Halloweens Past

Happy Halloween Everyone! Tonight I am not really doing anything fun to celebrate the spooky holiday. In fact I don't even have a costume this year, it's kind of sad. Some of you might know that when I was a kid I was never allowed to participate in trick-or-treating, or really anything Halloween-like. So when I got to college I started actually dressing up for Halloween. The past four years I have managed to make plans and dress up, but this year no plans, and no dressing up. :(  So in order to commemorate the day with costumes I have decided to post pictures of Halloweens past.(aka 4 years of college)

Freshman year I dressed up as Barbie! (Every little girls dream- haha)

Sophomore year I dressed up as a French Maid (the non-trashy version)

Junior year I dressed up as Baby Spice of the Spice Girls (Left to Right Scary, Sporty, Baby, Posh, Ginger)

And Senior year I dressed up as Daphne of the Scooby Do Gang! 

So as I said before- Happy Halloween to all! Hope your holiday was full of fun and lots of costumes! Crossing my fingers I have an occasion to dress up for next year!

Into the Woods We Go Again...

...We have to every now and then. For those of you who don't know, Into the Woods has a special meaning to me. My Freshman year of college I was given the role of Cinderella: It was not only amazing to be playing the role, but it was my first lead ever! I feel as though it was a huge turning point in my acting career and ever since the show has meant so much to me. Since then the show has come up a lot! 3 specific performances of it that are important to me are... Mansfield's production, for above reasons. My sister's first time being in the show as Little Red at FIT, with so many great people!, (I had the priveledge of seeing her again in Into the Woods as a stepsister semi-recently!-another great production). And finally the most recent production where Josh (my boyfriend) directed the show in his hometown. It was a brilliant production! I am beyond proud of all that he accomplished as musical and stage director. The costumes, sets, and music really came together and they gave a great performance!

Just for funzies I decided I wanted to share pictures from the 3 productions I just talked about... Most recent first. (I have to apologize for some of the pictures, it was incredibly hard to get a clear shot!)

My 17 Reasons

It seems like every spring I start to feel this incredible desire to diet and lose weight. I think mostly it comes from gaining weight throughout the school year and especially putting on some holiday pounds. Before I start a diet or exercise program I like to question my reasoning and come up with a plan. Anyone who has ever dieted knows that if you don't have inspiration and great motivation it's so easy to fizzle out after a few weeks or even a few days. The urge to cheat at your plan becomes irresistible and one cheat leads to another and eventually it leads to quitting the entire thing. One important thing to realize about diets is they are a life style and if anything I am living proof of that. Last summer I successfully dieted and lost a lot of weight. During the school year I stopped dieting and even thinking about my health choices and I have gained back all the weight I lost- plus a few bonus pounds. I won't lie getting on the scale today was amazingly scary and it has been really rough lately coming to terms with the weight I have gained and finding the motivation to not eat a donut to console my depression. But I have been thinking a lot about starting to diet and whether or not I can be in it for the long haul (for the lifestyle). The answer is yes: I want to feel good about myself and confident with my body. I want to feel healthy and in shape. I am a 21 year old woman: I should be healthy-no excuse!! So here are my reasons and inspiration that I can look back at during my diet to keep me going!

 Reason 1: Because I deserve to have more self confidence,

 and feel great about myself and the way I look.

 Reason 2: Because wedding season is rapidly approaching

 and I have a bridesmaid dress to fit into!

 Reason 3: So I feel better about being on stage and performing!

 Reason 4: So I can have fun at the beach

 and not feel strange in a swimsuit!

 Reason 5: To fit into skinny jeans- and feel skinny in them!

 Reason 6: To be able to wear a short skirt or shorts

 and not feel like I am scaring small children!

 Reason 7: To send the message I want to send with my image

 Reason 8: To fit into some of my old clothes!

Reason 9: To get in better physical shape

 

Reason 10: To shape my curves into smaller proportions-

 but love them more than ever!

 Reason 11: To lose weight in my face- so my eyes and smile look bigger!

 Reason 12: To have more overall energy!

 Reason 13: Because I did it once and can do it again!

 Reason 14: To fit back into the red shorts!

 Reason 15: To reach a healthy BMI

 

Reason 16: To feel like I have control over my body image

Reason 17: To feel more similar in size to my friends

I am dieting and exercising- and attempting to lose weight to regain control over my body image, feel more secure in my own skin, and to be more healthy. I want to live from this point on always making an honest effort to be healthy and stay at a reasonable weight! 

Stay tuned to follow along for this fabulous diet journey...

Things to come: 

Weight and Measurement updates, Dieting Goals, Diet and Exercise Plan, Recipes and so much more! Hopefully even some progress pictures along the way! 

Last summer I had so much success with losing weight- I am determined to achieve that same success and more! 

The Wear-Drobe: Rock the Frock!

The weather has been so nice lately basically all I have been wearing is dresses! (I don't have access to pictures of all the dresses I wore over spring break yet- a whole bunch of pictures are trapped on my sisters camera!) I did manage to get a hold of one of the pictures of my outfit to go see Into the Woods! 

I went to the show with Ryan, and we had dinner beforehand and Gabby was so great and the rest of the cast was really entertaining!

 I just recently got this dress at a thrift store for a few dollars it's so comfy and a lovely color for springtime. 

Tomorrow seems like another good dress day! 

Fashion Tip: Shop second hand if you are going to shop! It is so much cheaper, you can find more unique styles and it's kind of fun giving a dress a new life in your closet! 

 

Some things are meant to be

I feel ridiculously lucky to have been blessed with so many wonderful friends throughout my lifetime. I move around a lot and each time I worry about making new friends and finding a niche in my new environment. I am happy to report that thus far each place I have lived I have made friends and apart of me now calls that place home.

I wanted to write today about a very near and dear friend of mine, Sarah. 

My freshman year of college I think she was my first good friend that I made. Fall semester of freshman year we used to hang out constantly and have movie nights with our other friends. We spent most of our time acting like ridiculous freshman- or having theory study parties!

 In the Spring semester of Freshman year we joined SAI and went through our process together! We did both musicals together which was excellent. In into the woods we even got to be sisters! Well step-sisters.... Thinking back it's almost like the directors knew that Sydney, Sarah and I would be best friends! This semester Sarah also came down to Charleston with me for spring break!  

Sophomore year was good to us, we built up a wonderful group of friends around us, and had countless fun being in another musical together, spending a second spring break together (in NYC), and becoming even better friends then before! 

 Junior year brought new changes and challenges in our friendship- we moved in together with two of our other good friends, Daniela and Sydney- and this really put stress on our friendships (over silly house things)...Glad to say that once our friendship survived Junior Year we basically knew we could make it through anything! 

This past summer I had the privilege of going to Europe with her(and the rest of my choir). 

We had such excellent times- especially celebrating her birthday in Ireland! 

Senior year, has been a dream. The fall semester I got to really enjoy Sarah and my other friends. We got to do the opera together, remain in many organizations together- and spend a lot of time bonding and hanging out in the evenings- and even the first portion of this semester. (I have been so lucky). 

Now she leaves for Arizona to complete her student teaching. There isn't really any way to express exactly how much I am going to miss having her around. I cannot begin to explain the fun we have had- the cry sessions- the inappropriate public discussions at our favorite coffee shop, Night & Day- and so many more special times. 

Although I am amazingly sad to not have her around, I probably am more excited than she is about her trip to AZ. It has been a dream of mine to drive cross country and I am so excited she gets to do it! I know this experience will teach her about herself, teach her about the world, and just be simply amazing overall. She is eventually going to start a blog about her life in AZ, and I will link it back to my blog for anyone interested :) 

Good luck to my best friend. The world is not ready for all the amazing talents and skills you have to offer it. I know that you will aspire to greatness and rise to the challenge of living on your own in AZ. 

I know Arizona is a long ways away- but no amount of distance is going to break down this friendship--- some things are meant to be- I am pretty sure we were destined for each other! 

Sorry you are stuck with me :)