Messy Buns and Florals

(Cardigan, belt, shirt: F21, Skirt: Target, Shoes: Gap)

Last night, as I was writing one of my final papers and was three pages in, my computer froze. Thanks to the good Lord, it auto saved and I ended up not losing it but I definitely panicked for a while there. 

Then this morning it started to feel like things were finally going to go well. That is until my medicine cabinet fell out of the wall, onto my laptop and phone throwing them to the ground, and shattering the medicine cabinet mirror and some nail polish splattering it all over. My bathroom now has glass and mirror shards all over and my laptop and phone have nice cracks down them.

I'm truly hoping this isn't an indicator of how this week is going to go because if so, I give up now. 

Regardless, the hours since the mini breakdown I had after the incident have been pretty darn great. I went and got coffee at the coffee shop at our hospital's gift shop, which happens to be the best coffee in town, and got to see my poppa in between his meetings. He's flying out to Florida tomorrow for business so it's nice to see that busy guy when I can. I then proceded to get a lot of little errands done and after waiting over a month for my transcripts to arrive to ASU so I can register for classes, I found out today that they finally did! So hopefully I will get the thumbs up to register very soon! 

Anyway, I finally finished my 19 before 20 list so here it is!

1) Grow out my bangs for the first time in 3+ years.

2) Volunteer somewhere. 

3) Save a good amount of money.

4) Try at least 10 new cafes.

5) Go swimming in the middle of the night. 

6) Watch a sunrise.

7) Get a nannying job once I'm living in Phoenix.

8) Make another wedding cake.

9) Make crepes! 

10) Meet another fellow blogger in person. 

11) Make a skirt on my own.

12) Feel comfortable in my own skin. 

13) Grow in my relationship with God. 

14) Visit somewhere I've never been.

15) Take a workout class. 

16) Buy and decorate my own Christmas tree.

17) Go rock climbing.

18) Ride at least five miles on my bike.

19) Try a food I've never tried before. 

Hope your week is fabulous!

The Rundown

(Shirt: ? Cardigan, skirt, belt: F21, Tights: ?, Boots: JcPenney)

It's been a crazy, crazy weekend. I went to Phoenix on Friday to look at apartments with my brother's girlfriend and we found two we really liked. Saturday I spent making a cake for a baby shower. I was almost done when I dropped the entire top tier of the cake. It then started falling apart later that night so I had to redo all the frosting on the top tier. Then today started with a good crying fit. 

Despite all that, I am so so happy to announce that we picked and applied for an apartment which we both love! And today I got some cute items at the Gap outlet include.... a two piece swimsuit. This is pretty much a huge deal for me and even though I still have trouble picturing myself wearing it in public, I'm glad I decided to be brave and bought it.

This next week is going to be crazy with it being my last week of school for the semester and my 10 dozen cupcake order. So if I'm missing for a few days, you'll know why. 

Other than that, I'm feeling really blessed and happy with life currently. There's definitely some major bumps along the way but it's pretty great. 

I'm off to go finish two papers so I'll leave you with this quote:

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

Dots and Stripes

(Dress, cardigan, and belt: F21, Tights: ?, Boots: JcPenney)

The Awkward

• The lady I passed on my way to class. I swear she just looked at me and yelled gibberish with a smile on her face, then kept walking. I swear I have the strangest encounters with people.
• The guy with his girlfriend pumping gas by me. I accidentally glanced his way for a second and then he proceded to walk up behind his girlfriend, smack her butt, and kiss her neck in the most inappropriate way. Really? 
• Sneaking coffee from somewhere else into a different coffee shop.
• The little kids at the tables by me. The older brother keeps moving tables because his adorable little sister keeps moving to the table he's at. Therefore they both get in a fight and the little one starts crying. So sad and awkward for this poor mom.

The Awesome

• Getting the invitation for Jacob's sister's wedding and bridal shower. I am making her wedding cake and cupcakes and Jacob is a groomsmen. I am just so excited for the whole thing. I love his family like they're my own so I look forward to it.
• Caramel Coconut Fudge Fiber Plus Bars. Holy yum!
• The unexpectedly delicious coffee place I discovered. One of my classmates works there and I decided to try it the other day. So glad I did!
• The weather today. It's been stormy and a little chillier than usual but it's actually the perfect temperature out and I'm taking advantage of it before the crazy summer heat shows up at full blast.
• Going to go search for apartments tomorrow with my brother's girlfriend whom I've been close to for years. I'm so excited to hopefully pick something out tomorrow that we both love. 
• 
  

San Francisco

(Dress and Cardigan: F21, Jeans: Old Navy, Necklace: Old PacSun, Flats: Maurices)

Okay, I'm 5'8". That's not freakishly tall. I admit, it's taller than the average lady but I'm not a giant. Well, I can't remember the last time I got a short dress from Forever 21, or anywhere for that matter, that wasn't the length of a longer shirt on me. Is it really too much to ask for a size small dress that reaches at lest two inches above my knee? I'm not asking for much! Just to feel comfortable in a dress that's not a maxi. 

Now that I have that off my chest, today I was on my way to a coffee shop in the old part of town when a lady passed me and said "You look like you belong in San Francisco! Not here!" I take that as a very high compliment so thank you, stranger lady.

Later, I went to see my lovely Chelsea and little miss Eva. I've said it so many times but I will continue to say it because it's so true. I am so blessed to have a friend like Chelsea in my life. We've known each other for years and she is the one friend that has never left my side and always been so loving. She's just one of those people you can tell anything to and as we've grown older, I feel as though our relationship has only gotten better. We will definitely be those mom's sitting on the porch talking for hours while watching their kiddos play in the grass. 

On an unrelated note, holy moly is my hair huge. I swear I don't tease it or use product in it. Lion hair forever.

Hope your Wednesday was as lovely as mine!

Real Life

(Shirt and belt: F21, Jeans: Old Navy, Flats: Maurices, Purse: Fossil, Necklace: Gift)

Let's talk real life here. 

This outfit? Not even what I ended up wearing. What did I end up wearing? A very similar outfit that I blogged about last week. Because, guys, I have a serious issue with outfit repeating (with some variations)  recently. I don't know if it's this whole finals week thing but I just really haven't been carrying about repeating things. And I'm not talking just every once in a while. I'm talking wearing the same piece three days in a row. It's bad. 

You know what's not bad? Having only six days of classes left. That's awesome. Also, this necklace my aunt got me for my birthday when I was probably 8 or 9. You see, I've always been known as a lover of purses. From the age of two, I carried a purse around with me constantly. Old family friends I haven't seen for years in Puerto Rico always say "Ohhh, do you still like purses?!" Except in Spanish of course. Anyway, that love for purses is still ever so present and therefore this necklace is still one of my favorites. 

Again, I apologize for being such a terrible fashion blogger at times. We'll figure it out but thank you for hanging in with me until then!

Scatterbrained Monday

(Dress: Kohls, Cardigan and flats: F21, Necklace: Gift, Belt: Thrifted)

Some of my Scatterbrained Monday thoughts:

• It's 95 degrees here today. I... just can't. I died a little inside when I saw the forecast. It's clearly going to be a rough summer.
• Due to the above point and as shown in the pictures, I started taking layers off after being outside for a few minutes. Which is saying a lot since I never wear things that show my arms/shoulders because it makes me feel way too uncomfortable.
• Not to be dramatic or anything, but I think I'm going to die a little having to sit through my almost three hour nutrition class tonight.
• I want this dress.
• I have major wedding fever. Even more so than usual and I'm just starting to think that I must actually be 30 since my clock feels like it's ticking too fast here.
• I'm almost done with my second year of college and that thought seems so horribly strange to me. I can't even think about the fact that I graduated two years ago for too long.
• Only 78 days until Puerto Rico and I am so excited.
• I just feel like I do not have enough energy for everything I need to do and handle these past few days. I think I just need a day to sleep. Can we arrange that?
• I'll leave you with this quote that I find to hold so much truth: "The grass is greener where you water it."

Maxi Dress Life

(Dress: F21, Shirt: Target, Belt: Thrifted, Flats: Maurices)

I meant to write about this yesterday but it somehow escaped me. The other night, I laid in bed as usual trying to drift off to sleep. But this night in particular, I just felt like I had too much energy and too many things I wanted to do. And not in the sense of little errands and chores but things that I wanted to do with my life, my future. I couldn't stop thinking about how blessed I am. I just felt completely and utterly overwhelmed with how amazing God has been in providing for me. What did I ever do to deserve so much love and just plain happiness in my life? There is simply nothing I could have possibly done to deserve everything God has granted me. And next thing I knew, I found myself crying. Just crying tears of joy because I just couldn't express my joy and gratitude to God in any other way. So I just laid there in my bed having a moment of joyful tears with God because words were simply not enough.

Life... Life is just so very precious and breathtakingly beautiful.

Dear Diary

(Tank top: Borrowed from mom, Dress: Kohls, Belt: Thrifted, Shoes: Maurices)

In case you're wondering, I am in fact creeping on my bedroom window in the last picture. I'm bizarre. 

When I was younger, I started writing in a "diary." Really, it was just a composition notebook I put stickers on the outside of. The first time I ever wrote in it was in 2003 and there are entries sporadically up until 2009. I still have this "diary" and let me tell you, it is HILARIOUS. I would write in excess detail about things because I always had a dream of showing it to my kids in the future and obviously they needed to know every detail about my best friends. On the top of different pages, there are hearts that say "Current Crush" and have a boys name inside. Young Amanda was all over keeping track of everything.

In a lot of ways, I'm still very much like this. If you ask most people that know me well, I am a documenter. I take pictures of things constantly in order to not forget them. I write so I'll have things to look back on. Although this constant need to document sometimes gets in the way of just letting me enjoy moments, I am already so glad that I have so many things to look at from the past, whether pictures or words. It's amazing to me to be able to see how I have grown and transformed into such a different person with each passing year and new experience. I think that's something all of us bloggers have in common and it's nice to know I'm not alone in my love for documentation of moments, feelings, and events. 

Awkward and Awesome Thursday: Video Style

(I apologize that it's so quiet)

Enjoy!

I like trees.

(Shirt and Skirt: F21, Belt: Thrifted, Shoes: Maurices)

My outfits are super simple recently and I kind of like it. 

Also, I'm awkward and didn't know what to do in the first picture so obviously looking up at the tree seemed like a good idea.

I've been slacking on What I Did Wednesday so here are some pictures from my week!

Remember that huge cupcake order I got? I have to make 120 of these little guys. 

My mom made a beautiful Puerto Rican feast for my brother this weekend.

I went on a date with this handsome guy last night. This was definitely a candid picture he still doesn't know I took. Oops.

My dinner last night minus the taco bowl and half the salad.

...

Lunch part one today.

Lunch part two today.

Temple Run Addict.

My mom is a work out beast!

Good bye, winter clothes!

What did you do this week? 

Sparkle and Coffee

(Shirt: Target, Dress: Some store in Puerto Rico!, Necklace: Gift, Shoes: Maurices, Purse: F21)

Today, I went on a coffee date. 

With my little brother.

But he's actually Jacob's little brother.

Anyway, Nate and I have been pretty close for the past two years and we try to have coffee dates every few months so we can catch up. He tells me about girls and his future goals, I talk to him about marrying his brother. It's a pretty great little relationship we have. 

Today in particular, we talked a whole lot about weddings. He told me he's surprised his brother hasn't popped the question yet (who isn't though?) and told me he never wants to get married. I'm surprised he held on so long through this wedding conversation.

In all honesty, I absolutely love how close I am to Jacob's family. They truly have become a second family to me and I so look forward to being Nate's real "big sissy" as he calls me. 

Aside from that, I'm still needing help with my 20 before 20 list! Here is what I have so far!

1) Volunteer somewhere.

2) Lose the last of these 15 pounds.

3) Save a good amount of money.

4) Try at least 10 new cafes in the Phoenix area.

5) Do something spontaneous. 

6) Take a road trip.

7) Get a nannying job once I'm living in Phoenix.

8) Make another wedding cake.

9) Make crepes! 

10) Meet another fellow blogger in person. 

Any ideas?