Southern Marsh

Hey everyone! I just found this company the other day: Southern Marsh. All my Southern bloggers are going to love them, as will everyone else! They have such a fabulous website, and have great clothes! It is so bright and sunny on their website it reminds me way too much of the beautiful weather at school and NOT here in MD! I am totally realizing how much I took the South Carolina weather for granted! They call themselves "The Original Southern Clothier", so you know their stuff has got to be good. As an added bonus, they sell all these preppy clothes for both men and women.

Check out this shirt, the Southern Marsh Southern Classics Embroidered Pocket Tee. I am in love with pocket T's! They are all over the college scene, and it seems like everyone has great pocket T's. I'd love to add this little baby to my own collection, since it's nicer than just throwing on a regular t-shirt that you'd workout in. How cute would this top be with dark jeans? Love it!

I also love long sleeve t's. They are cozy and warm and always good for SC autumns and even winters--we're too too lucky! I love the back of this shirt:

                                    

Green and Navy is such a good color combo and I love the tagline: "The Gentlemen's Foxhunt". You just never see those anymore, that's for sure! Not only do they have T's, but they have all kinds of dress shirts, polo dresses, croakies (a big college accessory) and coozies (I don't even think I need to add that coozies are also big college accessories)!!

Plus, this company has some of the cutest cutest cutest photos advertising their products. They are so sweet that I can't get enough, nothing like the complete trash you find in some teen stores (you all know what I'm talking about, you can hardly call them advertisements since they aren't wearing clothes!!) Look at these:

                                    

I just think this picture is so sweet! It's so spur of the moment and the black and white is adorable.

I think this company is too cute and I can't wait to order something! They describe the south too well:

"Known for it’s unique culture, beautiful people and timeless dress–The South is an area of the country that still finds time to escape the hustle and bustle of big city life. We do our best to package up a piece of that charm and give a snapshot into life with a little authentic southern class."

Go check the website out, I feel a little behind the curve since I know some bloggers already know about these fab people! This is yet another great pocket T, AND it's long sleeved--best of both worlds! I'm considering making this photo my computer background!

                                     

And as they say, Merry Christmas from the South (even though I'm home)! I hope everyone had wonderful, warm, safe Christmases! I'll be working many days this week and lusting after the entire Resort 2010 collection...yikes!!

xxKatie

Invictus

So I have been snowed inside my house for almost two days!! It is so unexpected because snow like this never ever ever happens in Maryland!! My family decided that we needed to get out of the house today, so we did some family Christmas shopping--I got the best present for my little sister, she's gonna love it (hopefully), but I can't say what it is until Christmas--and then we all went to go see Invictus tonight. It was so good, I'd give it a great review! If you haven't seen it yet, definitely put it on your to-do list (as you should The Blind Side, especially my Southern College bloggers-you'll love Leann Tuohy (she happens to be a KD also!). Anyway, Invictus was so so so good. I didn't know much about the setting of the movie, what it was about, etc, but I would recommend it to everyone!

Both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon (whom my mom and I love) were great actors in this flick!

Check out this photo of my street from my window:

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is covered in about 2 feet of white powdery snow. It will probably freeze over tonight, and make everything unsafe, but it sure does look pretty!

Tomorrow I have this HUGE GIGANTIC alumni dinner that I'm hosting for the class of 2009 from my high school. I absolutely cannot wait since I've been planning for like a month. It is going to be so much fun to see everyone (or the people who can make it) and hear all about the different college stories. My fabulous mom designed the coolest cake for everyone to see also. I'll take photos for you all to see. I'm going to wear my pink tweed forever21 skirt that I just got the other day with black tights, a black turtleneck, and some type of black shoes. The shoes have changed because now they have to be ice/snow/precip safe for sure!!

I'll be sure to tell you all about the party tomorrow! I'm SO excited!!

xxKatie

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has sprung AND it just so happens that today is the last day of winter!! Goodbye to the icy cold winds of Decemeber and say hello to the warm breezes and fresh smell of spring!!

Everyone here keeps talking about the famed "tulip trees" and I had no idea what they were until about last week! They are in full bloom here and really are the first shot of color that my campus is getting. A friend of mine, Chelsea, was giving a campus tour to a large group of students and in the beginning she asked the group, "What are you interested in?" Generally that question garners the response of "Biomedical Engineering" or "Pre-Law" or "International Business", and she got many of those answers, but one student answered with "YOU!" to which everyone broke out into violent laughter that we could hear inside the building! Later during the tour, that same student offered Chelsea one of the tulip tree flowers along the tour, so they have been a very popular flower recently. These trees are all over school! They can be grown in multiple climates and I really think that they are very pretty!  

Also, I have a few friends getting ready to go to the Carolina Cup! As most of you know, it is a big horse race that is extremely popular with the college set. Many of them are in sororities that have sort of paired up with fraternities and are taking big busses together. I can't wait to see all the photos and outfits that they all wore! There are a few other horse races going on tomorrow throughout SC as well as Cup, I know my roommates for next year have both been to Steeplechase in Aiken.

I can't believe that spring is here!! I am so happy that it is finally getting warm and we won't be in pants and jeans 24/7!

xxKatie

Finally Back!

After a whirlwind week of travel with my fam, I'm finally reconnected with the world, both school and everything else! It was such a fun trip and seeing my family was great. I hadn't seen my mom and my sister in over 2 months and my dad in over 1 since he visited me at school. We had such an awesome time sitting on the beach and enjoying the warm weather. Since returning, the weather seems to have warmed up and the "Strom" pool has opened here at school. You know the weather's beginning to get nice when they open up an olympic-sized resort pool! 

This was the view from "our spot" on the beach! At the resort we were staying at, there are permanent little tiki umbrellas with chairs, but they were claimed everyday by 9:00am! Who knew!!

 

My sister and I had a great time sunning and catching up! This was the second night we were there, and both of us show some color. I really DO NOT get tan at all, so my family was kinda shocked. Grace always gets very tan like my mom!

My mom took a bunch of photos of us in front of these flowers! They always matched either my outfit or my sister's. This night we went to an Irish restaurant for dinner which was pretty funny. You don't expect to find Irish places in the islands. 

My mom got my sister and I little treats while we were on vacation. My sister got some tank tops and I picked out Flowerbomb perfume which I love and it was a smidge less in a duty-free shop. I had to be super careful though because I didn't have any checked luggage. I was quite a good packer compared to the usual and only had 2 small bags that could qualify as "carry-ons"! I am in love with the scent and I highly recommend it if you're in the market for a new perfume yourself! I now rotate between Wink, Beachy, Vera Wang Princess Special Edition, and now Flowerbomb! 

My mom snapped a few photos of my sister and I in our Lilly dresses and we called it our LP photoshoot! I'll post those photos when she emails them to me. I can't wait to see what she's got on her camera too!! I'll be sure to catch up on my commenting and reading and I am excited to see what everyone has been up to since more than a week ago!

xxKatie

Bon Voyage!

I've never done an all photo post, but I hardly have words to explain how excited I am to go on vacation!! This commercial must be over 7 or 8 years old, but my family ALWAYS quotes it when we're about to leave for any type of vacation. The little boy perfectly personifies how we all feel today and tomorrow!!

Even when we get up at...4:30 am to leave, we'll all still be running with adrenaline!! I most likely won't be posting until I get back from my trip, so I hope everyone has great, wonderful, fabulous spring breaks!! I can't wait to catch up on all my reading and commenting when I get back!!

Any last minute packing advice...? Much appreciated!!

xxKatie

A Post for Me

Hi all! I'm sitting here watching the clock and counting the seconds to spring break! It is just about the only thing on my mind these days and I can't wait! I saw this post on another blog "In the Pink", so I thought I'd copy it and do it myself. I think these little introspective posts are fun sometimes, so definitely post it yourself!!

If I was a month, I would be late May or June. 

If I was a day of the week, I would be Friday.

If I was a time of day, I would be dinner time.

If I was a planet, I would be Momma Earth.

If I was a sea animal, I would be a giraffe!

If I was a direction, I would be East like the water.

If I was a piece of furniture, I would be a bean bag chair (90's throwback style).

If I was a liquid, I would be Cherry 7-Up.

If I was a gemstone, I would be a pearl.

If I was a tree, I would be a Magnolia Tree. 

If I was a tool, I would go on Tool Academy (haha...).

If I was a flower, I would be a Gerber Daisy.

If I was a kind of weather, I would be an Annapolis summer day minus the humidity.

If I was a musical instrument, I would be a electric guitar.

If I was a color, I would be PINK!

If I was an emotion, I would be happiness.

If I was a fruit, I would be an apple.

If I was a sound, I would be steel drums.

If I was an element, I would be Krypton (Kr).

If I was a car, I would be a navy blue Honda Civic (I miss you Little Car).

If I was a food, I would be a sugar cookie.

If I was a place, I would be home.

If I was a material, I would be printed cotton.

If I was a taste, I would be cupcake.

If I was a scent, I would be Lilly Pulitzer Beachy.

If I was an object, I would be a shell.

If I was a body part, I would be a heart.

If I was a facial expression, I would be a big goofy open mouth laugh.

If I was a song, I would be "On the Street Where You Live" by Willie Nelson--that's my new favorite, from the Valentine's Day soundtrack.

If I was a pair of shoes, I would be platinum Jacks--my signature!!

Now it's your turn!! Try one out for yourself! I had a lot of fun with this one!!

Here's the fam last spring break! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!

xxKatie

New Picks from Vineyard Vines

Now I know that recently VV hasn't gotten the best rep for some of their designs, but I'm loving some of their current stock!!

I am LOVING this oxford. I love all the different prints and the underside of the collar!! I also just like the name...Party Shirt!! 

I think this top is TDF! I love the pink and green and all the intricate details. I'd definitely recommend checking out the shirt on their website to see the back and all the details of the print on the top. It is very Hermes if you ask me!

These VV shorts are right up my alley. I like both colors that the shorts are designed in, and the 5'' length is perfect for everyone. As I've called them before, 5'' shorts are a tall girl's short-shorts!! They have this Pear color and a Coral color that have baby stars on them! So cute!

I'm a HUGE VV tote bag fan! I have two of my own that get used 24/7 for general bags, shopping totes, bookbags in class, you name it! I think this bag is super functional for any of those uses because of all the pockets! I wish my current VV totes had a place for a water bottle (or Diet Coke for me...oops!) that I could stick something in without worrying about how close it was to my computer. With a drink pocket, there's at least a little barrier between the liquid and the important stuff! This also comes in Natural (shown here is the Flamingo) that has more traditional patchwork colors: red, navy, yellow, etc. Both are great options!

I am SO happy VV is bringing back their big hat. Either last year or 2 years ago, they had a straw hat that sold out faster than anything else that was in the LP store I worked in. We showed them hanging on a flight of stairs in the store, and everytime someone saw one, they tended to snag one. The great thing about this one is that you can add a grosgrain ribbon or another sash in place of the blue one to match every outfit! So fun!!

I want this so much! VV just brought out a rain umbrella full of patchwork prints that is adorable! I love all the nautical/water prints, just like the rain! I'd love to pull this out on a rainy day on campus and show this baby off!

I am getting ridiculously excited for spring break! I have a test or two this week and then I'll be all ready to go! I'll add a post about what I'm gonna pack for my vacay to...Turks and Caicos!!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Rain Gear

February 22 by letsbepreppy featuring Longchamp tote bags

Today was a weird weather day! It started out pouring pouring pouring rain and around 8:30am there was such a big thunder crack it sounded like an earthquake. This huge cracking noise was what really woke me up before my first class today. The rain always makes my days a bit lazier, but I have a HUGE test in my anatomy and physiology class tomorrow. Check out some of my other recent Polyvores! I can't say enough how much I'm loving my new pink Target boots!!

I'm basically taking two separate A&P courses right now between my lab and lecture (which really DO NOT coincide) and for the past 2 weeks and now this week, I've had a test each week. I'm so tired and just need a break. Spring break really could not come at a better time! As of this morning, I had 36 hours of class, but not that is a little reduced. I have to keep in mind that I'll be done soon and next week will be great since I don't have any tests or big looming assignments (yet).

Between group projects, tests, giving tours, working, and helping out some friends, I have been swamped ever since the semester started. I can't believe that February is almost over! I feel like I was just saying that January was over!! Soon enough it'll be spring break and then we'll be back in school for about a month-and-a-half and then it's finals before I know it!! Wow, that's insane! Unfortunately I think I'm getting sick :( :( :( because I've had a sore throat for the past few days and today is seemed to get a lot worse. As I study here in the library, I'm sitting here with some tea so I think that should help. I better get back to work since this is the home stretch! Soon it will be warm weather here and I'll be in a warm weather destination!! Wooo Hoooo!

xxKatie

Shagging: The Official Dance of the Carolinas

One of my goals this semester is to learn how to shag. Shagging is the state dance of the Carolinas and it looks like fun. At first I thought it looked silly, but as I've seen it more at school functions, it seems pretty tough. From what I've heard, it's just a few steps that are repeated. In the dance, you never move the same foot twice, and that's (I think) the most fundamental idea of the dance. Shag lessons are offered everywhere here, and there's even a 1 credit class you can take through school at our workout facility, just for fun! Every Thursday a local Jillian's offers a shag night where they have college students and professionals teaching shag to all the newbies. Another great thing about shagging (at least for me) is that you are encouraged to wear flat shoes since there's so much shuffling-like movements. I like a dance where you don't have to be all proper and stuff and wear heels like ballroom and all the stuff you see on Dancing with the Stars. One website even says, "Your feet should nearly shuffle when you move them across the floor, as if your shoes were magnets and the floor was made out of metal", which is a neat thought. Take a look at the 2009 Shag nationals:



I also love this video. These are kids from the Junior national Shag competition, and I feel like if they can do it as awkward teens (really they are absolutely anything BUT awkward, that preteen boy is smooth actually) I could do it as an awkward college student. Look at these two:



I will definitely let you know how the lofty goal of mine goes. For now at least, I'm going to stick to watching the professionals on YouTube!!

Please let me know if any of you know how to shag!!! Any tips are appreciated!

PS. I think we've finally hit the nice weather for real. The rest of the week has high's in the mid-to-upper 50's so I'm thinking it will be full blown WARM weather by the time Spring Break finishes!! Yes!!

xxKatie

Care-Package

The other day my mom tried to send me a care package, but since all the snow came, it was TOTALLY delayed. Typically packages from home take about 3 days to get here, 4 days maximum through UPS, so she was not expecting it to take that long. It was chock full of Valentine's goodies and snacks that were very much appreciated! I love getting packages from home and I especially love the cards that everyone includes. My Aunt Patricia always sends me little seasonal presents and I love the cards she sends me. I actually cut up one of the first cards that my mom sent me when I was still having a tough time at school and she signed it "I love you! xoxo Mom" and it's now framed up on my wall and you can see that she drew a heart around the little note and the outline of that is at the top of the frame. It's just a little bit of home that I like to see on my wall.

Included in the most recent package was this fabulous pair of yellow and plaid boat shoes! How much fun are they? I can't wait to wear them with my J. Crew 5'' chino shorts!! I absolutely love these little gems! They're just making me WAY too excited about warm weather and it getting sunny. Today I gave a campus tour and I was freezing in black pants with leggings underneath, tall black Ugg boots, and 3 different shirts on underneath my big North Face Denali fleece. I am SO over all this cold weather crud.

On a completely different note, I want to wish my sister a GIGANTIC "Break a Leg" for her show tomorrow. She's in the musical Good News at her high school (my alma mater!) and I couldn't be more excited for her! Thursday night is the opening performance and I am dying to hear how it goes!! Here's my card to you:

I miss you so much and I wish that I could be at your show!!

xxKatie

Bigfoot

It is rare that I'm ever happy about the size of my feet. Nine times out of ten, I'm unhappy and the fact I wear a size 10 or 11 comes as a complete inconvenience. Nine times out of ten I get an "Oh, miss I'm sorry, the shoe isn't available in that size" or "A ten is rare, usually we'll only get 2 pairs, if any at all, that large and they go fast". BUT that one time out of ten, I strike shoe gold. That one happened tonight in Target. It's been incredibly rainy here at school, and when I was packing all my stuff up to bring back to school, my black rain boots took up too much room, so I tossed them out at the last minute. As I was saying though, I got SO lucky tonight and found these boots!! I've needed rain boots for I can't tell you how long at school and I was going to buy a pair of Hunters, but the price tag just made me hesitate so much!!! I can't get myself to buy rain boots for that much, a later investment I guess. Maybe a gift down the road or something. I certainly don't live in Seattle or row crew like College Prep, so it's not imperative to have durable boots!

I was thrilled to find this pair (the last of this color combo) in the store in my size!! I'm so excited to finally have a pair of rain boots so I don't have to wear the same dingy running shoes every time it rains. I also LOVE the polka dots AND the color--just about everything I own is a shade of pink, but you guys all knew that! Now I'm kinda hoping that it rains so I can wear these babies (kind of...)!! I hope you are all having great weekends!!

xxKatie

Victoria's Secret

So in preparation for spring, and summer and warm weather in general, I very "logically" decided to buy a swim suit, coverup, and then some actually logical items like jeans and a cute white top. I bought this coverup that I'm in love with:

And it just arrived today! As I was thinking about writing a post about my purchases it hit me like a ton of bricks! Since the top of this coverup is cinch-y, why not take the white ribbon out of it (everything slides through cleanly since it's not sewn into the top) with a preppy grosgrain one?! A fun pink and green polkadot or pink stripe? All the possibilities!!  If you're looking for a coverup, this one is AWESOME, its SO soft since part of it is silk and the rest is stretch spandex and soft modal cotton! Snatch one of these up soon and they come in black, pink, white, and a bluish/greenish color! Very beachy!!

I think I've got a problem with thinking about the warm weather. Spring fever (or I should call it Spring [semester] fever since it is still January after all) has hit me for the first time in my life!! It's very exciting though! Also, Target has tons of Valentine's day decorations out, and they have WONDERFUL pink and green wiggly frames that I have on my desk too! They are so adorable and the perfect addition to a pink and green office!

On another note, I redid my little desk nook! I hung up a bunch of photos in 3x3 white frames that I picked up for $2.50 (for a pack of 3) at Target! I also got this poster:

for my desk! There's a huge poster sale going on in our student union so I thought this was good since I'm both a student nurse AND a Navy fan! That's now hanging up on the side of my desk wall.

I hope everyone else is enjoying this springy weather as much as I am, especially my South Carolina blogging gals!

xxKatie