Where did 2009 go?!

I can't believe I have made it another year!

When I look back at 2009, I only see positivity. The year started off with me meeting an amazing group of people. Little did I know, these people would end up becoming some of my closet friends!

We worked our school's freshman orientation Summer of 2009 and it was amazing! It was seriously like summer camp, except in dorms and with a different group of "kids" every two days. Although there were times I wanted to gouge my eyes out at some points of the summer, over all, it was an awesome experience, and  I truly thank God for allowing me that opportunity.

The momentum of summer carried through to the fall. For the first time, I truly began enjoying my time at UF. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked UF, but it was not until summer that I LOVED UF. It was due in part to my summer job, that I became even more involved on campus. Fall in fact started with me getting my Assistant Director Position in the Community Involvement Cabinet in UF's Student Government. That position has taught me a great deal about myself, and even life in general.

I also picked up a few more projects, which I blogged about earlier. I actually ended up resigning from the S.T.A.A.R position, but it's all good--I feel great about the decision, and  am extremely excited to move on planning the fashion show/ charity event. So much about that is up in the air at this point, but I am confident in my abilities to make it happen.

Oh yeah! I also was nominated to serve in the Peace Corps this year. My assignment--as of now at least-- is in francophone  Africa(Sub-Sahara French-speaking West Africa), and my departure date is sometime in the summer 2010! I have been dragging my feet when it comes to finishing the final paper work, but I plan on having everything in for real for real by mid January. (That is one of the many items on my to-do list for 2010.)

When I look back on 2009, there are a million and a half things I could have, should have, and would have done better, but you know what, all those things are now in the past. I believe that everything happens (or does not happen) for a reason, and all I can do is move on.

I pray that I learn even more in 2010,and am looking forward to all the crazy adventures in store! You know, I have been trying to make a list of things I'd like to do in 2010,and even things I'd like to accomplish in the the next 10 years, and it is so hard. Haha... I've been listening to Country Music lately because it calms me down just as much, if not more than Christmas Music. I just so happened to change to the Country Station last night and heat Tim McGraw's "My Next Thrity Years" and LOVED it. Everything in the song is pretty much a long-term goal, but it's still a great song and I think everyone should listen to it. :-D

Here goes a few of my short term goals though:

• Be officially invited to serve in the Peace Corps
• Graduate from UF with a 3.0 (I have a 2.95 right now... erg)
• Start SAVING money
• Find a grad program that I like for after the Peace Corps
• Get my apartment sub-leased for summer
• Get more of my friends to start blogging
• Take a road trip somewhere random...
• Read for fun
• Read the news daily, possibly even in French on days where time is not an issue
  
• Work on Arabic more
• Talk to my family more often
• Work on my bloggin' skills...you know, actually follow the format I posted in a blog earlier. haha

Yeah, the list goes on, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I am actually about to be late to church with my family, so I'm signing off for the last time in 2009!

Happy Blogging in 2010 and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ebb

Source: totally used Google, and typed in "happy new year" and saw this in the photo's. Origionally, it was signed, "from Trevor" but I was rather declasse and erased it. You the man Trevor! (Wherever and Whoever you are!....Please don't sue me. :-/)

What did I do before Polyvore?!

Ok, here's the deal...

As you all know, I have started using Polyvore to assemble looks around the items I have been purchasing this holiday. Now I am hooked and making up ensembles around items I salivate over on trips to the mall.

I made a new look," The Tardy Student" based off this yellow Ralph Lauren hooded sweatshirt I picked up the other day at Dillard's. I decided that this winter, I need to step it up some. Generally at this time of the year, I bum around in athletic shorts and one of the dozen or so Abercrombie & Fitch hoodies I own. I realize now, that is just not a good look. In creating my polyvore, I learned that Old Navy has some really good button downs. I plan on picking up a few, and going after the look posted below.

Even though you know the true inspiration behind this look, I thought I would post the somewhat fictional  story behind the ensemble that I posted on the polyvore site.

"Simply the perfect hangover outfit: jeans you fell asleep in, shirt fresh off the floor, hoodie to cover the beer stain on the back of the shirt off the floor, house slippers because you threw your shoes into the woods the night before, and most importantly... aviators to block out the light."

Now for the second look... I have not discussed this on the blog, but I LOVE Louis Vuitton. I seriously dream of one day having enough money to commission anything I want from the company. ( I mean, I still need to figure out how I'm going to get to that point, but hey, at least I have motivation to succeed in life right?)

Well, the Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite President Classeur Briefcase (and yes, I can say that in French) is one of the pieces I really do salivate over after I leave the Louis store. Here is the look I came up with based on this fine brief case--the Large Louis Vuitton Epi Leather Agenda also makes an appearance in the look I like to call "The Guest Lecturer".

Who knows what the future will hold? Will "The Tardy Student" eventually become "The Young Professor" and become so sought after that he becomes "The Guest Lecturer"?

Oh, who would have known that Polyvore would be so addicting?

Keep you eyes peeled for my next polyvore creation--or at least the next one I believe is blog worthy.

Ebb...aka, the tardy student

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

Why can I not find this designer?!

Ok,

So I went shopping with my sister today and found these AMAZING David Richard Ltd. suede boat shoes at DSW.I have never heard of the designer and cannot find him ANYWHERE on the internet. I got the shoes for $12.83 a piece (including tax) so I do not really care how legit he is. I have been wanting to get the suede Sperry's for a while now, but could not bring myself to spend about $90 on shoes I knew I wouldn't wear that often.

I'll put my own pictures of the shoes up when I have a little bit more time...I found these pictures on eBay and figured they would do for now.What do you think though? pretty sweet huh?

Here are the outfits I envision these shoes with... (A little creative license has been taken because of how the polyvore website works. I am 99.99987% sure the site was originally, if not still, intended for women.It's a pretty sweet concept though so I am going to pave the way for men! haha.)

I call this look "The First Mate" because I built it around the peacoat-a coat  which was originally meant for sailors. I would wear this out to dinner with friends or to an event that took place at night that wasn't formal. Maybe a play, coffee, movie--you get the gist.

I call this look "The Young Professor". As I mentioned in my inaugural  post, I would love to someday be a professor. I feel this look, like the professors it is model after,  has a comfortable sophistication about itself, and that is why I love it! I'd most likely wear this out to lunch or to a campus-related meeting or something.






I'm not going to lie, the whole polyvore thing is pretty sick, and I think I may have developed a new addiction. Shout out to MollDoll for inadvertently introducing me to this website/tool.

Happy Blogging,

Ebb

Sources: Click the name of the look, and a link will direct you to the polyvore site where the polyvore itself is deconstructed with links to the websites I got the content from.

How did my family manage to surprise me?!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

I just got done chilling with the family in the living room and making all the holiday calls, but I was so surprised by this years Christmas that I HAD to blog about it as soon as I got free time...




The first box I opened was this amazing pea coat. Surprisingly, my mother ordered it from JCPenny.

The next box I went for ended up being an outfit. I have been borrowing and flat-out taking my dad's dress shirts for longer than I can remember. (They are SO nice, and I just can't afford his style on a college budget, so I do what I have to do--DON'T JUDGE ME! haha.) Well, dad ended up picking out this Thomas Dean shirt that I absolutely love,and plan on wearing into work tomorrow for day after Christmas.

I love working at GUESS? but I'm going to let you in on a little secret--I wear Lucky Brand Jeans to work...shhhhhh, that stays between us. Because mom knows how much I love these jeans, she picked me up a pair at one of the local Lucky Brand Jeans Stores to go with the shirt my dad got me.

As you all know, I live in Florida. If you do not already know, flip-flops are like a staple of the Florida lifestyle. I finally managed to wear out my current flip-flops so my sister got me these sick Sperry Top-Sider flip-flops.

My sister may understand why I live in flip-flops, but mom and dad do not share my appreciation for them.Dad surprised me once again with these amazing St. John's Bay driving shoes in black! I must say, Daddy Bell has more style than I give him credit for. haha.





All in all, I must say, that even though I did not get one thing on my Christmas wish list, some how my family manged to actually get me items that were that much better!

I got some other random stuff, but I just wanted to blog about the clothing items. I am still in awe at how well my family did this year!

Hope everyone's Christmas was amazing and that everyone is enjoying their family time like I am!

Ebb

Sources: jcpenny.com / thomasdeanco.com / luckybrand.com / sperrytopsider.com

Should I exchange my new shades?

So guys,

I need your help once again...

(and I promise, I'll try and get a few short post in before I do another long one :-/ )...

I got my new shades today, and now I am not sure how much I like the them. I think part of my problem is that I tried on another pair of more traditional aviators and fell in love with them...You see, this isn't the first time I have had a dilemma  when it comes to aviators.  I shall take you through this love/hate relationship pair by pair so that you can help me decide what to do...

 

These are very similar to my very first pair of aviators. They were MARC JACOBS--the only difference is that mine were completely black, and had "MARC" written on ones side and "JACOBS" written on the other. I stalked them for a good 6 months because I didn't want to pay $350 for them--it paid off when I got them for $120. I returned them about a week later because they didn't block sun like I wanted, and I hate when people can see my eyes through my sun glass lenses.

I was honestly in LOVE with these MARC JACOBS aviators, the problem is that they were not practical at the time of purchase. When I returned the first pair, I saw these and bought them with out thinking. Like their predecessor, they too were originally $350ish and I got them for 100 something. When I bought these, I also bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses (the clear Jupiter) for my summer job because they were kind of my school colors and I was an orientation leader, plus I knew I'd wear them on game days at tail-gates. I ended up liking the Oakley sunglasses more, and only work the MARC JACOBS on St. Patty's day, and like one other day. SO, you guessed it...I took them back...

 These are the GUESS? shades I blogged about a few days ago. I just got them today, and I do honestly like them. But I think I like them because they remind me of my second pair of MARC JACOBS while still remaining somewhat true to the aviator look.

 

 These are one of the pair of GUESS? shades I tried on the other day when I blogged about my problem/obsession. I've tried these on at work EVERYDAY since discovering, and all my co-workers love them. We are, in some ways, closer than family there, so they would not think of sparing my feelings when it comes to purchases.

What to do, what to do, what to do!? I love both GUESS? pairs, and they would be worn with COMPLETELY different looks. And none of them look like my other pairs of shades. I am kinda kicking myself in the butt for not getting the second pair on the day the store went 50% off.

Thanks for baring with me... I really do love you all's input.

Ebb

Sources: hisunglasses.com/ / marcjacobs.com/#/en-us/home / shop.guess.com

What is Christmas without music?!

(This is going to be a longer one, but only because it's a list of holiday songs... skim through if you have time though so we can see if we have any songs in common...)

So,

I decided to take a break from blogging about anything fashion related to talk about Christmas music! I don't know about you, but I know that I love me some Christmas music. When I first hear Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You" the day after Thanksgiving, I get excited. Also, I have realized that Christmas music has the ability to calm me like nothing else in this world (it calms me even more than Jack Johnson music and shopping)! I got the idea to share my favorite Christmas songs with you all on the way International Plaza when I started playing Christmas music to calm my nerves from Tampa's I-275 traffic.

Here goes the list (and links) in no particular order:

Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" starts the Christmas season off for me like no other, and will do so till the day I die...

Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" just puts me in a chipper of a mood... I think it's just the funky sounds in the music or something, but its really good...

The entire Jackson 5's Christmas album is one of my favorite Christmas albums ever. I went threw two cassette tapes and a CD as a child/teenager before I finally bought it on iTunes...One of my favorite songs though is "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"... (I didn't know that the dad was Santa Claus until 11th grade...how about you?)

Going off that relocation though, it makes me wonder who Santa is in "Santa Baby"... I think Eartha Kitt is singing to a special someone in this song... (What does it say that people THINK Marilyn Monroe sang this song? I mean, come on people, fill in the blanks. haha)

I absolutely LOVE "Sleigh Ride", although I am not sure what version I like more. Part of me loves the Ella Fitzgerald version because I believe she sings it so well, and the other side of me loves the instrumental version because it was always my favorite song to play for band every year for our Christmas concert.

Stevie Wonder's "Ave Maria" gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. Listen and you will see why.

Going off of that, Josh Groban's "O Holy Night" rendition also gives me goose bumps... again, listen and you will see why.

Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" always makes me laugh...I think it's because I feel like that is how my grandfather and his brothers would threaten us grandchildren around this time of the year when we were being troublesome.

The list would not be complete without Feliz Navidad... I mean, who didn't get excited at the first English line "I want to wish you a Merry Christmas/with lots of presents to make you happy."? Plus this in Spanish was easier to sing than "O Tannenbaum" in German in 3rd grade chorus--yeah, I went to a pretty bad ass grade school.

Even though Destiny's Child left out four days of gifts, and changed them all together, I'd take the keys to a CLK Mercedes' and I guess they had to do something to allow ample time for Beyonce to do her thing. If you haven't guessed by now, I am talking about "8 Days of Christmas"

This song is a more recent addition to the list, and I must attribute it to working at GUESS? "Last Christmas" is now one of my favorite songs of the season.Of all the versions we have at work, the Casacada version is my favorite.

I will leave you with the most unconventional Christmas song I have ever heard. Lady Gaga and Space Cowboy have made it onto my list with their song "Christmas Tree"... (There is no official video for it, but I LOVE this homemade interpretation of the song.)

j/k...I forgot that I wanted to put "The Dreidel Song" (I'm not going to lie, I think this is how we must have sounded when we were kids singing it...that's why I went with this version). I remember we had a Jewish girl in my 5th grade class that taught us all how to play. Our whole class was obsessed with that game for at least a week, and recess was not complete with out a few games of it. Man were those the days?

I hope this post has put you into the Holiday spirit if you were not already in it! And sorry that there is no flow to this post--I may try and clean it it some later, but I really doubt it.Did you notice any songs we have in common and do you think I left anything out? I'm interested to hear other people's favorites.

Sources: I got all video links from youtube.com... whatever the people I got it from cited,or disclaim, I do to... (I hope that's legal enough for bloggin purposes... guess it's going to have to be huh? haha.) As for the clip-art, I used Google to find images that I liked

Does this constitute a problem?

Ok,

I am 99.999997% sure that I have developed a new obsession. To be honest, I don't even think the word obsession is the right word. I am like IN LOVE with Aviator Sunglasses, and truly believe everyone should have at least one pair of these iconic American eye-wear in their collection. Even though I already ordered my GUESS? aviators, I still wondered into at least five stores to try on these six pair of aviators today. Here they are in no particular order...


Louis Vuitton: Absolutely love these and would buy them in a heart beat if I had the money to blow--it goes on the "motivation list" as I like to call it. ($530)

Burberry: These looked great on me, but not as much a hit as the Vuitton's. Realistically, I'd rather save for the Vuitton's than buy these--had I not seen the Vuttions I'd love them more. ($225)

Gucci: I really liked these, because they remind me of the ones I blogged about the other day. I am not sure if I'd actually buy these or not, but I do like them. ($275)

Michael Kors: Fell in LOVE with these. I may like these just as much as I like the LV's but for a different reason...They are just hot! Even though I just bought aviators, I may buy these in January or right before spring break. Who knows? My mind changes with the wind. ($125)

Ray-Ban: Ok, I was IN love with these when they first came out. I am so glad my mother knows me so well, and didn't get them for me for my birthday. I think I just liked the sweat band on the top? ($189)

GUESS?: So, I just found these bad boys today... Whatever have I been doing at work? I have NO idea. Even with the discount, I think I am going to pass, but I still think these are pretty sick. ($90)

And there you have it, around the mall in six frames. Would you buy any of the shades above or is there another pair that has your eye? Also, what do you think about aviators? I'd seriously like to know!

Until next post,

Ebb

Sources: louisvuitton.com/us / us.burberry.com / gucci.com/us / michaelkors.com / ray-ban.com/usa / shop.guess.com

What have I done?!

(This is a longer one... but so worth the read....and I'm not just saying that...haha)

"Whoops" is all I can say.

After starting the day off rather uneventfully, my friend, my sister and I decided to hit up International Plaza--Tampa's premier mall. Originally, I was only going for the purpose of trying on those aviators from yesterday's post and to make sure I knew my sister's size at GUESS? in cause I decided to grab a pair for her as a gift. Needless to say, that didn't happen.


We started off going by Coach so I could see if my sister liked the wristlet I bought here for Christmas. Because she had no idea that I had already bought it, she was brutally honest in her dislike of the item. (Needless to say, I returned that later on in the evening when she wasn't with us.)





The girl at the store though was pretty chill though and we ended up chatting it up for at least half an hour. Some how, my eyes fell on a pair of sneakers, and before I knew it, I was walking out the store, the proud owner of a new pair of shoes.







After Coach, we went to GUESS? where I learned that the aviators I fell in love with are not available in our store. BUZZ KILL! So I tried on the pair I THOUGHT were the pair I liked and decided that I would just order them online.



Nordstom is the anchor nearest to GUESS? so we decided to pop in. At Nordstrom, my sister saw a pair of TOMS she liked. Even though the sales guy was a complete douche, and I will go on record and say that was THE WORST experience I have had shopping at Nordstrom, I went ahead and bought them for her on the spot--we are just going to fake the giving of the gift Christmas morning.



Fast-forward a few hours...


My friend and I decided to hit up the Coach at Westfield Brandon Shopping Center to exchange my sister's gift for something else. My mom has loved Coach since she was a little girl, so I know that I can never go wrong with something from there for her. I decided to swap my sister's gift for a black leather wristlet to go with the bag dad just got her for her birthday. Even though my mom has handbags out the butt, she doesn't have anything she can use to just "grab and go", so I figure she can use this at the gym for her phone, keys, and ID.



I still need to get my dad's present, but I figured I'd let the bank account recoup for a minute before I do my patriotic duty to further re-stimulate the economy. I mean, I know I did really well in terms of cashing in on deals; but man, I so didn't plan on spending that much today. Oh well, what's done is done and can't be undone. (I wouldn't even consider returning something. It's almost a sin to me--I think it just comes from working retail or something.)



Cost Break Down:
(I round up because I'm lazy)
Brown Wristlet- $39 (tax included after 25% customer appreciation discount)
Coach Sneakers- $53 (tax included after crazy mark down)
Navy Blue TOMS- $49 (tax included--no deals here)
Black Wristlet- $9 (tax included after Brown total applied to price of item)
GUESS? Aviators-$46 (tax included after 50% employee discount and waived shipping)



Sources: Coach.com/tomsshoes.com

pourquoi dois-je l'amour lunettes de soleil?!

Ok guys, I need your help!

As you all know, I decided to work at GUESS? for the holiday season. I honestly thought I would be able to make it a whole month without spending money on myself. Who was I kidding?!

This Friday, it's employee appreciation day or something like that, and we are getting 50% off anything in the store--our discount is normally only 40% off.

I know that means I can get two pair of shades for one, but I really only want one pair of aviators for my collection. I have a pair of Maui Jim's , Oakley's and Armani's (all in various styles) but I do not own any aviators. There is simply a "je ne sais quoi" aviators have about them that lure me in.

Well, I've taken enough of your time... here goes the choices...





So I am drawn to these first because they are black with silver accents. The problem is that my Armani Shades are black with silver accents.






I feel these are a modern adaptation of the classic aviator. The gold and tortoise combo scream retro to me, and that is why I love them. I am just not sure how I feel about actually wearing gold. *



Thanks A million in advance for the help!

Ebb


source: shop.guess.com

*Ok, so I know I just posted this an hour ago tops, but I have decided to go with the second pair. Black may be classic, but for some reason, the more and more I look at choice one, the more I think of Kanye West and that just translates to douche bag for me. The second pair on the other hand have that jet-set, sophisticated-sexy feel about them.

Is adderall the answer?

Ok,

So while my friend and I were walking today, they mentioned that they were using adderall to help them concentrate on test prep--little did I know that they are part of the estimated 25% of college students who use drugs like these illegally to gain an advantage(citation included at the bottom). I cannot help but think that this is an un-fair advantage. I myself have a hard time focusing and could probably get an Rx legally with ease, but I have learned ways to get around my short attention span and be productive. I don't think I'll ever be able to study the same material for long periods of time with out breaks, however I know at the end of the day, I will know that I am responsible for what I put out at the end of the day.

I can't help but wonder how the illegal adderall users of the world are going to fair when they leave college.

What do you all think?

Ebb


http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/are-ritalin-taking-students-cheaters/

Did I really make it out alive?!

The term from hell finally finished!...well, sort of...

I am back home for the holidays, but I was not able to leave Gainesville in Gainesville... I have three papers to re-write/cite by the 16th, and then another paper due no later than the 18th...and I just realized that today WAS the 10th! Whoops...

On top of that hot mess of unfinished stuff, I then have those three major projects I am working on...

It's all good though, today I went to Nordstrom--easily one of my favorite stores--and tried on the sickest NorthFace... and then went to Ruehl and found like a thousand jacket/hoodies that I loved. OH! And to top it all off, I am finally back to being officially hired on at GUESS? (what what?)

That's it for now, but I am about to start playing with the format and what not of the blog...

December is my month of projects and preparation...

Peace Out Homies!

Ebb

Am I part of a Bad Romance?

SO,

I have come to the conclusion that I am part of a bad romance with the French language. I truly do love it, but at the same time, I detest it, yet for some reason, I keep going back to it.What is wrong with me?! I think I am going to get a D in my intermediate French course, but I somehow managed to pull a B or B+ in conversation. ERG, I just need to work on writing.

Well, that aside, I am going to change the form of my blog. I will hopefully be able to do two short blogs a week on just random topics, and then I will do one extended blog on the weekends. I believe this change will keep you the readers interested, as well as allow me to post on more topics.

Sadly I must go now. I have a paper due tomorrow at 8:00am as well as a French composition to prepare for tomorrow afternoon. (Yeah yeah, I know, I'm stuck at a D, but might as well, do the paper anyway.)

Until next post,

Ebb