True Friends

When you're in high school, everyone tells you to cherish your friendships for those four years because, after that, most of them end.
I disagree with that.
I have found that the friendships don't end after you graduate, you just found out which ones were truly there to begin with.
All of the friendships I have lost after high school started disintegrating before we even graduated.
I feel closer to some of my friends from high school now than I even did before.

Most people say that the friends that matter will stick around, but that's not necessarily true either.
Some of those people that you thought mattered will surprise you, in good ways and bad.

I don't really think that the friendships end.
I think that they begin.

I've known one of my best friends for about 11-12 years now, and we have definitely had our ups and downs, but we have been there for each other through everything.
Throughout our friendship, we didn't talk all the time.
We were both really involved in different activities, and we would catch up when we could, but we were never those inseparable friends.
Yet, when we talk, it doesn't feel different at all no matter how long it has been, which is nice.

Actually, I have a few friends like this.

I recently started catching up with one of my old friends, and I feel like we have always gotten along really well and had a lot in common. I feel like I'm almost getting a new friendship out of it because we're talking more now than we did before!

I feel like all of the friends I've had throughout the years are going to be lifelong friends, whether we talk once a day, week, month, or year.
And the point of this post was to tell ya'll that I miss you!!!

I've realized just how much all of you guys mean to me, and I want to give all of my true friends a big "I love you, be happy" shout-out!

 Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,
Stephanie<3

City Lights

This past weekend was quite an adventure.
I have needed a mini-vacation for quite some time now.
I've needed to just get away from everything.

And last weekend, I got that.

My parents, Ry, and I went up to Milwaukee on Saturday morning.
Actually, we first went to Cedarburg, which is a small town just outside of Milwaukee that houses tons of quirky little shops and my parents' favorite winery.
We explored the shops, ate some wonderful popcorn that we get every time we go there, and took a picture with a really cute panda:)

Cute, right?:)

 After our time in Cedarburg, we made our way to our hotel in Milwaukee, the Hilton Garden Inn. I have to say this is one of the nicest hotels I've stayed in, and Ry was absolutely amazed with how nice it was. Our curtains were controlled with buttons on the opposite side of the room. Pretty nifty I would say.

Ry was hiding behind the curtains:)

We ate dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, as we always do in Milwaukee, and then Ry and I headed to the mall.
I have never been more disappointed by a mall in my life. The only store worth visiting was the huge TJ Maxx.
We did, however, stop by the Culver's in the food court and downed a pint of chocolate custard with Reese's mixed in. Definitely wonderful.

There was an absolutely beautiful view as we were walking back to the hotel. It felt really nice to walk hand-in-hand through the city lights. 

Later that night, we ventured to a bookstore that was across the street, and it was so fun. The bookstore had shelves that went all the up to the ceiling, filled to the brim with books. There were two cats wandering around that lived in the bookstore, and I think I would just live there and read all day every day if I could.

When we got back to the room, we ordered take-out, which was delicious, and then we all passed out before 10 p.m.
It was the first good night of sleep I have gotten in about 2 weeks.

met a new beau at the musem! he's irish;)

The next morning, we went to the wonderful buffet breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to the Milwaukee Public Museum. We had such fun there, and it was pretty educational too.

Here are the rest of the pictures I took:

Our walk back to the hotel.

View from the hotel

Another view.

They had lots of gross bugs and spiders.

Aargh matey!

My favorite animal:)

The butterfly exhibit was beautiful.

One landed on my daddy:)

Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,

Stephanie<3

Weekend of Champions

Alright, so most of the people who read this blog, assuming there are people who read this blog, know me pretty well. 
But for those of you who don't know me that well, here is a brief overview of me (how I see myself at least).
-I can be super outgoing if I am around a group of people, but if it is just you and me, or just me by myself, I am pretty laid back and, I think, kind of boring:P
-I don't break the rules (except in fashion, and only sometimes). I feel super guilty if I skip a class, and I have and always will turn down offers to drink, TP, or do anything illegal or stupid or possibly harmful to myself or others.
-I like schedules. I like knowing what I am doing for the day and the week. When plans change, I get a little freaked out.
-I have anxiety issues. I manage these by keeping my schedules and not breaking the rules.

There is much more to who I am, but this is enough description to tell ya'll why this weekend was awesome.

My weekend started on Thursday, which was Valentine's Day, because Ry had no school. I had school, which went by super fast, and then I came home. Ry came over and presented me with a giant pink teddy bear, and lots of chocolate. And also with a letter. A letter that said a lot of things that needed to be said and that helped us begin to resolve a lot of things.
The letter was by far my favorite present.
Then, we went to his parent's archery shop, Obsession Archery, and shot a few rounds with our bows. This was a treat for me because I love to shoot, but we rarely get to.

After that, we went to the local pet store to play with the puppies and fell in love with a little yorkiepoo. We wanted to bring home so bad. He was the perfect little puppy!
We then went to the mall, where I drooled over everything at LOFT, and then made our way to dinner. We couldn't decide on a place, and didn't want to wait forever, so we just went to Dairy Queen! It was wonderful just to spend time with each other. We desperately needed it.

Friday, we shot archery again, and spent the day playing games and relaxing.
Saturday, we shot archery yet again, and went thrifting (got so many good deals. post to come).
Sunday, we went to the gym in the morning, which is one of our favorite things to do together. Then we just relaxed and played games for the rest of the day.
Monday, we shot archery AGAIN, and then we went to see "Identity Thief" at the movies, which was great.

The greatest part of all of this is that all of our plans worked out. We planned almost all of this stuff ahead of time, and nothing came up and ruined any single one of our plans.
We both had a wonderful time, and it felt wonderful to just spend time with him.
We are "dating" again, and it feels great. It is nice to go on dates and get to know him again.

Anyways, this weekend was fun. I just had to tell you all about it!:)

We finally have our smiles back<3

 Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,
Stephanie<3

Hello Cute Shoes

Some day last week, I decided to wear an outfit that was completely in between comfy and put together, and this is what I put together.

 Cardi: Target, $8 on clearance
Tank: Target, gift
Jeans: Some website:P
Shoes: Sperry's. blistermakers.


















I definitely wish that I would have worn my knee high camel colored boots with this outfit, but alas, I did not.
Which is why I ended up with humongous, biting blisters on the backs of my heels that day. The first one came after only a 5 minute walk from my car to class.

The most saddening part of the whole thing is that I try every chance I have to wear these shoes. I tell myself that someday, they'll stretch out when I wear them, so they won't give me blisters anymore. But every time I wear them...hello blisters.
What a waste of such a cute pair of shoes (I'll have to update with a close-up pic of them later).

  

Although these shoes are painful, I will probably trick myself into wearing them again.

They are just so alluring with their adorable little floral print and preppy appeal.

I will try to refrain though, because although most people say beauty is pain, I say...

Comfort is Key.

With that, I leave ya'll to have a terrific Tuesday.

 And remember, comfort is key. Don't wear those piercing heels or those pinch your skin jeans, it is SO not worth it.

Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,

Stephanie<3 

Shopping Nightmare.

Ok, so I never thought I would ever have a bad time shopping, but yesterday proved me oh-so wrong.
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to go jean shopping last night after being in a crappy mood all day and on the last day of Aunt Flo's visit.  I have concluded that I am an idiot.
I tried on about a dozen pairs of jeans, none of which looked good, which could have possibly had something to do with the fact that I was angry at the world and wouldn't even have thought an ice cream cone looked appetizing.
Anyways, I hate that different brands of jeans have completely different sizing. I own size 10's that fit me, and I tried on a size 14 yesterday that I barely squeezed into!
Confused much??
I just can't understand why clothing brands do that. I mean, wouldn't they make the sizes run big to make people feel skinnier when they try their clothes on?
If I found a brand where I could wear a small shirt and a size 8 pant, I would buy nothing else.

In conclusion, shopping sucks when you already want to punch your loving boyfriend in the face for no reason at all and you're bloated.
So, I warn you. DON'T DO IT! Ever. Never do what I did.

Also something to never do, never leave your phone in a fitting room and then wait until you're on the opposite side of the mall to realize. Not fun.

Take my advice my little sparklers.

Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,
Stephanie<3

Long Time No See!

Well, it sure has been awhile.  I've missed ya'll greatly, and hopefully, you've missed me and the blog a little bit too.

Here's an update on my life in the past month or so:

I am now in the Spring semester of my Freshman year of college, and am doing pretty well.

All my classes are easy yet interesting, and things are just looking up lately!

I've been going to the gym regularly, and eating better.

Except on the weekend. My self-discipline disappears at 4 o'clock on Friday afternoon and doesn't show itself until Monday morning!

Despite the indulgent weekends, I have already lost a few pounds and am feeling way better about myself!:)

Ry and I had our first anniversary on New Year's Day, and we have been doing great!  He actually got me hooked on this SUPER nerdy video game, and I hate him for it because I play it WAY more than I should.

I have been thrifting like crazy and finding amazing deals, which rarely used to happen.  I don't know if this is just a lucky streak or if I have become a thrifting expert, but I would like to think it results from the latter.

I think I've realized that I should only buy super comfortable fabrics and textures because that is all I wear lately.  If it doesn't feel like I could wear it to bed, it gets thrown into the darkest depths of the black hole that is my closet.  I've amazed myself with the cute clothing I find that is pajama material (ha! double meaning there!).

Anyways, I will be posting my latest thrift stores finds as I wear them, so look out for those posts!

Now that I go to school almost every day, I have been putting outfits together way more than I used to.

So be prepared for many more posts from me! Mostly outfits and DIY's, but also just about my life and schtuff.

Stay tuned!:)

Live, Love, and Let it Sparkle,

Stephanie<3