Homemade...

I have a confession: under all this academia, I want to be a homemaker.  I know it's such an out-of-date term and probably has some really negative connotation for some people, but if you really look at the word it has a beautiful meaning.  A homemaker has 1 main job that is an umbrella phrase to include all the little things that go into "To make a house a home".

I want that.   I want to be able to make a house a home, my home, my family's home.  A place we can grow, laugh, cry, and feel safe.

I was born 35 (that's the easiest way to describe it).  I have always, literally always, wanted a family of my own and to be a stay-at-home mom.  I want to upholster furniture, paint walls, construct beautiful pieces of art, sew, bake, and even make my own little soaps & candles.  I know it's so old-fashioned & traditional it kills some people.  It's what I want.  Why? I don't know.  I don't think I'll always be a stay-at-home mom, I don't know if I'll be an unemployed stay-at-home mom, but I want to be able to make my house a home for myself and my family.

For some beautiful inspiration from two of my favorite blogs that are great examples of this beautiful thing I fantasize about see: Emily @Jones Design Company and The Nester @Nesting Place 

Leeds Will Be Taking Over

This is my last official post before I am in the sky and headed to Leeds as I will be leaving Wednesday evening.  After that I will be exclusively writing on my Leeds blog.  First, let us take a look at one of my last nights in my own bed in my own B-More.

First off, I slept until noon!!! Isn't that completely awesome? I had so much packing to do, but I slept.  I may kick myself later, but for right now- it's awesome!

Secondly, I gave myself a pedicure/ manicure:

I mean, no one can travel when they're self-conscious of their toes & hands right? =P 

Third, all of my laundry is officially complete, all that's left is the actual folding & squeezing it into a suitcase deal. 

Next, meet my 4 best friends:

I know, total hotties, right? ;) We have (from left to right) Erin, Becky, Jenn, & Abby

Anyway, we all google+ video chatted tonight.  Not all of us at the same time, always worked, but it was still kind of cool.  It was probably one of the things to completely make my night. I'm going to miss them. =(

I then made brownies after google+ was kind of a fail.

Finally, while having a somewhat downer my boyfriend found me this.
If you even remotely like kitty videos, this will amuse you. =D

This is the end of my post from B-More.  Follow me in my adventures in Leeds and thanks for reading!

I'll write you in December!. ;)

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

Let me start by saying that I absolutely hate cleaning and the only thing I hate more than cleaning is homework.  At school I procrastinate homework by cleaning.  Here however, I do not have homework so I have no choice but to finally clean my room.  I know I'll be happy once it's done, but BLAH!! So to embarrass myself and hopefully help me move it along I'm going to take a picture of my hideous room.

Ugh:

 Then once it's all nice and clean I'll post an after picture. =) LATER!

Being Home...

As it nears closer and closer to me leaving the east coast for Leeds I find myself going through a reality check of sorts.

I'm starting to learn that Baltimore can actually be a pretty cool place filled with a lot of interesting stuff.

Let us take for instance Berger Cookies.  If you are not from Baltimore you probably have no idea what this is and trying to explain it to a tourist by saying "It's the best cookie ever" is not a proper description.

Next Snow-Balls. They are different than snow cones, I promise.

Living Statues, specifically the steampunk woman living statue I've been seeing around. She's incredibly cool and I'm definitely in love with her outfit.

How cool is that?

I know Baltimore isn't the biggest city and it certainly isn't always the cleaniest, but it's home.  And even though this Grand Prix is going to make my commute beyond terrible, perhaps I should learn to enjoy it while I still have it.

Feather Hair Clips

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I absolutely adore feather hair accessories.  Today, I was about to purchase a feather hair accessory and noticed it was $12.  I don't know about anyone out there, but I am on a tight budget and so I decided $12 was too much.  I went to A.C. Moore today and found that for about $18 for 5 hair clips.  So far, I have made 3.

I only bought 2 package of feathers (white & natural browns), a mini hot glue gun, a pack of glue sticks. 5 package of hair clips, one piece of felt and one package of med. sized rhinestones.  I know I'm only going to get 5 clips which have about the same color scheme, but now that I have the hot glue gun & sticks (the most expensive parts) the rest of the clips will probably end up being about $5 for 5 clips.  Which is a bargain compared to $12 a pop.

Moral of the story: If you like something and you just can't seem to spring for it, try to do it yourself.  Who knows, maybe you'll end up with a new hobby & some really cute accessories. =)

Dear 16 Year Old Me.

This video should be seen & shared by every young adult.

Mocha+Coconut=LOVE

(source)

Complete and utter perfection

It's been a DIY kind of week

For the past 9 days, my room has received an extreme overhaul.  Very soon there will be a very long post all about how I completely remade my room in under $200.   In addition, to new crafts that I put to the test. Until then, have another manic monday. ;)

New Addiction

I have a sad confession my dear readers, I am addicted to reality TV.  I have been since those awkward pre-teen years, and although I can not stand MTV reality TV shows I love TLC and the Discovery Channel.  I am currently watching Extreme Couponing.

You can watch the trailer at this link:

http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/extreme-couponing-extreme-couponing-sneak-peek.html

It's about theses people who clip coupons and buy hundreds of dollars of groceries for just a few, in some cases $1,000 for $44.  It's CRAZY!


It makes me want to clip coupons like never before.

My most sincere apologies

To my wonderful readers,

I am so sorry to have neglected you these past weeks.  It has been far too long.  Now that the semester has concluded and summer has officially begun, it is time to return to the blogging world. =)

Let us first begin with a recap:

My life has been full of academics, late nights, text books, highlighters, and many cups of coffee & tea.  All in all, it was a good semester, I learned a lot about my abilities and the real meaning of "Cramming."

Today, I started my first day of summer by packing.

My room went from this:

 To this depressing sight:

Not nearly as homey, more cluttered, and a complete stress inducer.  All in all I am glad the battle of packing is over.

After driving back to Baltimore, I enjoyed dinner & a moment of relaxation.
Only to have my car break.  Luckily, it's not a big break, but still inconvenient. So far in the past week I am down a phone, sleep, and a car.  That has to be a new record! ;)

At least I have my health. * KNOCK ON WOOD!! * Tomorrow I will be enjoying a lovely brunch with my family in celebration of Mother's Day.  Followed by massive amounts of unpacking only to begin a checklist for Leeds. =)   (You will be able to follow all of the specifics about Leeds through my other blog, which I will link here).

I hope where ever you are you are surrounded by beauty & serenity.  But just in case you have trouble finding it, here is something I find beautiful & serene:

(source)

(source)

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! =D

Dear Readers,

I owe you such a long & detailed blog post with all of my latest adventures.  Unfortunately, it is getting late on the east coast here and I have an early class.  I promise by Thursday you will be caught with everything in my life.

Until then,

b-more

Busy busy busy bee

All I can say is the past 2 weeks have complete & utter madness! In addition to a complete flip in my diet I also had an awesome visit from these lovely ladies:

Blogging world meet two of my best friends from high school Erin & Becky! They were so kind to spend 3 days of their spring break with me in central PA!! God Bless them. We had a blast looking at this view that is essentially the backyard of my campus:

Jealous yet? =P

Unfortunately, after they left it was back to the grid iron with me pounding out the papers.

I have become completely behind on my 5K training spring break gave me a set back and the fact that my knees & feet hurt every time I ran was not helping. Luckily I had a running floor-mate down the hall give me some pointers about not pounding pavement & actually rolling my feet on & off the ground. So tomorrow it's back to the gym!

Also tomorrow evening begins the start of my 30 hour famine! In case you need a recap HERE IT IS! World Vision is a great organization so I highly recommend sponsoring me. ;) My donation page looks a little lonely, but I am not discouraged because I've collected quite a bit of money in person. So after tomorrow at 7pm I won't be eating until 1am SUNDAY.  It's going to be interesting, I can tell you that.

That's basically my life for the past two weeks.  Now on to revising the next paper.


Do you have anything awesome going on this weekend? 

Day 2 of Pescetarianism

So, I missed the post yesterday, but yesterday was Ash Wednesday. For those of you who don't know Ash Wednesday is the being of Lent for different branches of Christianity. It's a time to spiritually prepare for Easter. Typically people choose something to abstain from between Ash Wednesday & Easter (which is 40 days, not including sundays). So this year I have chosen to abstain from all Meat from land animals. I will still eat seafood, this makes me a Pescetarian instead of a full-blown vegetarian. Today I went to the grocery store to pick up some pescetarian-friendly food. I know have plenty of seafood & lots of vegetables. It's going to be an interesting 40 days. Enjoy your Lenten decisions!!

30 Hour Famine

On March 25th I will participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine which helps raise money for children who go days without food. I am asking for donations to help reach my goal of $350 which will help feed & care for a child for A WHOLE YEAR. Even if you can only donate 1¢ That makes me 1¢ closer to my goal! You can visit my donation page by clicking here Thank you in advance for all of your support!!

Happy March!!

Well it has finally arrived. The month of luck, basketball, green, and Lenten Traditions. This year I will be abstaining from meat (eekk!). This will be hard for me because I L.O.V.E ribs. I will just have to learn to go without and it will make me a better stronger person because of it. =) In addition, this month will be marking half way through my 4th Semester at College! WOOT!!! Essentially, this means I'm almost half through getting my degree! Unfortunately, this also means a TON of work to do, but it also means SPRING BREAK!! WOOT! All in all it will be an exciting month, no doubt about it. =) With a new month also comes a feeling of renewal, it's almost like a mini new years. You get to start all over again. =)


HAPPY MARCH!!!

According to Plan

Unfortunately, that's not how my morning went. Nothing went according to plan. It's one of those mondays where it is rainy & unmotivated morning. I slept past my alarm, watched TV in the morning, and did not really accomplish anything. I'm going to begin doing some measurements for a research project and run later. No matter what I have to begin my running schedule today to build up my endurance to run that 5K in april. It's incredibly exciting and I'm up for the challenge. Today, I'm supposed to run 1.5 miles. Wish me luck! =)

Wishes

Do you ever wish you could like or even love something?

I do.

I wish I loved running, no matter what I do I just can't seem to enjoy running. Like food I'm going to try it over and over again until I at least like it. I know that running has such great benefits and would give me some "me" time in this crazy world of homework and class. That's why in April I will be running my first 5K! I know it's not a lot, but hey it's a start, right? I don't really care what time I end up finishing with, I just want to finished without having to walk. It's a simple goal, but at least it's a goal. The 5K will be on April 9th at my school's track and I'm getting very excited!!

With that I am off to do some homework and come up with a bit of a training schedule. I know a training schedule sounds ridiculous for just 3.1 miles, but when you're a beginner you have to start somewhere.

Have you ever wanted to like something?

Oh Mornings...

I would absolutely love to know where time goes. Somedays I am so productive before I even get a shower & go to class, but lately that hasn't been the case. It's past 10am and I'll I have seem to accomplished is waking up. I just don't understand where all the time does. I suppose sleep does take up a lot. Let's boycott sleep? Maybe we'll evolve eventually where we won't need sleep to survive. That's a good aspiration, right? Since it is a cold snowy day in PA I will leave you with a wonderful sunny flower for hopes of sun & summer. Happy Thursday?

Latest Obsession

So the current thing I am slightly obsessed with, food-wise at least, is Raspberry Vinaigrette. It's sweet, but not heavy which is why I really like it. PLUS raspberries make me think summer & anything that gives me even the slightest comfort towards summer I'll take. =) In addition to my initial post about raspberry vinaigrette I also learned how weird it was to spell vinaigrette. I definitely thought it was spelled Vinegar-Ette. I guess you learn something new everyday, right?

Happy Thursday!

Vanity

It's almost spring, just a few weeks, and it has me thinking a lot about Spring Cleaning & Organization. Today I came across this beautiful vintage vanity on Etsy that would be the perfect thing for helping me get organized. =)

Lots of Time to Think

Well it's 5am here on the East Coast and no, I didn't just wake up-I haven't gone to sleep yet. It's so crazy for me to imagine that someone could be up right now going about and being productive in their day. I on the other hand have been trying to go to bed for quite some time now. I have a lot on my mind and lots of time to think. As much as my body would love to be asleep right now, my mind doesn't think I should be. So, here I am blogging to all of you kind people. Just in case you're wondering, some random things I'm thinking about:

-I need more pictures on this blog
-I wish the computer wasn't so bright
-Kiss The Rain by: Yiruma
-Typing with my eyes shut

those are just a few. =)

I hope the rest of you are able to sleep. So until I blog again, good night & sweet dreams.

Amazing News!!

Today I received some amazing news from my school. I got into my study abroad program!!! ARIEL IS GOING TO LEEDS, ENGLAND!!! I'm so excited!! So look at my new home. =)

It looks so collegiate & old doesn't it?

Snow Day!!

Okay, well actually it's more like an ice day. That's okay thought, I'll take what I can get!! As much as I would love to say that I'll be sleeping in all day and enjoying a nice relaxing snow day it will actually be the complete opposite. Today will be a day filled with homework because I decided to be lazy and not do any homework last night <---BAD IDEA!!! So, first off this icy morning I will be hiking to my professor's house to drink tea and discuss books. Then an incredible amount of homework, possibly watching a movie (this may get pushed back because it's not exactly what you'd call "Essential") and then a study group. It better be a productive day!!

Enjoy your wednesday regardless of if it's sunny, warm, cold, or snowy/icy!!

Happy Monday!

As much as I would love to be enthusiastic about this monday I just can't. For me it's a "Sweatpants" & "Afternoon" nap kind of day. Unfortunately for me, that nap may not ever happen because I have a ton of work to do. *sigh* =/ I suppose you can't win them all. On the plus side I feel I have accomplished more work in these past 2 hours I've been awake than in the whole weekend combined. Well, I'm off to eat a SUPER early lunch, go to work, and then do some homework.

Look at what I get to read:

I know. Try and control your jealousy. =P HAVE A WONDERFUL MONDAY!!

Weekend

I absolutely love weekends. It's that light at the end of the tunnel and the time you can finally let out a sigh of relieve. Unfortunately for me it will not be a relaxing homework free weekend, but rather a weekend full of conventions and projects. I suppose you can't win them all so I have no choice, but to be thankful for my weekend- even if it's not relaxing.

How do you feel about busy weekends?