I'm 24!!!

Among other things that have happened in the past month, I turned 24 yesterday!!!!

Do I look any older?!  Ha!  These photos were taken at my friend Courtney's birthday party in uptown Charlotte!!  (I also nanny for her, how nice is that??)

My birthday was fabulous, a love filled weekend and then the actual day, spent with Michael and friends was great!  He was vying for the best boyfriend of the year award for sure... took me to breakfast and later dinner with friends!!  How lovely :) 

He gave me a Tiffany Bean necklace which I LOVE SO MUCH!!!  Plus TWO pandora charms (A snowman and a kitty!!)  And many festive socks (a joke between us) what a great boyfriend!  I am so spoiled!!!  Friends and family gave me lovely things as well, it was such a nice occasion!!!

Oh, and before my birthday there was thanksgiving in Jekyll Island GA which was lovely :), as well as a new addition to the family...

Pippa.

Our little bundle of love!!!  She is a truly fantastic little cat, LOUD, and affectionate as all get out!!  I believe she is part dog, or noone told her that cats are normally aloof... Either way, she is kind of my reason for living!  Ha!

Anyway, getting ready for the Christmas season!  And more posts to come :)

Meet Charlie!!

Charlie, or Charles Von Kittah the third

Charlie found Michael's brother Brian last friday on the campus of his university.  He was friendly as can be and Brian knew he had to find him a home!  The boys of his apartment fed him hot dogs and spaghetti until I could come get him this past wednesday.  By the time I got home to our apartment I knew I was in love.  Without a carrier he rode the whole way on my lap, just looking out the window...When Michael walked up to the car when we got home he meowed and put his paw on the window!  

He's been a precious addition to our life, insisting on sleeping on our bed, staying glued to my side whether I'm sitting on the couch or making dinner... In fact he's beside himself meowing when he doesn't know what I'm doing!!

Expect many more pictures of this fabulous feline!  He's in my opinion quite the preppy kitty.  He may be a bit on the lean side now, but he's adjusted rather quickly to the luxurious life we're offering him, he even walks away from his food now...  I think if he was a person he'd be rather refined.  A drinker of fine scotch, a fantastic tennis and squash player and inclined to wear silk robes... Oh yes.

Goodbye for now ladies, I knows you loves me already so don't worry I will be back very soon.  I am so sexy like Sean Connerys.  

It's been a while...

It's certainly been a while since I've thought about Blogging... various excuses can explain this I suppose, not feeling well for long periods of time tends to keep one from thinking of doing "Fun" things... never the less, here I am!  Other than being sick life's been pretty good, I bought a new car a few weeks ago which has been such a nice change for me (I drive around 50 miles a day on average).  It's worth it to have a car you like and enjoy driving, really makes a day so much more pleasant!  I'll have to post some photos of it :)
Oh and I finally got an IPHONE!  How I lived life without it is a mystery to me...

Also, the fact that Lilly only makes cases for IPhone is part of my happiness with the phone too, I won't lie.  Makes me smile every time I pick up the phone!!!  But anyway, enough about all this, on to some preppy style for the colder weather that has finally made it's way to NC.  First are some looks I like, then some looks I'm rocking myself.

I'm like the sweater selection (some) at LL Bean Signature.  I've yet to order anything from then yet due to price, but there may be some items going on my X-Mas list this year!!

Liking this Plaid skirt!  Paired with a turtleneck could be adorable for holiday parties!  Very cute, I need to find something similar very soon!

Seems Like a warm and festive top to wear around the holidays.

This is a cute bag to tote around while traveling!  

Personally there's a few go to looks I adore for winter:

VESTS.  I adore vests, I especially love these ones from LL Bean (this one and a brown one) and at 29.95 they are very reasonable and I will probably order two more because I'm always wearing them.  I get cold often but find that Jackets needs to be removed more often then a vest... Also they layer so well!  I love them.

And TURTLENECKS!!!  Again, my cold naturedness loves a nice turtleneck.  With a vest layered over the turtleneck with a long necklaces and a headband worn with jeans and my beloved Clarks wallabees I'm ready to take on any chilly casual setting!  Love it :)

Hopefully it won't take me so long to blog again...

XOXO B

Things I Love: The Office/ Jim and Pam

I have had a few favorite shows and book series over the years and I am very loyal to them.  I don't find them very often, and when I do I will happily watch reruns when the show comes out on DVD until I find something I deem equally as good.  However, if I had to choose a favorite all time show, it would most definitely be The Office.

I first discovered the show my freshman year of college, and I quickly watched the first few seasons and was completely hooked.  I love the humor of the show, Steve Carell is of course hilarious, but so are the other actors.  It's such a clever way of showing regular life working a 9 to 5 job in a funny way.  The awkward moments can sometimes be painful to watch, but life can really be like that!  I think thats a huge part of why I enjoy the show so much.

I also love this couple on the show, Jim and Pam Halpert, played by John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer.  The couple appealed to me WAY before they FINALLY got together... I loved how they were such good friends, always trying to make each other laugh!  For the first two seasons Pam was engaged while Jim Pined away... THEN:

On a show that was normally based on humor, this was such a wonderful moment.  It still took another season for them to finally get together--but after that there were so many funny and adorable moments to enjoy!  I just adore how this relationship seems so real, it makes people believe in real love still existing!  It's not a fantasy, it's certainly not perfect (Pam gets pregnant while they are engaged--and they are still overjoyed!!).  I just adore it, they're my favorite couple of all time!!

And when they got married... Michael can tell you, I cried like a baby and I'm not ashamed on bit!!!

I love this show!!!

XO B

Interesting Patterns from Vera Bradley...

As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of Vera Bradley bags.  They are by far my favorite bag/accessory/luggage company for a few reasons.  The first being that they are practical, and affordable, appropriate for every day use.  Also I love American companies, especially those with a good mission statement.  I love how much money they raise for Cancer research, it's really great for a company to give back as much Vera Bradley does!  If you check out their blog, insidestitch.com they frequently have posts about various volunteer work members of the company partakes in.  Seems like a really fun place to work to me!!

Anyway, that being said, I'm wondering what's going on with the patterns for the next few seasons.  In the past I've found it very hard to choose just one new bag, because so many patterns are adorable!!  But the upcoming patterns for the next season are just...weird (to me).  There's a wonderful vera lover and blogger over at ohmyvera.com who often posts pictures very early of upcoming pattern.  She just posted the patterns for summer 2012, and before that she posted the upcoming winter patterns, and then spring.  I liked one pattern for spring (Ellie Blue) which I was able to purchase at the preview... but that's it!  The rest of them are SO BRIGHT, and huge flowery motifs.  Would it be so difficult to bring back something like the old classic patterns??

Nantucket Navy, my very first Vera was in this pattern.

Houndstooth Brown My second Vera!

Alpine Black my third :).

I wish my bags from Highschool had survived, but Alas, they are long gone!  And now there's nothing at all like them available.  I miss the simplicity of these patterns, they really went with anything as opposed to the more vibrant colors available now...

This is Happy Snails, my favorite for fall/winter.  I think it's beautiful but boy it's just so different than what Vera Bradley used to mean!  

 One result of the company's change in direction (Much more stylish) is fantastic bags like this Flap Satchel from their delightfully named Middleton collection!  I fell in love with it when I saw it in the catelogue, and lucky girl that I am, my boyfriend bought it for me!  So I guess it works out well that I'm not into the patterns for the rest of the year!  I'm wondering what other vera fans think of the new patterns/collections.  I find that the special collections are a lot preppier these days, but that's just me...

Two bags that came out this spring.  I love both of them so much, I do hope bags like this continue to be made!  

XOXO B

Pattern images from verabradley.com

Pasta and Provisions

Last Sunday we discovered something fantastically wonderful.  Pasta and Provisions on Providence road (to any Charlotte folks out there, you MUST try this!!!)

The restaurant next store Providence Sundries is a favorite of mine, so it's so amazing that we never walked inside this place until last weekend.  The store is pretty small inside, but filled with fresh cut pasta (with various seasonings) and fresh made delicious sauces!!!  They had samples of their home-made focaccia and tomato pesto, YUM!!  We got some of that for our lunch and the homemade Pommodora sauce with fresh cut rosemary garlic linguine pasta for dinner.  The pasta needed to be boiled for 90 seconds!  So amazingly delicious and simple.

Yummy lunch!!!

Such a wonderful and simple meal!  The closest to authentic Italian food I've found since I came back from Italy two years ago :)

Have a lovely Labor Day Weekend!!!  

XOXO B

Things I love: Tervis Tumblers

If you had told me a year ago that I would have an opinion on what the best cup in the world is, I'd probably of laughed!  However, here I am and I can tell you that I have a definite opinion on the matter!!!  Last labor day weekend we spent on Hilton Head staying at Harbor Town, and I splurged on two matching Harbor Town tumblers with lids!  Quickly, I found the tumbler indispensible, it keeps liquids both hot and cold!  Now, we have developed quite the collection through kind friends and family!

They fit in well both indoors, and outdoors, and especially well in sporting settings.  I loved seeing them mentioned in True Prep as one of the essentials for sailing :).

The best thing to fill them with in the summer time to me is Arnold Palmer... my favorite thing to drink in warm weather, there's just something so wonderful about it!!  I was convinced it was a strictly southern thing until a friend who is originally from Fairfield, CT fell in love with it!  I guess I can't stereotype!  

Do you love Tervis Tumblers?  If you don't I fully recommend you give them a try, they may seem pricey at 10 bucks or a little more (depending on whose selling it) but they hold up very well (Just don't put them in the dishwasher--it can melt the glue that keeps the patch on the inside...)!!!

XOXO B