Boring Old Lilly.

I have not had a very eventful couple of days, thus the textual silence on my behalf. Today I went to the Lilly Pulitzer store on St. Armand’s Circle with my friend, Sigma sister, we stopped at Marshall’s as well because I was hoping to find some Lilly-inspired stationary/binders for school. While that didn’t happen, we at least found out that our store is having a huge sale! Lots of cute shifts for very little dinero, which is good for a poor college student like myself. Anyone in the area would profit from a stop at this location!

Other than that, the only exciting things I have done in the past two days are a) bring my dad lunch at work with my dog (oh-so-southern), b) wonder about how fashionably correct wearing a headband with sunglasses is, and c) start work on another pillow for my dorm – with pockets! Letter “b” has caused me the most trouble though.

Example of headband-and-sunglasses phenomena!

I can not figure it out. While I love my headbands, I can’t really see without sunglasses on, as I live in Florida, where the sun is freakin’ blinding! Thus the necessity for both at once – if I don’t wear a headband, my hair gets all in my face, and if I don’t wear sunglasses the sun burns my retinas. In both cases, I end up blind! Oh, well. It is a dilemma worth pondering, I suppose.

In other news, my birthday is coming up! Well, not my actual birthday, but the one I’m going to be able to celebrate with my family and home friends. I will be at school in VA by the time my actual birthday – August eleventh, if one was wondering – rolls around, so my mom is having me start rounding up my presents now. I don’t quite understand this whole “buy your own presents, because you’re an adult now” deal, because Santa still puts presents under the tree, damnit! Why should I procure my own presents!

Oh, I am so tortured. Happily, I don’t have to think about it much, because a trip to Goodwill this week yielded me all of these lovely little Ralph Laurens. Take a peek!

Many people are squeamish about buying clothes from places like Goodwill, and for good reason – I have visited Goodwill’s that have made me nauseous from the sheer volume of crapola and disorganization. This is not the case with my local Goodwill, we just built a new one, and boy is it nice and clean! Also, secondhand in my little resort town is not the same as secondhand elsewhere; I mean, where else to petite old ladies donate last season’s Lacoste and Ralph Lauren because they have to get new ones? After a few washes for sanitation’s sake, I no longer care that my polo was probably worn by some old bitty, because I just bought a $30+ shirt for $4!

Enjoy the little things. :)

What did I do with my life today? Well, aside from a lot of house-wifery - even though I'm not a housewife, how strange is that - that included stuff like laundry, vacuuming, ironing said laundry and dusting (which I loathe), I made cupcakes! In green and what was supposed to be pink, but the box of dyes lied and told me that dusty rose was the same thing as pink. It's totally not, and I want my money back. Cream cheese icing is expensive.

Aren't they adorable on their little fish plate?

Just kidding about that last, but they were quite delicious. I incinerated one batch of the smaller ones, because I decided to multi-task while baking which never ends well.

In other news, I spent Saturday night at the beach - it only rained a little, as there is currently some sort of nasty tropical storm bit making it's way through FL and ruining my chances of returning to College with a tan. Sad day. But here's what the gorgeous sunset looked like!

It was so beautiful and purple through the storm clouds!

I apologize for the sorry state of the pictures on this blog, by the way. My camera's memory card took a holiday for the summer and the camera itself only stores a weak (as Lax Bro would say) twenty-one pictures! How awful! I spent four days in D.C. with Lax Bro a few weeks ago, and I only have twenty-one pictures to show for it! Depressing, really.

Another thing I've been working on this week is recommendations for sororities - I'm going to rush Kappa Delta and Alpha Chi Omega when I return to school; the problem is, all of my mother's friends ate Tri Deltas and my Alumni friends are mostly... not from either of those sororities! It puts me in a quandary, really, I even had to go so far as to ask my grandmother to ask her friends what sororities they were in! Oh, well.

One last thing; as a shout-out to my one follower, Gator Nation all the way! I considered going to the Swamp for college, too! Kudos, my friend!

Operation Cutest Dorm Room Ever!

I have been working on it for a while, but yesterday I finally made some strides in my summer project (aside from Councilwoman Mom’s campaign, of course!) – Operation Cutest Dorm Room Ever! Officially, I suppose this all started last year when I moved into my freshman dorm; I am set on improving the sorry show I brought to school last year! Last year, my room’s colors were light blue and light green, with touches of pink. This year, I bought a comforter which is mostly pink, and my accents will be blue and green.

Kimberly Comforter by Tommy Hilfiger

I dig damask, especially pink damask! Anyway, there’s a bright green stripe at the top and bottom of the comforter, and I’ve been matching my accessories to that (plus light blue, of course). I went to Jo-Ann’s Fabric and bought two bundles of 18” x 21” quilting squares, two yards of white muslin, and some poly-fil.

This is what happened when I got home – craft supplies everywhere!
Meet my beloved craft box, lovingly dubbed the “Sorority Sister Start-up Kit.”

Needless to say, I tried to contain my mess and stay out of my family’s way, but I ended up in the center of the house in our “media room,” where all of the computers are. But I managed to get some work done – my projects for yesterday included covering cork boards with fabric, and making pillows to match.

These are the covered cork boards; please ignore the pile of white muslin in the corner!

The pillows, on top of most of my other dorm stuff! Note my beloved Georgetown Cupcakes box!

I had to hand-sew the pillows, because no matter how many times I kick myself for not owning a sewing machine, I still don’t have one of my own! Some day, I suppose. Mod-podge is the greatest invention known to woman kind, as my new cork boards are as sturdy as can be. Last year, I bought the same cork boards and left them uncovered and without any sort of backing – big mistake! We had to leave the heat on during the Snowmageddon that was Winter Break, and everything peeled off the walls. Everything, that is, except the corners of the cork boards! This year, I pasted them right onto pieces of cardboard, and they seem to be quite solid and peel-proof.

I haven’t figured out if this will all fit into my trusty Jetta, but I assume that since I had extra room bringing most of this stuff (plus a cello and a guitar!) home with me this year that I’ll be able to make due!

Five Things About Lillian!

Well, here we go again! I’ve tried this blogging thing before, but it usually never goes anywhere as I tend become bored and abandon the thing. This blog is kind of a dare to myself to actually complete something – like Amy Adam’s character in Julie & Julia, I too have difficulty with my attention span in relation to finishing just about anything.

Before I get neck deep in posting about my life and my “projects” (oh, anyone who knows me will tell you I always have a project), I thought I would start with a few interesting tidbits about my neurotic self. So here are five things about Lillian!

1. The nickname Lilly;

When I was born, my mother gave me the good, strong Irish name Jillian; she used to hate it when I went by Jill instead, so when I left for college, I resolved to go by Jillian. Well, the first party I ever went to was at our “Lacrosse House,” which is always quite boisterous and almost dangerous (hence why I no longer attend Varsity Lax parties), and aside from my friends, the first person I met there was a lacrosse player. I introduced myself over the “pumpin’” music, and instead of hearing Jillian, he heard Lillian and introduced me as such for the rest of the night. Needless to say, the next day was spent remedying the situation, but the nickname stuck, and was subsequently shortened to Lilly by my current boyfriend, Lax Bro (not the one from the party, though).

2. Clothes.

As a much younger person, I went through a lot of phases clothing wise – the strange alternative phase that I try to forget about, the really nerdy phase I try to forget about and the phase where I didn’t know what to wear outside of my school uniform that I try to forget about… Anyway, lots of clothing woes that are well documented by my parents and their infernal cameras. But about my senior year in high school, when I began to get my proverbial act together, I also began to dress nicely! I am obsessed with all things preppy – Lacoste, Le Tigre, Lilly Pulitzer, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, it all lives in my closet. While I will never give up my fondness for thrift stores (where else can you buy a Lacoste polo from this season for $3?), I am an avid Target shopper, too. My footwear consists almost solely of Sperry’s – I even have Sperry flip flops!

3. College.

My dream for college had always been to study abroad – and then the market crashed, and General Contractor Dad pulled the plug on that dream. However, I still maintained that I wanted to go to school as far away from Florida as possible, even considering upstate New York until City Councilwoman Mom brought me to see her Alma Mater in Virginia. From the moment I walked on campus, I was completely and utterly hooked, I knew there was nowhere else I would rather go than L-College! CC Mom practically had to drag me off the campus!

This year, I am rather excited to go back to school, as I am running for the currently vacant position of President of my Graduating Class, able to rush a sorority (we aren’t allowed to until our second semester, and I decided to wait last semester), and living in my dream dorm – Hundley!

4. Crafts.

I am absolutely obsessed with crafts. Last semester, my friends Indiana Cowgirl, California Fashionista and I began our “sorority start-up” kits, which consisted of as many art and craft items as we could stuff into a basket, a drawer, and a cute box. My Craft Box currently lives up on top of my “chiffarobe” at home, and I end up taking it down two or three times daily. I always have come sort of project I’m working on – most recently, I made a card for my friend’s birthday with her initials monogrammed on the front and the most beautiful citrus ribbon bow, which I put in a white picture frame to double as dorm room décor!

5. Condiments.

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely hate ketchup, with a purple passion, and that the only condiment I put on my food is (occasionally) barbecue sauce – well, that and a heck of a lot of salt, but I think that’s a southern thing. I. Hate! Condiments! Mustard, Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Relish… it’s all so icky! I think of myself as a pretty talented cook, and to me the necessity of a condiment signifies that I did not do my job well enough!

That’s it about me, for now. I’m sure more strange details about my life will out later this week. Welcome, all, to my humble little blog! Tomorrow is when the real fun begins!