2013 in Review

 Remember how I said this was going to be a relaxing winter break full of plenty of blogging time? Well, apparently I was wrong. I've somehow managed to keep extra busy these past couple of weeks, and while I'm having a great break, I'm a little sad that I haven't been able to devote much time to blogging. However, with the holidays over and my brother (who I've been spending most of my time with) on his way back to Arizona today, things are finally settling down. I'm almost positive I'll be able to take outfit photos today (something I genuinely miss), but until then, I figured it wouldn't hurt to look back on 2013 before it leaves us forever. I've included some of my favorite outfits from the year (as you can see, I'm incredibly indecisive), and I also wanted to share some of my most exciting moments of the year. I feel like this blog can sometimes border on ridiculous/narcissistic, but who cares? It's a personal blog, and if good things happened for me this year, I don't see anything wrong with shouting it from the mountain tops. Unfortunately, I don't have any mountain tops to shout things from, so this old Internet thing will have to do.

In 2013, I:

• Became editor-in-chief of my college's newspaper, The Western Courier, which has become my home and is the greatest job I could ever ask for
• Watched our staff win 12 awards at the Illinois College Press Association Awards
• Turned 21
• Interned with a celebrity stylist
• Welcomed a new niece
• Interviewed Bo Burnham
• Won third place in a writing competition in St. Louis
• Was part of a small group of students invited to and attended the National Retail Federation's Shop.org conference in Chicago
• Met some of my now closest friends
• Spent too much time appreciating the golden age of television (including seeing the return of one of my favorite shows, Arrested Development, and mourning the loss of another, Breaking Bad)
• Bought and learned how to use a DSLR (kind of. I'm still learning.)
• Celebrated one year of blogging on both Room 334 and Flock Together

Bloopers, Round Five

And without further ado, my Christmas gift to all of my readers. I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday, now enjoy!

Tis the Season

If these pictures don't say it enough, I'm pretty pumped that Christmas is so soon. This will forever be my favorite time of year, and I can hardly contain my excitement. This weekend was full of family bonding time and festive activities, which only added to my bliss. On Friday, my parents took my brother, his girlfriend (who happens to be one of my friends), and me wine tasting, which was absolutely wonderful. Even though I'm not the biggest wine drinker, I still wanted to go for the experience, and it did not disappoint. It was a gorgeous day full of good food (the most amazing cheese), beautiful scenery (we started the day off in downtown Temecula, which was lovely, and ended it at the prettiest winery I ever did see), good company, and of course, tons of wine. I didn't drink too much, mostly because I was still getting over the stomach flu that I had caught a couple days before, but even so, I had a blast. Then, on Saturday, we had a Christmas party with family friends who I've known my entire life, complete with a white elephant gift exchange. I was fortunate enough to come out of it with a not-so-white-elephant Godiva hot chocolate gift set, so I did pretty well for myself. Yesterday included breakfast with my family at my dad's restaurant and seeing American Hustle — which was, in a word, insane. Basically what my rambling is getting it is that I had a fantastic weekend, and I'm not quite ready for all of this Christmas cheer to end in a couple of days. 

Naturally, some cute outfits were vital to accompanying all of these fun activities. This is what I wore for the Christmas party on Saturday, and although I didn't think much of it, I ended up getting quite a few compliments on it. I do wish these photos captured the shape of this sweater a bit better, because despite having it for a couple years now, I don't think I've ever featured it on here in a way that's done it justice. Regardless, I'm excited to show off some new accessories, including this bow belt and wishbone ring that the folks over at Born Pretty were kind enough to send me. I swear, I've worn this belt at least five times since I got it last week. 

All I Want for Christmas

Tote // Ring // Oxfords // Print

I'm off wine tasting for the first time with my parents and brother, so here are some things from Etsy that are on my Christmas list. I don't expect to get any of it, but a girl can dream, right?

December in California

From first glance, it probably looks like these photos were taken over the summer. For starters, they're taken in the un-creative spot of my backyard, where all of my photos over the summer were taken. Most importantly, though, is the very obvious detail that my legs are bare. Forgive me for talking about the weather again, but I didn't just go from snow to palm trees; I went from snow to 80 degrees. I have to admit that I wasn't all that prepared. I packed tights and boots, figuring I could just forgo a coat, but bare legs? It's getting a little more difficult to remember that it's Christmas time here in Orange County.

Obviously I can't complain too much, seeing as I'm in beautiful weather with next to no responsibilities for the next few weeks. It was a busy semester (aren't they all?), which makes sleeping in and bumming around all day even sweeter. I wish I had more to write about other than weather, laziness, and Christmas shopping, but that's basically my life right now. I'm supposed to attend a special screening of a movie in L.A. today with my best friend who works for a marketing firm, but I'll wait until after to fill you all in. I'm still convinced that it's too good to be true, and there's no way I'm actually that lucky to get to see one of my favorite actors in person. We shall see. 

Winter Break

And in the blink of an eye, I'm back in California again. Well, sort of. I was supposed to fly home on Saturday, but a big snow storm on Friday made it impossible to make the three-hour drive to St. Louis, so we decided to push my flight back a day. As much as I was ready to get out of 10 degree weather, I can't say that I minded all that much. The cold is one thing, but I do love how the snow makes this time of year feel much more special. It was nice to just spend the day inside with my nieces and nephew by the Christmas tree for just one more day before it was all palm trees and warmth. So it's really a win-win either way.

 Enough about the weather though, let's talk about these photos. I think that if I were a better photographer then maybe I wouldn't get so excited every time someone else takes phenomenal photos for me. But alas, I am not that a great of a photographer, and I do have to rave about these photos. Mary and I went to this housing track that I had never been to, and the light was absolutely perfect. This mint dress (that I'm wearing as a skirt) has been hanging on my wall as decoration all semester (it's just that pretty), so I keep forgetting that I can actually wear it. I decided to just make a theme out of items I've forgotten about, and pulled out this sweater I haven't worn in forever and this necklace that had been sitting in my room without a single wear until now. There was still a good amount of snow on the ground that day, so snow boots were a must as well. 

(P.S. Don't forget to shop my closet so I can afford to buy Christmas presents for my friends and family!)

The Katz' Meow

It really hasn't been that long, but I miss blogging. I know I've been able to post a couple of times over the past few weeks, but it's hardly been enough. Dead week and finals week consumed my life, and I've barely had a chance to take photos or comment on my favorite blogs. Fortunately, I had my last "final" (it wasn't a test; I just had to show up, but the professor wasn't even there) this morning, and break is about to begin, so I'll have more time from now on. A few of my good friends are graduating, and I'll be gone from all of my Illinois friends for a month, so any time not doing homework or studying has been spent with them. This whole being at home for a month thing is pretty bittersweet. On one hand, I'm sad to be away from all of my friends here, but on the other...it is freezing here. California weather cannot come soon enough.

I took these photos yesterday while on a coffee date with Katie and Lexi, and we all almost froze to death taking them. I'm so happy to have them here since they're two of the only people on campus who would stand outside sans coats for a few minutes just to take pictures of our outfits. I decided it was time to break out the cat dress again, and when I realized that it had been forever since I donned a feminine collar, I knew I needed to fix that. This dress really is a great layering piece, which means that I'm going to have to see what else I can do with it soon. Side note: since just about every blogger on the planet owns this dress, does anyone else think it's time for some sort of link-up? 

P.S. Please shop my closet for some cheap clothes so I can afford to buy all of the Christmas presents I need to get!

Quiet

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, but that's just because finals are upon us. I survived dead week (barely), and I now I just have to make through a couple of tests, a paper, and a presentation. Easy, right? I'm really not too worried about it since the work that was stressing me out was done last week. Even so, posts might still be a little scarce this week. On top of the work, it's my last week here before going back to California for a month, which means spending time with friends before some graduate and everyone else parts ways for four weeks. 

As for outfits, you really haven't been missing much. It's mostly just been throwing on scarves, dresses, and boots and staying warm. This chunky scarf is a new favorite of mine, and while I was worried about it overwhelming on my frame at first, I can't resist that color. More mauve, please. 

Dead Week

If I were to give this week a theme, it would be "late." Because Thanksgiving was so late this year, there's only two weeks between Thanksgiving break and winter break, as opposed to the usual three. Because of this, everything feels rushed. All of a sudden, it's dead week, everything is due, and finals are next week. Of course, every college student I know (especially those of us with acute senioritis) has put off all projects and papers until after break, which means there's less than a week to do everything. Needless to say, I'm stressed. I'm well aware that this could have been avoided had I actually worked on assignments during my week off, but then what kind of break would that be? (Side note: I don't know why I think this blog could help me get a job in the fashion industry when I constantly insist on writing things about my laziness. I really am a hard worker, I swear. You have to believe me.)

Because of my mountain of homework, I've been slacking on commenting on blogs again. Rest assured, I am still reading. Thank goodness for smartphones and breaks between classes. I do have to admit that a few of my assignments are actually pretty interesting. A presentation entirely on e-commerce and a paper on "District 9?" Not too shabby for homework. 

Mashed Potatoes

This is what I wore on Thanksgiving, when I spent the entire day slaving over the kitchen to cook a delicious meal for my family. I spent hours on the turkey, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, while my loved ones sat around the table drinking and talking. It was a tough task, but it was worth it to create a wonderful meal for my family.

Just kidding.

I really didn't do much but stand there and lend a helping hand every so often (barely) as my dad and sister-in-law cooked, while one of my brothers (who just started bartending) made  everyone cocktails. Even though I can't take any of the credit for the meal — which I joked with my family I would do on my blog — I can still say it was a fantastic dinner. Our family kept it pretty small, with only about 10 of us I think, which was nice. Well, any day that involves homemade mashed potatoes is automatically perfect in my book. I don't think you all can comprehend how much I love mashed potatoes.