Hiatus

Sooo this is going to be the least profound thing I've ever written. You've been warned!

I knew the days (days?! when did it become days?!) leading up the the wedding were going to be stressful. And crazy. And time consuming.

And then because I'm the adventurous type, I signed up for a half marathon (my first, might I add) 9 days after the wedding.

AND THEN.... (I feel like that drive-though lady in "Dude, Where's My Car?")

And then to top it all off, I am now running a FEVER. Cool. No sarcastic pun intended.

Actually, it's not the flu. But it was still the last thing I needed right now. Did I mention my family from America is starting to arrive in less than a week?

Which is why I am taking a blogging hiatus for the next couple of weeks. I had some things written in advance, because I knew how busy I'd be preparing for everything. But you know what... I'm saying screw it for now. I need to rest, spend time with my family, work on my new settlement visa, and let's be honest, enjoy my last days as a single lady!

I will be back in action in a couple of weeks after I've rested up, visited London and Paris with the fam, and you know, gotten married!

Until then, have an amazing couple of weeks! xx

Inside The Wardrobe: What's Black, White, & Red all over?

A newspaper! Isn't that the answer to that joke? I can't really remember... I haven't heard it since I was about 7...

But what is black, white, and READ all over? Today's "Inside the Wardrobe" outfit, of course!

Jumper . . Trousers . . Bracelet . . Flats . . Bag . . Book

I wasn't really a fan of an all black and white colour scheme until I started putting together this outfit. I originally thought, I need a chic black and white dress.

And what do I find?? The total opposite.

A comfy outfit perfect for when my nose is in a book for hours.... I mean days....

See? Black and white.... and read all over! 

(And I just had to add this book to my outfit today. On Tuesday I confessed how overly obsessed I get with any good book series. The "Infernal Devices" has officially captured my heart this week. Cassandra Clare also wrote one of my other favourite series called "The Mortal Instruments". [Hint, they're making it into a movie this year. Read it before all the teeny boppers do!] I delayed buying this series because I knew I'd be an anti-social readaholic. Let's just say this readaholic relapsed. Oops.)

How do you like monochrome outfits? Are you all for this black and white trend or do you prefer to be red all over? Or green all over? Or a jubilee of colours all over??

(Link up with My Friday's Fancies)

The Useless Facts Of Tay

When I saw Whitney was doing a "Facts of Me" link up, I nearly fell over with excitement. Such a clever idea from my fellow Nole Girl!

I love random facts about people. I wish people would introduce themselves with something completely ridiculous rather than the basics. I don't care how normal you are; I want to know that you wish the sky was made of hedgehogs and have a phobia of Styrofoam. We'll be best friends forever.




So here are some incredibly useless facts about me.

1. I've lived in England for nearly 4 months, but every Sunday I still look at the Target sales ad to see what things I "need" from there. I could probably live on Mars and I'd still look at the Target ad.  

2. When I find a book or book series that I like, I go crazy and read all day long to finish it. (At the end of this week you'll get to see what world I'm currently trapped in at the moment.)

3. I want to do a triathlon. I don't own a bike or any useful swimming gear.

4. I worked on a cruise ship for four and a half months. It was both my favorite job and my least favorite job. Downside: 14 hours days and zero days off. Perk: I got paid to go snorkeling in Maui.

Look, ma! No hands!

5. My fingers are "double jointed", which just means they're overly flexible. They overextend instead of going straight. I can bend my thumb all the way forward and all the way back to my wrist. It freaks most people out.

6. I spend a ridiculous amount of time watching "Beauty Gurus" on YouTube. You'd think I was massively into make-up. Nope. I SUCK at doing makeup!! I watch all these tutorials and fail miserably at them. If someone wants to teach me, I will pay you in hugs and Harry Potter facts.

7. I love braids. French braids, fishtail braids, waterfall braids, I've even masted the 5 stranded braid.

8. I'm so overprotective of my chap stick. I feel I have super bragging rights whenever I finish some Burt's Bees without losing it. You should be able to put that on your resume.

9. I think I accidentally started collecting English sports jerseys. I have 4 Southampton FC shirt, an England football shirt, an England cricket shirt, and an England rugby shirt. Oops!

10. I also accidentally started my shot glass collection. I bought a shot glass from London and one from Paris the first time I went abroad for my friend and ended up never giving them to her. Now every place I visit I have to buy a shot glass.

11. I've never seen "The Notebook".

12. I used to LOVE making t-shirts. I was obsessed with tie dye and puffy paint. And then I would legitimately wear them out in public. I look back and am like "WTF was I thinking?!" Although, I still think this personalized homemade crossword puzzle shirt is amazing.

The perks of being a camp counselor... Being able to dress like a fool. 

13. I love the number 13! It's my lucky number.

14.  I've been to Disney World in Orlando, Disney Land in California, and Disney Land in Paris. It's my life goal to go to every Disney park in the world!

15. I hate bananas. I tell people I'm allergic to them so that they don't come near me.

16. I started going to FSU when I was 17. Here's some advice for all the kiddies out there: don't go to college until you're 18. You'll spend many nights alone, not clubbing, watching The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Or maybe that was just me....

This is seriously what I used to do.... Take pictures on my new laptop. Oh look, another homemade t-shirt. I wish I was kidding.

17. My hair is naturally super straight. I absolutely hate it most days.

18. I put Frank's Hot Sauce on everything. I'm so happy they sell it in England!

19. I'd probably order off the kids menu if it was more socially acceptable. I'm sorry, I don't care about your catch of the day or fresh garden salads or whatever. Give me chicken nuggets and fries, please. And one of those coloring sheets and crayons while you're at it. And a Shirley Temple. With Vodka.

20. I touched Tom Felton's hand (the guy who plays Draco Malfoy in HP) at the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere in London. We're best friends now (I wish).

That's him! He touched everyone hand, but mine was definitely the best.

Let's be friends! Let me know if you do the link-up!

My First Snow Day

I'm from south Florida, where there's an abundance of sun but not a lot of snow. Actually, that "not a lot" part doesn't need to be there. There is no snow in south Florida. Ever.

But Friday, I experienced what every Floridian either dreams of or dreads........

A Snow Day.

Don't judge my pink wellies.

This wasn't just any snow day. I'd call it the Snow Bonanza of 2013.

It started snowing at around stupid o'clock in the morning. (Or so we've been told. We weren't awake at stupid o'clock.) By the time Alex woke up for work, it was clear that driving was not an option as it was snowing cats and dogs. Is that a real phrase? Do people say snowing cats and dogs? Well, you get the point.

So we did what any adults would do in this situation. We made a snowman.

My first ever snow man. I've made sandcastles out the wazoo in SoFla, but I've never made a snowman until now.

I asked Alex what we should name him. He said "John". I was thinking something more festive or punny. But I didn't object. His name is John.

We invited him to our wedding. We're BFFs.

Then we did what any adults should have done first in this snow day situation. We went to the pub.

This is not the pub. This was our journey to the pub. This is also where I run. Normally it's green and has paths. Lots and lots of paths. But it has turned into a blanket of running death now. 

Shameless photo opp with pretty snow trees.

When we finally made our trek through the snow to the pub, it was packed with people! And it wasn't even 3:00 yet! Yes, schools are shut. Offices are closed. But you best believe the pub is open!

We didn't want to deal with the big groups of "shh don't tell my boss I'm here" people drinking their £8 a glass mulled cider. So we braved the cold outside before meeting up with friends.

Snow on the table keeping my cider cold. Yes, it is minus whatever degrees outside, and my concern is keeping my drink cold. Actually, not really. This just shows the amount of snow that built up on the table.

About 4 ciders and 84 pointless expat stories later (seriously, that's all people do is ask me about my Americanisms), I survived my first snow day!

Anyone else survive the Snow Bonanza of 2013 this weekend??!

Inside The Wardrobe: Admiring From Afar

Let's be honest. I spend loads of time on Pinterest. Most of the time, I automatically click the humour section so I can have a good laugh at e-cards and cats. But my second favourite thing to do is to click on the women's fashion section and play a little game that I like to call "admiring from afar".

Admiring from afar can be played by anyone at anytime. It's a fun and addicting game for all ages! Basically it's online window shopping for fabulous people with a less than fabulous budget. Or less than fabulous creativity when it come to styling. Or both!

I found this outfit here. After admiring from afar for a while, I realized I had a massive outfit crush on it. 

Shirt . . Skirt . . Earrings . . Flats . . Necklace . . Belt . . Bag

  

Outfit crush for a few reasons. 

1) I love high-waisted skirts but feel like whenever I style them I look like a pilgrim. 

2) Mint green. 

3) It looks so girly without being over the top. 

I obviously tweaked my "mint to be" outfit a bit. I don't particularly like those bauble necklaces (no offense if you do! They're cute but I'd probably never buy one...) so I added a simpler necklace so you can see the pink collar on the shirt.  And the original shoes for this were bright yellow heels. I opted for a comfier and more subtle alternative.

But if I could just rip all the clothes out of the screen and put them inside my wardrobe, I would!   

What is your "outfit crush"? Do they tend to be outfits out of your comfort zone or ones that you would put together yourself?

(Link up with My Friday's Fancies)