twenty-one years.

in honor of my 21st birthday, my friends and i decided to venture to a nearby town and go on a wine tour and do a little wine tasting. all of us recently turned 21 and know very little about wine, so we decided we would learn a little bit through this experience. 

this particular town houses four different vineyards and wineries. on the way there we ended up getting lost and found ourselves in the middle of one of the vineyards. and even though we weren't suppose to be there, it was so so pretty! 

once we got there we enjoyed our tour and learning about how wine is made. and even though i'm not a fan of wine, it was a fun way to spend my birthday afternoon with sweet friends. 

saturday evening we all went out for dinner and ice cream. after we loaded up on sugar, the boys insisted on riding go-carts. boys will be boys, huh?

if i have learned anything in my 21 years of life, it's to enjoy little moments. even if those moments include watching 23 year old boys ride go-carts like 9 year olds. 

happy dance.

a couple of weeks ago i won a giveaway from fern&flora. up for grabs was a sweet little leaf necklace from, none other than, meg from meg's musings. and when i received that little email saying i was the winner, i may have done a little happy dance all around my house.

my "winnings" arrived the day before i headed back to school. meg's packaging is a-dor-a-ble! and the packaging is just the beginning to the fun little treasures inside!

this necklace is going to be so perfect in a few weeks when the weather cools a bit and crunchy leaves are on the ground. i-can't-wait. 

check out more of meg's creations at her shop. 

school days.

and it's finally here: school!

i'm all unpacked and nearly settled into my new apartment and loving it. not having to live in a little dorm room this year is a huuuuuge blessing. no more cramming everything into a half of a room, no more caf food, and no more loud people running down the hall at night. hallelujah!
but the best part of being back at school is seeing these faces.

and friday i turn 21 so, the four of us have decided to take a wine tour in a nearby town for the afternoon. fun! and saturday night we're celebrating all summer birthdays and having a dinner in our apartment. i really have the best friends ever.

cheers to senior year!

friday favorites.

1. 72 hours. 
in 72 short hours i will finally be reunited and living in a little apartment with these two cuties.  

to say the least, i'm pumped. 

2. amy butler wallpaper. 
amy butler has done it again. she's stolen my heart by creating beautiful patterns, this time in the form of wallpaper. ugh, i love this.

oh my, i really love this pattern. 

{photo credit}

3. norah jones. 
dear norah, thank you for making beautiful music that inspired me to finally get busy on making pillows for my new room. {pictures of the pillows to follow!}

happy friday friends!

guest blogger. chad hall.

so, i have this friend. his name is chad. if you don't know chad in person, he's a hard person to describe. i can only hope that you have someone like chad in your life. every time that we hang out with chad i always end up with a stomach ache from laughing so much. 

anyways, whenever we hang out, chad is constantly saying "chelsea, is this going to make it on the blog!?"  so, last night as we were enjoying our ice cream after our weekly dinner date, i asked chad "chad, do you just want to do a guest blog post for me?" his face instantly lit up. 

and so, without further ado, i give you chad:

_______________________________________________

Xing Ped? by Chad Hall

This summer has been, well different.

In case anyone is wondering, I have taken over the blog, affectionately known as The Knotted Needle. Really, I am just writing this one blog post for today. The one you all love, Chelsea, will be back very soon… I am guessing she will have to do some kind of “let me follow up with this blog post, because some of you may be really really confused after you read it kind of post”. 

I started a blog once, but I failed at it and deleted it, because I could never think of anything to write about. I always felt like what I thought was cool, was kind of like...well, boring.

I can assure you that before I wrote this, I looked at about 20 blogs just to see what people talk about, and there are some weird people out there. I came across a blog that was devoted to this woman’s cat. Meet Phoebe. If you would like to read more, visit meowdiaries.com…

I also thought about writing what Chelsea, Zach, and have done, but Chelsea has that covered right here. So why would we want to read that twice? However, I will let you see what we look like!

                                             

I think what you might be interested in is that sometimes I just flat say things I do not mean to say, they just come out of my mouth.  For example,   last night we were driving down the road, we had just left Buffalo Wild Wings in Har-Ber Meadows, this place reminds Chelsea of Central Park… I just agreed with her, it was a whole lot smaller… and kind of looked like it, I guess, anyway… I was driving, and all of sudden out of my mouth came… Xing Ped, what the heck… Somebody that works for a street department must have been really confused… painted right there on the road it was as backwards as it could be… somebody could be really confused by that, maybe they need to fix it. I mean, come on, Har-Ber Jones, I shortened it for effect as celebrities always do, have plenty of money to get right on that. 

Also, I guess I was really excited about something, and again out of my mouth, to the laughter of Chelsea and Zach, I said. Oh The Knetted Nodle, I really don’t know you would spell that, but I said it… and to think, I have a degree in Communications.     

This has been a great summer, Little Chelsea will go back to her great college town, ha, of Russellville on Sunday for her last semester, and that will leave all sorts of adventures I guess for Zach and myself.

I am ok with blogging as long as it is like this, where I only have to do one every now and then, if anyone would like me to be a guest blogger for your blog, please feel free to contact me.  I promise I will write something different for yours. I do and say a lot of dumb things, so I am sure I could conjure something up.

I was reading the newspaper the other day, and all of a sudden, I see a word I have heard but never written out. “COJONES”. It is Spanish, and I looked it up… please do the same… I think you will be surprised what people are saying when they are using it.

Well, I guess I need to go, my office sits next to a door that leads outside, and sometimes I think people leave it open on purpose to annoying the heck out of me, and I need to close it. 

If I were famous I would end by saying, come see me perform live at some crazy theater, but really you will just have to come see me in Fayetteville at my apartment.  Please call before you just show up!                                                                              

pillow love.

next week is the big week: move-in week. 

everyone will be unloading their cars and loading up their rooms in preparation for the new school year. and what do i have on my mind right now? pillows. 

this year i will be living in an apartment with 3 other girls. i'm so so so excited! a couple of weeks ago i purchased a plain white down comforter with the intentions of making different pillows to go on my bed. the problem: i'm having a little trouble coming up with inspiration for my pillows. i've realized that making pillows is definitely not one of my favorite things to sew on. 

and while i sit here with a mental block for my own pillows, i'll share a few pillows that were created by others who obviously weren't having my problem. 

{photo credit}

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earrings galore.

so, i have this problem: i'm really bad about getting stuck in a creativity rut. i make something and then that's all i think about; creating that exact project in different ways. 

for example,

lately i've been stuck on earrings. i've never been an "earrings person"- i've always been the simple pearl stud wearing girl. but for some reason, fun little earrings have been calling my name lately.

and i responded to that call by whipping up the following:

      and this is just a glimpse into this recent obsession. oh dear, have i gone earrings crazy?

and because i enjoy making these little treasures and i can only wear one pair at a time, i decided to add these as an item in my etsy shop. like a style but want a different color? well, more than likely, i have it! {seriously, i've made a lot of these!}

friday favorites.

1. rifle paper co. 
if you're not familiar with rifle paper co, let me tell you, it's pretty great. anna creates cute little cards, prints, and other paper creations that are really wonderful. i love all of them.

 

when i am a real teacher with a real classroom, i really want this print for my desk. 

{photo credit/see all the products here!}

2. how i met your mother. 
i started watching this show a couple of years ago when i started dating zach. i was hooked nearly instantly and we spent the next few months catching up on past seasons. i love this show for a couple of reasons:

1. it's a feel good show
2. one of the characters is a teacher 
3. the show is told through the view of looking back on life 
4. everyone of the characters reminds me of someone i know 
5. and it's coming back september 20th! mark your calendars!

3. lake days. 
i can't believe that i've gone all summer and i have yet to spend some quality time on the lake! that's all going to change this weekend though. we have plans to get up tomorrow and take our boat out and spend the day on the water. yay for fun summer days!

cheers to another friday!

bloggins.

every time i sit down to blog, i'm reminded of the death of my camera card reader and the lack of pictures that my blog post will have. but i finally broke down and ordered a new one last night from amazon and hopefully i'll be back to adding pictures to posts in 3-5 business days. 

and because i'm without pictures to post, i thought i would list a few of my favorite blogs at the moment. if you're like me, you are constantly stumbling on new blogs to read and follow. my bookmark menu is getting ridiculously full these days. 

1. gussy has a lot to say {and sew}

maggie, the brains behind the ruffle-y gussy products, is just really wonderful. a couple of years ago she decided that she wanted to learn to sew, checked out a stack of books from the local library, and went at it. before long she was sewing away and soon started her own business. and now she's doing it full time!! ah, how great is that?! her signature look is her ruffle and it is incredibly cute. not only does maggie share her products with her readers, she shares what's going on in her daily life and business tips on her blog. ahhh, i just really love this blog!

visit gussy here

2. {meg's musings}

do you ever stumble onto a blog and it's just so cheery and fun? well, if you haven't then you can click this link and find that cheerful joy in meg's blog. i love reading about her day, seeing what inspires her, and looking at the beautiful jewelry that she creates. it's really wonderful. trust me. 

some of meg's sweet little earrings. 

you can visit meg here

3. today's letters. 

so here's the deal, lets say this really cool girl decided to start writing letters to her husband, her family, co-workers, and nearly anyone or anything else. not just normal letters, mind you, but short little sentences capturing her very thoughts perfectly. and there you have the concept of "today's letters". i started reading this blog after my friend elizabeth posted about it and how much joy is brings her. and believe me, it will bring you joy. quirky, lovely, genuine joy. 

blog tagline:

"there are many things that can change a life. a letter is one of them."

visit today's letters here

monday monday.

today:

• i was suppose to get up and run. didn't happen. 
• i spent the morning in my pj's drinking coffee. 
• i visited the library. 
• i organized my closet. 
• i substituted my usual vanilla dr. pepper for water. (pats self on back)
• i visited with a sweet friend over yummy chips&salsa. 
• i ran into another sweet friend at the local coffee shop. yay for small towns!
• i began to mentally prepare myself for school starting back up. 

and today i am thankful for my family, my friends, and the love i receive from them. 

{photo credit}

ps- i've come to the realization that poppies are my favorite flowers. how pretty is this poppy field?! i wish i could take an afternoon nap in it. 

friday favorites.

1. cheap nail polish (that lasts!)
if there's one thing that i really love, it's nail polish. but if there's one thing i really hate, it's paying a lot for nail polish, especially when it doesn't last. uggggh. but i've seemed to have found the answer: sinful colors. you can find this brand at walgreens and it's only $1.99! yay!! i have really thin nails and i can never find a polish that stays on for more than a day without chipping...but these little babies are like magic. i'm going on 4 days and not a chip yet!

i would highly recommend "boogie nights", "soul mate", "gogo girl", and "folly". nail polish colors always have such silly names.

2. diy-home face scrub.
i ran across a blog the other day dedicated to at-home beauty secrets. one tip that was shared was a recipe for a lemon-sugar facial scrub. all you have to do is put some lemon juice on a cotton ball, dip the cotton ball into a little sugar, and then scrub away! i tried this out last night and it made my skin so so soft! using a scrub gets rid of dead skin and extra dirt left by sweat and make-up. i think i'll make this part of my daily routine!

3. new glasses. 
i few months ago i found an online store for optical glasses that are cheap cheap cheap. i've been searching high and low for green glasses and i finally found them here. i ordered a red pair and a green pair. hopefully they'll be here soon...and they'll be all i've imagined them to be. 

there are lots and lots of cute, cheap glasses over at the zenni optical website!

happy friday friends!

lazy thursday.

i have dubbed today "lazy thursday". seeing as though it's 1:30 in the afternoon and i'll i've seemed to accomplish today is bathing myself and drinking 3 cups of coffee, i think this day deserved the title. and besides, it's raining outside, something that we haven't seen in this part of the country is quite some time. rainy days are meant to be spent cuddled up with a good book or watching a good movie. or at least that's how i'm justifying my laziness today.

so, i had this big post all ready to go for today. i was going to tell you about cheap long-lasting nail polish that i have found, my current obsession for making earrings, and the new dress form that i snagged earlier this week. i was all ready to go, all i had to do was upload and edit all my pictures. i plugged in my card reader....and....nothing. it won't work. blah!! so here i am with a picture-less post, which i hate hate hate. so, i'll keep working on the pictures and cross my fingers that i can get them uploaded.

ps: i wish i were spending my lazy thursday in this room. 

{photo via you are my fave.}

you are special.

if you haven't read or heard of the book you are special by max lucado you're missing out on a sweet inspirational story. i was first introduced to this book a couple of summers ago when i worked at camp war eagle. we would read this book as a bedtime story to our campers and i soon fell in love with this book as much as my cabin full of 6-year-olds did. 

this morning in church, this book was used in reference to finding our identity in christ. i love when stories are written for children but have an ageless and important message that is carried out. i love the power of a message that is carried out through an innocent children's book. and i love that since rereading this particular children's book today i have been thinking and praying about my identity in christ.

if you haven't read this book, you're in luck! i found a video on youtube of the book being read aloud with the pictures shown on the video. now, i'm the sort of person that likes to read a book in her head and create voices and such to create the story just like i want it. so, needless to say, this version of the story doesn't quite do it justice for me. but, if still gets the storyline across. next time you are at the library or bookstore, search this sweet little book out and read it to yourself. you can even create voices too. 

and before i go...

"therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. because of our faith, Christ has brought us into the place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.

we can rejoice,too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. and this hope will not lead to disappointment. for we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love."

romans 5:1-5

this past week i have looked to this verse repetitively, and sure enough, this verse was apart of the message taught this morning. talk about an assurance from God.

 i've learned this week that it's okay to be sad and mourn over hard times in our lives. it's okay to question what happens next. and it's okay to feel a little bit of emptiness over the loss of someone. because we have hope...

"and this hope will not lead to disappointment."