Thursday, November 28, 2013

What I'm Thankful For

Today is a day that can easily be overshadowed by excitement for Black Friday, or even Christmas!

It can also be taken over by itself. The name of this day is Thanksgiving. When you think about this word, do you think of turkey and mashed potatoes, or giving thanks for our blessings?

My mind (I confess) thinks of the last Thursday in November, and I think of....mashed potatoes. (and all those wonderful goodies)

There's nothing inherently wrong with celebrating this day, or eating mashed potatoes and turkey. However, it is so easy to lose sight of what Thanksgiving is truly about!

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to God for the blessings he has poured on you in the years.It's a time of reflection for us to look back through the years and right now and just thank God for everything. A family tradition of ours is to go around the table and say what we're thankful for.

Five minutes spent on that is enough, right? Uh....no. But once we do that, we seem to think we're covered! Now we can move on to the food, football, and shopping. Uh...no. It's absolutely fine to eat turkey and hang out with family and play games. But we cannot take these things for granted!

So, I'm taking these traditional Thanksgiving activities and trying to turn them into praise.

1. I am so thankful for taste and smell. I wake up this morning and hop out of bed. Thanksgiving, it's finally here! I twirl around my room in my pajamas and fling my door open. Suddenly, my nose is greeted by a wonderful scent. The air smells of spicy sweet paprika, butter, and other spices. I smell the Thanksgiving turkey! Later, we feast on spice-rubbed turkey, mashed potatoes swimming in butter, Parker House rolls, creamy green bean casserole, tart cranberry sauce, crispy-crunchy stuffing, and sweet potatoes covered with sugar, spice, and everything nice. I am so thankful to God for creating all these wonderful flavors and enticing smells.

2. Laughter fills the room, and I start to giggle. It's just another random family conversation, but today, I am not taking it for granted. I soak in every moment of the radiant warmth that only comes from family. We laugh, we cry, we goof around. We talk about the randomest things at dinner, and then become the worst Wii handbell choir on Wii Music. Today, I thank Jesus for providing me with such a wonderful family. I love my leader of a father, my sweet angel of a mother, my comforting sister, my best friend brother, my gentle grandmother, my silly and joyful grandfather, my other hilarious and wonderful brother, and my flower-bringing 'uncle'. :)

3. I eagerly look through the newspaper ads, plotting out my list. I check my budget, I check it again. Black Friday midnight shopping is here! I am thankful for the money to be able to buy Christmas presents this year, and I am thankful for my willing mother who will take me and my sister midnight shopping. I am thankful for stores and Pepsi at 1 AM. :)


That's just a few things, but I am thankful for so many more things. My one thing that I am most thankful for is my theatre group. It has been a real blessing and I am so happy to have you all. I cannot wait to perform "The Happiest Millionaire" with all of you!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? See you all soon and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Fashion and Design...in General.

Well, what can I say? I have neglected my blog once again. *Sheepish look* I am sitting here on this beautiful and snowy Thursday night at 11 PM wondering what to do with myself. I have successfully finished all of my school so I can take a full week off for Thanksgiving Break. Now that I know I don't have to go to bed early, I don't know what to do with myself! So, I remembered that I have a blog....and I decided to post on it. Exciting, ya? ;)

I'm finishing up an online Interior Design class right now and let me tell y'all that I love it! I think I may have found my life's calling, for real. Also, I have delved deeper into it on a more spiritual level. But I'll get to that in a later post.

Okay, my theater group is doing "The Happiest Millionaire" for our spring show! YAY! It is set in the early 1900s, so I decided to research fashion of that era and post some pictures.

Look at this vintage wedding dress! My goodness, I think I'm in love!



Another wedding dress...just look at that satin sash!

Ohmagoodness. Look at that black fabric! I love the peacock-style tail and the intricate detail.


I love vintage everything! Especially vintage fashion drawings like this one.
 
Here's a peek at the dress I bought on my birthday shopping date with my mom and dad a few weeks ago! Don't worry, I wear it with jeans or leggings, and it is longer on me than it is on the model. I wear it with my new lace cowgirl boots! (see below) I just adore lace dresses, so I bought myself this new cherry red one!

Well, these are my new boots! What do y'all think? Thank you so much mom and dad for the wonderful birthday surprise of these boots! :)


 

Happy Early Thanksgiving to y'all and a very early Merry Christmas! I'll do a Thanksgiving fashion post for you guys from my own wardrobe later this week!

Au revoir....for now! :)