I Want Candy

It's my understanding that several of you religious BOD followers have been anticipating a follow-up post explaining my recent Facebook profile picture. Believe it or not, the photo was a product of a school assignment. In my textiles & apparel class, we were asked to make an inspirationally-charged editoral. Julianne and I teamed up for the task, and in honor of the candy-filled aisles at the grocery store for Halloween, this A + O line, this post dating a few months back, and a Project Runway  challenge titled "Candy Couture", we felt there was no choice but to make candy our theme.


We were asked to document the styling before the shoot, including accessories


and make-up.


We got a hold of some more costume-y make-up in bold and glittery shades to complement the color scheme of the candies.


Instead of tasting the rainbow, we were inspired by Skittles to wear the rainbow (but obviously we tasted it afterwards too).


Behind our counter of candies, Jules is searching for some last minute inspiration. We took a tiny dose of inspiration from this 2009 Rolling Stones shoot, featuring Blake Lively & Leighton Meester during the peak of their Gossip Girl success.


And thus, the shoot began, starting with truly wearable candy--Ring Pops, a classic from almost everyone's childhood.


In an attempt to embrace a more mature look, we poured the Skittles into wine glasses.



And then we mastered the art of blowing bubbles.


Well, most times anyway.


Jules was the only one who posed with the Twizzlers, as they are her favorite candy and probably my least.


We wanted to achieve some sort of contrast in our look, but cohesiveness at the same time. To do so, Julianne took a more neon approach, honoring such candies like Skittles, sour worms, or Starburst. My look was reflecting such sweets like cotton candy or Sweet Tarts.


And that's where this came about.

Whether you're giving or receiving, I hope you all enjoy some candy treats tomorrow!

Sense Appeal VIII

for the eyes: 

Oh Chair, you're so epic. The quintessential power couple ready to rule Manhattan. Only seven episodes remain! Please please have Bass babies before we say au revoir to GG for good.

for the mind:



{from top to bottom: celebration after a fourth-quarter interception // head ND coach Brian Kelly watches his football team continue their success during Saturday's win over the Oklahoma Sooners, // OU coach Bob Stoops does not remain as cool and collected watching his team get defeated by the team with the biggest brand name in college football  // photos c/o The Chicago Tribune}
Rather than my usual approach with thought-provoking words, today we'll examine numbers. With three generations of Fightin' Irish men in my family, declaring our family as Notre Dame fans is an understatement. (Y'all, my dog is named after a former coach if that puts it into perspective.) Last night, they succeeded in maintaining their undefeated status as they pulled off a 30-13 victory over OU, making them 8-0 and ranked number four. My parents and oldest brother Chris (ND grad) went to Oklahoma to see it live, and I'm so happy their trip ended up being celebratory.

for the ears:

I love A Fine Frenzy, so when I saw her new song, "Now Is The Start", was the free single of the week on iTunes, I downloaded it without even bothering to preview it. Alison Sudol (the female vocalist of A.F.F.) claims her third album, 'Pines', is her most personal yet; she found her inspiration in C.S. Lewis books and things other than just "romantic heartbreak." A critic wrote that her songs "drift, swell, and surge like water pulled by tidal forces." Couldn't have said it better myself. It's no longer free but believe me it's well worth the $1.29.

fashion for feel:

Whoever decided to put an Urban Outfitters in the heart of the drag--oh so easily accessible on my walks home from class--was one all too smart individual. I fell into the temptation to peruse through the  racks on my way home on Thursday, and ended up with this bag (here's a similar version online). Total impulse buy, but I totally love it for the contrast contained in the bold pattern in an array of muted metallic shades.

for taste:


Meghan, Willa and I are trying to implement a tradition of Sunday brunch together. Willa, being the Austinite of this trio, took us to one of her favorite spots, and I think it has deemed itself worthy of being our designated destination. With a full coffee bar, stocked pastry window and menu full of sweet and savory brunch options, Russell's Bistro is also convenient, trés chic and semi-cheap. So yeah, we're into it. Safe to say we didn't discover it though; today the wait was rather long (its neighbor is the original Kerbey Lane--another popular bfast spot), but luckily the weather was out of this world today, so we enjoyed our cappuccinos outside while waiting for our table.

This weekend was practically perfect. My test was postponed 'til this week, so I got to enjoy our costume date party on Thursday and get all dolled up for SAE Vegas on Friday. Saturday allowed me time to unwind, complete with takeout and Target runs. I hope you're Halloweekends were just as great!

Let's Connect

In my latest issue of Elle, I read an article highlighting a day in the life of Donna Karan, American fashion designer extraordinaire. Following a detailed play-by-play of the ins and outs of her non-stop itenerary, she closed by revealing her secret to keeping calm, cool and collected (on most days, anyway). She says it's connecting the dots. "Philanthropy to commerce to children: it all connects. I can't separate any of it. It's just that sometimes there are more dots on the piece of paper than I can handle."


One person leads to the next. One moment leads to another moment. One thought leads to the another, creating a train of thoughts. Connecting the dots makes our lives whole, thus in turn, makes us whole.


I find the concept of connection, in all aspects of life, to be quite satisfying. When material in one class connects to another, I sense my bits of knowledge coming together, molding me into the educated person I've always strived to be. When I encounter a stranger, only later to find out he knows my dad's uncle's cousin's fiancée, I feel as though I'm a little more in sync with the world than I thought just moments before. And when I connect with someone on that unique level where I know we can discuss politics, our favorite pair of jeans and a love for chili cheese fries, well, that's just the best connection of all.


This video was featured on the Facebook log-in page, and normally I'd ignore it and carry on in whatever stalking endeavor I had planned. But, something told me this was going to be one of those videos that moved you in just 90 seconds. It was. See how--through chairs, doorbells, and airplanes--we connect. It's pretty neat and just might inspire you to hold hands, send a text, say a prayer, share a photo, write a letter, hug it out, or do whatever it is you do to connect.

Sense Appeal VII

for the eyes: 

Decorative straws added a festive flair to our gathering at Peyton's family's loft on Friday night to kick off Kappa parent's weekend.

for the mind:
All men are created equal. This, to many, is probably debatable; however, in the heat of my attempt to crank out my philosophy paper (SOS!), I found Hobbes's take on how we achieve such equality to be intriguing.

"For such is the nature of men that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty or more eloquent or more learned, they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves for they see their own wit at hand and other men's at a distance. But this proveth rather that men are in that point equal, than unequal. For there is not ordinarily a greater sign of the equal distributuion of anything than that every man is contented with his share." -Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Part I: Of Man, 124

for the ears:

Just hours ago, teenage girls everywhere freaked out. To many it's the most wonderful time of year with Taylor Swift's album release. Her name has become as iconic as Britney Spears with her pop country tunes. So far, I find Red to be even better than Speak Now. And it seems that she hasn't lost her large fan base, as Red is already an overnight sensation, not unlike all of the singles leading up to this big release. What's the new "Love Story", you ask? I'm tempted to predict it'll be "I Knew You Were Trouble.", a classic Taylor tune speaking to all girls who have ever had a bad boy toy with her heart.

fashion for feel:

As I've gotten older, I've become awfully picky and choosy with my clothing selections. I experienced this recently during my hunt for the perfect peplum top. Peplum is a trend I foresee sticking around for awhile, mostly because its silhouette flatters almost all figures. While I feel the trend has been relevant in skirts and dresses for some time now, its presence in tops is at its peak. I finally ordered this TopShop version, which I hope will serve as a great go-to for work and play.

for taste:




We celebrated our first Wine Wednesday in 304 this week, complete with red velvet brownie making and a karaoke competition featuring classics like Ashlee Simpson's "Boyfriend" and "SOS" by Rihanna.

Now I shall embrace the little sleep I can before I get to my week of tackling two projects, a quiz, a paper, and two tests. Wish me luck! But actually.

: )

What do you want out of life?

This question is annoyingly general, so very cliché, and far too complex to answer concisely, yet at the same time, most people seem to deliver the same response.

"I wanna be happy."

The US ranks number one in wealth and 23rd in happiness. What's with the disconnect?

Many were curious and research has been done which can be found in a wealth of books and most recently in a must-see documentary fittingly titled, "Happy."

Due to my bedridden state last weekend, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time with my Netflix account. Their collection of videos available for instant watching is minimal, but the departments they're never lacking in are TV series and documentaries--two of my favorites. After this shout out on Cupcakes + Cashmere, I decided to check out "Happy."

While the documentary was uplifting, inspiring and fascinating in its entirety, I found this tidbit to be the most impactful.

Half of our happiness comes from our genes. Indeed, we are genetically programmed to achieve a certain capacity of happiness. We all know those people that are ridiculously smiley and happy all the time, you know, the ones we want to slap on Monday mornings. They got a lot of this happy gene. And then the more brooding folk--not so much, I guess.

Then there's a little sliver, approximately 10%, that comes from the things we think make up for most of our happiness--money, clothes, status, cars, popularity, big houses. And they do--temporarily at least.

So we have 40% remaining. This part is in our hands, a strange but almost comforting feeling. The problem about this is that few of us recognize this fact, thus we don't actively act upon it. This is that run in the morning, a coffee date with our best friend, pursuing our passions, alone time, etc.

Another misconceived fact most humans believe about happiness is that tragic events leave us devastated for unbearably long periods of time. In actuality, humans are very good at getting over tragedies. It's continuous lifestyles that don't build in a flow, a purpose, and a sense of meaning (all that stuff in the 40%) that leaves us continually unsatisfied.

So here's the deal. Once we've got the basics--H20, a roof over our heads, food on the table--economic factors barely play into our relative happiness.

The film primarily presents evidence of all of these things by comparing countries--overworked Japan, community-oriented Denmark, impoverished India, materialist America, and others--illustrating how the citizens of these nations cultivate their happiness (or unhappiness in some cases).

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I want to live my life enjoying the human experience to the fullest, and I feel like if anything holds me back from doing so it's always needing something else. "If I get this, then I'll be happy." The "this" in this equation consists of anything from this post, all things from a pair of boots to a boyfriend. But, this film as well as a shift in focus this year has allowed me to realize what's truly significant, what's sitting right in front of me, and what really matters. And it's a lot of these things. Oh, and this.

There's someone, in fact a lot of someones, who are happy with a lot less than I have. We are physical beings but our life exists in our emotions, attitudes, and well-being, not our car, our closet, or even our career.

With my previous posts this week being inundated with images, I thought it was time for words; but, I just couldn't resist including this of baby nephew Alexander. I wish you all very happy weekends, in every sense of the word.

Things I Do Have

As promised, a part ii to accompany my list on what I lack. My inspiration for this set of posts will be included in a third and final installment tomorrow, so stay tuned.


paper inspiration delivered right to my doorstep


too many oversized t-shirts for my own good


two loving parents (who just returned from a Canadian cruise to celebrate 40 years of marriage!)


open-minded taste buds


the chance to say "I grew up in Texas"


the building excitement of studying abroad


a way to get from point A to point B


daily simple pleasures


accomplishments to be proud of


cookie delivery service on speed-dial


a queen bed (two for that matter)


sight


opportunities for the future


all my loved ones within reach at the palm of my hands


perspective



a Netflix account for endless entertainment (yikes, my recommendations are semi-embarrassing; don't judge)



a head of hair


Bridget's Own Diary


experiences i'm far too undeserving for at the mere age of 19


the ability to listen


a familial support system of 6 brothers + 4 sisters + 4 nieces + 3 nephews


the prospect of making this my home down the road


an education


good health


a say in all this madness


passion


so much still to come

& all of you!