Things I am: tired!

Today was an extremely busy day and tomorrow will probably be busier!
Sorry, today's post will not include pictures. I will just tell you what I did. There was no time to take pictures! ha.

So, this weekend was my first wedding as an intern. So, this morning we began to set up for the wedding (which is Indian) at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham and for the Sangeet (think large/fun party the night before the wedding) in the tobacco district of Durham at Bay 7 (SO pretty. Fact: I love exposed bricks).

This is what the space looks like. But for the Sangeet think lots of jewel tones, LOTS of candles, crazy lighting, and extravagance.

So all morning was spent setting up that space.
Then we went over to Washington Duke Inn where I helped set up/run errands until I had to go work my first hosting shift at Spanky's!
Can you believe that? I have been working at Spanky's for 6 months and tonight was my first host shift.

Conclusion: sooo much better!
Why?
1. I get to dress up
2. There is no heavy lifting involved
3. I don't have to stand in a hot, sweaty kitchen all night

But I did have more time to think about how hungry I was (nights I work I usually don't get to eat dinner until around 10) and nicer shoes are not great to just stand around in for 4 hours.

Tomorrow I will wake up super duper early to go to the wedding! And then I once again have to work.

Oh my goodness, Sunday I am just going to pass out. There better be sleeping in somewhere in my future!

Love you all,
Cara

Bow ties

So, my brother's band concert was tonight. And *drum roll please* I tied my first bow tie!
It was so exciting! I am so excited to be able to tie all the boys bow ties next year!
It was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.



Anyways. So that got me thinking that I love bow ties! I might like them better on certain men than long neck ties.

I found these bow ties that I love!

I am a sucker for nautical. This is from Vineyard Vines.

Another Vineyard Vines and perfect for game day!

Rams!

Secret reason why I want a boyfriend- to buy him bow ties.

Until then!
Cara

Things I love About NC: The Beach

I have decided that every week I am going to do a post on things I love about NC and about the summer!

This, I suppose, is both of those things.

Holden Beach dunes

I love North Carolina beaches. I think there is nothing like them. Every summer I go to the beach at least three times and every time it's so peaceful/grounding/fun! Usually said beach trips involve three or four friends, a Frisbee, some good tanning and catching up and a great time.

Our beaches are so family friendly and relaxing. There is no competing for sand space, no cars on the beach and there are still a lot of beaches in NC where there are no ugly, huge hotels lining the shore.

My favorite beach experience was in high school when I went with my youth group. We stayed at my friend's beach house seen below (or at least the stairs of it).


The beach house was just a block from the ocean. We played games on the beach (at night and during the day), we rode bikes and watched the sunset, we relaxed, tanned, swam in the warm ocean, went out to the shore at night and watched the stars, we watched many episodes of Freaks and Geeks, went to go see the second Pirates of the Caribbean, made mud pie, played poker with skittles and laid out on a hammock we found on the beach (see photo at top). There were also banana pancakes, putt putt, ice cream and lots of fun. AKA best trip EVER!

Those are the best beach trips- those in which you can go for a full week!

I also went to the beach for Senior Beach Week where we stayed at another friend's beach house. This was the view from the back porch.


That trip involved a bit more consumption of illegal liquids than the first. But there was also fishing, crabbing, grilling hotdogs and hamburgers, group singing and guitar playing out on the pier at night, my first trip to a club, some really good pizza and tanning that ensued.


And then there are the day trips where we just ride down to Wrightsville beach.

This trip was truly a spur of the moment trip. We were all hanging out the night before and then at around 11 o'clock someone ( I think it was me) suggested that we should go to the beach- the next day! That is what I love about the summer- most of the time (except for this summer when I have an internship everyday) you can just pick up and spontaneously do something fun!

So that is why I love North Carolina beaches. It's truly like you are just living a Jack Johnson song.

Wrightsville Beach pier

Well, off to watch Giada on the tele!
Until then,
Cara

The Lake and other things

Sorry I have not blogged for a few days- I was sucked into the Lost world. Really. My phone is broken, I have not been on Skype or fb chat or ashamedly many other places than on my bed watching Lost for the past two or three days.


Last night when the final was on I was still catching up on the last few episodes so I literally would check fb with a hand over the screen, seeing if I had any notifications and then exiting out (I didn't want to accidentally see any spoilers)

So I just finished watching the last episode. And yes I cried. That had to be one of the best stories (let alone shows) that I have ever heard/seen. You get so emotionally attached to the characters. What an ending. It wasn't even disappointing. It's just sorta like you knew that was what needed to happen.


Anyways- I don't even know if any of you watch Lost- so I will talk about something you can understand!

Partying!

Went to my friend's lake house (if you thought the last party was in the country- this one was an hour long drive out into the country... literally you are on like 6 different long, country roads for an hour getting out to this place). There the whole gang from Cedar Ridge got together and had a pretty good time, I would say!

Lake Mayo!

It's always really great going back home and seeing all of my friends from home. Not everyone was there- but that's okay, there will be more lake gatherings in the future.

Key aspects of a lake house party

1. Log cabin

This should give you an idea of where we were.

2. porch sitting
3. camp fire (over which hotdogs were cooked)
4. bunk beds
5. morning trip to Bojangles (20 minutes away. Yes- it took us 20 minutes to get back to somewhere that was even close to somewhere)
6. boat outing (duh- why go to a lake if you don't use the boat)
7. fishing on said boat

Look! It's me fishing!

8. Usually there are jet ski's and tubing involved but it was cold this weekend
9. There is also usually tanning but see activities 5 and 8 for why we were not willing to put on bathing suits.
10. A damn-good time


Side note: Once again the girl-guy ratio is significantly improved once I go home- 10 guys to 4 girls.

Anyways, so that was Friday and Saturday! Don't know quiet what I will be up to this week- but whatever it is I hope it is fun!

Until then,
Cara

Swing and poetry

Good morning sunshines!
I've decided it's going to be a good day- I've finally got some energy back in me (even though I woke up at 6:30 this morning, I went to bed last night at like 9:30).

Yesterday I was able to check off one of the things on my summer to-do list! I went to the new Hillsborough public library (okay, it just moved across town- but it's a new building!). So I have "discovered" something new in this town.

It wasn't the best library I have ever been to, it was smaller than most. But, the man at the counter was friendly (even though he went to Duke). What I kept on thinking the whole time is what is a guy who went to Duke doing working at a library as a receptionist? Who knows. Either way, I got a new library card! Exciting! Oh, and I suppose that I got books too!


I'm really excited about all of these books! I read some of Dickinson's poetry last night and this morning and I loved it! Kristen's post yesterday made me realize how much I miss good writing in my life! And although most of the poems have been about our mortality, they are still ,strangely, beautiful.

I also started to read The Beautiful and the Damned, which is on my summer reading list! F. Scott Fitzgerald is amazing.
His words just flow off the page and into my brain. He is so good at creating these awesome images. His writing has come to define the Roaring 20s or what is referred to as the Jazz Age. This extravagant, champagne flowing, luxurious, high society, garden party, trumpet playing, furs and flapper time period.


I love, love, love it. Maybe it is the romantic in me, and even though the point of Fitzgerald's work is to point out the fallacy of this dream period (he was the one telling the world "I told you so" in 1928), I still think it's fun to go along for the ride.

Cool fact: Every year at Governor's island just outside of New York City, in June they have this really big Jazz Age party on the lawn, hosted by Swing Dance Long Island. It is sooo cool. Found out about it when The Sartorialist started to take pictures there because all of the fashion there is incredible.

All these pictures were taken by Scott Schuman and his incredible self and can be seen further here.





Doesn't that look like so much fun??! I am determined to go one day.

Until then,
Cara

Rainy Days

One of my all time favorite things is a rainy summer day. I must admit, I can be a pretty big homebody sometimes. So yes, I secretly love days in which I can sit in my bed all day and not feel a bit of guilt for not being out and about.

Today is one of those days, and fortunately this whole week will be! Why fortunately? Because I need to recharge my batteries. I really haven't been able to sit down since I got home a week ago. This semester was not the most stressful, but probably one of the least restful. So I will gladly take a week of Lost episodes, reading and blogging to my hearts content.

I didn't even have to leave my bed to take these pictures...

Can you see the rain?

Some of my favorite reading material over the summer is Vogue Italia. Love it. I started reading it last summer to practice my Italian skills and I think that it really helped this year!

Here is this month's issue...

These babies are not cheap either. $15 in stores. Whoo!

One more thing before I go! My image boards are starting to pop up on the Southern Weddings blog! Exciting! I am having such at great time interning with them so far! Three hours everyday fly by!
Anywho, here are some links to my image boards! I didn't write the actual text, that credit can be given to Katharine Waterman.
Post 1 and post 2 are about this adorable couple Merrie and Simon!

Alright, well I am am going to get back to Lost! I hope y'all are having a relaxing day as well!

Until then,
Cara

Good Morning!

Before I tell you about how wonderful my morning was, I will tell you that last night was officially the start of my summer. It felt like summer last night. NC State and VT got out this week, so all of my high school friends were finally able to reunite. It's not summer until you can get everyone back together again!

We grilled out and then let the fun begin! It was the perfect summer evening, and later on there was a summer thunderstorm- how perfect!!

I know when I describe to y'all our parties/gatherings, there is confusion. All parties in Hillsborough tend to happen out in the country- where there are no noise complaints or neighbors to worry about. Why do we do this? Because we can. I am one of the only people in my whole group of friends who has neighbors that are right next door.



This is the house we were at last night (pictures I took this morning)

That's right. She has horses in her front yard. Love it!

So that is pretty much why my morning was amazing. I woke up early to a gorgeous drive home to my favorite morning music (Coldplay- esp. the song Strawberry Swing on their Viva la Vida album).

I just got back from walking to Hillsborough's Weaver Street with my dad. Such a good day for a walk around town! I forgot how much I love Hillsborough. I will have to take some pictures of the quainter homes!

The biscuits at Weaver Street are amazing, I must say! And they are HUGE! I had to save the other half for lunch today. Obviously getting my $2.50 worth.

What am I off to do now? I'm going to go read my book (Still reading Lipstick Jungle) out on the hammock! Loooveee summer!

Then probably going to get some tanning in and then its off to work at 5:30!

Till then,
Cara

Spring Cleaning and Darjeeling

So, today after another successful morning at Southern Weddings, I came home and finally decided to put off my procrastination and actually get some unpacking done.

The unfortunate thing.... this is what was waiting for me...

Sad day. I have been crawling over my stuff for the past week and living out of boxes! But today I decided to put an end to it!

Lots of recycling, two trash bags full of Goodwill items, lots of sorting and three and a half hours later.....


TADA!!! So much better! Haha.

My friends (Iain, Christiana and Michael) came over tonight and we watched The Darjeeling Limited.

Can we sense a movie marathon trend to my summer so far?
I have to say, this is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films that I have seen. The scenery was gorgeous, as was the cinematography. I would definitely recommend it.

But what kept on striking me was this luggage of their father's that they were carrying around the whole time. It was so old-timey and just fun.


Isn't that cool looking?

Alright, well it's midnight and I must be up at 8 to get ready to go into SW.

Till then,
Cara

Magazines and Indian Food

Sooo today was my second day at Southern Weddings internship.
I can't even describe how quickly it went by. My three hours were up so quickly!
You know when you love something when you can do it for hours and feel like no time has gone by!
My job today was to help out with the photo boards for the SW blog.
All of the SW team is so friendly and nice (hope they like me!).
Emily was really kind to help me go step by step through the process a couple of times this morning.
It seems like that internship is going to be really great this summer.

The top storyboard here is an example of something I worked on today!

After I left from there I left for Southpoint where I met Amanda to talk about the a health and fitness magazine that we want to start on campus this coming fall. It is so exciting to have a project like that to work on. It is so up my alley and Amanda is so great to work with because we both understand each other and our work styles (we were co-editors of our yearbook).

I am uber excited about this whole thing! After we get accreditation from the school we are hoping to get a pdf of the magazine up online by the end of fall and print editions by the spring! Will let you guys know where that is going.
If anyone has any ideas for a title of the magazine let me know!

After talking about that for a bit, I went to Victoria Secret where my indecisiveness led me to purchase two bottles of body spray. Because a girl can never smell too good!
No, seriously, these scents were awesome.

I got the basic Body Mist
and then I got this stuff...

Which I am really excited about using tomorrow!

Also, tonight I had Indian food for the first time. I know, so uncultured.
I got the mango chicken (mild, for starters) and it was pretty good! Some of the other food that people at the table got was pretty weird looking, but maybe I can work my way up to that.

Then when I came home, my dear friend Christiana came over and we went out onto my roof (which is accessible from my room) and looked at the stars and caught up.

Over all a great day!
Wish I had more pictures to share with you, but maybe tomorrow!

Till then,
Cara

The Big Day!

So today was the big day!
It was my first day as an intern at Southern Weddings Magazine!

It was...

1. AMAZING!
2. Cold (Why? Why do you do this to us North Carolina?)
3. Not as stressful as I thought it would be.
4. GORGEOUS!!!

No, seriously. It was so amazing to be surrounded by gorgeous dresses and flowers and ribbons. The location Fearrington Village is TO DIE FOR!! I am seriously considering the spot for my own wedding now.


Why? Because it is perfect. It was overcast all day today, but the place had such a soft light to it, and everything was green and natural and flowery.

These pictures do not do it justice! My photography skills today were not on point.

Don't you just love those lights hanging from the tree?

The pavilion to the right is where everything was being set up/prepared for the shoots

It was so awesome to be surrounded by people with so much creative energy and imagination etc. Just to see Jose Villa ( one of the best wedding photographers out there) work was so much fun.

And to see the way that our stylist for the day, Joy, arranged bouquets, tables, and other various set ups was amazing. It was just lovely to be surrounded by beautiful things!

The models for today's shoot were also gorgeous and so friendly! I would love to be something like them one day. They were all twenty-somethings that were engaged, stylish and so confident!

Above are the bridesmaids dresses that we put them in for the shoot! The color palette of the day was aqua, blue and green paired with cream. So pretty!




Above is only part of the stuff we had laying out for the shoot. Including loads and loads of beautiful jewelry. Oh! and there is the Subway that I was sent to go get! haha.

Overall, I would say today was an amazing start to my internship this summer!
Tomorrow I start my regular hours with them at their Chapel Hill office from 9:30-12:30.

I will get off just in time to go meet Amanda about the new magazine we are trying to start on campus!

Such a good day!

Till then,
Cara

Oh, Vanity Fair

Sooo today was a pretty busy relaxed day (oxymoron-yes, appropriate-yes!).

After a scrumptious breakfast of Mickey-Mouse-shaped pancakes (yes, I might or might not still be six years old), I went to Weaver Street Market, where I resided for the next 4 hours.

I love Weaver Street. Everything is local and organic.
Their medicinal isle is amazing. They have natural remedies for everything!
This morning I had no ailments, however, so I just sat around and chose pictures for my sophomore year scrapbook that I am making this summer and got some lunch.
Weaver Street is always so pretty!
Here is a stalker picture I took...

Notice how I placed the camera on the table so that people would not be alarmed when I tried to take a picture of them eating.

Also, I took a picture of my food. Because it was just so colorful!

I guess it could be more colorful- but hey! this is improvement.
Things I would not have had on my plate a year ago that were on this one- chickpeas, cantaloupe and honey dew. Wow- I really branched out this year! ha.

I went straight from the Weave to my beloved Whitney Davis' home in Raleigh!
There we went to H&M- my first time in the new store at Crabtree. I got an amazing shirt and bracelet to match!
After some relaxing couch time at the Davis home and some cheese-its (thanks Whit), I returned home to... NO DINNER! Haha, my dad didn't know I would be home.

C'est la vie.

Tonight, movie round two! I watched Vanity Fair.

Are we sensing a trend with the movies I enjoy? However, I could never tell if I liked Rebecca Sharp (Reese's role). She was fierce, and she knew how to turn heads. But she also gave up a lot of her morals and lost a lot of good standing by the end of the movie. I'm pretty sure she kept her pride, however. Has anyone else seen this and have an opinion?

Tomorrow is my first day at Southern Weddings!
Will let you know how it goes!

Also- Don't forget to read my post below of my summer to-do list!
Two posts in one day- I know, I'm crazy.

Till then,
Cara

Summer to-do

So here it is. Some of the things I would like to do this summer. However, I am terrible about going back and adding on to lists and never really being done with them. And I am sure there are many things that I would like to do this summer that are not below.. but I will add onto them, be sure of this.

1. Have a picnic at Ayre Mount

Picture I took a couple of years ago

2. Go to a Durham Bulls game

3. Paint more


4. Go on a hike!

This is the view from Occoneechee Mountain in Hillsborough!

5. Shoot a role of film on my dad's old Nikon

This is actually my dad's camera- he took the picture!

6. Try to cook a meal once a week (that is something different!)

Let's face it- I want to be her. Or at least make meals as delicious as hers look!

7. Discover something new in Hillsborough

... Sorry there is no interesting picture of this.

8. ANNNNNDDD if I happen to get tan, earn some money and be a baller intern in this process, so be it.

Maybe a repeat of last year's spring break tanning level?---Hope so!

Well, I will let this be it's own post. Seeing as it is my to-do list!
Will post another one in a second!

Till then,
Cara

Working hard for the Money

So this summer, besides my internship at Southern Weddings (which starts Tuesday!), I am going to be making some money as a runner and hostess at Spanky's restaurant on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.

It's really good food if you ever want to check it out. My favorites? Hands down the shrimp and grits. But let's get serious- I just like shrimp and grits in general (Southern- I think yes!). The tex-mex burger is also delish!

But anyways. Spanky's is the reason why my blog has been so bare for the past two days.
Because it is where I have been for literally more hours than I have been at home.



It was awesome seeing all of the graduates in their cap and gowns in town! It makes me really sentimental and proud to go to Carolina!

This might be creepy- but I took this off of one of my friends facebook pages just because I love it so much! I can't wait (but really I can) to take these pictures in two years.



Anyways. Done creeping.

Tomorrow, when I have a chance to breathe, I will create a list of things I want to do this summer and then possibly unpack!

Tonight, however, I watched the most amazing film. The September Issue which follows Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Creative Director Grace Coddington, among others, during the creations of Vouge's legendary September issue.

I know this is in French, but doesn't that kind of make the poster that much more legit?

It was the perfect film for me to watch tonight, because I have been feeling so out of my creative, fun zone lately. I love fashion. Have I told you this? I might not be able to dress my self to the nines everyday, but I can really appreciate those who do. And I am in love with a good fashion spread in a magazine.

The whole process of coming up with a concept and then going to location to shoot and really being taken to another world, or at least to another mindset. It really intrigues me and I could/want to live my life dreaming up these ideas for photo shoots!

I feel as those my creative energy has really been stunted/I have really let it slide.
Mental note, put that on my summer to-do list somewhere!

There were also scenes of photo shoots in Versailles.
I love Versailles.
My favorite movie of all time is Marie Antoinette.
I am such a Romantic. I just like rich colors paired with pastels. I love elegance and overflowing gardens and dresses.
I could go on foreverrr.

It doesn't hurt that she has a really handsome lover on the side!

Vogue also took this inspiration into another issue.

I can't help it- I suppose I will be a romantic for life.

But you know what? I love it!

Recently purchased Italian Vogue for June- will let you know what I think!

Till then,
Cara