5 Things.

5 things I hope to accomplish before I die. 

1. Ride in a hot air ballon. I'm absolutely dying to do this.

2. Make my own wine in a vineyard 

3. Have an incredible arts & crafts room in my house

4. Visit Bora Bora and stay in a fabulous bungalow 

5. Marry Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or have his babies (or both)

Country Roads, Take Me Home

The weekend before last I made one of the best, spontaneous decisions I've ever made. Last minute, as in five minutes before go time, I decided to make a road trip home with one of my very best friends, Tyler. Hands down, just what I needed. Although I adore Knoxville, I've been extremely homesick the past month or so. My trip home with Tyler was exactly the cure I was hoping for. Our trip exceeded my expectations by far. Not only is Tyler's family super sweet, his grandmother is an amazing cook. Between a picture adventure around Westmoreland, home-cooked meals, a wonderful family and time spent with Tyler, I'd say I had a fabulous time. 

Tyler's grandfather, Pa, officially gave me the nickname 'Tear drop". I'm obsessed. 

Westmoreland is basically the epitome of a small, southern town. It didn't hurt that as we were adventuring around on Sunday afternoon Miranda Lambert's 'House That Built Me' came on the radio. 

This particular weekend meant so much to me because I finally got to see the sweet, little town that Tyler calls home. We spent a few hours traveling around Westmoreland and at each stop Tyler had a childhood story to share with me. I absolutely loved it and wish we had more time to explore. 

 

I was sad to say goodbye, but absolutely cannot wait to make another trip over Christmas break. Thank you for being a wonderful host, Ty! I'm so thankful to have spent time with you and your family. 

I love you (too).

I'm guilty of overusing the words "I love you". You and I could be friends for 5 minutes, and chances are I'll tell you I love you. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea. These three simple words are by far my favorite. Now, you won't catch me saying the words "I love you, too". Even if you know me well, you might not have caught on to this. This phrase makes me cringe, dramatic I know. It's the too part that drives me away from this phrase. Too- it just seems so forced, like maybe you wouldn't have said I love you if I didn't say it first. Like maybe you only told me you loved me because I told you. Ridiculous.

Instead, I leave out the word "too", that way there is never a doubt in your mind that I'm only responding.

Demonstration:

You: I love you
Me: I love you

It really is that easy. I really don't know another person that thinks this way; I'm understandably in the minority, but I'm okay with that.

Two weeks-ish

I could not be more happy to say that it's finally football time in Tennessee. Shortly after football begins, we are blessed with fall weather, which is by far the greatest season of them all. The following pictures basically summarize my life the past two weeks.  A majority of my time lately has been spent nannying for the sweetest family in Knoxville. Hence the princess book and Annie's organic Mac & Cheese (see below). 

Senior year is bittersweet. I feel like I've been counting down the days to graduation since Freshman year, but now that it's actually here I don't want to leave. Yeah, I said it. I don't want to leave. That's coming from the girl who hated Knoxville in the beginning and wanted to transfer more than anything. 

I think I'm finally in my happy place. Although I adore Franklin with my heart and soul, It's hard to go home.  I'm sure when spring semester rolls around, I'll be more than ready to leave. But for now, the weather is perfect, I'm surrounded by my closest friends, classes are great, and it's football season. Why in the world would I want to leave Knoxville? 

Easy Transformation

I've owned this plain, white dresser as long as I can remember. It's nothing special, very basic. I've never been crazy about it, but it got the job done. A few weeks ago I decided it was time for a transformation! This must be the easiest DIY project I have ever done.

Is chivalry really dead?

Early last week a very silly, yet disappointing thing happened to me. As I was walking out of the Communications Building on campus, a guy offered to hold the door for me as I frantically rushed to my next class. That doesn't sound so silly does it?  Well in return for giving him a sincere smile and politely saying "thank you", he responded, "mhmm" and then rolled his eyes at me. 

Oh my, if you know me at all, you can only imagine my disgust in that moment. I wanted to shout back and say something along the lines of, "I know your mother taught you better than that." But instead I just laughed and walked away. I was completely appalled by this moment. Was opening the door for me really that big of a deal? Did I deserve an eye roll? Couldn't he just simply said, "you're welcome." 

A few weeks ago my younger sister went on a precious dinner & a movie date with this sweet boy she knows. After he picked her up for their date,  my dad and I realized that we wanted to go on a daddy-daughter date of our own. We thought about showing up at Macaroni Grille, where my sister was going on her date, but we figured she wouldn't speak to us for days. While dad and I were at dinner, I wondered if my sister's date had opened the car door for her. My dad's response, "I doubt it, no one y'alls age does that sort of thing anymore." 

I was surprised by my dad's response because my guy opens the door for me everywhere we go. Even when the "clicker" for his car was broken, he would make me wait so he could unlock the car from his side, then walk over and open my door. Call me old school, but it's just the gentlemen thing to do, right? I've very appreciative and recognize his gesture each time, but I don't see what the big fuss is all about. 

Clearly if I had known this guy was going to be rude about the door situation, I would have opened the stupid door on my own. 

Enough complaining from me, and cheers to the sweet guys that still open doors for the ladies!  

Never have I ever been so incredibly excited about football season. With T minus 11 days (or 10 days if you wish) until the first game, I literally can't get football off of my mind. There is something about senior year that makes me more excited than ever before. I must admit, I've never made it to all of the home games for an entire season, but hopefully that will change this fall. 

There is no sweeter sound than the words of Rocky Top coming from Neyland. 

Go Vols! 

Big Apple Adventure

I spent the last week of July in NYC visiting a dear friend of mine! I could not have asked for a better trip to the Big Apple. My friend Kelsea lived in Manhattan all summer while she interned at Diane Von Furstenberg, pretty cool huh? It was awesome spending a few days with Kelsea and experiencing her lifestyle in NYC.  There were a few downfalls during my trip, such as my wallet getting stolen and a double ear infection I was unaware of, but I really did have a wonderful time! Kelsea was a wonderful hostess and took me some amazing places around the city. 

Of course I had to visit Central Park.

Can't even explain how beautiful it was.

My beautiful, beautiful friend.

Finally have DVF in my wardrobe, thank you Kels!

Shakespeare in Central Park, amazing!

Most of the taxis are Escapes, love that.

One of the nights I was in the city, we saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it! I'm not a huge fan of cheesy love movies, but this movie was absolutely perfect. The theatre we saw it in was beautiful, I managed to snag a picture of this blue light fixture, but you can only imagine.