near to me

I'm currently lying in bed, lazily, with my glasses on, hair in a bun at the top of my head, comfy cardigan wrapped around myself, and yoga pants. That seems to be my typical "Homework/Lazy Day" attire these days. Which I seem to be found wearing every single day after my last class. Oh, well. It's comfy. And a cozy cardigan makes everything (even yoga pants) acceptable to wear in public...right? Ha! Maggie and Kaleb are in my room with me currently and we are watching The Little Mermaid- which happens to be my all time favorite Disney movie!

I apologize for disappearing last week without telling you. Last week was test week and I virtually had no time to blog. Luckily, instead of simply just hiding for a week, Jennifer and Catherine filled in. They are champs! I think everyone needs and deserves a break every now and then. In fact, one of my blogging resolutions was to take breaks when I needed them before I drain myself out. Woohoo! I got to go home for the last weekend and it was wonderful. Niklaas drove me home from Spokane and we went to Sharis where I fell in love with chocolate shakes (something new to add to my favorite food list) and malted Belgian waffles. It was a lovely, lovely busy and much too short weekend.

shirt-Herberger's vest-Aeropostale shorts-Old Navy tights-Urban Outfitters boots-Urban og headband-F21 

I took these pictures over my winter break and I'm still so excited with my improvement in the tripod department. They actually look as if someone else took them! They aren't, per say, half as lovely as Niklaas', but I'm happy with how they turned out. It seemed like last winter I wore variations of this outfit almost every day- tights, shorts, and some top with a cardigan. I haven't done that once this winter so I decided to give it another go! My grandma bought and picked out this floral button down in the summer and it seems like every time I wear it, I wear it with something striped. I didn't like this striped vest thrown on alone, but adding a cardigan like the old days, I was happy!


I'm also wearing my ever-so-lovely headband that gets too much press on this blog and floral tights that don't get enough use these days. As much as I love not having to think too hard about what I'm wearing in the morning anymore because I don't have to take blog pictures every single day, I do miss my crazy tights and the swish of my skirts.

It's so hard to persuade myself to get something productive done after such a fun weekend. Yesterday, my family went skiing. My sister retired from skiing a few years ago but decided to come out of her retirement yesterday and her debut on the mountain was a blast. Despite the twenty odd minutes it takes to get down the mountain with her in tow, having the whole family together like the old and simple days was positively refreshing; the days before college, tests, boys, drama, and "real" problems. The days when my Friday nights were with Barbie and my sister; when Disney movies filled our family movie nights and I wore jumpsuit Gymboree dresses with Landsend clogs. This semester I'm so busy with school and my trips home are only going to become less frequent as the weeks go. There was something so magical and something so hard hitting about being told my knees weren't bent enough and my skiis too straight from my dad that hit the nostalgia button in my brain. It's alarming, at times, just how much I miss those little moments.