february in review

It's always really fun to look back on posts from the past month to see just exactly what went on. And let me just say it was a really exciting month! From gallery shows to printing in the darkroom, to celebrating my two year anniversary and making awesome diys, February was pretty busy. Bring it on, March!

love the life you live

dress: borrowed // shirt/tights: thrifted // boots: target





Today has possibly been the marker of the beginning of a life change. Now of course, the next step in this life change won't happen for a couple more years, but current me has no idea what amazing results are going to culminate from this day. I talked to a representative for a study abroad program in New York, and I'm already dreaming of commuting on the subway and studying art and writing in the heart of New York City with other people who are super passionate and excited about their talents. Perhaps I know I'm overdramatizing this and getting my hopes up super high (is anyone surprised?), but regardless, I can't wait to see where life takes me in the next few years.




I've been thinking a lot about life (but then again, I'm always thinking about it), and how I really want to love the life I live, and live the life I love. I want to build more self-motivation and make opportunities for myself and take a chance one in a while, because, and don't hate me for saying this, you really only live once (#yolo #swag #isntthatwhatkidsthesedaysaresaying?). You might as well make the most of life. Remind me to never do anything I don't love (and if I don't love it but I have to do it, then I need to turn it into something I can love), and to always love my life despite any hardships that come my way. Since coming out of some pretty dark days in my life, all I want to do is be happy and do things that make me happy. There's no point in being sad. It helps no one. But when you're happy, it affects everyone you come in contact with. If that isn't absolutely amazing, then I don't know what is.




I hope you have a very happy day today.

Good morning, Mr. Magpie

shirt/vest: borrowed // suspenders: hot topic // jean: gift // shoes: target // jacket: forever 21 // scarf: asos





People have always told me that high school would be the best years of my life. Well I've finally come and gone through all of high school, and part of me thinks they were right, and part of me thinks they were wrong. I suppose it's like everything in life though, there were good things about it and bad things about it. Another thing that people have always told me is that college will be the best years of my life, and while right now I'm loving college, I still hope those people aren't right. Every day you gain a little more knowledge than the one before, so hypothetically you should be better prepared for each day that you come to. Now of course there are some things in life that we can't control, but for the most part, there's a lot that we can, including how we feel (all of this is to an extent of course, because if there's one thing I've learned, it's that there are always exceptions to everything).




So what did I learn today that can improve my life tomorrow?

1. When I actually sit down to do my homework, it takes a total of five minutes to do. All day I had been avoiding my homework, and after stressing about it for so long, I actually read the paper, typed up the half a page that I was supposed to, and was done in five minutes. Seriously, starting something is the hardest part.

2. It's hard to do something after you haven't been doing it for a long time. I've been working on my story for my photo assignment, and man, my writing is pretty rusty and it takes everything in me to even write one good, creative sentence. Even though writing is something I love, sometimes it does take a lot of work.

3. While usually sleepy Lauren makes bad wardrobe decisions, sometimes she makes awesome ones. My outfit was awesome today. And I was still half asleep when I put everything together. I didn't get any photos of it, but trust me, it was super cute.

4. My outfit making mind is ready for summer. After seeing this outfit on tumblr, I've just been thinking up so many cute summer outfits. I need to write them down.

5. I love my friends. Right now they're all sitting on Annette's bed watching stumbleupon videos and I just really love them so much. It's the small moments like these that I'm really thankful I finally have a good strong group of girl friends that love me and get me. Thank you, Lord.





Basically, I'm constantly learning that I should be thankful for every little thing I have.

diy earrings

Even though this could be considered a diy, it's so simple that it's hardly worth mentioning. But regardless, here's a quick and fun diy that really has an infinite amount of possibilities: diy earrings.



You'll need some earring posts and scrapbooking flowers (I got both from Michael's for about $4 total) and a hot glue gun if you don't want to use the adhesive on the stickers.



Step one: attach flower to post. I opted to take off the adhesive and instead hot glue the flowers to the post to ensure they stayed on.



Step two: let dry, then wear. Seriously, it's that simple. And since there were a ton of posts in one package, I'm already thinking of using other things like beads and stickers to attach and wear as earrings.