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

break

It's been far too long...my apologies. Christmas Break has been exactly that...a break. A break from my normal routine life at school, a break from homework and studying, a break from waking up early. It's been so great to be home. To be able to sit around reading or working a puzzle with my mom. I haven't really done anything exciting yet, but that's okay with me. For once in my life, I don't know what each day holds, and I like that.

I went to stay in Oxford for a night with Natalie last week. I spent a night in Fulton with friends for our second annual Christmas party. Jay came for an extended weekend visit. We celebrated my dad's 50th birthday with a big party last night. And today I went ice skating with some friends. And I've tried to restart my running career. Hahaha, that's interesting to say the least. It's been a low-key and relaxing break so far.

I honestly can't believe Christmas is 3 days away, especially with this A+ weather we've been having. It makes the bitter cold of some other days a little more bearable. Hope everyone is having a safe and fun holiday!

xoxo, Maria

nutcracker

So I'm going to follow up my bitter Christmas post with one about something I have to admit I love about Christmas time....The Nutcracker Ballet. My childhood dance studio puts it on every year, and I went home this weekend just to see it. I was in it every year until my sophomore year when weekends during the fall couldn't handle all day Saturday cross country meets, Sunday Nutcracker practice, and homework. So for the past 5 years I've just been a dedicated watcher.

This year I couldn't help but laugh at so much of it. There are so many things I could take in that I never thought about or noticed when I was in it. One simply being the fact that I could step up there and do every single dance I've been in exactly. It's timeless, and the steps only have changed slightly. But it's so fun and beautiful all at the same time. I wouldn't trade my Nutcracker memories for anything...

• The time the tree caught on fire as it grew.
• The evolution of polychinelles from Raggedy Ann dolls, to gingerbread people, to clowns.
• Begging my "dad" in the party scene to carry me offstage as we left.
• Bribing Clara before the show to give me the nut when she got to do the Nutcracker.
• When Greeting wore those gosh-awful skin-tight, candy cane body suits.
• When all the snow poured out at once instead of the light trickle.
• Watching Angels go to the wrong tree every year and then mess it all up.
• Meredith slipping and falling on the "soapy" snow as she went offstage.
• The year I was a toy and one of us stood up and collapsed to the floor because her legs were asleep from sitting for so long. I think I laughed.
• Thinking Tony was the funniest person alive when he did the Mechanical Doll dance purposely wrong.
• Getting individually sized and fitted to be the first ever to wear the new Russian costumes...custom made for us.
• When the umbrellas for Chinese were still those superrrrr old yellowish, smelly ones.
• When Gumdrops still existed.
• Watching from the wings as the male professional danced...we were always so amazed.
• The fact that I was NEVER in the fight scene. Don't know how I got away with that.
• The old costumes that the mice had...they were legit mangey fur.
• The year my grade were the Claras. Let's just say a huge fight went down. Enough said.
• And lots and lots of yelling at every practice, but we still loved it.

It's a classic. 

xoxo, Maria

the explanation

So it has been quite a while, but now that it's December I thought I would let everyone in one a little secret. For those of you who know me well, you know that I don't like Christmas. Yes, I'm aware that most people almost fall over from a heart attack after they hear this, but I'm going to attempt to explain it.

It first starts with the fact that I despise winter and cold more than anything in the world. I would rather be sitting outside in the blazing Mississippi heat swimming in my sweat than be cold. It's just not fun. And there is only so much bundling I can do before it's ridiculous, so I'd just rather spend my time complaining. And with Christmas comes very cold weather.

I've always wondered why people need to get ready for Christmas so early. Is it necessary to put your tree up around Halloween just because, well heck, Christmas will be here in a few months. Just wait people. I promise the 25 days of December gives you plenty of time to decorate and enjoy it if that's what you want.

Also, the main reason I have a problem with Christmas is people never ever remember the REASON FOR THE SEASON. Simply put, in America we really only celebrate Commercialized Christmas, not Religious Christmas. It is so frustrating to me to hear all the talk about Christmas music, and trees, and presents, and food, and lights, and SANTA. Where is Jesus in all of this? Does no one remember that the purpose of CHRISTmas is celebrating His birth???

I realize some of you know that I never believed in Santa growing up (another huge shock, I know). I understand it is a fun tradition and neat for kids, but let's be real...he isn't real. And I promise you, I turned out just fine without believing. I want to tell my mom every year that I don't want any presents, but I can't bring myself to do it. I know she loves a good tradition, and we've always done it the same way, so I just accept it. I do feel blessed to have grown up in a family that wasn't extravagant about our spending and gifts at Christmas because it isn't necessary when we don't need new things.

You may want to call me Ebeneezer like Brittney does, and I'll take it, but all I'm asking is for the focus of Christmas to be turned around for once. I might be able to enjoy all the festivities that come with Christmastime if we could first celebrate the birth of our Savior. I find that my favorite parts of the season are those related to my church.

The Christmas Eve service is probably my single most favorite night of the whole year. There is just something magical about that night and the message it provides. Leaving in darkness and silence really sets the mood that I feel we should have leading up to Christmas...anticipation of what is to come and calm focus for His birth.

So I challenge you this Christmas season so not be bitter or sinister like I may seem to be, but to turn your focus around. Remember what this holiday is here for. Reflect on His special place in your life. And put Him FIRST. It's that simple.

Enjoy this time of year
xoxo, Maria