Batonga 30 Day Dress Challenge: Day Sixteen

the dress: as shirt // shorts: forever 21 // shoes: diy // suspenders: hot topic



First of all, thank you to my little sister for taking these photos for me! She's only ten and is already quite the little photographer. Her awards ceremony at school was today and she went home with four awards and is now officially in the fifth grade. They grow up so fast!




This is my very first time blogging as a high school graduate!! It's also my first time blogging on my new laptop. I received it as a graduation present from my parents and I'm extremely grateful, especially considering I've had my old laptop since seventh grade and it's been shutting off randomly smoking out the sides ... yes, you read that right. I'm pretty sure it was about to explode. Plus this laptop is super light which will be perfect for college. But because of my new laptop, my suuuper old photoshop won't work anymore, so it will be a couple weeks before I get new photoshop. It will be well worth it though because I'm getting CS6!! My dad paid for half of the student edition and I know it's a good investment, as there were many things I couldn't do with my photoshop. But in the meantime, I'll be using good ol' gimp!




Tomorrow I'll post about graduation as I have nothing else to do except relax. Thank God for summer! Sleeping in, soaking up some sun, hanging out with friends, and taking lots of photos ... it's going to be a great summer!

p.s. this morning there was an earthquake and it was so scary! Well, only kind of. It was a 4.6 and only 8 miles from our house. It knocked over a few dishes in the cupboard and off the counters, but nothing bad. Alaska nerd alert! My family loves earthquake information.

I'm wearing this dress for thirty consecutive days to spread awareness and support the Batonga Foundation! It is an awesome organization that supports girls in Africa by giving them a full education. Thank you so so much for getting the word out and for donating. It means the world!

Batonga 30 Day Dress Challenge: Day Fifteen

the dress: as dress // cardigan: forever 21 // belt: thrifted // shoes: diy






I GRADUATE TODAY!!!

I wore this outfit to the grandparents' lunch at my school, and other than that I haven't done much. I painted these shoes (there will be a diy post about them in a few days) to wear for the actual graduation ceremony, but then I caved and bought some fun heels for the reception. I didn't want to take any chances walking across that stage, so it's flats for me!

Ack, I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF! There have already been many tears today and there will definitely be many more. And now it's just a waiting game until it's a reasonable time for me to put on my graduation dress and depart ... wish me luck!

I hope you all have a fantastic day, and please continue to spread awareness and donate to the Batonga Foundation, which supports girls education in Africa. You guys are the best!

Batonga 30 Day Dress Challenge: Day Fourteen

+ Matt's Graduation Party!



the dress: as shirt // skirt: thrifted // shirt/belt: mother's closet



(also day 135 in my 365 project)




Today has been such an exciting day! It started off with me getting my nails done with one of my friends (something that I haven't done in years), running around getting last minute things ready for graduation (I bought those shoes I posted on instagram ... aaaww yeeah!), and ended it with going to Matt's graduation party!




I still can hardly believe we're graduating TOMORROW. I'm trying to find the words to describe it, and really nothing comes to mind. I'm just excited and nervous and can't seem to grasp that twelve years of schooling are almost over and I'm about to head off on a brand new adventure.





One thing that I can get used to is all the graduation celebrations! Matt's party was fun, with yummy Alaskan barbecue and mac and cheese and other deliciousness. It was even warm enough to eat outside! The sun was so bright and the water was probably above freezing. Matt and I talked about how two years ago I would NOT have said it was warm outside. Crazy to think that two years ago today my family took the two week long road trip through the United States and Canada to get to Alaska. I wouldn't trade this crazy adventure for anything.





Isn't the necklace that Matt's mom got me for graduation just the cutest?





That was taken at 10:30pm, and as I was driving home the sunset made all the snow on the mountains glow pink. It was the most beautiful thing and I was sad it's illegal to take photos while driving. But we gotta keep all our focus looking out for crazy moose crossing the highway (a couple days ago I almost died because of those stinkers).

All in all, it was a fantastic day. And TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY!! I'm waking up bright and early and won't be done till late at night. Eek! I'm so excited!

And tomorrow marks the halfway point for the Batonga Dress Challenge! So if you've been enjoying the different looks I've been coming up with for this dress, you should donate to support girls education in Africa. Every little bit helps!

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day 134

Today was spent sleeping, driving around, and working on things for graduation.

This is a sneak peak of a future diy post. I didn't really take any other photos today, but that's quite alright.