Once upon a time...

I am honestly one of the luckiest girls in the world to have a friend who loves photography so much, and is so good at it. She is such an amazing friend, and I am so excited because she is starting up her own photography business- Keller Photography. Though she is starting small with me as her model (the poor girl) she is going to do amazing things! She is just starting up a blog to feature her photography on, and if you want any information about having her take some photographs for you that is the perfect place to contact her. We are constantly planning  photo-shoots and they always end up being so darling; she would be the perfect person to hire for senior portraits!
This is perhaps my favorite of all the photo shoots that we have done together! It is enchanting, and I felt so beautiful as we took the pictures. I felt almost ethereal. It was so fun to just go out with Katie and have these wonderful shots taken (even though I am covered in hives today - I should have taken my medicine seeing as I am basically allergic to all nature- it was worth it ).

Here's a really cute story about baby Birdy that goes along with this shoot. The day I took these pictures after I finished getting ready I came upstairs and ran into Birdy. When she saw me she just stared. Her mouth popped open and she said "Coco?" So I lifted her up and gave her a kiss. Then she touched my flower crown and smiled, so I put it onto her. It was so cute to see that Birdy loved the styling as much as I did. I think she was a little disappointed to find out that Coco really wasn't a princess...

Photoshoot Preview

Flower crown + lace dress + country = this beautiful photoshoot

I spaced it

Another novelty necklace! haha. The kids love them, and I love them, so they are perfect for another day at summer school. 

Have fabulous Friday!! 

Outfit Details: Top-Old Navy, Dress- Hand me down from an aunty ♥, Earrings and Necklace- Claire's

Fly Away

Try to ignore my muddy knees! I was helping the kids with their lunches at the picnic in the park

Lately Talia (my lovely photographer and avid blog follower) has been insisting that I do more with my blog. She tells me "I checked your blog today... and you haven't posted anything new..." then she adds "And I take the pictures for you-- I know what pictures you have!" So, this is for her... 

Every summer since I have been in middle school I have volunteered at the elementary school summer school. I love it there- I am completely in my element. I want to go into a future career of elementary education for the deaf and blind, and the summer school program helps me not only to learn how to teach children things different ways, but it also teaches me how to be a fun teacher. I get to work with the most amazing women! The way that they teach so fun to watch! Mrs. Gerard makes the kids laugh so hard, and Mrs. Weazemore finds ways to make all of the kids feel like they are learning so much!

The reason that I love summer school the most, however, is the children. They are the cutest kids, and they all have such unique and wonderful personalities. I love being able to volunteer with the kids and actually get to know them and become their friend as well as their teacher. They all have so much personality, and some of the things that they say make me laugh sooo hard!

Here's some things that my 1st graders wrote in my journal (the boys were so excited when they found out that I had a 'diary' because they all wanted to write in it and know some of my secrets hahaha)

"Cora is nice and pretty!!!!! And I like Cora purse. and I like Cora flipflops. Love Brody!"

"I lik Cora. I goiried Cora I body goiried Cora. I like reede wif cora."-Domminic 

"Cora you are portty! I  love you. when you came to school you were Nice."-Marlee 

"from Makenzie to cora you are nis. You aree fun."

Those kids just make me laugh!!

All of the kids in summer just love my novelty necklaces. Every day they run up to me hoping to see what type of crazy necklace I am wearing. This little bird cage is one of their favorites. I love that it is one of their favorites because I see each of those little kids as so special.

 When I was a little girl in elementary school I had to go to summer school for reading. It was so hard. I felt like I was stupid! I wasn't as good as the rest of the kids that were in my class, because I had to go to summer school. Summer School has such a negative connotation, and the kids that go should not be subjected to that. They should not have to feel like they are not as good as the other kids in their class. 

Even though when I was younger I struggled with reading and had to attend special classes and summer school, that did not, and does not, mean that I am not as smart as the other students in my class. It means that I learned differently and I wasn't ready to read. Kids learn things at their own pace, and just because they are different does not mean that they are stupid. 

Going to summer school or having to take classes to learn to read better should not define who you are.It doesn't matter. I am a 4.0 student. I am involved in so much in the school and the community, and  I am at the top of my class. 

I want all of my students to know that they are special! They can do amazing things, and they will soar!

Outfit Details: Shoes-Target, Jeans-Target, Shirt- T. J. Maxx, Sweater- T. J. Maxx, Pearl Necklace & Earings- Rue 21, Bird Cage Necklace- Debs, Ring- Vintage  

Somewhere in Time

Terryn and Kristina, two of my flute section dresses in their 80's garbs
(and I must say Terryn looks so realistic that it scares me... )

Searching through old forgotten pictures I had uploaded I found these. This spring our high school help a 'pops' concert. The theme was songs from different decades, and all those participating in the concert wore an outfit inspired by a decade.
Most of the girls in the flute section thought that we should all wear 80's inspired looks... but I just couldn't bring myself to it, and I ended up wearing this. I absolutely love the vintage styling of this look, and many of those coming into the concert commented on how lovely I looked.
I love the style of the 1950's. I love the gloves, hats, petticoats... I love it all, and I feel that that is where I belong...
I wish that women still dressed as elegantly as they once did. I wish gloves and hats were still in style, and young men still opened doors for girls without even having to think about it. It seems that I am stuck in a time that I do not belong. A time where immodesty is stylish and convenience is chic...
I am always told that I dress and act so old fashioned and so fancy. I belong in a different time, but that is something I love. I belong somewhere in time though it is neither now, nor entirely then,
Now, back to where my thoughts started. I wore this outfit to the concert and everyone who saw it loved it, especially after I swing danced with a few people and the twirliness of my petticoat was truly noticed.
Hopefully one day the elegance of the past will come back.
Outfit details: top-vintage dress, skirt-Ralph Lauren, gloves-vintage, hat-vintage (borrowed from Mom), pearls-vintage 

Becoming Miss Minchin (tips for stage makeup)

Last month my school put on the play A Little Princess, and my character was the lovely... Miss Minchin. The villain. 

I loved this part. I love the odd characters. Miss Hannagin, Ado Annie, Black Beard, and now Miss Minchin. Those parts are the parts that are fun to act. the ones that change you and make you into someone that you could never be in real life. 

These photos are mainly to show my hair and all the stinking work it took to make it into the Pompadour that I wore it in for the play. (My main inspiration was the Gibson Girl style. Ironically this is what Mr. Alverson thought the old women wore their hair like... jokes on him, history is on my side!) 

I also wanted to use this post to have a couple helpful hints about how to do stage makeup.

I started my makeup with the foundation. After evenly covering my face (and  blending into my neck) I powdered my face to set the foundation. Then I used a shimmer palette to accentuate my cheekbones by brushing some onto the hollows of my cheeks. I put blush on the apples of my cheeks then put some blush on my jaw to accentuate my bone structure while on stage. 

On my eyes I did a wing line with eyeliner, then put some mascara on after curling my eyelashes. I lined my waterline and the corner of my eye with white liner, then I put on some light and dark brown eye-shadow, and my false eye lashes. The last step was some chapstick and lipstick. Then... ta-da! There Miss Minchin was! 

 Ben Nye Creme Foundation-fair lightest, and Ben Nye Translucent Powder-fair (Ben Nye was the stage makeup kits that we purchased for the class), L'Oreal Paris bare naturale gentle mineral blush, Wet n Wild Fergie shimmer palette- Rose Champagne Glow, glitter, Rimmel London eyes-shadow palette- Urban Flower, Maybelline black eye liner, e.l.f. Eye Widener- Pearl White, and Maybelline eyeline-Falsies volume express flared.    

Kay Kay

Sometimes I just have to wonder.... How in the world did I get so blessed! This girl is my best friend in the world! She is so great, and i just love her so UNBELIEVABLY much! She puts up with so much from me! My crazy moments of insanity, my tears, my uncontrollable laughter, my obsessive journaling.

Now for a moment i just have to brag.
Yes, i know that pride is wrong, but when it comes to Katie i think a little bit of pride is justified.
Katie and i became best friends freshman year. Yes, that awkward year when you are finally out of middle school, but not yet cool enough to be in high school. We were friends before, but freshman year we really just hit it off. We became sisters, and to this day are inseparable! Kay Kay and I have so many inside jokes that it would take a couple of dictionaries to define them, and it is not uncommon for us to exchange a glance and just bust out laughing. We have had one fight. It lasted 30 seconds and ended in us both crying and begging forgiveness.
We are not best friends we are russian twins!! HAHA.
Katie is funny, smart, beautiful, and amazing artist and photographer, and did i mention that she has the most beautiful natural red hair that i have ever seen? (Oh and she can also make the ugliest faces to match mine )
Together we have so much fun, and on stage we draw from each other so much, and can't help but add our own spins to the shows that we are in(The last couple of years we have found a way for me to fake faint onto her...)
I love Katie so much and i am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thankful for her!!

I'm Famous

 The other day I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Times News for a play that I am in.
Here is the interview if you wanted to see it!
The Little Princess.

Pink Lady

 Hmmm... looking at these photos- they all look a little flat. My smile looks forces, and they truly don't do this gorgeous outfit justice.
Well- ever since I was a little girl my favorite type of apple, by far, has been the pink lady. Why? Well in my little girl mind if it had pink in the title it was perfect- and I suppose that as I have grown up that just stuck with me.
 I love anything that is pink.
I love anything that has to do with being lady like.
Perhaps that is why I love this outfit so! The feminine pink detailing matched with the feminine ruffles of the skirt have me falling in love.

I wore this to a poetry competition a few days ago, and my judges just loved it! They both told me how wonderful I had done... unfortunately I got out on accuracy (because I had a week to choose and memorize two poems, and the night before the competition I realized that I was missing the ending to one of them and had to memorize it that night!!) Both of the judges asked if I was an actress and if I did drama, and a cute little old man who was sitting in the back was just amazed! He stopped me in the hall way on the way out to tell me how good I had done!!   

(Outfit Details-- Gloves- Estate Sale, Shoes-Payless (AND they were on sale!! $6 whoot whoot!), Bracelet--Easter Present, Top-Forever 21, Skirt-From my dear Aunt Nancy (I think it is from Kohls??) , Jacket- Down East Basics)

Be Mine ♥

Happy late Valentines day.

 Well, these pictures were actually from quite a while ago- but I thought that I would just share them now too. I know I said at the beginning of this year that I really want to DO MORE with this blog!! I love it- it is an extension of my journal- and I want it to be even more special to me...

The only problem is... my lack of blogging. I. Have. No. Time. I keep telling myself that! This week play rehearsals start for 'The Little Princess', the musical that the school is doing this year, and I have a lead. I am Miss Minchin, and though she is technically not the lead she has 80 more lines than the "lead" girl... so basically it is the largest part. This weekend I have poetry out loud and have to memorize two poems. Tomorrow is New Beginnings and I have to conduct that. The next weekend is districts debate (which thankfully I am not debating in, but I still have to help get the team ready), then after district debate comes districts speech... Add on top of all of that NHS, Key Club, Writing Club, Pep Band, and all of my school work (which did I mention stinks- they are giving us SO MUCH!) and I am one busy girl.

What I really need to realize, however, is that I can MAKE time! That is something that I have to do! If I really, truly, love something, than I need to make time for it! I need to do what I love and that will help me to love what I do! I need to do what must be done to make room for what I want to be done. I need to make room for that which I love- and I am going to do that!!























Dress- Old Navy (old), Jacket- Hand Me Down from one of my lovely Aunts, Petticoat-Thrifted, Boots- Christmas present from Grandma Edgar! (from Kohls).

Also-- I'm just realizing this, but I wear A LOT of red with white and black (especially stripes)... odd....

Also, my lovely best friend, Katie, took all of these lovely photos of me!

1920's