But Green's the Color of the Spring

In honor of Leap Day and those cute green leaping amphibians, here's an outfit post dedicated to green!

Skirt- Ross (around 5/6 years ago); Shoes- TJ Maxx; Top- F21; Belt- Vintage

Teasing her with a leaf so I could get her to look at the camera.

A bug was on the tree by my hand, so I uttered a noise that sounded like "EEEeek!" and swiftly hopped towards Taylor. Thank goodness he takes pictures of things like this.

Pip's collar/leash- Petsmart

Happy Leap Day! Go out and do something unusual. Start reading a new book. Wear lots of green. Make new friends. Eat dessert for dinner and breakfast at midnight. Write love poems and actually send them. Try something new and unexpected. Remember that every day you have a chance to renew yourself and change, so take advantage of this extra day! And if it doesn't work out? There's always tomorrow. XO.

Hats Off to Harmony

This is another new idea that I hope becomes a regular. After writing and books, I adore music immensely. It can change the mood of any bad day, make me go from upset to smiling in a matter of minutes. I've been slacking on discovering new music lately, so this is partially as much for me as it is for ya'll. Enjoy this new post!

Hats off to The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow"


     This CD has been on repeat in my car for... well... longer than I'd like to admit. I do that to CD's I really love and this one is no exception. I think my mother put it best when she said that they reminded her of something my great-grandmother, Memire, would listen to. It makes me think of winding back roads, flowery vines growing up the side of a cottage, flowing skirts and crafting with my hands. I want to sit under a tree and drink Earl Grey and read poetry to this music, and then get up and twirl, spinning around in a calico dress with daisies in my braided hair.
     They make me daydream stories into existence, reminisce and generally feel creative. Maybe they'll do the same for you. My favorites at the moment are Birds of a Feather and To Whom it May Concern -I tell Taylor that the former is him and me. Seriously, go get their CD right now. If you regret it, you can blame me. And then send me your copy, because I'll probably wear mine out pretty quickly. XO.

In the Christmas Spirit

In between packing for New York (yay 21 Before 21 list item!), getting our apartment puppy ready, and finishing last minute Christmas shopping and decorating, I've barely had time to think straight. I have, however, had just a few moments to throw together some songs for you. These are the songs I've been humming to get me through the Fall Semester stresses and ready for Holiday happiness! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Now back to wrapping I go- there is SO much love going into these gifts this year.

Also, enjoy this picture of the newest member of my family, already being enhanced to show her future love for the holiday season! Meet Miss Philippa Rose:

XO.

21 Before 21 Update!

There are 102 days until my 21st birthday! I've been patiently awaiting it and slowwwwly marking off items on my 21 Before 21 list. Even Taylor is getting excited, as he's been helping me with almost every one. I thought I'd give you guys a quick update about the few I've accomplished so far/the few I'm working on...

Buy and play an ukulele: It's in the mail! It's in the mail! It's in the mail! And I'm so excited I can barely type it! I ordered it the other evening, it's a Lanikai LU-11 I purchased through Amazon after much research. It should be arriving any minute, so if I quit typing and put up a half written blog, you'll know why!

She's here! Now what to name her.. and how to play?

Have a picnic: Taylor had the idea for us to accomplish this the other day! It was my reward for getting our room cleaned, so after a long weekend indoors we trekked to UNF. Our campus is wonderful as it has a 300+ acre wildlife sanctuary and tons of walking trails, it's really beautiful. We just so happened to go during a Sunday LARPing meeting, and much giggling ensued about their costumes and fake weapons. Taylor's a big nerd and does some LARPing of his own, but apparently his is "cooler" than theirs. I suppose there are rules to these things that I don't know... We munched on sandwiches of chicken salad and yummy crackers, an apple and a pear, and cookies for dessert! Taylor drank tea and I drank lemonade. It was a lovely day.

Making chicken salad sandwiches.

Giggling over various funny things.

Go to NYC: Our tickets are purchased and we're on our way the 21st of December! I am so enamored with everything NYC right now, just the sight of the Big Apple makes me swell with glee. I've been planning every little detail, down to what I will pack and how I will dress and where we will go. Winter Break cannot come soon enough.

Unrelated, I know. This is actually us at Taylor's grandfathers wedding, but it was too cute not to add!

Perfect one dinner recipe: Well, I've cheated a little on this one. I haven't "perfected" anything really fancy, but I've worked really hard on learning to master my basic culinary skills and can sure make good sandwiches and cookies! I've also got chili down and I'm pretty good at tilapia.

These were the BEST sandwiches I've ever made. It was just a grilled ham and cheese, but oh were they good.

Eat a yummy banana split: Ohh this was one of the most delicious! Taylor and I went to Friendly's and had the cutest waiter ever. We discussed life and our "old age" and watched young high school kids get excited in the booth next to us. Wonderful date that I can't wait to do again.

Mmmm yummy!

And that is all my loves! I still have quite a few to go, but the pleasure I've gotten in achieving these few is absolutely amazing. My ukulele JUST arrived so I'll be off teaching myself how to play. XO!

Confessions of a Facebook Creeper

I have a confession.. I Facebook creep like no other. It always catches me when I'm on like, page ten of your Ex-BF's sister's half brother's girlfriend's photo page and I'm like "Uh Skye, how do you know these people?"

The other thing I stalk: Pandora. Yepp, your Pandora playlists are not safe when I'm around, er.. when I'm on the internet. Pandora (the Internet Radio that has become the soundtrack of my day-to-day life) has this neat little feature where you can see your friends on Facebook who also use Pandora (Don't ask me how they know all this, that's a little too stalker, even for me). It shows you any stations they've made and listened to and song they've liked or bookmarked or whatever. And to me? It's super creepy of me to like looking at what music other people are listening to, but I. Love. It.

I feel like you can learn so much about a person just by what music they listen to. I remember sitting in class ages and ages ago when iPod's first got big (Yeah yeah yeah, it was only like 5 years. Whatever.) and looking through everyone else's trying to interpret what every single artist on there meant. But now! Now I don't even have to steal someone's iPod, I can just creep on their Pandora. I always think it's funny when the kid you thought had weird taste in music has super cool bands bookmarked or the girl you assumed only listened to Top 40 stuff has an amazing list of stations. It reminds me that I don't really know people as well as I think I do and I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, however cliche that sounds. And it's really weird to think that the music I listen to while sleeping and getting a shower and doing my random everyday stuff might be the same music other people are hearing as they go about their days. Oh dear, creeper status rising.. Can't stop.. Must go talk to real people and play with Charlotte Belle..AHH.

I think it's a disease, but I'm still looking into it. I'll let you know what the Dr. says when he calls me back. Now to go listen to more Pandora and keep breaking stereotypes down one friend's station at a time. XO.

Psstt.. Pass it on

  I bought the StarbucksLove CD at Starbucks a few weeks ago for Mamma and we absolutely love it! (No pun intended..) We also went on the website and made our own cute little pictures for the campaign. I may or may not find those again and share with you all.

  But without further ado, I must share with you one of the coolest videos of the year:



  How amazing is this!? A friend on Facebook posted it and (of course) I had to see what the deal was. And boy oh boy am I glad I did. This year was surprisingly a really good year in music I think. How about you dollface? Agree or disagree? Think about it: Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon, and Beyonce all in the Top 25. It was such a unique year for musical talents. There were so many different types of popular songs and I LOVE! when that happens. My musical taste is pretty eclectic, so it was a fabulous year for me.

  OH! And PS: MY DADDY AND SUZ BOUGHT ME A NEW CAR FOR CHRISTMAS! It's a gorgeousss Pontiac Grand Am in Bronze and I adore it. We got it registered today and technically I will be able to drive it at 12:01AM tonight when the insurance kicks in. I'm pretty tired, so I'm just gonna drive it out to the boyfriend's in the morning for breakfast with him (before he heads out to Miami to see Phish).

XOXO