What I Got for Christmas 2016

Jewelry

Last Christmas, I got a TON of jewelry. This year, I had to put my foot down and say that I didn't have a need for any more. I have jewelry coming out of my ears, but a girl can never have enough! These are just a few little pieces that I received this year that I am excited to add to my collection. 

Clothes

For clothes, I really just had one thing that I had asked for. I think that having a nice fleece jacket is a staple piece for everyones winter wardrobe, and it was time for a new one this year! I picked out a cute Vineyard Vines Fleece Quarter Zip Shepshirt, and was beyond excited when I opened up this present from my grandparents. Along with my pullover VV fleece, my other grandma gave me a nice black jacket, little green cardigan with white polka dots, and a pink scarf with white details that will be great for summer.

Accessories

Just like jewelry, a girl can never have enough accessories! I received a small Vera Bradley duffle from my aunt and uncle that will be great for weekend trips! I was also given a handmade tote bag, made by my grandma. For shoes I got a pair of black Uggs, and a pair of brown leather Birkenstocks, both of which I had asked for. Uggs are my favorite thing to wear when I have to spend hours doing homework and studying in the ice cold library at school. Alongside those things I was given a Phi Mu hat, and an arm band to hold my phone.

Misc Presents

As an art student, there are always some sort of art materials that I need for my various projects. This year, I decided to ask for a new set of watercolor pencils from my grandparents. It is a medium that I have grown to enjoy, however the set that I had was very limiting due to the lack of colors and the quality. It was just a set of Crayola pencils, so I decided it was time to move onto a better quality. From other family members I received money, gift cards, a new USB, personalized stationary, and The Body Shop body butter in Pina Colada!

Apple MacBook Laptop in Rose Gold

This is the present I was most excited for, and desperately needed! I have a MacBook Pro that is about six years old, and no matter how on top of updating it I am, it is constantly giving me issues. I had been wanting to get a new one for awhile, but it just was not able to happen. Lucky for me, this year my mom was able to snag me this laptop for Christmas! One of my favorite things about this new computer is that it is the smallest, lightest laptop Apple has to offer. My MacBook Pro was large and heavy, which made it hard to carry to class.  

--------------------------

I hope that everyone has had a great holiday season with their families! I, for one, have thoroughly enjoyed being back home, and on break without having to worry about any school work. I am excited to get back to FGCU for the spring semester, and have a fresh start with classes. Happy new year everyone!

xoxo, tay

Throwback Thursday: Journal #9

2011-2012

     "I haven't written in here for awhile. Longer than I like. So much has happened!
     Well, since I didn't get into Coral Reef, and neither did Sarah. I was set to go to Robert Morgan. Sarah and I went to the extremely disorganized orientation and got all excited. Then in the middle of the week my mom got a call... and she called me... and I got into Coral Reef! I'm SO excited! Another one of my friends got in off the waiting list too, but I don't think that Sarah will...
     Nicole and I went to the Coral Reef Orientation today! I met another girl who is also in art! We got our pictures taken for our school I.D.'s then I went to the art room. Mr. McKinley already gave us our summer drawing assignments! Then we went out to the courtyard. I got my class shirt and my uniform shirts. Then I signed up to try out for color guard. 
     There was two days for color guard. One on Tuesday for us to learn what we need to know for the try out, and one on Thursday. Thursday was the actual try out. On Tuesday, I met Amber. She's in my grade too! Plus she is in art! I think we will be great friends. I also met Brittany! She is already on the team and helped me learn everything. Thursday went pretty good! My try-out went well! I didn't drop the flag, not once!
     A little over a week later, I got a call saying that I made it on the team! I'm so excited, I can't wait for next year!"

-------------------------

     I was blinded by excitement at this point. I was ready to leave Princeton as fast as I could, and enter the exciting world of high school. If only I knew what a miserable four years were to come. It is NOT like it is in the movies, but much MUCH worse. Although, in movies certain aspects were worse than they were in real life. For example, there was not a group of bullies who pinned kids to lockers and stole their lunch money. The bullies of Coral Reef were much more sneaky than that, they were the kind of bullies you didn't see coming until it was to late. On another subject, there aren't very many sweet, caring teachers in the public school system. Most of the ones that I faced truly needed someone to tell them everything they were doing wrong. A lot of them did not seem to realize things, such as that shoving hours of AP homework in my face (due next class of course) would NOT help me learn. I would spend to many hours to the busy work that I rarely had time to actually study. These are just a few examples of the many things wrong with high school these days.

xoxo, tay

Last Minute Stocking Stuffer Gifts

Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Her:

• Nail Polish
• Face Mask
• Candy
• Perfume
• Fuzzy Socks
• Itunes Gift Card
• Scarf
• Journal
• Hat

Stocking Stuffer Gifts for Him:

• Candy
• Itunes Gift Card
• Beef Jerky (Or any other food)
• Cologne
• Hat
• Sweatshirt
• Belt
• Pocket Knife
• Socks

For these gift ideas, I tried to find some little items that were a little more on the inexpensive side, and could be thrown into a a stocking!I think

Throwback Thursday: Journal #8

2010-2011

     "Today was the Fall Festival at Princeton. I had a great time with my friends! My mom dropped me off and I hung out with Autumn and Amber until the rest of our friends got there. I did the rock climbing wall first, which was really fun! I forgot how much I like rock climbing. I got to the top really fast! Then Autumn and Amber did it. Autumn didn't make it to the top. Amber did, eventually. Later, we met up with Alexis. 
     When Alexis got there, we got in line for henna tattoos. I got a flower on my wrist. Later I went back and got my name on my arm. 
     We went to the dunk tank around noon to dunk Coach Johnny. Amber didn't get it with the ball, but ended up using her hand when he made fun of her "throwing arm."
     I did the rock climbing wall again, and made it up the hardest side!
     One of my friends put me in jail, so I put HIM in jail. 
      After the festival, I had to go to art class with Victoria, and worked on my drawing from last week."

------------------------

     Okay, my old journals are really starting to get boring. Also, I am beginning to realize that there are some really embarrassing stories in here that involve people I totally still know... It is getting pretty hard to pick entries to share. I tend to chicken out with the juicy stuff, and end up posting something similar to the entry above: a simple account of what happened that day. This is a time where I started writing about more than just my day. Many people have tried to refer to my journal as a diary, and I tend to correct them quickly. I am not sure why I did so, because according to the definitions of these two words, both a journal and a diary are the same thing. 

Diary: A book in which one keeps a daily record of events and experiences.

Journal: A daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary. 

     I have always referred to mine as journals, mostly because that is what my mom called hers. It is the term she used when she introduced the hobby to me, when I was a little girl. I have always taken my journalling pretty seriously, and when people called my journal a diary, I tended to correct them. I suppose that I thought the term diary was taken as being more childish. Only young girls in movies kept diaries of there silly little problems, is what I thought. But now, I can see that the term diary and journal are very much the same thing. People tend to use the term diary to tease me, not a lot of people keep journals anymore, that I know of. However, journaling (or keeping a diary) is a habit I intend to pass down to my children. I hope that they grasp it the way I did. As silly as it sounds, journals like this could be the next version of The Diary of Anne Frank. They could be what provides history to the future generations about what life is like for us here, and now. 

3 Easy Last Minute DIY Christmas Gifts

For this DIY, I have pulled together some of my favorite types of presents: gift in a jar! I think these are super cute and easy to make! You can personalize them to whatever type of person you are gifting this too. For my DIY's, I made one for the person who likes to bake, for the person who loves beauty products, and for the person who loves doing there nails! Pinterest is a great tool for these kinds of gifts, and I encourage you guys to explore your options. Get creative!

For the baker:

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

You can do all kinds of things with this one! I chose to do chocolate chip cookies, and I loved the way the different layers of ingredients look. My own jar did not come out the prettiest (whoops!) because I had some trouble with making the ingredients fit in the jar. It still came out pretty cute though! The recipe I found called for a quart sized mason jar, but that was not big enough, so I just found a large mason jar and went with that. If you want, you can try adding half of each ingredient to this recipe so that the jar is filled up for. For mine, I decided to just add a card in the top, open section, to fill up some space. 

You will need...

• 1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
• 1 large mason jar

Layer each ingredient into the jar, and then finish it off with decorations! I added a ribbon around the top, and a piece of decorative paper to the lid. I added a sheet with how to finish off the recipe on the inside.

For the beauty lover:

Sugar Scrub in a Jar

I have been wanting to try a DIY sugar scrub for ages, and this post finally gave me an excuse to try one! It was super easy to do, and took about five minutes of my time. If you know the person really well, you can tailor it to be there favorite scent and color. It is a present that will show that you care about the person, and am willing to go the extra mile for them. I would personally LOVE to receive a scrub like this as a present! It is one of those things that isn't really something you want to buy for yourself, even though it has a ton of benefits for your skin. Body scrubs like this do great at removing dead skin so that the oils can soak into your skin and moisturize it properly.

You will need...

• a small jar
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil
• 3/4 cup of granulated white sugar
• 2-4 drops of food coloring 
• 10-15 drops of essential oil

Since I am making this as a Christmas present, I decided to go with a peppermint scented essential oil, so that it would go along with the holiday. As for the coloring, I used a pink color and only added a small amount so that the color would come out as a light, cotton-candy shade. For this I would say use one large drop of color, or two small drops. All you have to do, for this DIY, is mix all of the ingredients together into a bowl. If you use solid coconut oil, you need to melt it in the microwave first, so I would advise to just buy it in liquid form. I stirred together the coconut oil and sugar first, then stirred in the food coloring and essential oil last.



For the nail lover:

Manicure in a Jar

I have seen this idea float around Pinterest a ton, and decided that it would be something cute as a Christmas present as well! You could make a small one and use it as a stocking stuffer or make a larger one and add in every nail item you can think of! I went for a medium sized option because I had a hard time fitting my items into a small jar. This is one of those that you can change up if the person doesn't care for nails quite as much. You could get a larger jar and fill it with cooking items, or even fill up a jar with makeup! There are a ton of options here. I went ahead and made a manicure jar because I figured it was a good universal gift for girls.

You will need...

• 2 Bottles of Nail Polish: a clear coat and a cute color
• nail file
• mini nail polish remover
• manicure set (clippers, etc.)
• cotton balls

xoxo, tay

Throwback Thursday: Journal #7

2010

     "I went on a field trip with Princeton today. The whole 7th grade went to Island Dolphin Care. I had a great time! Then again, I like Marine Biology. In the bus on the way to the Keys, I sat next to Priscila. 
     Ms. Debbie wanted to make it an all day field trip, so we stopped in Biscayne National Park to walk a trail. It went to far into the water, there were some parts that we had to jump from rock to rock not to get wet! Priscila and I walked together the whole time.
     When we got there, first, we watched a movie about mollusks. Then we dissected a squid! It was so cool! The squid I dissected was a guy. I could tell because of the color of the insides. I got to skin it and use its ink to draw stuff!
     After dissection, we went to the touch tank. I held several star fish, one brittle star, a sea cucumber, hermit crab, sponge, and a live clam! I kissed the sea cucumber to get seven years of good luck. I even touched a sea slug and a sea anemone!"

------------------------

     This is one of my coolest journals to look at on the outside. It has this beautiful wood on it with a lizard cutout. I acquired it from Costa Rica, and the pages on the inside are made from recycled paper. The content of this journal is absolutely, horrendously boring. I don't know what happened here, but I seemed to have gotten into a groove of just recording what I did throughout the day. It is, for the most part, absent of other thoughts. I totally struggled to find a good entry to share with you guys, so I settled on this passage about a field trip I went on with my seventh grade class that I apparently thought was "so cool!"

xoxo, tay

Christmas Gift Guide: For Him

This gift guide was probably the hardest one to make. Boys can be so difficult to shop for! I managed to come up with a variety of items to help spur ideas for you ladies out there trying to find a gift for your husband, boyfriend, brother, friend, etc.. Some of these are much more expensive then others, so keep that in mind. The YETI Cooler, for example, would be the one gift I would give someone along with their stocking. However, if I did the YETI Holiday Gift Pack, I would definitely throw in some of the other items here. I totally don't have a boy to give any of these things too, other than maybe my brother or dad, but one day I will hopefully have a boy I can spoil at Christmas time!

Here is a list of the items shown above, going from left to right, starting at the top:

• Bose Bluetooth Speaker
• YETI Holiday Gift Pack
• OtterBox Phone Case
• Cornhole
• Beats In-Ear Headphones
• Vineyard Vines Hat
• YETI Roadie 20 Cooler
• Vineyard Vines Quarter Zip Fleece Shep Shirt
• Men's Wicked Good Moccasin Slippers
• Sperry Authentic Original 2-Eye Boat Shoe
• ENO Hammock
• GoPro HERO4 Silver Edition Camera
• Ralph Lauren Cotton-Cashmere V-Neck Sweater
• Chubbies The Whole Enchilada Coral Button-Up Weekend Shirt
• Columbia Men's PFG Bahama Short Sleeve Shirt
• Barbecue Set
• Chubbies The Anchors Away Shorts
• Nerf Gun

I hope that this helps some of you all out this Christmas!

xoxo, tay