Merry Christmas!!

The past few days have been filled with lots of shopping and getting ready, then enjoying Christmas with my family. My mom and I traveled down to GA, which meant we didn't have very many decorations. :( The first few days down here were filled with running around and shopping. We found a cheap fake tree to buy and decorated in some super cute ornaments. My sister flew in on the 24th, just in time for us to have a small family Christmas. I'm putting up a few photos from Christmas morning, then I have a few more things to share at the bottom. Sorry some of them aren't the best quality. The camera was being passed around by my family. :)




our adorable tree with our presents around it.

 



we found the most adorable stocking for my sister and myself. she had the bear and i had the penguin.

  


this is when i was demonstrating for my sister how to appropriately show off for pictures

 


even the puppies like to get in on the Christmas excitement

 





my dad and i (plus the puppies) after all the gifts had been opened.





For now that's about it. The next day (the 26th) we went to the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. The WOC was kinda (really) boring but I had fun taking pictures, and of course I totally loved the aquarium, as per usual. My plan is to post about both of those trips in the next few days but we'll have to see. My laptop has no internet access, for some odd reason so I have to use my mom or dad's laptop when I can. I also want to post a few pictures of some of my favorite gifts I got (a super cute sweater!! a mini cupcake maker!!). And with the new year coming up soon, I want to post a little about my new goals and resolutions. Hope you all had a great Christmas. Any exciting or sweet stories you want to share??

xoxo, Lauren 

Stream of Consciousness Day, Baby

A. I'm a new sponsor on a super cute blog called 'Crafted Love'. Check out my intro post here and stay tuned for my guest post coming soon. :D

B. Speaking of sponsoring...if you want to advertise my blog on your blog, you can now!! Over on the left of the screen is a super cute button (designed by Allison of Crafted Love), and under it is an HTML code you can copy and paste onto your page. And you really should. I mean, doesn't every blog deserve a little dash of cuteness?? ;)

C. Remember that list of "19 things before 19" I was working on?? I'm still working on it, I promise, but I'm changing it a little. With my birthday coming up in March, I feel like I don't have enough time to do anything big. Instead, I've decided I'm going to make a list of "19 Things Before 20" and try to accomplish them all by then. I figure that way I can add a few more of the bigger things to my list.

D. I added a few new things to my etsy shop!! The tote bag is already a new favorite among my friends and I even made a second one for my mom for Christmas (shhh, don't tell!!) and the little bunny cap is just so sweet. I wish I knew a baby to give it to. :) You can check out my etsy shop here!!


Little House (on the) Tote Bag




Newborn Baby Bunny Cap

 E. Lastly, a quick reminder that I love to hear from you!! Leave a comment, e-mail me at lauren.vaughan.10@cnu.edu, or ask to be penpals!! Everyone loves getting mail. :)

I'll be back later with an actual post, and hopefully pictures of this gorgeous snow that's starting to fall. xoxo, Lauren

Bubble Baths in Clawfoot Tubs

There's still a few years until I'm out in the real world and living on my own. While I'm in no hurry to have that happen, I can't wait for the day when I can decorate and design my house to my heart's content. Although I don't actually have any set plans I do like to think about what I want. And I'm sure I won't get everything that I dream about but there are a few things I'd love, one of which is a clawfoot tub.

I love everything about them. I think they are gorgeous. They add a glamorous and classy touch to any bathroom. I love the style that dates back to an earlier time. One of my favorite things to do, especially when I'm stressed, is to take a long, hot, usually bubble-filled, bath. The cat enjoys sitting with me and occassionally dipping a paw in as well. I'd get one of those little trays to put my book in as well so it doesn't get wet. (I will admit the corners occassionally get a little wet when I read in the tub. Oops!!) Here are a couple more clawfoot tubs I totally love.

So amazing...I love. <3



I love this one because of how they use all the color.



Like I said, I can deal with not having a lot of stuff in my future house but this has to be one of the major things on my wishlist. Guess my future hubby needs a good job. ;)

xoxo, Lauren

Baking, Baking, and oh Look, More Baking

I've been home alone the past few days. I dropped my mom off at the airport on Saturday and went to the grocery store that afternoon to pick up all my essentials in case I wouldn't be able to later or didn't want to. Since she's in New York (my grandpa's doing okay, thankfully) I have the house to myself. A little scary because it's my first time staying home alone, and a little weird to be alone since I'm a people person, but not too bad. I had plans (ex- baking) and people to see during the day. However, that Saturday night I started my first mission: peppermint bark.

(yes, these are actual pictures of the bark i made)

Was it as pretty as the real stuff?? No. Did it tase just as great?? Yes :) I was quite pleased with myself. My only piece of advice to anyone making this is to make sure you really crush the peppermints.

Then tonight one of my best friends from high school, Amanda, came over. We went to see the movie Love and Other Drugs (I cried but the ending was totally sweet and I loved it. I majorly reccommend it. Plus Jake and Anne are amazing) Afterwards we made sugar cookies. (From here on out these are my pictures, but I promise my food will look just as good, if not better!!) We did have a minor problem at first. Too little flour in the dough caused major stickiness and a big mess. We did manage to fix it really quickly and had fun decorating. I'm a sucker for anything artsy and creative like that. Give me some icing, a few bottles of sprinkles, and I'm good to go!!

Tomorrow (as well as the rest of the week) the baking continues. I plan on making 2 of my favorite old stand-bys, peanut butter blossoms and chocolate chip, as well as a new addtion. Last Christmas I tried a Snickerdoodle for the first time in awhile and discovered how much I really like them. They seem pretty easy to make and I love baking, obviously, so I figure I'll try them out as well sometime this week. To balance out all these cookies I plan on making a second batch of peppermint bark (this time to share!!...maybe) and some chocolate covered pretzels as well. So much fun and super yummy too!!

I plan on taking some more pictures of my tasty creations as the week. I also have a few new etsy items I plan on listing. I just need to wait till tomorrow so I can get some sunlight to take photos. And of course, I am so excited for Christmas!! :) :) Until then,

xoxo, Lauren

The Madness has Started Already

I'm finally home!! My stats exam went okay today...I think I knew about 2.5 out of the 4 pages of problems, so here's to hoping for a D+ or C-. I know it's sad to some but math just isn't my subject. My English exam, on the other hand, was crazy easy and I finished in a little less than an hour. All we had to do was memorize 20 terms we've learned during the semester and write examples. I was quite proud of myself for being able to include 3 of the Grey's Anatomy characters, the Cast of Glee, Brittney Spears, and kittens, among other things, in my examples.

Traffic was crazy on the car ride home and we brought a friend of mine, Damian, along with us as well but it's worth it to be home now. The puppies flipped out when they saw me. I'm pretty sure Phoebe (the darling in my banner) just about threw her hip out again she was so excited. It's great to see my mom but a little sad knowing I have to take her to the airport tomorrow to be with my grandparents and I'll be here alone. At least my grandpa got through his surgury okay.

Like I promised though, I'm already adding new stuff to the shop. I finally got around to finishing my first project I decided to make. It's an adorable gingerbread man headband that I'm already in love with. :) Tomorrow I plan to start work on some new ideas and head over to Kroger to stock up on baking supplies. I'm thinking that hopefully I'll be motivated enough to possibly do my first ever DIY?? Hmmm...guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Until then...check out the new listing and tell your friends!!  :)

xoxo, Lauren

Finals!!

Life has been a little crazy since around Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving itself was chill, but all the shopping, planning, and events I did with my parents were a little much. Then I came back to school where we had one week of learning followed by...

FINALS!!!!!!!!!!

I can already tell you that finals and I do not get along. This past weekend was spent having a little too much fun (nothing illegal, think ice-skating with friends (cute boy included), then staying up till almost 6am in the lobby of our residence hall talking and playing "Apples to Apples") but needless to say that doesn't result in much studying.

I wasn't too worried about my theater, english, or history classes but stats and art history had me working up a sweat. I just finished art history at 12 and I'm not feeling too badly about it. Of course, that usually means you bombed it so I'm trying to stay positive. Stats is tomorrow and I'm hoping that with the help of a graphing calculator, my trusty cheat-sheet, and thoughts of going home dancing in my head I'll be able to get through it. The only bummer is that means tomorrow I officially finish my first semester of college and go home for a month. I don't want to leave my friends here!!

On top of all this, I got a call Wednesday morning from my mom that my grandpa fell the other night and broke his femur. He's in the hospital with surgury and weeks, possibly months, of rehab in front of him. My mom's leaving Saturday to stay with my grandparents in NY and my dad has a business trip so I guess I'll be in the house by myself my first week of break. If anything, it leaves me with plenty of time for crafting.

I'm really looking forward to break. A time for more posts, crafts, baking, and hopefully babysitting for some extra $.

xoxo, Lauren

A Small Revalation of Sorts

This week has not been the best week for me. I've had multiple assignments due which means a crazy amount of work and as mentioned previously, an issue with one of my closest friends here. We talked tonight, and it'll be okay, but we both need some time to get back to where we were. However, I was still pretty upset about it and the conversation ended with me going back up to my room and crying. I was texing Patrick (also known as Mystery Badger) and he was being so sweet about everything.

I decided I would spend the rest of my night in my room on my laptop trying to get homework done. About a half an hour in, no homework had even been started and I was still just as upset when my phone rang. It was Patrick, telling me that I was going to meet him and Molly, a good friend in the making, at Einsteins, our library's version of Starbucks and a favorite place for students, to do some homework. I didn't want to, but he was a little insistent so I figured after making him listen to me being all sad I could at least agree to meet him.

I'm so happy I did. I ended up running into a few other friends, talking with people, laughing, and even got a little homework done. By the time one am came around and they were kicking us out I was laughing and smiling and feeling much more like myself. I thanked Patrick for making me come out about 50 times, but he deserved it.

So here's the part where my revalation comes into play: As I've said before, this is my fresh new start. I'm still working through the past and that will take a long time but I'm working on it and I'm making sure to do things differently here. Yeah, bad things are still going to happen. Upsetting things too. But what I realized tonight is that it's already different. Had this been high school, none of my friends would have called to make me go out. They would have let me be in my room alone. Here, I have people who care enough about me to do something to make me feel better. I have people that I can trust. I have people that think I matter. Because I do. Things may not be perfect, nor do I want them to be, but I'm still a pretty lucky girl.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

The past few days have been kinda busy. I was up till 2:30am last night finishing up a paper, I still have another 8-12 page paper due Tuseday that I'm trying to finish earlier so I can skip class and head home for break early, and I have a couple of journal entries for my theater class due. On top of that I had a major fight over something stupid with someone I'm really close to. Although, I plan on blogging a little more about the people in my life and what's going on, we won't get into that because it's still being resolved, but I hate fighting with people I'm close to. Thankfully Patrick, probably one of my best friends here, was on fb to chat with me and cheer me up. Thank god for him. :)

Since I'm not one to be sad for often, I figured I'd blog about some of my favorite etsy finds that I really hope will make their way under the tree this Christmas. (As a side note, is anyone really excited for Christmas?? I can't wait!!)

I've been in love with these darling little hair clips for a while now. There's something about them that's just so darling. They'd def add a little dash of whimsy to your hair.

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Whenever I'm stressed I love to just stand in a hot shower and relax for a few. This body whip looks like it'd be amazing. The seller has new scents out for Christmas as well so I can't wait to see (or smell) what else they come up with!!
 

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Not going to lie, I'm crazy over this shop. She has all this amazing stuff I've never bought but always wanted. I love this piece in particular because I have a shiny pink, strapless dress that this would look great in. And I think CNU has something called the "Captian's Ball" in the spring. ;)

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This last one I'm going to leave you with is one of my favorite fine art prints. I love spring and summer for all the fresh fruit. There's something about a bowl of fruit, especially strawberries in my opinion, sitting on the counter freshly washed just waiting for someone to come along and take a bit.

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My Secret Fantasy

I'm a romantic. Not just a little bit, mind you. I'm a totally crazy wild totally hopelessy hopeless romantic. I love chick flicks like it's my job and I get more excited to hear cute couple stories than teenage girls get when they see Justin Bieber. And yes, I am currently single but I know it'll happen one day. No worries here. :) (not many, anyway.) ;) Being a crazy over-the-top romantic and a girl, I daydream sometimes. I love to hear those romantic moments of declarations of love and of course it makes me want that for myself. My mind usually ends up wandering and I think of a few more scenarios I'd love as well.

Secret fantasy confession time: One thing I would love to have happen to me one day is to be serenaded. Music is really important to me and certian songs really affect me, all in different ways. I'm in a big believer in the idea that music can say things words can't always say and I think that when people have music then they have a special connection. Hence why I think being serenaded would be amazing.

If it were to happen I'd be super happy to begin with, but there are ways it could be even more amazing. If the guy himself were to serenade me, I really hope he can sing. I know it's supposed to be "the thought that counts" but if the guy singing can't really sing I'm not sure how great it'll be. In the case he can't sing, asking one of the many vocal groups (preferrably Expansion, as I love them and they are amazing) to serenade me for him would suffice. I've heard of guys asking vocal groups at other colleges to serenade their girls and it sounds so sweet.

The other big thing is the song choice. The song would, of course, have meaning. And a great, sweet, perfect, romantic, (blah, blah, blah), one at that. Personally, I love the idea of being serenaded with the male version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Lifehouse's "You and Me", or basically anything by Michael Buble.

It may be silly but the idea of a guy who's totally crazy over me singing a song I'm totally crazy for just for me makes me want to swoon. I warned you in the beginning I'm a silly, crazy romantic, and a teenage girl to boot. I'm not saying that's the only thing I'll stand for, I mean, a mix CD will do just fine, but if a girl can dare to dream then this is what I'd love. Until then I'll just keep an eye out for a guy to steal my heart, a boy with a voice, and the sound of Darren Criss singing "Teenage Dream" through my speakers.

My List of 19 Things

I turn 19 in a little over 4 months. It's not a big deal really, I'm enjoying life as it comes and trying to take it slow for the most part. However, as much as I am happy to let life pass as slowly as possible so that I can drink in every second of it, there are sooo many things I would like to accomplish. I hate the idea of making a bucket list. It freaks me out way too much. Therefore, I have decided to start out small and make a list of "19 Things to Accomplish Before I Turn 19". They will be some of the random things I want to do, ranging from small to big. Because I only have about 4 and a half months, and limited money, they will be on the smaller side, but important none the less.

I'm hoping to have an official list done by Friday (but depending on my class workload we'll see...) and although I will be announcing it here, I plan on also making a separate page so that we can all track my progress.

At the moment, I only have a few ideas to put on the list. One of the major ones is to get my ears pierced. I know, most girls got their ears pierced long ago but not me, hence why it's going on the list. Another goal is to make honest to God spatzle. I love the stuff and want to try making it myself for once. I'm still working on a few more ideas, but I'd love some help. I'm not promising to use every suggestion you guys give me, but I'd love to hear your ideas!!