just some thoughts…

Published on July 8, 2016 by blonde rosieLeave a comment

I just want to say that when I started this little blog I never wanted to get political or sound like a sociology textbook. I started this silly thing because I like to write and I miss writing papers.

With the recent events I cannot keep my mouth shut about this issue much longer.

Why It Matters To Me

Tonight my heart aches. Tonight I can’t form one sentence to express how I feel. Tonight prayer is not enough. Tonight I want to hold all of the children in the world to protect them. Whenever I hear about a shooting in Philadelphia I pray it is not one of the children I tutored while in college. Those children became my babies and have a special place in my heart. Because of the color of their skin I worried that they might get hurt or not make it through high school because of our society. I read Jonathan Kozol to learn about the exceptions, but also America’s failure to provide an inadequate society for our children of color to grow up in. Tonight I wish I was in Philadelphia holding my babies and promising that this will never happen to them. But for these elementary school children, my babies have already experienced this in their lives. Black Lives Matter. All Lives Matter. My Babies Lives Matter.

Why Race Never Mattered To Me

Growing up I spent a lot of time at my aunt and uncle’s house and they had foster children living with them at the time. It was always a house full of children so hello, it is every kids dream! I spent hours everyday playing with kids and having a great time. It never occurred to me that they were a different skin color. In preschool my first friends were Natalie and Sarah and we were inseparable. Natalie was black and Sara was adopted and did not look like her mother. Since I was never told that race existed I never saw color. In Kindergarten my BFF was this girl named Christina and we spent everyday together. She was also adopted and did not look like her mother. My first few friends in life did not look like me, but they were my best friends. I do not know when I learned about race or where I learned it from. It is a very weird coincidence that my first friends in life were adopted or did not look like me. Even with media and society telling me to notice race I actively try to ignore it telling me how to think.

What Can You Do

This is what white people can do to support #BlackLivesMatter
Washington Post

Educate Yourself
DoSomething.org https://sjc-usadmm.dotomi.com/dmm/servlet/rtb?cg=91&dtmid=474901975436347675&magic=42&utype=0&bidServerId=2459&pnid=14000&pid=14000&ms=11&trid=245903441789881351&trmagic=999796830&dtm_server_id=8725&mwp=V38aLAAGMwwKgRQNAAohz00hk3QmvaljxO1V-Q&comId=2149&msgCampId=97309&tid=97738&icb=0&fpc=0&btcurl=www.washingtonpost.com&iblob=CIeYuoeK_Oe0AxDe4N7cAxjlECCd-AUo____________AVkK16NwPQoUQKgFArEFzczMzMzMFkC5BQAAAAAAAPA_wQXhehSuR-HqP9EFAAAAAAAAAADYBQDgBf___________wE&dvcid=&dvc_dnt=0&dvc_uaos=Mac+OS+X&rt=1&site_id=washingtonpost.com&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fads.dotomi.com%2Fads.php%3Fdres%3Drtb%26pnid%3D14000%26pid%3D14000%26cg%3D91%26ms%3D11%26tz%3D0&supplyType=1&cturl=https://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/aclk%3Fsa%3DL%26ai%3DCgLhrLBp_V4zmGI2ohATPw6j4CrTV_KoG9Jan-FrAjbcBEAEgAGDJ7uGKtKTYD4IBF2NhLXB1Yi0zOTgwMzAwNzI1NTEzMDk2yAEJ4AIAqAMBqgSlAk_QG5uysjGTVeOsBfTd1ij1QjNzBfYDAoNL5OfcsOmEYUKxHyhy_Ef1P0P03rH4NFcM_eLFbhWIUJ_1eP0NnvDSW1wjz1pDVMnvP756X0cBLiApY1hIXiT4cEVxUfs9HF6k7eJBGd5DIiPHmvofdPe-0e3ZGUFXF8ftGZ1iBK7QGucNS9y7dm2T2tClLrVK_adcCPkjKr0_NuiwWCjRosIRafFpQCKecT1lvm2omQXIInRM7UU7o5MGj-0wPTuNRhpORx5izznJ6oqjhZO6hVO63c1qRIT2m2HFfknylkjKjSsu2MnF6WvJtjHWOEoqCDHeXi-jnyPeUD_3JxfInoFvPsw4yR7DeQ6R5m5_6Dmpwwxv9a2GLFPyoCqcQYVWmzdCrF8n4AQBgAaa2qWdhOCD8A6gBiGoB6a-G9gHAA%26num%3D1%26sig%3DAOD64_00s8dnC0J8gsBX-lOkcTgF8o6xxg%26client%3Dca-pub-3980300725513096%26adurl%3D

Put Yourself In Their Shoes

Talk to a friend and talk about racism you see everyday around you. It exists…even if you do not see it.

Don’t roll your eyes when you hear about the subject. Ignorance is the worst form of racism.

be your own sunshine

Published on July 6, 2016July 22, 2016 by blonde rosieLeave a comment

Work is sometimes the last place I want to be on a beautiful sunny day.
The only thing worse than going to work on a sunny day is having to go on a perfect beach day! I try to wear colors to work as much as possible because work can be so blah at times. I have such a bubbly energy at work I try to keep my appearance fun as well to try to hide how exhausted I am! (Outfit details at the bottom of this post!)

After a long day at work, my mom and I went to Stay Gold to grab salads and enjoy the weather. Usually most days after work I will crash on the couch but my mom I started to do weekly dinners together. With my new work schedule I feel like all I do is work and have no fun!! How do you find time in your day for adventure?

[Outfit details: Dress, Necklace (last season J Crew)]

red, white, & a fun filled weekend!

Published on July 3, 2016July 3, 2016 by blonde rosieLeave a comment

When I say I have been planning for the Fourth of July since January, I am not kidding!
For work I will be organizing my towns Fourth of July parade, which is a really really realllly big deal! I have 58 groups, 4 marching bands, 35 automobiles and an alarm set for 5:30am for Monday morning. I have spent hours this week finalizing plans and small details for the parade day. I will be posting another post hopefully sharing my adventures on the Fourth!

Sunday is technically the only day I have off and I plan on enjoying every single moment of it. Today is the first time in weeks I have not had to set my alarm and now I am in bed blogging to start the day. I wish every day started like this!

Be sure to go back and check out my Memorial Day blog post for some party inspiration!

The week leading up to the Fourth I was very patriotic in my outfits!

I have had this dress on my wish list for a while now and even wrote about it here. It was on the clearance rack for $7 at Old Navy and it is adorable but comfortable for work. Right now they are out of this print online but I encourage you to go to the store and buy this style in every print! Right now (Saturday only) dresses at Old Navy are only $8. Keep an eye out for similar sales towards the end of summer. A lot of my favorite work dresses are from Old Navy and have lasted for many seasons.

At work on Friday I really got into the season with a dress I wear every Fourth and Memorial Day! It’s a navy blue stretch dress with poka dots making it so much fun to wear to work. It is old from Banana Republic but right now the whole store is on sale so go now to stock up on work dresses! Banana Republic always has classics to wear to work that you can wear for many years and never go out of style. I paired my dress with sandals from Gap and my red Ray Bans. It is really hard to hide my American Pride this week!

Be sure to run to Old Navy today to pick up your Fourth of July shirts! For years they just sold the white shirts or tank tops holiday shirts, but now they are more creative (and adorable!). As always, they are super cheap and make a great holiday outfit!

On Saturday I had a few hours by the pool in my new favorite patriotic bikini from Target. The best thing about Target is that they are affordable and have styles for everyones body type. While I love swim from VS I feel like my body type does not always fit in their styles. They have a whole line of patriotic swimwear in different styles to fit your body type. Mine is perfect for flat chested gals like me but they make tops for more support if you need it. This swim is adorable and will be worn for many summers to come! Hurry to Target before they are all sold out!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

work out because you love your body, not because you hate it

Published on June 30, 2016June 29, 2016 by blonde rosieLeave a comment

(Pre-gym snack!)

Something I have learned many times in life is that you cannot control everything.
In college and in the real world, we can start the day with a to do list but sometimes (everyday) things get added on and somethings get neglected.
In college, I was taking 5 classes, volunteering and working while trying to look presentable and find time withe friends. When my parents would call me around 11am to find out I was drinking at the bar on campus they were shocked, little did they know that was the only scheduled time I had that day to socialize with friends!!

In college, we always said that we had no free time.
But now I find myself now saying the exact same thing just working a 40 hour a week job. When I leave the office at 4:30, I leave my work at the office and go straight home. But for some reason I find myself having zero time in the day! I do more at home now than I did in college. Living with my parents means more cleaning, more laundry and more food shopping!!

In college and the real life there has been one thing I can control, the gym.
In my final year of college, I was more committed to the gym than ever before. I would bring homework and do it on the elliptical or bring note cards and went over them when I did some weights. Or, I would just run and keep running away from my pile of homework back at home.
The first thing I did after moving back home was to find a gym. The summer is full of fun things to do outdoors, but once fall came I knew I needed to find a place to work out. For me, working out is not to become skinny but to find “me”time. I love going to the gym and then realizing I have been there for three hours. Working out has always come natural to me. From years of dance I know my body very well and I have muscle memory that keeps coming back.
Now, along with running and free weights, I take classes and follow the work outs at Tone It Up. A friend introduced it to me and I have been sharing the program with strangers at the gym!

(Jillian Michaels Instagram)

work out to tone, not lose weight

I have been very lucky to have been born with skinny genetics and I do not have to diet to keep this figure. However, while so many people say they are so jealous of me being naturally skinny there area lot of struggles that come with it! Clothes never fit and growing up I was called Skelotor. Now when I work out, I want my body to be toned and stronger. I do not diet but I try to eat healthy so that in 30 years I don’t hate myself! In the winter, my body got very toned and I loved the way I felt and looked. While some people go to the gym every day to lose weight, I try to go to get endorphin’s because working out gives you endorphin’s and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands!

I want to get stronger

Since I was a baby I have always had health issues.
In the 4th grade, the doctors found very severe scoliosis that felt like it appeared over night! After a big growth spurt, my back turned into an S shape and after many years of specialists and back braces my spine is now a C shape. Everyday I wake up in extreme pain and can physically move my spin with my hands sometimes. It is so gross! If I am not in great physical shape, just by bending over to pick something out, my back can go out. I am an old lady inside a 23 year old body! Because of these disabilities, I have to work hard to keep my body strong and the pain in check.

Get your daily sweat in!

They say that if you do not leave the gym sweating, you did it wrong!
I love to go to a pilates class because for a full hour I am sweating and I leave in pain but I know I did the work out correctly! That post gym glow is real and it is amazing! I try to sweat everyday. Even if it is just doing laundry and going up and down the stairs putting people’s clothes away. My housework and cleaning turns into a work out because I find ways to do stairs or get my steps in. Most days when I clean the house I get around 4,000 steps in! The one perk of having a big house!

Force Yourself

People say they love to go to the gym but no one loves to go to the gym! There are always a million other things I could be doing instead (netflix, sleep, eating). I like to put in my day planner when the work out classes are and find a time in my day when I can go to the gym and write it down. That way it is on my to do list and I feel accountable! All year I was going to a pilates class on Monday but with some family illness I was unable to go for two months. My body hated me because I was going back and this class was not going to be fun!
I walked in nervous to try this again with an out of shape body but Beth the instructor came up to me and was so excited to see me back! Find a class or a friend whose face lights up when you see them there. We all need some encouragement to go to the gym!

What are some of your favorite work outs or gym you go to? I am always looking for a gym buddy!

When National Wear Lilly Day Turns Into Wear Lilly All Week

Published on June 29, 2016June 28, 2016 by blonde rosieLeave a comment

Monday

I work in the office six days a week so I get a half a day on Monday to make up for it. At first the idea of having to wake up at 7am six days a week sounded horrible! Saturday was the one day a week I got to sleep until noon! But now that I am few weeks into this schedule it is not so bad. It’s still bad but not that bad!! On Mondays I like to go on adventures and get some fun in! Since Monday was the first official day of summer and National Wear Lilly Day it turned into a day full of fun! My mom, aunt and I went to McCloone’s on the beach for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. I have a secret consignment store I go to to find vintage Lilly. I found it appropriate to buy a new Lilly dress and skort on the Lilly holiday! The dress was only $20 an the skirt was $14. Win! On Monday I wore a Lilly dress I got last y

Lilly Pulitzer Pink Nautical Seahorse Beach Shell Sheath Dress

Tuesday

Tuesday ended up being a humid day where it felt like any minute it would pour! I was a ray of sunshine (and bright color) in the office. I wore another vintage Lilly print to work and stole my moms green Lilly cardigan because it matched perfectly! It was a bit too short for work so I had to be careful how I got up from my office chair. Bare shoulders are a big no no at work but all of my dresses can become work friendly with the right cardigan. You may think having 20 cardigans is a bit insane but for me they are a work staple! In the winter I can add a layer and stay warm and it turns a blank boring tee shirt into a work outfit. Viola! I own a lot of dresses but shoulders are frowned upon in the work world. Everyday I wear a cardigan so it is nice to have options. I get most of mine from J Crew because they are a little more formal for the office.

Lilly Pulitzer Juice Bar Dress with Lilly Pulitzer Cardigan

Wednesday

This is the dress I found at consignment for $20 and I love it! The one thing I wish Lilly dresses had was pockets! On Wednesday I was running around town working on projects and working in different buildings. For work I need to have my phone on me at all times because someone always is asking me questions but I had no where to put my phone! Dear Lilly, make pockets on your dresses! And surprise, another cardigan!

Lilly Pulitzer Multi-Print Dress

Thursday

I found this dress in Rumson while shopping with my mom this past spring. Thursday was a full day of meetings and chaos at work! There was an event in one of our facilities but they forgot to hire someone to do sound and run the projector. I learned one thing from the business school in college and that is how to hook up a projector! Thanks, Dr. Dufresne! I was dressed in an adorable dress crawling all of the floor hooking up wires and such to get the projector to connect with the laptop. It was an experience! Later that day I was pulled away from my desk to help present a Homeland Security presentation. Sometimes I wonder what my job is because I do not know anymore! It was a long day so I love that Lilly dresses are so easy to throw on but you still look put together. A little bit of color greatly improves my day!

I am currently obsessed with all of the hydrangeas in town lately. I may have to sneak out one night and steal some of my neighbors!

Some Lilly Pulitzer gingham sandals!

I woke up late Friday morning and barely got to work on time. I was so grateful to see this dress in my closet, grabbed yesterdays cardigan off of the floor and ran out the door! There is an event in town that is bringing in 10,000 people so this outfit was not the most practical for all of the running around! At least I looked cute in all of this chaos!

Hello, Weekend!
I am SO ready for you!

Saturday

Working on Saturday mornings means I get to dress a little more casual and makeup free. I kept the Lilly theme going in a Lilly skort and a polo.My weekend begins NOW!!

I wait ALL week to sit by the pool on the weekends. Just a little more Lilly and some sweet tea with enough reading to last all day! Just two more short years before the family and I leave for the south! I cannot wait to spend every day like this!!!

I had so much fun wearing Lilly for the whole week that I hope to keep this colorful wardrobe going next week. Check in next Wednesday for another round up of my work outfits!

work wear wednesday Going Gingham

Published on June 29, 2016July 22, 2016 by blonde rosie1 Comment

I love getting the J Crew catalog in the mail because I get so many outfit ideas without leaving my home. J Crew has always been basic with the same stuff every season just in different ways to wear it. Which is why I love the company because last seasons statement piece can be worn every year and it is worth the investment. Recently gingham has been e.v.e.r.y.w.he.r.e! I fell in love with ways to wear this style while looking in the catalog and then looking online.

While on my trip to Texas we knew the weather would be chilly but still warm. How do you pack for Texas when you have never been?!!? Spring in the South can be realllly hot or “freezing” (60 degrees). I knew from other trips down South that long sleeves were the way to go. I invested in a gingham J Crew button down that was thin when it got hot during the day but also kept me warm in the shade and wind. Totally worth the investment!! I would have worn this shirt everyday if I could.

I love that gingham is everywhere in stores so I did some browsing online and I have a few new must haves. I would love if I could go into J Crew and buy everything but my budget does not allow that! My next best option was Old Navy. It has become my new favorite store to go to for trendy styles at affordable prices. I know that the styles will not last forever so I don’t like to spend a lot of money on trendy pieces. Remember peplum tops? Yeah, no one is wearing those anymore! Old Navy has cute gingham styles that I NEED!