Long Time No Blog

Wow.

I hate it's been so long since my last blog post, but I had to take a little break for my studies! 

Lame? Yes. Worth it? YES!

 I finish my very last semester {and not to mention the hardest semester of my entire college career} on FRIDAY & graduate Dec. 12!!  I've been taking Organic Chemistry 2, it's corresponding lab and French 122 since August, and it has taken up every single bit of my time.  It was not unusual for me to be in the library for 15 hours at a time...don't judge.  I knew what I needed to do in order to graduate with good grades, so I did it.  And I found out today that I got a B+ in my lab and an A in my ochem class!! YAAAY!  Call me a nerd, but ish is HARD and I am SO proud of myself!

A few posts ago I let it all out and explained I've never really been a "school" person.  WELL, this semester on the very first day of class I met my motivator and life-long best friend, Ashley, who believed in me and reminded me DAILY that I am capable of whatever I put my mind to.  She and I spent countless hours in the library studying, crying, procrastinating, laughing our booties off, etc. together.  I honestly don't think I could have made it without her!!

I'm not sure what I made in french, but I passed the 3 required Exit Exams!  You have to pass the lecture course AND the 3 exit exams in order to pass the class...AKA if you pass the class with an A, but don't pass 1 of the 3 exit exams you FAIL and have to retake the whole course...ummm NOT FAIR!! I def feel for anyone who doesn't pass those little babies.

ANYWHOOO, What's next you ask??

NO IDEA!!

My dad and I have been talking about grad school, med school, design..and all that jazz.  I'll letcha know when I've come up with something :)  Until then, I plan on enjoying my free time during the holidays.

Now, I'm off to watch the remainder of my most favorite show of all time:

THE VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW!!!

It may or may not be my dream job...but seriously...

P.S. Thanks to those who continued to leave me sweet comments even though I wasn't posting at the time, and HELLO to my new followers!! I promise I will be back to posting regularly soon!!

xxoo,

"Every woman..."

FACT:  I'm a HUGE quote collector.

I remember walking into my mom's office when I was just a little girl and seeing quotes posted everywhere...some she just jotted down real quick and some she took the time to type up, print out & post where she can see it every day.  My dad is the same way.  They both feel strongly about motivational speaking..going to see speakers, listen to them, read their stories, etc. to help guide you to a successful and fulfilled life.

SO, over the years I have made word documents and collected a quote book of any and everything I've read or seen that could help relate to a situation I'm in or could go through.  Breakups, friendships, life...you name it, I probably have something for you.

Today I was going through some of my quotes to post on my roomie and I's fridge when I came across a cute one I got from a sorority sister a few years ago...

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Every woman should have:


-enough  money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to
-something perfect to wear if the employer, or date, of her dreams wants to see her in an hour
-a youth she's content to leave behind
-a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age
-a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill and a black lace bra
-one friend who always makes her laugh, and one who lets her cry
-a good piece of furniture not previously owned (at least not by anyone else in her family)
-eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored
-a feeling of control over her destiny
-how to fall in love without losing herself


Every woman should know:


-how to quit a job, break up with a lover and comfort a friend without ruining the friendship
-when to try harder and when to walk away
-that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents
-that her childhood may not have been perfect, but it's over
-what she would and wouldn't do for love or more
-how to live alone, even if she doesn't like it
-whom she can trust, whom she can't and why she shouldn't take it personally
-where to go, be it to her best friend's kitchen table or a getaway place, when her soul needs soothing
-what she can and can't accomplish in a day, a month and a year

***

I thought it had some pretty valid points so of course I jotted it down!  Just thought I'd share :)

I hope you all have a good hump day!

xxoo

Piperlime & Rachel Zoe

I love online shopping.  Plain and simple.

I get on a number of websites daily just to see if anything new has appeared, but one of my all-time favorite websites is Piperlime.  Year-round it has the best clothes to choose from...and it's a GREAT way to find outfit inspirations.  Plus, you get to see Rachel Zoe's pics which are always my FAVE!

Here are a few items I'm lusting over at the moment :)

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 J Brand

Ali High-Rise Corduroy Pants

$218

7 For All Mankind

Lexie Bell Bottom Jeans

$178

Flared pants are REALLY in this season...with a flowy top, long pendant and high wedges...SO cute and 70s-ish!!

Joie

Newbury Silk Top

$198

Trina Turk

Braden Vest

$298

Milly

Klarina Sleeve Dress

$380

Rachel Zoe

Bella

$425

Madison Harding

Blair

$335

Why can't I have all the money in the world??  I would snatch up these gems in a heart beat!  All of these were Rachel's pics, duh...does she not have the best sense of style EVER??

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ahhh...she's too cute!!

Hope y'all have a FABULOUS Tuesday!!

xxoo

Find What You Love

Alright y'all, today I'm preachin'...

In my last post I revealed that I had no major plans for the weekend...well, like 30 minutes after I clicked "publish post" I got a phone call from the Art Institute of Charleston.  I've been in contact with them about their interior design program, but haven't had a free weekend to go visit.

I kind of wanted a relaxing weekend at home, but I decided to just go for it because of football coming up and all that jazz.  I made an appointment for Saturday morning, but left Friday to make sure I didn't over sleep or whatever.  {Henry being the BEST boyfriend EVER came with me}  Yes, we ventured to Charleston in prime hurricane weather.  Oh well, we survived.

Anyway, the school was everything I hoped it'd be.  I LOVED it!

And this is where the preaching comes in...

 When I was in middle school and high school I remember sketching clothes and talking to my mom about wanting to go to the Art Institute in New York City, but do you think I wanted to live up north?  No.  And the one in Charleston didn't exist yet.  So, I went to my second choice, USC.  I went in as a Public Relations major and was with someone who brought out the worst in me.  He had me believe that money was everything and I wouldn't make it unless I did something in medicine, aka dental school.  A girl who, for lack of a better word, SUCKED at high school biology decided to major in biology because of what someone else convinced her was right.  BIG BIG mistake.  I made good grades freshman year because it's all the core classes that are pretty easy, so I convinced myself the road to dental school wouldn't be so bad…so I made the change to bio and attempted it for 2 years.  {and in the mean time I dumped the faggot}

My senior year in college I hit a wall.  I could not go on any longer doing biology.  I wasn’t doing well, I already decided I wasn’t passionate about dental school…It just wasn’t me.  SO, I switched back to PR to actually see what it was all about considering my freshman year we didn't get into any major classes yet.  Again, I made better grades, but I was still not 100% happy.  I kept at it because I didn’t know what else to do.  I mean my senior year isn’t exactly the time to just pick up a completely new major, right?  Wrong.  Should have done that FO SHO.  Anyway, I met with my advisor at the end of my senior year and we discussed graduation plans.  If I stuck with PR, I could graduate the following May, but I’d have to take a full summer course load.  Gross.  If I switched back to biology I would only need a few more classes to graduate the following December.  I discussed this with other people and they had me convinced, “Morgan, it’s only a few more classes…you can stick it out!”

This genius right here went along with it.

What. An. Idiot.

Because here I am, still trying to pass stupid courses like Organic Chemistry in a major that I HATE and a major that I KNOW I’m doing nothing in life with.  Obviously I have had one hell of an emotional roller coaster over the past 5 years of college.  I've spent countless hours studying things I don't enjoy and it was ALL due to someone else's opinion.  Not my own.

Girls, if I've learned ANYthing at all in this horrific biology degree of mine it's.. DON'T SETTLE.  Life is entirely too short to be anything but happy.  If you're not completely satisfied, change it.  You are in control of your life.  Nobody else... {other than the big Man upstairs that is..}  So don't let other people decipher your life.  YOU need to find the meaning of it.  What are you passionate about?  If you aren't sure, try a bunch of things and figure it out!  I guess I was just lucky to have a passion for design at a young age, but I still didn't even know what type of design until midway through last year.

We're still young and have our whole lives ahead of us to find what we love, but why wait?  You ain’t gettin’ any younger people…And the sooner you start, the longer you get to enjoy it.

Do yourself a favor and read this article about Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple.  It's an eye opener for sure.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903596904576520690515394766.html


{PS. the message ISN'T about quitting college, just clearing that up before I get hate mail or something...}


Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, loves!


xxoo

Cheers to the freakin' weekend..

I'll most DEF drink to that...

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I don't have ANYthing major to do this weekend, so what am I going to do?

Whatever my little heart desires :)

and if you were expecting a Rihanna video...

you were right, my friends.

Have a good one!

xxoo

Gettin' Cocky

Holy moly, y'all.

Carolina Football begins in just a few short weeks!!

September 3rd to be exact.

I'm bittersweet about the first few games, though.  Our first one is in Charlotte, NC at the Panthers stadium against ECU.  I'm sure it'll be great going to a huge stadium to start off the season, but the next weekend we're playing UGA away, too.  I'm pretty excited about going to Athens, but NOTHING compares to a home Carolina Gamecocks football game.

We don't play at Williams-Brice until September 17!!
Seriously?!

I can't believe I have to wait that long for THIS....

 naturally one of the last ones at tailgate

The crisp fall air, the craziness at tailgates, the jumping up and down to "Sandstorm", a packed stadium with die hard fans, and ballin' A football team and "2001"...

I LIVE for it!!

ahh I have chills...cannot wait!

xo

The Pledge

This is going to come as a shock to you, but I have made a pledge to not use heat nor chemicals on my hair...for a while.

I'm sure y'all are having to pick your chins up off the floor, but I'm SERIOUS!  I have always been a blow dryin', straightenin', serum wearin' fanatic for as long as I can remember, but things are about to change. 

Little did I know, you can learn a LOT from youtube.  And thanks to a few videos I found, I will hopefully come out of this experience with long healthy hair :)

The first few videos I found actually were from none other than our fellow sock bun-er {the girl from the youtube's I shared with you all}.  She is somewhat obsessed with her long luscious locks and created videos that share her hair care routine, how you should go about getting long hair the healthy way and how to maintain healthy hair.

I was all ears...

So, I figured I would share with you a few tips I picked up {and wrote down} from watching sock bun girl's videos

***

1.  Do NOT use chemicals on your hair...no hairsprays {eeek, I know this is a difficult one}, mousses, shine serums {this is torture}, gels, waxes {?}, clays {??}, etc.

2.  Do NOT use heat on your hair.  Not only does the heat dry your hair out, it breaks your hair, too.

3.  Don't wash your hair too often.  Too much water and shampoo dries your hair out.

4.  Use all natural shampoo.  Cone free, no sulfates or sulfides.

5.  Eat healthy.  When your body is healthy, your hair is healthy.

6.  Take your vitamins.  They really do help with nourishing your hair {AND nails}.

7.  Drink lots and lots of water!  The more the better. 

and the final tip...

8.  Use organic virgin coconut oil for conditioning.

***

I realize this is bonkers and by all means, I am NOT trying to say it's this way or the highway.  This is just something I'm attempting and lord knows I may not even be able to tackle this extreme-ness.  BUT I just wanted to share this tid bit of info I found out.

And let me just say I immediately googled coconut oil to find out its benefits.  Not only is it amazing for your hair AND skin, it's extremely healthy to cook with!  Who woulda thought?!

I haven't tried cooking with it yet, but I plan on doing that in the near future.

I set out to one of my favorite places ever, EarthFare, and bought some organic coconut oil.

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And I thank my lucky stars I did.

I put it on the ends of my hair in the morning when I wake up and at night before I go to bed.  I usually try and remember not to go above my ears with it, but y'all are more than welcome to experiment.

NEVER put it on your roots unless you're doing a deep condition or wanna look like a grease ball...ew.

When doing a deep condition, wash your hair {don't condition} and when it's damp apply about a quarter size amount into your hair and let it sit for like an hour.

I picked up the kind that was labled for skin & hair, but you can use ANY organic virgin coconut oil. 

And FYI:
Organic coconut oil is a SOLID.  I read somewhere that it melts around 77 degrees F or something like that.  During the summer months it may be a little more liquidy and during the winter it should be pretty solid.  SO, when applying, I just rub my fingers on the solid until it melts or turns into an oil.  If you decide to try this you'll understand what I'm talking about when you touch it.

**I was not paid to write this review.  This is strictly MY opinion of what I learned from information online that I just happen to come across.  I started using this product on my OWN.**

I'm thinking about sharing my odd, but healthy way of drying my hair that I found on youtube, too...would y'all care to hear?!  Let me know because I don't want to bore any of you with my crazy hair stories :)

Happy hump day!

xo

Weekend Recap

First let me just say I am SO glad some of you liked the sock bun trick!  It's amazing.  I didn't think I could do it, but it's too easy!

I sported this "do" to the wedding I attended this weekend and not to brag, but I got tons of compliments!  One person even asked if I got my hair professionally done!!

The wedding was a success.  Open bar...DJ...ya know, the works.  And H and I got to see a ton of our friends we don't get to see all the time!

Here are a few pics from Saturday night

The weather was HORRIBLE {note scary black clouds in the background} so the "up do" was just what I needed!

Fellas

Ladies

Some booty poppin'

And I will stop with pictures there...

Things got a little crayyzayy when we wondered on to the bar next door.

H and I relaxed ALLLL day Sunday then made our way to my hometown because my grandfather and grandmother were visiting...much needed family time!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Sorry this post is so short..I promise I'll be back to posting some informative things soon.  I'm currently in the process of finding some to share with y'all!!

PS. I am too excited for words that I gained some followers over the past few days!! YALL MADE MY WEEKEND THAT MUCH BETTER!! :) :) 

xo

Sock Bun Curls

As promised, here is the video for none other than...

Sock Bun Curls

How amazing does her hair look?!  If I can find a way to make my hair look like I spent major time on it when really I just SLEPT on it, count me in.

I would like to say that my hair is pretty thick, so when I curl it with a curling iron it usually holds for like 2 days.  Yes, I sometimes go without washing because the thickness of my hair enables it to not get greasy for QUITE a while...shamefully I've tested that amount of time.

No judgments please.

But the plus to this new technique is the fact that there's NO heat involved.  That is a major bonus for your hair people!!

 

I have a wedding to go to tomorrow night, so I'm going to try this little number out and see if it works.  Luckily the wedding is at 7pm so if it looks terrible I'll have time to rewash it and do my own thing!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

xxoo

The Sock Bun

I know I already wrote a post today BUT I couldn't NOT share this with you girlies...

When I was on Pinterest earlier I discovered something amazing...

Sock Bun Curls

Scuse me...whaat??

Exactly what I was thinking.  I looked up the YouTube video and HOLY MOLY!  The curls are fab.  

BUT, before I share the video on how to get velumptuous curls by using a SOCK, I'm going to introduce...

The Sock Bun

because you must know how to do this before you try the curls.

Now, without further adieu...

Seriously??  I have never even heard of this before, but I am SO going to try this out.  I just so happen to have a black sock with no match!  PERFECT!

I'll let you know how it turns out/if it's really as easy as she makes it seem.

Make sure to stop by tomorrow because I'll be sharing the secret of Sock Bun Curls!  You know you don't wanna miss it!! :)

Have any of you ever heard of this technique before?  Or do y'all have any strange ways to make your hair look gawwwgeous with a strange tool such as a sock?

If so, DO SHARE!

xxoo

Moroccan Love

It's official.

I have fallen in love with Moroccan infused EVERYTHING.  The patterns, architecture and color schemes are just wonderful.  I've scrambled up a few photos for all of you to swoon over just as I have..

Enjoy!

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***

Anyone up for a trip to Morocco?!

xxoo

Pity Party Turned Happiness

I was awoken by the cable installer at 7:30 this morning {he was supposed to be here between 8 & 12} and was immediately grumpy.  I did NOT want to be messed with and I NEEDED that extra 30 minutes.

This was me...

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Cause I have worked every day for like the past three weeks and honestly, I'm pooped.

I read a good number of blogs where you ladies have 9-5 Monday through Friday jobs as well as full on stay at home mommys.  I am truly inspired.  And scared...how on earth will I make it in the "real world"?!

I need to stop before I have an emotional breakdown considering I don't even know what I'm going to DO in that "real world" I speak of...

Ooooook, anyway!

Yesterday when I was feeling sorry for myself I came across something that made me one happy girl.

And I have The Bargain Blonde to thank.

First, let me just say that I am an organization freak.  I don't know where it came from because in my little girl years this was an absent trait of mine.  My barbies, along with both our wardrobes, were strung everywhere.  But the second I went away to college things changed drastically.  If every little thing doesn't have a place where I know I will find it and find it easily I get all bent out of shape.  I have made trips to my home away from home, Target, as well as Walmart to find organizing contraptions, but even these places don't have everything you want.

And this brings me to the realization that TheBB is a genius...not only about bargain shopping but about organization as well! I literally searched her blog for hours yesterday writing down organizing tips as well as places to shop for some bargains!

And this is how I came across Ikea and the Dollar Store.

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HOT DOG, Y'all!  I am too excited for words.

After stalking her blog for ideas, I stalked Ikea for a good 2 hours.  They have a tab called "Departments" and you choose which room you want to work with.  You click on "Inspirations" and VOILA!  They have SO many neat ideas to manage your space in the coolest ways.  If I had tons and tons of dolla bills I would be redoing my new house as we speak.  Their things aren't overly expensive, which is good, but you just end up loving everything.  My little wish list is just a growin.

And the Dollar Store.  What a gem.  Yes, it has some questionable items you can read about on TheBB's blog, but she has discovered you can get some great finds!  I already decided I'm going today...after work, of course.

I am so excited about my new found loves and can't wait to do some damage.

If you haven't checked these places out, do so now! :)

xxoo