my dad raised me to love music. i grew up around his numerous records. i'll forever love the oldies, but my favorite was always the carpenters. when i had learned how to work the record player i would come home from school and listen to karen carpenter. i just loved her. here's a little flashback....

today is what i consider to be the last day of fall. it's been a good fall, but too quick if you ask me. not enough "fally" weather. i was a little mia over thanksgiving break. but break was nice and relaxing and great, it got me way too excited for Christmas break. i was thankful for my time with family and friends. i got to talk with mimi, our best family friends' grandmother, who i would consider like my grandmother since i didn't have the opportunity to know either of mine. she took my mom under her wing when her mother passed away when she was fifteen. i was thankful for her stories about how she helped her plan her wedding and pick out her dress, and how much she loved my dad. it's small simple moments like these that make thanksgiving and Christmas so wonderful. so goodbye fall, it's been lovely.

(images via: madame cupcake, mary ruffle)

today i opened a dove chocolate that read:

"end each day with a lovely thought"

so here are my lovely thoughts tonight....

(images via: underapapermoon)

luke and phil are for sure my favorite modern family characters. but here's another reason why i love this show so so much!

tomorrow i'm headed home for thanksgiving break! i'm so excited to be home for over a week, it's going to be wonderful getting to spend quality time with everyone, my family and friends. two things i'm really reallyyy looking forward to (besides the obvious day of thanksgiving)....

1. harry potter and the deathly hallows part1 midnight premiere!

look how much they've grown! all weekend i watched harry potter from the sorcerer's stone, to the order of the phoenix. i loved every minute of it. while no movie will ever be better than the book, harry potter does such a great job with the movies. i can't believe it's almost coming to an end, i can't tell if i cried in the books because i was sad about what was happening or about the fact that i knew it was coming to an end. it's like the end of a good tv series, you feel like you know the characters like they're real people that know you too. i have high expectations for the movie. i want to dress up as luna lovegood but i'm just going casual. see you tomorrow at midnight hp!

2. the state vs. carolina game!

this picture is of a state fumble but that's not the point (and hopefully none of that will be happening on saturday). look at that contrast the carolina blue against the sharp state red, love it. i can't wait for the game, still unsure if my ticket is 100% and i may cry if it's not. i want to wear red to the stadium and wear it proud. state has won the last three meetings, and i've had the honor of being at two of these games. freshman year at carolina when the stadium cleared out and the majority of the people left were wearing red, you could even hear the state cheers over anything else. i wore a red coat and got peanuts thrown at me the majority of the game but it was so worth it. i'm hoping russell has a great game, he's never lost to carolina and i'm thinking that tradition is going to continue this year. i'm a little nervous cause it's been a long time coming for unc but i think state's got this one. GO PACK!

"and let that day be lost to us on which we did not dance once. and let that wisdom be false to us that brought no laughter with it." -- friedrich nietzsche

"dogs are not our whole lives,

they make our lives whole."

i miss you miss belle...

(images via: weheartit, underapapermoon)

"you have to be willing to get happy about nothing"

-- andy warhol

(image via: under a paper moon)

"i love how you tell me that i'm pretty when i just woke up, and i love how you tease me when i'm moody and it's always enough."

--lady antebellum

(images via: little reminders of love, madame cupcake, i'm just saying)

happy day late birthday miss priss! look how cute you were, i can't believe you're eighteen. it seems like just yesterday we were running around the yard with umbrellas in our underwear in the rain, or splashing around in mud puddles, and making up dance routines for mom and dad. i miss being at broughton with you and driving the trooper to school all those early mornings, can't wait til you're hopefully wearing red and black with me next year! wish i could prance around the streets of new york with you this weekend like we did a few years ago. we'll have to celebrate when i get home for sure. stop getting older please, you're supposed to be the baby. hope you had the best day, miss you and love you.

let's still be kids, even when we're grown ups.

this past week i felt like this girl. not quite as glamorous, but i felt a little distant, a little sad, and a little overwhelmed. i couldn't tell you why, i just didn't feel like myself. sunday in church we were singing a song i like during communion, when i got back to my seat i had to sit down and just cry. i don't know why i was crying, i wasn't particularly moved by the sermon, but it was like God had just welled up inside of me and told me to let it all out. and i felt one hundred times better. maybe it was his way of telling me everything is going to be ok. i think sometimes we just have those weeks, and i'm glad mine is over.

it's a norah jones kind of night.

modern day dorothy. can't say i'd hate to own these beautiful babies.

(image via: madame cupcake)

this morning at church, they had four girls dancing on stage to a worship song. it was actually really pretty, i have to admit sometimes i find dancing in church to be a little cheesy unless you're really good at it. i guess i am a tough critic because dancing used to be my everything, this morning watching those girls so happy as they danced made me miss it. it made me want to slip back on my pointe shoes and do some pirouettes or arabesques. i miss the joy i got from dancing, which i think is one of the reasons i stopped, it became too much. once you reach a certain level it either becomes your life or you have to let it go. i guess the joy was gone for me. but not having it anymore breaks my heart sometimes. the freedom you feel from twirling, or throwing yourself around stage during a modern dance, or strangely enough from a structured class in classical ballet. it's a place you can go for expression or comfort, it can be new and overwhelming as well as familiar and friendly. dance is something that will always be close to my heart. maybe someday soon i'll sign up for another class.

put me back in my pointe shoes please...

it's official, 50 days til christmas! last night we had our first christmas sing-a-long to none other than mariah cary's all i want for christmas is you, followed by faith hill's where are you christmas. as much as i am in love with christmas, this year i'm going to enjoy fall as long as i can, the pumpkins the leaves and the spirit of thanksgiving. but that doesn't mean i can't start getting into the spirit of the season!

tonight for dinner i had a fried egg, some chocolate and a green apple. needless to say it's time to restock the refrigerator/pantry. i wish i could go back to italy and have a simple sandwich like this at a little cafe in modena. a glass of prosecco (sparkling wine) wouldn't be so bad either, although i think today i would've gone for the hot chocolate.

this fall i'm craving sparkly things, so give me a little sparkle please

(images via jcrew, shopbop, lovely happenings)

i knew i could count on you dean, thank you for so perfectly posting this wonderful gatsby quote on your wall...

"What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?" cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?"

"Don't be morbid," Jordan said. "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."

(images via: flickr)

"live your life with an attitude of gratitude."

-- my dove chocolate promise tonight

tonight i may just treat myself to breakfast at tiffany's or roman holiday. in my opinion it is hard to find the words to describe the elegance and timeless beauty of audrey hepburn. she drew me in as a little girl in my fair lady and i've been hooked ever since.