Marley Lilly

Spring is on its way which means only one thing: almost time for summer - my absolute favorite time of the year!  As much as I love the warm weather, beach trips and tan skin, there is something much more exciting about summer: clothes!  What do I mean?  Shorts and tank tops, big floppy hats and bows, sunglasses and croakies, bathing suits and monogrammed hats ... all of the time!  

Where to stock up on all of these amazing goods?  No other place than Marley Lilly.  EVERYTHING IS MONOGRAMMED!  Everything is adorable and sold at an exceptionally low price!  Some of my favorites are as follows:

http://www.marleylilly.com/Monogrammed-Derby-Hat-8-Colors-Design-It_p_115.html

http://www.marleylilly.com/Monogrammed-Brown-or-Black-Wayfarer-Polarized-Sunglasses_p_1603.html

http://www.marleylilly.com/Monogrammed-Croakies-Sunglass-Straps-20-Colors_p_9.html

http://www.marleylilly.com/Monogrammed-Champion-Wristlet-Purse-9-Colors_p_914.html

.... and there are so many more.

Get ready for summer with Marley Lilly - you won't be disappointed :)

Christmas Eve in Carolina!

Y'all this is one of the best Christmas Eves I've had in awhile.  I had the opportunity to sleep in, work out and get some reading in before having to get ready for the day!  The family and I got dressed up to take Christmas pictures.  After some complaining, a little bit of fooling around and a lot of laughing, we finally got a few pictures that'll do!

The family (above) and the girls (to the right).
Do y'all like the dress?  It was the gift from the boy!  And how about my sisters outfit?  Because it's all my clothes ...

After pictures, we crammed into the car and headed to a Christmas Eve service at the Summit.  We were welcomed with hot chocolate, cookies and fake snow!  The music was amazing and of course, JD's message really hit home.  There are two things that we need to know about the birth of Christ:

1. That God gave us an incredible gift - something we couldn't do for ourselves!  
2. That Jesus Christ is Lord of all.  Though we may be facing difficult situations, He is in control and He has our best interest at heart.

After church we headed to the one and only: OLIVE GARDEN for dinner!  Following a delicious dinner, we drove around looking at lights.  We finished the night with a win from Southern Miss (hopefully, this bodes well for the Tar Heels!) and quality family bonding.

Before you open gifts tomorrow morning, take a minute to thank God for sending Jesus to be our Savior ... and to take our place.  He lived a perfect life and suffered a horrible death, so that we wouldn't have to.  We say what do I need to DO to have salvation; Jesus says it's already DONE. That's the best gift of all :)

Merry Christmas y'all!

Almost Time for Christmas!

Another long, difficult semester comes to a close at Carolina and with it comes my favorite holiday of the year - Christmas!  Time off of school with absolutely nothing to do has been an absolute blessing!  I've been able to sleep, finish The Help, craft and spend time with friends and family.  I even made it out to Chapel Hill to watch the Heels dominate Texas!  My boyfriend came and spent a few days with my family - we caught up with friends from school over lunch, watched movies and exchanged gifts!  I got him a new study Bible, a bow tie from Southern Ties, a long sleeve t-shirt from Southern Point and monogrammed cuff links!  His mom got me a frame from Lilly and he got me a gorgeous dress with a matching necklace at Bevellos!  

 Jackie and his new Bible!  

 Jack's bow tie and my new Lilly frame!

My new dress!

Since all of my extended family is on the west coast, plans for my family and I are pretty simple.  We're taking a few Christmas pictures tomorrow and attending the Summit Church's Christmas service.   

My friends and I had a Christmas party the other night - we all got a chance to catch up and watch the Grinch!  We were supposed to make a gingerbread house, but with college boys, you can never count on these things.  Instead, we leave them alone for one second and come to find this:

What kinds of food do y'all eat for Christmas dinner?  Anything special?  Anything out of the ordinary?  What are the best gifts y'all received?  What do you plan on giving to your friends/family?  


Enjoy the holiday and remember that Jesus Christ is our reason to celebrate!

A Perfect Holiday Giveaway!

As much as I don't want to ruin my chances of winning, I couldn't help but sharing this with y'all!  Bowties and Boatshoes having an amazing giveaway right now until Decemeber 23rd!  They're giving away an awesome hat (y'all I have a weakness for anchors) and a GORGEOUS Madras bow tie from Starboard Clothing!  You can't go wrong entering this giveaway!  Even if you aren't interested in entering ... which I know applies to none of you ... check out their blog!  What a great style guide.  I'm sending it to my beau as we speak :)

The End of the Semester at Carolina ...

The end of the semester brings two things:

1. Exams, Stress, Never-ending hours in the library ...

AND

2. Christmas Time at Carolina!  

One of my favorite things about the winter months here at school (and about the only thing that keeps me sane during finals ...) is the fact that absolutely EVERYONE gets into the Christmas spirit!  After talking with a few friends, I found out that this year the fraternities are     competing for the title of "Best Decorated House."  Tell me what y'all think!

DKE

Sigma Chi

SAE
(notice the Budweiser tree ...)

Sigma Nu

PKA

But the fraternities aren't the only ones getting into the Christmas spirit!  Phi Beta Chi has done some of their own decorating and celebrating!  Last night we had our annual Tacky Christmas Party which included Secret Santa, ornament decorating and watching Christmas movies.  

PBX tree :)

Mary and baby Jesus?

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT!

my little making her ornaments!

the roomie and I 

Another "friend" of mine also decided to get into the Christmas spirit - my big's puppy Samson!

If only there was no such thing as exams and we could just celebrate Christmas ...

Thanksgiving in the South

Is Thanksgiving in the South different than Thanksgiving in other parts of the US?  YES.  Very much so.


For starters - turkeys aren't baked in the oven.  They're fried ... in a fryer.  My initial thought was something along the lines of Bojangles fried chicken ... I was wrong.  Y'all, let me tell you - THE BEST TURKEY I'VE EVER EATEN.

  Here's Daddy putting the turkey in the fryer.  It cooks for about 45 minutes or so (it depends on the weight of the turkey) and when it comes out, it looks like this: 

It's moist and tasty!

Some of the other things that you can find on a Southern Thanksgiving table are corn pudding, bread pudding, broccoli and green bean casserole, red velvet cake, tons of pies, tons of vegetables, etc.  

We had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday because my grandmother flew in late on Thursday night - we started the morning with pumpkin waffles, turkey sausage and eggs.  We had potato chowder for lunch and then fried turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, salad and pumpkin muffins for dinner.  For dessert - pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll!  It was a great evening!

I spent today crafting, reading the Help (I know, I know ... I'm late!) and knitting.  My grandmother has been teaching my sister, mom and I how to knit.  Y'all ... I am a HOPELESS CASE!  I got far enough to make a bonnet of sorts but I either get it knotted or it falls off of the needle ... I've had to restart at least 25 times!  

I hope y'all had a great break.  Time to get ready for finals ... can't wait for Christmas Break.

I'm off to watch Kim and Kourtney Take New York!

AMAZING GIVEAWAY!

One of my FAVORITE blogs, College Prep, is teaming with Marley Lilley for an AMAZING giveaway!  Y'all need to check it out!  Who doesn't love monogrammed necklaces? 

CHECK IT OUT! 

Additionally, be sure to follow College Prepster - she has great insight to fashion, style and class!

Hope that y'all had a great break ... I'm off to spend the last few hours with my grandmother before she leaves for Charleston tomorrow!