Christmas Traditions

Every year, my Momma and I always invade the nearest Bath & Body Works to find their new holiday scents. I am guilty of burning them ALL THE TIME, meaning I have to replace them about 3 times a season, but it always makes the space your in feel so much more festive.

Whats Christmas without a Tree? I always put up a tree in my room, even when living at home, and filled it with all my personal ornaments that don't hang on the family tree, and with fillers that I found at my local Target. I love this pencil tree I have had for about 3 years now because it fits anywhere and so unique in itself!

Ok, so I will admit, I am a HUGE Oprah fan. My Momma, sister and I would watch her "Favorite Things" episode every year and always love getting the magazine to sift through. I bought my own this year because we all know Oprah is no longer on air (cue the tears and howls), so this helps to fill that void. It also looks super cute on our coffee table!

 On to my favorite part: Ornaments!! My mom has always collected the annual Starbucks ornaments every year ad places them on our family tree. I am an avid Starbucks customer, and saw it fitting to follow in the trend. So slowly, I have been building my collection, and am so excited for this years new additions; there are a million options!

Following the above idea, since I was little, my momma designated a Christmas ornament for each child that people in our family can get us every year; mine being a snowman, Sal's an angel and Sean's Santa. Above is a beloved ornament that my god mother gave to me, and it allows me to think of all the loved ones that thought of me and the history behind it all.

 

I hope these help get your creative juices flowing, and to start your own traditions! Let me know what kinda traditions you follow every year, I'm always looking for new ideas!!

 

Later Gators,

MF

 

 

Bohemian Comfort

 

 

 

I will admit, when I first saw this amazing caftan/cover-up in TJ Maxx, I fell in love with the ease and effortless feel it had when I threw it over my white tee and yoga pants, however was a bit on the fence because it was way, way, way out of fashion comfort zone. I have a tendency to gravitate to preppy, pink, sparkly things and this is a more bohemian, tribal feel. However,  my momma did a wonderful job telling me all the things I could wear it with, and that I should venture out of my comfort zone and boy was it worth it!! These shots are all from my house on the Big Island, and I felt so inspired by the nature and breezy feel of the area we live in, hope you enjoy my fashion adventure!!

Later Gators,

MF

 

Comfort Meets Colorful

Whelp, lets all face it, we all have days where its near to impossible to look in the mirror, or put on real clothes. I have a usual uniform for school consisting of workout leggings, comfort tee and nikes because its hot as Hades on campus, and I'm not bout to sweat my way through some skinny jeans. However, there are acceptations to this uniform, and the above outfit is just that. I have never been a shorts person, but these Bermuda's I got from Target are so stinking comfortable, I would even dare to travel in them (yes, I know shocking). My mom, sister and I also have a sever obsession with bright scarves being that they add an instant together feel to any and all outfits, and this scarf was scored at an amazing sale and has all the colors of the rainbow. So with that said, I have made a pact in my head that I am going to actually wear nice clothes to school when I am having a great morning or the heat is not so severe, because feeling cute does wonders for personality and attitude when conquering daily classes!

Later Gators,

MF

Theres No Place Like Home

 

Soooooooo I know I have been MIA for like an eternity, promise I didn't get kidnapped or fall down a rabbit hole, but I am back home, back at school and ready to kick off my new semester with a whole new mindset. I spent the last 10 days home on the Big Island with my Fambam. We snuggled on the couch and watched all the taped Orange County Housewives episodes, cleaned the guest rooms, chopped up a fallen tree for fire wood (thanks Iselle), laughed until we cried, and ultimately had the time together as a family before we all get thrown into our lives. This past summer was truly one of the hardest three months being that all the change caused me to realize that life is consistent, but offers bumps and stops that help you to develop who you are, and to change yourself to adapt to your surroundings. Above are pics from home, our kitties, family and truly my favorite place on the entire planet and am already counting down until Thanksgiving!

 

 

Later Gators,

MF

 

PS: new outfit posts to come soon!

5 things

With all the recent change in my life, and the need for me to adopt the ability to go with the flow, I've been really struggling with finding things that make me happy on a daily basis. Lets face my ever-so-real reality; I let the bad moments over take the happy moments because its so much easier to let unhappiness eat you up inside, than being able to be happy with your life. With my history of how I handle stress, its always in the back of head my usual tendencies of looking towards food as a way to dull the pain/stress/unhappiness. After having recovered from my eating disorder for nearly 5 years now, I find that having 5 things that make me feel calm, happy and clean really help to take my mind off what's really hurting me.

5. Letting a Good Book consume me
There is something about curling up on the couch, with a soft pillow and my fave jammies on that make my stress level decrease by about a million. It gives me another world to be a part of, and make me lose track of my sadness.
 

4. Watching a Show that makes me Belly Laugh
I have a confession: I live for the 3 pm time slot that ABC family reserves for Boy Meets World reruns. I will never get sick of this show because no matter how many times I watch it, I always muster out a giggle, or a uncontrollable fit of laughter as Eric Mathews screams "FEEEEEENAYYYY". Laughing always makes my mood shift!

3. Watching a Holiday movie
Alright, so this may seem like really, really strange, but I cant tell you how many times I have popped a Christmas, Halloween or valentines day movie in and how it makes me take a deep breath. There is something about the excitement of holidays that makes me get excited for the future, and then leads me to a 3 hour binge on pintrest searching deco and dishes I want to make.

2. Prayer and the Rosary
I have always been one to find comfort in my faith, and by no means am I thrusting my beliefs or practices on those who are reading. However, when going through my recovery, I found that when told to do meditation as a form of quieting my mind from all the negativity, the rosary provided just that. I was able to close my eyes and speak my mind and pray for others without worrying. It gave me a moment to think about things much bigger for myself and give my worries to Him, rather than keep them inside.

1. Talking with my Family
I always find that talking with my momma, sister, dad or brother always gives me that ease that I constantly long for. Whether I am crying an yelling becausse something happened that was out of my control, or hearing funny stories about my cats, I always feel worlds better after a long facetime sesh, chatting about my moms withdrawals from TJ Maxx, or my dads ridiculous group texts he send; I always end up with a Cheshire cat smile on my face.

 

Now I know this weeks post is a bit more personal and less about all the pretty, shiny and sparkly things that fashion offers, but I want to show that I am human. I have days where I wake up and can barely get out of bed, or cant bare to put real clothes on because feeling pretty seems impossible. But I also have days where I am so happy that I can barely believe how blessed I am. I am blessed to have a home, family and friends that are there to catch me when I fall. By finding at least one thing or moment that I am thankful for (like a complete stranger giving me a free frapp coupon at starbucks) gives me the strength I need to know that my life could be a heck of a lot harder, and make me appreciate all the good that I do have.

Later Gators,
MF

Feeling Frenchy

In high school, I took two years of French, believing that the language of love would flow through me like my ability to consume Crepes in celebration of Bastille Day. Boy was I wrong. I struggled and struggled through conjugation and pronunciation and eventually counted down the days until the semester was over. However, I still have a love for the language and the culture that the French have. From their quaint shops and markets or the history behind the art and monuments scattered throughout Paris, I have an obsession with the feeling of being French (tends to make me feel more classy). When I saw this shirt at Old Navy, it knew it was destiny. It is soooo comfy and it matches practically everything. With summer in full swing, I have noticed a lot of French influences throughout the fashion scene, between sayings to matte pastels, and feel that every girl needs a little extra boost of class from this trend. As the French say, C'est La Vie!!

Later Gators,

MF

'Murica

Hey there Y'all! So this Friday is my absolute second favorite holiday on the entire planet (aint nobody got anythang on Christmas): the 4th of July! Since I will be working, big thanks to the founding fathers for protecting that right for me to earn some dough on our great nations birthday, so I decided to make a super festive drink to honor our patriotic colors and the magnificent heat that July has brought. So bust out those aprons and lets get to mixin!

You will need:

1. Cranberry Apple Juice

2. Sobe Pina Colada Juice

3. Gatorade Glacier drink

4. A glass of your choice (strongly suggest the festive Murica-themed mason jars)

5. Straws

First, pour into your glass about a 1/3rd full with the Cranberry Juice. After, add ice into the glass all the way to the top.

Next, pour about a 1/4th of a cup of the Sobe Pina Colada directly onto the ice very, very slowly. This will prevent it from directly mixing into the cranberry juice.

The final drink step, pour a 1/4th of a cup of the Gatorade onto the top of the drink, also pouring slowly.

And you are left with a layered, refreshing and tasty drink to cool off on the 4th! I have to admit, it took me a couple of tries to get my drink to look successful (thank the heavens my brother downed all the batches without a complaint!) but I'm so happy with the final product that is so easy to make, and very tasty I have to say with all the flavors combined. While I will be at work, I plan to be extremely patriotic fashion-wise and will be having some burgers and fries for dinner and trekking up to Tripler Hospitals parking lot to see all the different fireworks around the island with my partner in crime aka my sister. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Independence Day that is filled with love, laughter, and freedom because that's what our founding fathers worked so hard to maintain secure for our future!

Later Gators,

MF

PS: comment below and let me know what your favorite recipes are or how your drink came out!