fourth

So my favorite holiday has been on my mind A LOT lately. I think this stems from my extreme readiness for all things summer. Summer is my season, through and through. Yesterday I spent some time out in our backyard, and it was hot, and I was sweating, and I loved it. I just can't wait for that kind of weather to be an every-day thing. So here's a little ode to MY holiday...THE FOURTH OF JULY!

I guess pictures like these will just have to tide me over for the next four months. God bless America!
xoxo
Maria

If today wasn't already beautiful enough...this little gem just fell into my lap. WONDERFUL cover.

Another fun cover of this song I got to experience live in August. Very different feel for this song, but both versions are great nonetheless.

Hope you are enjoying the sun today!

xoxo Maria

today

Tell someone you love them. We all need to hear it a little more often.

VS

So I understand it comes with a little bit of controversy, but one of my favorite events happened last night....the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. I know some people think it is so weird to be interested in that or that it is inappropriate, and I respect your opinion. But for me it is all about the incredible display of ART that walks that runway. I watch all the behind the scenes and "the making of the costumes" videos they post before the show, and I just adore what the designers put on the runway. They use practical VS pieces that you or I could buy in the store and then rev it up a notch with themes, glitter, crystals, sky-high heels, and of course-wings.

Last night we had a viewing party on the Zeta floor and lots of girls gathered to watch. We even hooked up the projector to the tv so the models were displayed larger than life on the wall. It was pretty cool if I do say so myself. Here are a few of my favorite looks from the night....

They opened the show with a Ballet section. These are my two favorites. (Notice the "pointe shoes")

Then there was a Super Angels section. Very comic book-esqe. Seth Cohen would like these ladies.

 

These 3 looks were part of the Passion set. LOVE the flamenco look and all the jewels of the second with the mini half-tutu. And the black lace wings are fabulous on the last.

The Aquatic was my favorite section as a whole with all the beautiful blues, greens, and purples. And lots of sequins and iridescence. Absolutely beautiful.

And of course we can't leave out Adam Levine. Maroon 5 performed, and these pictures show him and his gf Anne V. They were precious, to say the least.

There was an "I Put a Spell on You" section with a historic New Orleans feel. I wasn't a fan of any of the outfits except this one. Just a precious ringleader. I feel like it came straight out of Water for Elephants.

 

And here's my favorite look of the night. Those wings weigh 40 lbs. but they couldn't be more stunning. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Well hope you have enjoyed these looks...let's just say I'm a sucker for any kind of dress up/costumes. Can't wait for next year!

xoxo Maria

read it

I've always been an avid reader...loved required reading in high school, loved lit classes, and most of all loved reading for pleasure. The past few years I feel like I've struggled to find time to actually sit down and enjoy meaningful books. I can read the mindless "beach" books, as I call them, but not could not focus on deeper books. This summer, however, that all changed...

This was the motto of the summer. Something we LIVED by in Cabins 1-4. After the girls were asleep it was time to sneak out to the porch or into the bathroom to squeeze in as many chapters as I could before my eyes could take no more. I read SO many books this summer...and SO many life-changing ones. Two will forever and always hold a special place in my heart (especially the highlighted, marked in copies I currently own).

Good stuff. Go! Read them now.

Recently I've carried over my summer habit into the school year. I've read 3 books in the past week or so, and I just can't get enough. Books are liberating. They teach me about life. They take me to another world. I've been on the inspirational kick too. Those books that feel like they were written directly to me. Exactly what I need to hear each time I pick them up. My current read right now...

Good stuff so far! I encourage you to get out there and read if you don't already. It can change your life. Wishing my room will look like this one day :)

xoxo, Maria

So I've been a failure of a blogger lately. I feel like it's my first time to breathe in a few weeks, soooo here goes. Also, I have been blocked from adding pictures on FB for a week (don't ask me why-it's a touchy subject) but....I'm going to give you a picture update here!!

Vacation to Charlotte, NC was a success! Very nice and relaxing way to end my break.

 Such a great movie!

 Mom and I with (kinda) the skyline behind us. And let me add, this was on the top of Target's PARKING GARAGE!

Playing in Discovery Place

 And then this came......

Which led to too many hours in the airport.

 I got to spend my next weekend with the most wonderful girls in the WORLD!! DNOW always gets the year off to a perfect start. Love them :)

 Welcome to Step Sing 2011

Then on to Nashville for Predators hockey.

 Trophies with the shoe dipped in mud. It was fitting.

 It was quite a muddy day. Unfortunately you can't tell how much mud is on our legs because we're white as ghosts. I love winter.

My dad put on a great race today!! Nat and I even won trophies :) Needless to say, it's been a great weekend at home.

Hope everyone is doing well.

xoxo, Maria

wrap it up

I will soon be wrapping up my break....countdown to classes=1 week. I'm taking some things back to Florence tomorrow and then heading to Charlotte, NC for a quick vacation over the weekend. It will be the last hooray of this Christmas break. I guess I'm ready to be back at school and in a routine, but not ready for classes quite yet.

It was a wonderful break with lots of relaxing down-time, time to see friends and family, and time to reflect on the past year. I love the time of New Years where although nothing monumental changes, I can feel a change in the air around me. I am not one for New Years resolutions at all because I feel if you want to change something about yourself, do it when you want/need to, not just because there is now a new number on the calendar. Something I've noticed over the break is rustling in me to change something about myself.

I want to strive to be more aware of those around me, AND a better listener.

The first part of this thought stems from something that happened at one of my family Christmases. My grandmother got a new, beautiful, white coat from my grandad for Christmas. They were both very proud of it, and Gram couldn't wait to show it off. She wore it on the 26th when we went to Madison for Christmas. Of course, when we got there we took of our coats and put them in a room, but everyone had a chance to see them. We we got back in the car to leave, the first thing Pop asked Gram was, "What did they think of your coat?" Gram simply said no one had said anything about it. For some reason this made me sad because she had been SO proud of her new gift.

This made me start thinking, how often do I let things just slide by my eyes or ears. It was a beautiful coat, worthy of being complimented whether someone knew if it was new or not. I think our unawareness often comes from being too wrapped up in our own lives to notices things in others'. I want to be aware to notice people's feelings too. There is a lot we can tell just by people's faces or their voices.

This leads to the other part of my thought...being a better listener. This one is actually funny because I pride myself on being the world's BEST listener. I come from a family of talkers, and I have some of the loudest/most talkative friends in the world. I was always okay with being the quiet one so I did a lot of listening. Recently, though, I've realized some of my listening isn't listening at all. I act like I am, but I'm actually daydreaming and not listening at all. Which leads to....the simple head nod and "uh huh." Oops.

I want to do better on my listening because noticing this about myself makes me think that there are probably some important people in my life who don't listen to me as much as I would like. There were several times over the break where this was clearly happening, so I bottled up. I'm not going to carry on a conversation with someone who isn't really contributing. But...there was also one conversation where a lot of focus was placed on listening. A conversation with my best friend that lasted until 4:00 in the morning where we took turns sharing our life from the past year with each other and offering advice when needed. It was so very refreshing. Someone honestly listening to me, and me to them. I want more conversations like this one in my life, and I'm going to be the one to make them happen.

As I heard in church this past weekend, the top 9 most common New Years resolutions are focused on what people can do for/change about ME.
These are the things I want to do for others in my life...awareness and listening. It may be hard, but I'm going to work hard.

xoxo, Maria