Show Us Your Life: life of a 20something

I am connecting up with Kelly's Korner today for her friday linkup, SHOW US YOUR LIFE series.  Today the linkup is for 20somethings without kids.... I wish this had been earlier because I will only be a 20something for 9 more months ....

But, without a doubt, the 20s are great, way better than high school and even better than college (and I liked college, mostly!)  The 20s are full of challenges and growing up and if you are single, you don't have someone to "grow up" with, but at the same time it's kindof empowering to grow up on your own and make a life on your own!

Here's a little about me: I am a lawyer in MS and I love family, college football, friends, my church, travelling, Lilly Pulitzer, Navy, Green, all things preppy, running, pedicures, watermelon, margaritas, parties, holidays and costumes! I love Auburn and Ole Miss and DC is my favorite city. I used to love politics but got tired of it, but my goal is to get back into it again soon. Adoption has always had a special place in my heart and I hope one day to get into adoption work, or atleast child advocacy. 

I have great parents, 2 amazing sisters, a brother, a brother in law and one nephew....isn't he adorable?

I've had this blog for a couple years because I wanted to blog about adulthood without the husband and kids (since many blogs are mommy blogs)  I felt like someone should be honest about the good and bad of life in your 20s, and for the most part, I have tried to do that!  I blog about dating, singleness, struggles as well as fashion, cooking (yes I am attempting to learn!), etc In fact, I hope to keep blogging about some of these same single lady topics even when I am married. 

When I was 27, I met this sweet fellow (Dave) and we've been pretty inseperable ever since....and I am marrying him in 2 months! He's a soon to be architect and we are eager to find out where God is taking us, but I trust He will provide for us wherever we move.  I'm torn: part of me would love to stay in Jackson, but part of me is eager for an adventure with Dave!

Anyways, as my 20s are winding down, I am sad, but not to0 sad -- the 30s sound great!   By the end of your 20s, you are more confident in who you are and more settled and its nice. 

Here are my suggestions for your 20s:

1. Be adventurous.... this is the time to travel, go to school, volunteer, etc. Single or Married, enjoy these things before kids, because while you can still have adventure afterwards, most mommies will tell you it takes more planning and work!

2. But lay down some roots....I am convinced that what 20s miss the most is a feeling of being settled.  Adventure is only so fun, so make sure you settle down-- settling down may just mean making some friends, picking a church home and establishing community.  It may mean regular trips to see your family, etc.  It may mean a job.  You don't have to buy a house or get married to be settled, but make sure by your mid to late 20s you have some routine in your life!

3. Give yourself grace-- you won't be amazing at your job yet, you wont make tons of money, you won't always know the answer,  you still need advice from family, etc....it's not like Sex and the City or Friends.  You don't have your life together so quickly into adulthood. Accept that and be gracious to yourself.

4.  Give others grace.  They're still figuring out life too.

5. Expand your circles!! The best thing about my 20s are without a doubt, the friends I made.  I just decided to get involved-- join a bible study, say yes to almost every invitation (at first, not as much now that I am settled), host wine nights, etc AND give all types of people a chance.  I feel my group of freinds is pretty varied for a small Jackson town.  I know tons of different types of people and I am blessed by that.

6. Say yes to almost every date. SERIOUSLY. unless he is a bad guy.  If you don't think the guy is "your type", say yes.  If he's not super cute, say yes.  If he doesn't meet whatever checklist you have, say yes.  Why? Because you never know who you will hit it off with.  You might be surprised.  I am certainly not suggesting you settle, but I also think that giving different guys a chance is a good thing.  I am so not a country girl but I fell in love with a country boy....it happens :)

7. Try new things.  I just started playing tennis.  I am pretty bad at it. Seriously.  Everyone on my team is a beginner. But it's fun and its something I always wanted to do.  I ran a half marathon (and trained for a full but couldn't run it due to a conflict--- so I still plan on doing that, see? keep trying new things even when you are - gulp- near 30!)

8. Learn to cook. Seriously. You don't want to eat take out forever. 

9. If you want to meet a nice guy, don't be ashamed to hope for that.  Seriously, people don't shame women for hoping to get pregnant or shame people for hoping to get into med school, but mention that you hope to get married and you'll get a lecture on "lacking contentment" Enjoy your life, be thankful for the blessings you have but keep on hoping to meet a nice guy!

10. ENJOY YOUR ENERGY!! Seriously, you will never have this much energy again.  As your 20s wind down, you will see what I mean.  I used to go to Kareoke until midnight and get up for work at 530.  I'd have a long run scheduled for early Saturday morning yet manage to go out til 2 on Friday.  Now, if I do that, I hate life the next day.  So, work out, travel and get jet lag, stay up late on a monday night...enjoy your youth :)

ENJOY YOUR 20s!! I sure have!

A Charlie Brown Christmas...

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner to show you how young poor 20somethings do Christmas decorations.  I have a few nicer pieces (like some adorable ornaments and a fabulous wreath!) but a lot of hand me downs and cheap dollar tree/walmart/target decorations.  I think I am going to invest in some day after Christmas decorations for next year.... thats often times where I find a few nice pieces!

The thing is, I have already hosted two Christmas get togethers and my roomie is hosting one next week, people always tell us our Christmas decorations are so festive -- which goes to show you that you can make your home feel cheery without having a lot of money.  I can't wait til the day I can afford fancier Christmas decorations -- BUT until then, my tips are: (1) walmart, dollar tree, target are your friends; (2) buy a few cute pieces from nicer stores and mix them in with your cheaper decorations; and (3) accept all handmedowns.

If you can only invest in 3 decorations: decorate a tree, buy a wreath and decorate your mantle.  These are the most bang for your buck!

I do have a fairly big collection of trees, santas, and snowmen...a few are from cute giftshops and a few are cheap ones from walmart etc all mixed in together!

I love this little candle holder... (a half off Christmas Eve purchase from a local gift shop!)

My Auburn tree - I think the crooked star is fitting for this season!

Cheap Tinsel from Dollar Tree mixed with my Christmas Village!

My roomate bought these sparkly bells and we hung them from the (ugly) light fixture!

This is by far, my favorite part of our holiday decorations -- my friend painted me that picture and we combined our Christmas trinkets and some hand me down stockings with lights to make a fairly substantial mantle for our little rental house.  Aren't those tinsel trees adorable? You can buy fancy ones for 10-20 bucks a pieces but mine were $1 each at dollar tree!

Our tree....yes, it is Charlie Brown-ish but it was 15 dollars on sale prelit!  Next year I want to buy a real tree but I knew that having a real one this year was near impossible because I (and my roomies) am gone so much and didn't know if I would water it enough!

An old tree from my mom that she used to put on our porch, I topped it off with a bow and some old school big colored lights for a fun little tree in our living room!

12 Favorite Family Holiday Traditions

Continuing with me "12 days of Christmas" series and linking up to Kelly's Korner's Family Traditions today, here are some of my favorite family traditions....some of these traditions aren't as strong anymore since we don't all live at home, but these are the memories I loved growing up and I will likely pass on many of them to my kids...  I seriously wish every single person in the world could experiance Christmas at my house, it truly is the most wonderful time of year.  My mom is like a Christmas guru and had a good balance of fun traditions and a focus on the real reason for Christmas.

(I left out the obvious ones like Christmas Eve Service and Communion, opening gifts, reading the Christmas story, cookies for Santa, etc...because these are traditions almost everyone!)

(1) Decorating the Tree Traditions

Decorating the tree at our house involved Christmas music, cookies and cocoa/cider! It was always an event! Our special "decorating" cookies were really just peanut butter with chocolate kisses, but at that time, I thought they were very unique and special cookies we usually got at Christmas, particularly when decorating the tree!

(2) New ornaments each year.

Everyone gets a new ornament each year and we each get to look back and see our past year's ornaments and hobbies or interests (soccer, ballet, cheerleading, college football). We used to get the dough ornaments but now we go to Calloways a couple days before Christmas when the ornaments are half off.  Last year, my whole fam couldn't go so Marley and I went and bought us all ornaments. We took our job seriouly, no lie -- it took an hour to pick everyone's ornaments out.  Mine was special yet silly, but that will have to be discussed in another post.

(3) Radko Ornaments, Nutcrackers and other holiday collections

About 10 years ago, my mom, Marley and I started collecting Radko glass ornaments - one a year. Now Ansley is joining in!

My dad has collected nutcrackers for years and we have dozens that go up at Christmas!

(4) Special holiday plates-- one set for brunch/christmas eve  and one for dinner!

(5) gingerbread house decorating

We loved decorating gingerbread houses and did it every year!

When I was little, mom would often make the graham cracker houses and have our friends over for a decorating party....and by little, I mean as recently as my senior year of high school :)

(6) A week of movies after Christmas.

So many movies come out the week of Christmas.  Since we were out of school or home for college during those couple weeks before/after Christmas, our family went to see a lot of movies together, always a treat.  Sometimes we saw a matinee and an evening movie!

(7) One gift at a time and the gift "god"/dictator

Some families dive into their gifts, and although there is nothing wrong with it, I love how we go youngest to oldest, each opening one gift at a time. We all grab coffee and cocoa and cinnamon rolls and settle into the den for presents.  This way I get to see my sister open her gift I bought her and she gets to see me open my bracelet I want, etc etc.... Christmas takes awhile as we stop often to get more cofffee, clean up paper and ooh and ahh over someone else's gifts...but as my mom says, Christmas comes once a year, so why not relish in it?  Also watching eachother open gifts taught us the value of giving, not just getting, gifts.  Even as a kid, I can remember being so excited to get each member of my family a gift!

We used to call marley the present "god", but that could sound well, bad, so we call her the dictator now.  She has usually helped mom wrap a lot of gifts-- and the gifts are in the living room under the other tree (we have two trees) so she will pick out everyone's gift each round...and she usually has an idea about which gift we should open next.  My brother in law jokingly pointed out she was like a gift god/dictator on his first Christmas with us.  :) We may tease her about being the one in control of gift distribution, but she does a good job and no one else wants to volunteer for the job!

(8)  Christmas eve PJ's

Every Christmas eve, we open our pajamas to wear for Christmas morning. When I was little, they were holiday themed and matched the other kids.  Now, they are just warm pajamas for winter.  I think this is one holiday tradition I will change a bit for my kids -- I will give them pjs at the beginning of Christmas season or advent so that they can wear their pj's all december!



Christmas Eve, late 80s??


P.S. You know you are southern when you are not allowed downstairs to open gifts Christmas morning until your teeth are brushed, face washed and a hairbow is in your hair!

(9) Christmas light tour.

We always go look at Christmas lights...when I was little, we would bundle up in our pj's one night in december and take cocoa with us.

(10) Baby Jesus

Baby Jesus did not go into the manger until Christmas Eve....I think this was probably my earliest picture of Advent: the whole creche set up without the baby, waiting on Jesus' arrival!

(11)  Game night

Recently we have started an annual game night with two families that we are close to here in my parents hometown.  It is always a blast.

(12) Sleeping in the same room.

Marley and I started this tradition by default: we shared a room.  As we got older, we would sleep in the kids rooms with them, eagerly awaiting Christmas.  All 4 kids in one bedroom!!  I loved this :)


WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOITE HOLIDAY TRADITIONS?

SUYL: Grownup Birthday Party Ideas!!

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner to share some birthday party ideas for adults (Show Us Your Life Fridays!). At our age, there aren't games, clowns and favors- and most birthdays are dinners out with friends....but occasionally we throw a fun birthday party!!

The trick to a good adult birthday party is a theme, preferably one where everyone can dress up and you. An make matching snacks. Otherwise it's just dinner or drinks with friends which isn't bad, just nothing special.

My tips:
-pick a theme and add a few touches from that theme thought the party!
- add costumes but Make the theme easy so everyone will dress up (IE, 80s, mustache, fiesta, orange for auburn, etc)
- email invites- but make them fun! (paperless post is a step above evite)
- provide one drink option
-alternate who is in charge for the party. The same person should not host everyone's birthdays!

Celebrating birthdays is a great way to love on your friends, particularly your single pals. And you don't even have to throw a party to celebrate! If you don't take her to lunch or bring her a cupcake, who will? It's nice to feel important on your birthday so show your friends how much you love them!

Here are some of our parties...... (sorry I don't have many pictures of decorations)

1. A Mustache Party!!!! (you could bring your own or there were some there to put on - buy them at your local party store!!!)

2. My National Championship Birthday! (sweet friends threw this party for me because my birthday was the week after AUBURN won the NC.  Everyone wore orange (or blue!)

3. a WIG birthday party!! (we all put on wigs and went our for dinner and drinks, so fun!)

*** Wehave also thrown a shark week birthday party (everyone wore blue or gray and TONS of cute decorations!!), an 80s party, numerous wine nights, a cinco de mayo birthday party, etc. BE creative and have fun! Just because we are older doesn't mean we can't act a little crazy :)

SUYL: what my FRIEND makes

Today I am linking up with SHOW US YOUR LIFE: SHOW WHAT YOU MAKE OR SELL and Kelly's Korner Blog.

Haha, I don't make anything..well sometimes I do, but I don't make anything worth selling. However, my friend Kristen makes gorgeous prints, scarfs, stationary. Her company is Thimblepress and here is some of the gorgeous stuff she makes.  You should all check it out....gorgeous stuff!  I have listed some of her products, but check the website out for more prints, notecards, coasters, bags.  She is quote talented and goes to tons of craft shows. Not to mention, she is affordable. Many prints are in the 20-30 dollar range!

The above pictures are her Jackson Collection. I have the entire collection and LOVE IT

Brent's Drugs (from Jackson Collection) - you may recognize this Jackson Staple from the movie, The Help.

Square Books in Oxford, MS

My favorite Jackson restaurant, Walkers -- it used to be a drive thru when my parents were my age, but now its an upscale restaurant!

Some of her fun notepads

The Oxford, MS collection (note: she also has a MSU Starkville collection, but I would never put that on my blog haha )

Mayflower Cafe - also recognizable from The Help

"The Grove" - a piece of heaven in Oxford Mississippi where the best tailgating I've ever taken a part of occurs

Her State flower collection - can't wait to buy my Mississippi Magnolia print!

City Grocery - the Oxford Bar where I spent many weekend nights and several friday afternoon on the porch watching the football fans arriving on the "Square" and sipping a glass of wine. I also occasionally splurged for the ritzy restaurant downstairs.

She just started screenprinting scarfs, shirts, etc. I don't think she has listed these on her website yet (although if you like her facebook page, you can see them!!)She has scarfs, shirts, and bags, you should check back with the site to see them.  Rumor has it, the orange and blue scarf is named "Katy" after a certain Auburn obsessed friend of hers :)

She has an entire collection of prints inspired by "It's a small world" at Disney World. This is my favorite of those!

SUYL

I am linking up with kelly's korner's SUYL: non-mom bloggers.

I am a 20-something living in Jackson, with a great family and amazing group of friends. I like to have a good time and am involved in church and community. I try to write on issues dealing with singles and 20s, good and bad. I'd love to read what other singles had to say or just what other people my age had to say about life!

I'm the one in the middle!

SUYL: 20Something Fashion

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner blog to tell my favorite places to shop for 20somethings.

I love clothes...I am having to learn to buy attractive clothes for work (lots of straight dresses, pencil skirts AND suits) BUT I also occasionally get to buy a fun sundress like this one below...

I classify my wardrobe into three categories: 1) Work clothes 2) "fun clothes" --Girls night out and date clothes and 3) gameday clothes (making sure I have enought orange and blue in my wardrobe)

I also need church clothes but I never buy with that intention as many fun clothes and work clothes overlap into church clothes.

Gameday dress by Judith March.

MY TOP WEBSITES/STORES:

1. Online Discount sites..... RueLaLa and Ideeli

The way these two sites work is you sign up and then every day at ten they have different designer shops open. I buy a lot of clothes from here. Last year I got a Lily dress for 80 dollars. Some days they have sales I like and somedays they don't. You may need an invitation to join. if so, comment with your email address and I will try to send you one. I have gotten a LOT of work suits there.

2. I love this online store from the UK: Boden. Some stuff is too grown up for me BUT there is a bunch of cute stuff that works for me. I like to wear Boden because most of my friends don't SO they won't have the same things I do....

3. I love the classics: J. Crew, Ann Taylor Loft, Ann Taylor, and Anthropologie. My favorite store is Anthro. I walk straight to their sale racks because some of their stuff is pricy but most of the time you get good quality products :)

4. I really like Altar'd State. I LOVE that the whole concept of the store is to have affordable stylish MODEST clothing (owned by Christians, closed on sundays). This is only a southern store (started in Tennessee I think) but they do have a website.

5. For game day clothes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Judith March. The dress at the top is one of my gameday finds.
SKINNY JEAN TIPS FOR ADULTS:

I want to wear skinny jeans since they are in style and slimming but some pairs make you look poured into your pants. I buy my skinny jeans at Ann Taylor Loft and I get the curvy brand...curvy at the top but skinny legs....

My sister, Marley, swears by gap straight legs. They aren't skinny per se so you don't feel they are tight but they are fitted enough that you can tuck into your boots.

If you have to, buy a size up or keep looking til you find the brand that works for you...Nothing looks worse than skinny jeans that are too tight and show too much at the waistline...nobody wants to see booty, nobody.

(**I have no idea if these items are currently on sale at either store, but I know that both constantly get new jeans in. I found these jeans to be the most stylish adult jean option there is so I would check it out.***)

Also, never wear a tight top with tight jeans. This should go without saying. One looser item, one more fitted.

SUYL Friday: Favorite devos/studies

This week I am linking up to Kelly's Korner to tell you some of my favorite Christian devotional resources.... Some of my favorite christian encouragement books/devos

(1) We did this for our small group girls when they were 11th graders. It was not so applicable to them, but it was to us. (We didnt pick the book out. There were some great resources so we adjusted our lessons to apply to them) The book says a lot to women, particularly single women. I also LOVE how this book tells us what women can do to serve, not just focusing on what we can't do in church. As there have been some changes in my sunday school class where the singles (particularly single women) have been pushed to the younger kids class and we have wondered what role we have, at all, my small group co-leader said rereading this book was encouraging that God has a use for women and single women. I may go back and reread myself!

(2) My Utmost for His Highest -- my all time favorite. Ozzie C speaks what I need to hear daily.

(3) Jesus Calling - I know this book is contreversial and usually when something is questioned, I stay away, but I find the words encouraging and often times reminding me to rely on Christ not myself...I do not take it as "god-breathed" as the author nearly claims BUT I do think it is based on scriptures.

(4) My Sr Girls small group at church is working through the screwtape letters for our weekly lesson and I am enjoying it. We are trying to teach the girls how satan reaches for them in even the smallest areas-- last week we focused on tone of voice, gestures, family relations, etc. My hope is that they go to college AWARE that the devil is working against them, being willing to spot his grasp on them in the large areas (sex, drugs, etc) and small ones (cheating on homework, gossiping, judgmentalness)

(5) Few books have ever reached me like this book has. Once again, it is not a devotional BUT the chapers can be read one and a time nightly. After my engagement ended years ago, I read this (probably 18 months after) and I have reread it so so so so many times since then.

(6) I am the eldest brother discussed in this book. I get irritated that I did everything right yet life doesn't always work out for me while those that I assume are misbehaving more than I am get everything. This book helped show me my sin too, but at the same time that it scolded me, it also seemed to take the part of me that thought I could earn God's favor and point me to a God whose favor could never be earned (by me, atleast!) and who loved me despite my failures.
Also, not a devo, just an amazing Christian book.

(7) There is so much in each chapter of this book...read it one chapter at a time. My favorite is the chapter on waiting, on Larius.

(8) I love The Beautiful Ache. Its not a devotional but the chapters are split to where sometimes I'll read one before bed. Once again, I read this in the aftermath of my engagement and have suggested it to friends ever since then. such an encouraging book.

(9) I oftentimes begin my workday with a devotional.. Here are some of my online favorites:

• My Utmost for His highest


• Spurgeon


• Our Daily Bread


• Our Daily Journey


• Strength for the Journey

(10) I also have listed several Christian/Singles/Young Twenty Something Sites that oftentimes point to Christ for me, although not a daily reading or devotional. You can find that list here.