Tying the Knot: The Ring

I figured it was time to showcase my most prized possession since J and I have been engaged for almost 3 months already. I seriously could not love my ring any more and am still amazed that J did it all himself. Okay well with the help of my mom but I'll explain. 

Last fall J had started shopping for rings. I had no idea and I am so glad we didn't go ring shopping together at any point like some couples choose to do. I love that I had no idea what it would be like and could really see the thought he put into it. J and been in contact with my mom about what I'd like, what style would suit me best, where to shop, etc etc etc. 

I believe it was my mom who first pointed out rings of a similar design as mine from Jared's knowing that I would love the detail and vintage feel they had. But J wasn't sold on any of them specifically so what did he decide to do? Make his own. He met with an amazing jeweler at Jared's to pick and choose the parts of many different rings that he liked to create my custom ring. I would have never imagined he would take this much time and effort into literally creating my own unique ring and it's absolutely amazing knowing that no one will ever have the same ring as me.

Now I am absolutely in love with the ring itself. The vintage feel. The look almost like lace. The three-stone setting, which J was 100% set upon and I love him for it. All the tiny details. Etc etc etc. But my favorite part? The center diamond. When my dad proposed to my mom he did so with a simple solitare diamond. Eventually they bought my mom a newer, updated wedding ring (also a three-stone) and had the original diamond placed in one of the side positions. And now that same diamond, from his proposal years ago, sits in my ring. My mom was so generous and gracious to let J have it when designing my ring and I am so thankful. When she came to visit for Thanksgiving J insisted (but not obviously) that it was easiest for him to pick her up at the airport. Apparently her flight wasn't delayed like they told me it was and instead they had gone to Jared's to have the diamond taken out of her ring and put into mine. I love this ring because of what it symbolizes for J and I but I hold it that much closer to my heart because of that center stone.

The ring was almost exactly the correct size and I'm very impressed about that. My mom still had the order form for my senior class ring from high school with the size I ordered for that ring. The only issue we had is that my class ring was for the third finger on my right hand while obviously I wear my engagement ring on the left. Since I'm right handed my right fingers are just slightly bigger than the left and I needed about a 1/4 or a 1/2 size smaller. But instead of actually sizing the ring smaller which would have been difficult because of the archetecture down the sides of my ring, Jared's put in a sizing piece at the bottom of the ring. I was so amazed at what a difference that little piece made in the fit of my ring. It's the right size and I don't have the problem of the ring spinning on my finger anymore.

If you've made it this far, I'm impressed. I didn't intend for this post to be this long but what can I say, I just love this ring and all the details and special qualities it has. I cannot wait to choose a wedding band that matches with my engagement ring in the coming months and know I am going to love this ring for the rest of my life.

J, you did an amazing job. Thank you!

Bow-Tee Money Saver

I started with this. A size 1X long sleeve shirt found on the clearance rack at the good ol' Target. Please tell me you can't pass up something that's $5 either (minus the fact that it's like 4 sizes too big)? And with a little inspiration in the form of this shirt, a few TV recordings on the DVR and some time with my sewing machine....

Here is what I have now!

I simply used a perfectly fitting tee I already had to get the sizing right. (See I told you it was too big for me!) Then I just sewed new seams along the sides and sleeves and ta-da! A custom shirt. I decided to keep the original length of the top because I like shirts that are a little longer anyways.
I used the extra fabric that I cut out to make the bow in the center. It's a little lopsided and I might add some more support stitches to the middle but overall I'm very happy.
Ollie likes it too. Once it was finished we went for our afternoon walk so I could show off my new bow-tee. I cannot believe that I basically saved $35+ making this shirt myself compared to buying the one I used as inspiration! Plus it was an absolutely success for my first attempt at sewing something clothing related. I will definitely be scrounging around those clearance sections more often now knowing I can take something so wrong for me and make it perfect.

This is my second attempt at making something I've never done before. In case you missed the first project you can find it here. I'm definitely opening up many doors to new things lately.

Day #2

This is the second post from my 30 Day Challenge....

Something you love about yourself

via

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I love that I can be hard on myself and be content at the same time. I know that sounds odd... why would I want to beat myself up and criticize myself instead of giving myself inner encouragement. And how can I be happy if I'm always striving for more.

I am just about to start my final semester at SDSU, in fact I just now (like 5 min ago) applied for graduation for the spring. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone but I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today, I wouldn't have accomplished everything I have and been able to dream so big if it wasn't for my never give up mentality. I never stop something I start, in all types of circumstances. I will graduate with my BS in Cellular & Molecular Biology. I have finished all secondary applications to the best of my ability for medical school. I rocked my first interview of the season. I will continue to put my relationship with J at the top of my priority list. I will get to the gym as often as I can. And just as importantly, I will take the time (scheduled into my busy life if need be) that I want for myself.

Being tough on myself gives me confidence. It makes me realize and remember that yes, I did everything I could have possibly done. And I try to always remember, when I'm cramming for finals, worrying about money, upset, stressed, hurting or lost, that I am the best I can be. I am the best girlfriend, student, daughter, friend, confidant, applicant, and self. More often that not, my plate is filled to the brim with responsibilities. (Even on my last few days of winter break I've been making to-do lists) But I take pride in knowing that it's filled with things that are a priority to me. And by accomplishing everything I set my mind to I know that I am pleasing myself and only myself in living the life I want to have.

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I know you're supposed to do this challenge 30 days in a row but hey, this is my blog so I'll do it however I like :-)

In case you missed Day #1, here it is.

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

If you haven't heard of Operation Beautiful then please, please PLEASE head over to the site right now and check it out.

The main goal of OB, according to their website, "is to end negative self-talk."

I'm sure all of us at one point or another has stood in front of that mirror... the mirror in the privacy of our own homes, in a bathroom at school or in a restaurant, while standing at a make-up counter, or anywhere else you can think of... and talked down to ourselves either out loud or in our head.

"I want to look better than I do"

"I'll never be as pretty as I want to be"

"I wish I could lose 10 lbs"

"I just want him to think I'm beautiful"

"I hate myself"

What OB is trying to do is prevent the harmful effects that this "negative self talk" can have on the women of our world. They recognize that it's damage can affect you emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

They encourage anyone and everyone to start leaving their signature post-it's that started the whole effort. You post a note in a public place with a kind, thoughtful, inspiring saying on it in order for other women to see it. There is a daily "Post it Phrase" listed on their site if you can't think of something to write down. Caitlin, the editor of OB, encourages you to leave as many notes as you possibly can.

An anonymous note from a stranger can touch so many. It's a free way to change someone's day. So throw a spare pad of post-it's in your bag and start making a difference.

I have.... will you?

Things I'm Loving

Do you ever just have so many things you completely, 100% enjoy every time you use or notice them? Do you have things that you would buy again and again? Or things you can't believe you didn't have before?

I do.

1. I can't believe we went so long without some of these bad boys. No, that doesn't mean we've been stinky forever. But with cooler weather coming and now that we have our pup, things were starting to get a little... musty, for lack of better words. I've always had candles and Febreze to use when needed but now that we have two of these plugged in, I'm never going back. I can't wait to change from the Simply Fresh/Sunny Days scents we have right now to some festive Christmas scents soon.

2. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time you might have figured out that I may or may not have a case of OCD. Okay so maybe not OCD but severe it-must-be-a-certain-way organization/life habits. Oh wait, that is OCD? Well then I digress. Having pretty highlighters in a range of colors helps Ochem studying to be as horrible as it otherwise might be. I'll never give these up.

3. This is the first thing I made on my Brother's Sewing machine and I'm very happy with it. So what if it's a little crooked, who would ever notice. It's sorta hard to tell but the fabric is crinkly and a perfect cream color. I had some extra fabric so I embellished it a little bit and made it a bigger friend-pillow to match. I love them both.

4. I wish I could say that I spend a ton of money on beauty related products and have all sorts of different things. But I don't. I try to use up what I have completely before I buy something else. That's what happened with my lotions. I wandered into Bath and Body Works a while back and this scent, White Citrus, was on clearance (for some odd reason because I went back and it wasn't again) and I absolutely adore the freshness of this lotion. I'm not a fan of making people cough when I walk by because I smell so strongly of something and this definitely does the trick for me. Just enough but not too much.

5. This Neutrogena face wash bar is one thing I'll always replace. I've been fortunate enough to have pretty easy, low maintenance skin for most of my life. Not too oily, not too dry, not prone to break outs or blemishes.... basically I am very, very thankful. I admit that I don't always wash my face before bed (shame on me) but this bar is the perfect morning wash. It doesn't have a real strong, pleasant smell but it really doesn't smell like much. I love that it's in bar form too because I can use as little or as much as I please, in the shower or in the skin, and it's easy for on the go/travel.

6. My guiltiest pleasure is definitely dessert. Give me something sweet, chocolatey, topped with sugar or a little fresh fruit, warm from the oven or frozen from the freezer and I'm a happy girl. Again, I am very thankful for my metabolism (and I'll be very sad when it slows down) but even now, these Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches are good for my sweet tooth and for my mid-section. If you haven't heard of Skinny Cow please venture down your dessert isle at the grocery store and check them out. These come with chocolate or vanilla ice cream in the middle and can you believe it, one is only 140 calories. That's less than both Good Humor and Blue Bunny's products. I'll definitely be getting these again.

Bring it Along

Whether is a purse, backpack, bag, clutch, etc etc, we all have some means of taking the stuff with us that we need every day. There are some things that are the essentials and must always be with us. Then there are other items that will show up one week and disappear the next. I was inspired to do this post a few weeks ago by Faye @ Faye'sbook because she opened up her purse and showed us all what was inside. She then had her friends share what was in their bags and it turned into a fun way to learn about people and their personalities.

I also wanted to do this post because after this busy weekend (more on this later) I realized how many times I changed bags in three days and was surprised to see which stuff got left at home and which stuff was always taken with. It was interesting to see the changes when we were off to the beach with the bare minimum or out to dinner with our visitors. So here my friends are picture of the inside of my purse. These pictures were taken on a normal, every day running errands/walking the dog sort of day so you can see me in my natural state.

First off, I thought I'd change it up and actually take a picture of the bag I'm using right now. I, like a lot of ladies, frequently change out my purse. Either for different occasions, because I like a certain bag at the time, or because I need more/less room for the day. This Dakine mini-pack has been around since senior year of high school. It was the "in-thing" to wear Dakine back packs and carry your books and binders when I was a senior so this was a must have purchase. I still love it but definitely don't use it as much as back then. It is currently in use because it's a lot easier to carry the puppy and go on walks with this because you don't have to worry about it falling off your shoulder.

Now to the good stuff..... the inside. I must warn you that I have a lot of things in my purse but they all have their own purpose and I can't leave without them. I decided to take a few up-close pictures of certain parts of my "display" and will list everything in attendance.

Staring in the bottom-left corner and working clockwise

1. Wallet

2. Daily Planner

3. Stickey Notes and a Pen (definite essential for someone like me)

4. Blackberry

5. Sunglasses

6. Nook e-reader

7. Personal products*

8. Keys*

9. Ipod and headphones

10. Electronics* (in a Brighton gift bag)

11. Camera (not shown for obvious reasons)

Personal Products

1. Clean and Clear shine reducer

2. Johnson's 24 Hour Moisturizer lotion (love this stuff)

3. Trident Gum

4. DCT lip balm

5. Softlips lip balm

6. Tylenol/Advil/etc etc (you can never be sure when you'll need it)

Keys

1. Starbucks Mini card

2. Lobster bottle opener from Aruba

3. Homemade key charm (yes I felt like a girl scout making this)

Electronics

1. Digital camera card reader

2. Bluetooth (comes with 30 changeable patterns)

3. USB Flashdrive

4. Ipod voice recorder (perfect for recording class lectures)

So tell me, what do you take with you every day? I'd love to see pictures so please share!

on being matchy-matchy

When getting ready for my day this morning I picked out my favorite Gap Jean Shorts (because they're super comfy, the perfect length, and the perfect size) and a simple red tank from American Eagle (because it's a bright color and easily worn by itself). I decided to pair it with my Invisible Children bracelets, one in white and one in red, to accent my outfit. These bracelets are awesome, simple and different. I love being coordinated, I think it really ties the whole thing together. I was headed out to Starbucks to make some serious progress on my autobiography.

I slipped on my Old Navy flips and made a mental note, "am I being too matching right now with red flip flops?" And I decided, "Nah it's okay..." I grabbed my computer, my planner, my charger and my handy Free Handcrafted Beverage coupon that I mentioned here.

Packing up my computer, I realized, wait a second, my computer case is red too... maybe I should ditch it... I figured I wasn't going far, I could carry it by itself from my car into Starbucks.

I never go to Starbucks without my lovely Cold Drink Cup but didn't realize until I got there that what do you know, it has red too! I love the festive straw that came with the cups around the Holidays but seriously... more red? I got over it, enjoyed my free Venti Iced Carmel Macchiato, nonfat milk, extra carmel and attempted to write. I've been having some significant writers block lately but was able to get some good planning done as well as a little bit of actual writing. The air conditioning was blasting inside so I eventually had to head home to warm up a little. Plus I needed a break from attempting to be creative and my stomach was growling.

I step outside and what do you know, my car is red too. I never even think about it on a normal basis but now, everything from my whole day is the same color. And oddly enough, red's not even my favorite color. I decided, I'm not going anywhere else today until I change something about my matchy-matchy outfit. And to think it was all accidental. I felt like a little kid who's mom dresses them for the day. There are many many pictures of me where my shirt, the huge bows in my hair, my tights and even my shoelaces were the same exact color... but that was when I was six.... not twenty-one.

What do you think? Can you be too coordinated as an adult? Should I have stopped at the red flip flops? Has anyone else had a day like today... or am I the only freak odd one?

on a somewhat normal day

I haven't been writing as much in the last few days as I was previously and as I want to be. Partly because nothing's been going on that deserves writing about. No one wants to hear about going to the same-old classes, reading an article on cystic kidney disease for my presentation, eating dinner and spending the rest of the night watching reruns of Family Guy episodes on Cartoon Network till bed. But also partly because my mind's been somewhere else lately. Well I guess more specifically my mind's been nowhere. I haven't really been motivated for deep thinking and reflecting and learning the last couple days and its shown in my lack of blogging and studying unfortunately. But with all that said....

1. I think I might be too much of a perfectionist because it absolutely kills me when something goes wrong. Even things that aren't a big deal. I've been known to rewrite a to-do list simply because it's not evenly spaced on my sticky note. It's even worse when it comes to things related to school and labs. Last night was a downer in terms of experiments in biochem lab going wrong. Not only did our plates grow bio-films (for those of you non-science people out there, bio-films= definite bad news) but then our DNA experiment didn't work either. And to top it all off, the DNA didn't work because of a stupid calculation error. We got a major stink-eye from our professor for messing up I might add. Yes I know, being a perfectionist isn't the worst characteristic a person can have but by-golly sometimes I wish I didn't care so much.

2. Politics and me have never mixed and for most of my life it will probably stay that way. I've always avoided heated "political discussions" which is just code for arguing with someone because they don't think like you while trying to convert them to the "better side" (whichever side that might be). But this whole heath care bill and more specifically people's reactions to it has really made me not happy. While I admit that I don't know every single detail about every single aspect of this bill, I've looked into it enough to get the gist of it and it shocks me how some people can be against allowing people health care. Seriously people, you want to tell others they don't deserve health care because of money/health problems/our current economy? I don't want to get into the meat and potatoes of the issue right now because that's not who I am but, like I've heard many times in the news lately from the bill's supporters, "Health care is a right, not a privilege." Everyone is human and deserves care when they are sick regardless of what that does to our economy/taxes/etc.

3. In studying for my MCAT, I have completed my Exam Krackers Biology and Physics books as of now. That's 2 out of the 4. I am currently in the midst of reading through the Organic Chemistry book and *knock on wood* plan to have it finished by tomorrow night. My side/secret goal is to have it done today but I'll set the goal for tomorrow so that I don't let myself down if it's not done tonight and so I can feel good about myself if it is done tonight. Aren't I good at making myself seem successful in my own eyes? But really, I'm feeling okay-ish as of right now in terms of studying. I plan to spend my entire spring break devoted to this and I really feel like that's going to make me feel significantly better. It is officially 31 days from today until the big day. I know I'll be ready when the day comes, just not sooo sure of it right now....

4. I found this quote the other day and feel like I can really relate to its message. It makes me realize why I work as hard as I do for my dreams.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.

If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

- Herman Cain