In this moment

I am enjoying this time frame that I am in. Nothing is going horribly wrong, my hair is cooperating, most of these final classes are interesting and inspiring, and the weather is gorgeous. 

I just purchased some new beads, finally, and so I'm very excited to get to work on some jewelry and such as well as some shoots I have planned that are coming up. 

I'm still in a surreal moment that this week was my last first week of school. Ever. If I ever ended up in graduate school, you'll know I must've had a lobotomy. It's just not tempting to me.

 These last couple of years I felt like a high schooler trapped in a college student's body, but as of a few weeks ago, my brain has finally got with the program. I still look several years younger than I am, but my brain actually realizes that I am the age that I am. 

Hope you enjoyed my litte update on the fly!

Love, love

-Kate

DIY Terrariums

As an RA of a building of female apartments, I was trying to think of some type of housewarming gift to give my residents. I had a budget of $1.50 per resident and there are 20 girls living in my building, so my budget was pretty limited.

Someone let me and my ARA, Kathleen, use 7 of their bowls for this project and so we were really happy we didn't have to spend any money on them, but just an fyi, I did see bowls like this at the dollar store.

We filled the bottom of the bowls with moss that we got from Michael's. Actually everything except the bowls came from Michaels. (They have some great sales let me tell ya.)

Then we put in some pretty colored rocks we bought (We just liked the blues and pinks that were in them) and clipped off a sprig of the flower branch we bought.

And then we put in the pretty bird that just melted our hearts.

And we came in under budget! Which left us with some spare cash to make a few other things for their doors and the community bulletin boards. So happy with how they turned out.

Lately I've been checking girls into their rooms, getting my apartment set up, interviewing for jobs, putting my syllabi in order, and trying to get rid of this cough that I've had for 3 weeks now. Goodness, It's going to be a busy senior year!

Love, love

-Kate

DIY Beaded 'n' Braided Headband

Look at that! My first DIY in a while. :)

Yesterday I was packing, and decided to take a break and do something more fun. I've had these beads since I was like 13 and I've been looking for ways to get rid of them for a long time now. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

I tied severa strands of stretchy string and started stringing beads and braiding!

Then I just knotted the two together at the back of my head and cut the extra off.

Here's me packing. I'm a sweaty mess. Tomorrow I'm moving into my new apartment for the year! So exciting.

Love, love

-Kate

Last week of internship

Oh. My. Gosh. So much has happened since I last posted! I went on vacation to the lovely Charleston area. Surfed, swam, and hid under the umbrella. Then I drove to Pa to be in my dear friend Courtney's wedding! I had such a fun time seeing my friends and celebrating the happy union! 

Well, this week I've been finishing up my internship. Crazy to think it's my last week, huh? I have learned so much and really appreciate Hallie for letting me work with her this summer and mentoring me. 

As my last big assignment, Hallie wanted me to plan an entire creative shoot, taking care of hair and makeup, location, reservations, model, etc. And I was to shoot it myself. This was such an exciting shoot because I got to do whatever I wanted with it!

So I planned a shoot, and since models are hard to come by, my sister volunteered. Hallie was my assistant, and it was very strange to have the roles reversed for the day!

Here is a glimpse of the shoot. I'll be posting more after I finish the set. Hope you it!

Love, love

-Kate

Chai and Lemon Zest Cookies

Well I finally found the recipe that matched these cookies! 

I had the pictures for a while, but I couldn't find the recipe that went with it. I knew it was in this one book, but after going through it several times I couldn't find it. Turns out I was calling it the wrong thing. Oh well. But here it is!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of finely ground Chai tea

1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter

1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

1 egg white, lightly beaten

So, you first mix together the flour, salt, and ground tea in a large bowl. 

In another bowl, beat together butter and confectioner's sugar until blended. Then you beat in the egg and lemon zest. (I didn't add the confectioner's sugar to my recipe and it tasted really good without it, so  just in case you wanted sugar free!)

Gradually start mixing in the flour mixture from the first step and then put the batch in the fridge for about 30 minutes to cool down and harden.

Once the oven has been preheated to 325 F and your cookie sheet has been buttered, you can scoop the dough into little circles and spread them out on the cookie sheet.

Then brush the top of the circles with the egg white and cooke them for about 10 to 12 minutes!

Happy eating! I have been so busy lately. I was in PA for a wedding last week and for the next week I will be in South Carolina and won't have internet, so I apologize in advance! My oh my this summer has flown!

Love, love

Kate 

Thrift Savvy

If anyone knows me, they know I like to thrift. Recently I spent 2 hours in a single thrift store. Why? Because there were too many good bargains to pass up. 

Being a low-budget senior in college, I don't have the luxury of buying brand new designer dresses whenever it strikes my fancy. But, on occasion, I do find a great designer dress at a consignment shop and finds like those get me so excited, making me feel like I just won the jackpot.

Second hand stores also are places clothes go when their owners don't want to put effort into keeping them in great condition. Like this shirt below. Cute right?

Well this little shirt here had one small problem.

It had a hole in it. I knew I could fix it easily, so I kept it in my "to buy" pile. When I got to the register, I decided to ask them if they had a discount they could give me since it was ripped. Sure enough they did. A whooping 50% off discount. So I paid a little over a dollar for this shirt.

It took me about 3 minutes to sew up the hole and now no one can even recognize where it previously was.

It doesn't hurt to ask for a discount! I also got this skirt that day too.

Love, love

-Kate 

Chalkboard Cabinet DIY

I opened my mom's spice cabinet a week or so ago and saw her top favorite recipes taped to the inside of the cabinet. It was kind of cluttered, so I suggested that we paint the inside of it with chalkboard paint and then write the recipes on the cabinet so it would be easier to read. She loved the idea and let me do it up!

I used the sponge because the angles work really well on the edges and it doesn't leave any streaks!

Really easy! My mom keeps showing it off so I think she really likes it. :)

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! We had people over at our house from before noon till almost 11 at night! We had so much fun and enjoyed having lots of friends of all ages come hang out with us.

How did you guys spend your 4th of July?

Love love,

-Kate