and soooo CUTE!

Peace, Love and Doggie Hugs!
-Stacey 

Last Girls Night (Summer 2012)

     My very best friend, Deidre, and I met in high school and we now attend rival colleges...She goes to USC in Columbia, SC and I go to Clemson University in Clemson, SC....If your not from South Carolina you probably don't even know where Clemson is, or how big the rivalry is between the two schools. In my opinion it gets taken way way way too seriously and people get absolutely nasty especially when its around the time of the big rivalry game....Thankfully we don't have any trash talk between the two of us because although she goes to USC she is a big Clemson fan.

      Anyways we had an agreement that before I went back to Clemson we would have one more girls day together...we refer to them as Stacey/Deidre hangout days...but regardless we kept our plans and met up for a yummy in my tummy lunch at Panera. (Panera is probably in my top five favorite restaurants, I love their mac n' cheese and tomato and mozzarella sandwiches!) We proceeded to go to the store to buy floaties to enjoy the lake one more time this summer. Deidre ended up buying an awesome totally sweeeet pirate ship floaty that included a sword and water gun...and had a pirate flag on it.

Deidre and said Pirate Ship! 

If you don't know Deidre and I you should probably know that we do silly things when we are together...I am a firm believer that when you are with your best friend you let your guard down and you stop honestly caring what people around you think which would explain why our adventures and hangout days always ended up with us having some hilarious story to tell later on!

We continued our day with dinner with Cole, Andrea, Brooks, Tripp and Chase. We ended up ending the night hanging out back at Cole's house with a Cole, Tripp and Chase.

Me and Easton (Deidre's dog)
-He loves me!

In all seriousness summer isn't complete to me unless we have some Stacey/Deidre hangout days! :)

Hello Pittsburgh!

We finally got to Pittsburgh! 

Our view driving into town

We visited the University of Pittsburgh:

the cathedral, it was amazing!

at the right angle it looks like the statue of the man is riding the dinosaur. 

The dinosaur without its passenger

We visited Downtown Pittsburgh:

The fountian

Cole and I in front of the fountian, Notice the rainbow to the right
(photo props to my brother!)

We rode the Incline:

My cutie after riding the incline up. 

Me heading to the overlook, and to get ice cream! 

Cole and I at the overlook of the city

and again

Me, Gram and Glenn

And again

We Celebrated our 5 year anniversary:

Cole and I all dressed up for our date

My Cutie at Dinner

Me and Rusty, my grandma's dog

We ate Primanti Bros. Sandwiches:

Cole with his first Primanti Bros. Sandwich

 We Enjoyed a Slurpee from 7/11:

mmm, Strawberry-Banana flavor

All in all it was an awesome trip! Cole and I are very happy we were able to enjoy some time with Grammy, my brother and the rest of my family in Pittsburgh.