My Dream House/Location/Future

Who doesn’t think about how they want their life to be in the future? I feel like everyone thinks about their dream house and their dream man/woman and their dream job, am I right? I think that’s completely normal! When you are in elementary school your teachers already start asking you what you want to be when you grow up, and that’s when it all starts. Throughout your young teenage years you then start to develop what you think would be the perfect life and your “happily ever after”. You start to think about where you would love to live one day and what you want to do with the rest of your life. Each individual thing that you can think of in your head that makes you happy all comes together to make one big perfect idea of your future. Just for fun, in this post I am going to give you a peak into my brain and share with you what I want for my future. Ready?

First thing’s first, after college I want to have a job. Some people may say I want to have a very successful, high paying job but I feel like now days you can’t even ask for that much. So for now, I am just asking to be employed after college. Because I am a media management major, I do hope to have a job that has something to do with that. In a perfect world, I would be working at a radio station, recording studio, or record label doing the behind the scenes/business type stuff. I just know that I want to be surrounded by music, and I think that that is the best way to do that without having to sing or perform or be on screen/camera. In a perfect world I would also be working with successful people in an environment that I enjoyed working in. I would like to be high up in the company, and be able to have a somewhat flexible schedule. I would like to be able to plan events and help the performers who I would be working with. As for now that is all I really have to say about my “dream/future job”.

Below is a picture of what my job setting could look like:

As for my location, I really want nothing more than to move south. I use to want to move to a city like New York or Chicago, however recently I have really loved everything about the south. I have been told that for my job it would be good to look at LA, NYC, Chicago, or Nashville. I think time will tell where I end up. In a perfect world I would live by the beach. Something about the water makes me so happy with life. I have always thought that living in the Carolinas would be nice. My grandparents have a condo there and they have vacationed there for as long as I can remember. My parents have also vacationed there for as long as I can remember and have talked about moving there after my sisters and I all finish our schooling. I like the southern hospitality and the laid back feel that surrounds the beach. I even like the southern accents. If I lived in the south I would dress really preppy and eat the best seafood of my whole life. I would like to live in Charleston, South Carolina so that it’s not that far from the beach but not too close. I also think it would have a lot of job opportunities.

Below is a picture of Charleston, SC:

So now that I have decided where I want to live I have to talk about my dream house. I would love to have a big, white house with a wrap around porch. I think it would be lovely if my house overlooked a lake, and I could sit on the porch and look out at the water, kind of like in The Notebook. The porch would be decorated to look very welcoming and there would be plenty of space for family and friends to come and sit and talk together. I would have a large wood door as my front door and when you opened the door to go inside it would look homey and like the people who live there love to live there and are happy. There would be a giant staircase that leads upstairs and a balcony upstairs that overlooks the first floor of the house. There would be dark hardwood floors and white crown molding. There would be a huge kitchen with plenty of room to make the best meals. There would also be a large dining room with a great kitchen table. The table would have to be a good size so that we could have a lot of people over at once to enjoy our great meals. The family room would be large and welcoming. Even though it would be large, the furniture would be set up in a way that doesn’t look overwhelming. There would b e the best closets and the best bathrooms in my house. The best part of the house would be the backyard. It would go out to a pool and there would be amazing landscaping surrounding it. Also the backyard would back up to a lake. There would be a dock right outside the house where my boat and jet skis would be docked. That would definitely be my fantasy back yard and house.

Below are a few photos of what my house could look like:

I would love the fall in love with a southern boy with a southern accent and who uses manners and has southern hospitality. We would get married on the beach, he would have a successful job, we would start a family, and live happily ever after.

Below is a picture of what our wedding could look like:

I hope you enjoyed reading about what my dream life would be like, and I would love to hear about what some of your unrealistic expectations are for your future. I know I said unrealistic, but what if this actually happened? That would be crazy. Anyway, until next time!

Lauren

New Music & Music I Like Right Now

In this post I am going to talk about music. New music that has come out recently as well as music that I have just really been enjoying lately. I feel like I have been listening to new music recently, instead of sticking to the same old same old stuff that I normally do. I’m not saying that I listen to the same music all the time over and over again, I’m just saying that I have discovered some new music and want to share! I hope you enjoy and check out these awesome artists!

For starters, the new John Mayer album just came out! I have yet to listen to the whole thing the whole way through but from what I have heard it sounds amazing. I am a huge John Mayer fan, and have been for a very long time. I have seen him I think four or five times live and have loved every second of it. He is a great performer (minus the ugly facial expressions he makes while performing) and makes the concert personal. I think my favorite album of John’s will always be “Continuum”. I really have nothing at all bad to say about the album at all. It came out in 2006 and I still listen to it a couple times a week. Sorry to rant about that. Anyways, John’s new album titled “Born and Raised” does not disappoint at all. I personally think it sounds great! It has kind of an R&B, blues, and pop sound to it. I know that’s a lot to say that one album is and maybe a little hard to picture or imagine, but it is seriously so great. The songs are very easy to listen to and are very soothing. “Shadow Days” was the first single off this album. I think this was a good choice for a single just because it is catchy and has a good beat that people would want to sing to. I will insert a clip of it below:

Another popular song from his new album is "Queen of California". I think this song has almost a country vibe to it? That may be going a little far but I think that when I really listen to it and focus. It is also acoustic and electric sounding.

One of my personal favorites from this album is “Something Like Olivia”. I think this song has a great beat and a great electric guitar background. It’s a song that makes you tap your foot to and sing along to. I also think the words are very heartfelt and cute. Listen to the clip below and tell me that you don’t want to tap your foot…

Great, right? Right.

Anyway, I seriously suggest you check out his album! You won’t be disappointed.

Another great album that just came out is Haley Reinhart’s “Listen Up!”. Haley was an American Idol contestant last year who ended third in the competition, however her new record sounds like a winning one to me. I love her raspy soulful voice. I think she kind of sounds like Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoy this album as a whole. She was one of my favorites throughout the whole American Idol contest so I guess it does make sense. My favorite song so far off her album is “Free”. The first time I heard it I knew I loved it! I like the feel of it and the way it kind of swings along. It’s very soulful and smooth. I will insert a clip of the song below:

I also think that “Undone” is also a beautiful song. It is probably my second favorite on the album tied with “Spiderweb”. “Undone” is very slow and kind of sad sounding. You can tell that there is a story behind that song and there is a lot of feeling behind those lyrics. I feel like her voice sounds very emotional and a lot of people would like that. “Spiderweb” has more of an upbeat and edgy sound almost. It is louder and has a faster beat to it. Her voice still sounds so great and soulful in it. I highly suggest you check out her album as well!

The two other artists I am going to talk about are from American Idol as well. The first is Scotty McCreery, who I just recently have been non-stop listening to and the second is Phillip Phillips, the winner from this season. Both artists I think are very talented and deserve a lot of recognition, and I think you should check both of them out! Here is a picture of both of them at the finale last night!

(Phillip Phillips is on the left and Scotty is on the right)

Scotty is a country artist, whose voice I love so much. He sounds like a very true country artist and sounds much older than he actually is in my opinion. His debut album is called “Clear As Day”. My favorite songs on it are “Water Tower Town”, “You Make That Look Good”, and “Clear As Day”. “Water Tower Town” is a really fun upbeat song that sounds just like the typically small southern town you would imagine. It makes me happy because it is just such a happy fun song. “You Make That Look Good” is a really cute song I think. He is just talking about how this girl looks good in anything basically. Finally, the song “Clear As Day” is such an emotional song. It almost made me cry the first time I listened to it. I wasn’t expecting the ending that it has, and I think it makes the song creative and interesting. Overall, I love this album and cannot stop listening to it especially now that its warm outside (something about warm weather makes me love country music even more then usual). I am also extremely impressed that this is only his first album. I will insert a clip below of a preview of his album:

Lastly, I just wanted to talk about Phillip Phillips, the winner of American Idol this season! He has such a unique sound that I love (and obviously America does too)! I can't wait to hear the music that he will come out with in the future. I will insert a clip of his finale song:

I hope you enjoyed this post and check out these awesome musicians!

Lauren

My Style Icons & Spring Fashion Trends

So for this post I am kind of combining two ideas that I had. I knew I wanted to blog about style and about new trends and the kind of fashion styles that I am interested in right now, so I decided to do a combination of the two. The first half of this blog will be about my favorite celebrity style icons and the second half will be about spring 2012 trends. I was going to limit myself to clothing, however now that I am thinking about it I want to be able to discuss more then just clothes. I will probably be mentioning nail polish and other little things like that. I hope you enjoy this blog! Feel free to share your favorite spring trends and celebrity style icons with me as well, I'd love to hear!

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I have a lot of trouble trying to define my style. First of all, I’m in college and here I usually walk around in Nike running shorts and a t-shirt or jeans and a sweatshirt rather than trying to put a lot of effort into my outfits. However, when I go out with friends or am going to chapter for my sorority when you have to dress nice, I do tend to think more about my style and what I am putting together and why. I like kind of the rocker-chic look. I think that Miley Cyrus pulls this look off. She also would probably add boho to her style description. I also like the kind of preppy, put-together look such as J. Crew clothing and Vineyard Vines. Lilly Pulitzer is also very preppy (maybe almost too much for me), but I do like the southern feel of their clothing. Lastly, I really love it when someone can put together an outfit that looks so put together, yet it looks like they spent almost no time on it at all. When I think of this Lauren Conrad comes to mind. I think all her clothing and her outfits always look so put together and so casual. With the warm months being here and summer fast approaching, I love the carefree look. I think in the summer you can wear and pull off all kinds of bright colors and crazy things you just can’t get away with in the cooler months. I love summer styles because I think people are more daring and I think that you have more options of what you can choose from to wear.

Miley Cyrus example: I really like this outfit because of how casual it looks but still how fashion-forward I think it is. She is wearing a plain white top that really appears to be nothing special. She is wearing it with ripped, black skinny jeans paired with super cute, edgy black heels. This is a good example for what I like about the rocker-chic-laid back look.

 

Preppy fashion example: I LOVE this outfit. Her bright red-orange shorts look so perfect with her jean button-down top. The top under her button-down top appears to be white with a pattern that is similar to the color of her shorts. I really think that this whole outfit comes together so perfectly. I also think that her watch looks very classy and nice. I would love to own the shorts and jean shirt for myself, HAH!

Lauren Conrad example: I admire her style because it looks like something so effortlessly put together. It looks nice all put together, but when you look at what she is actually wearing and all the separate pieces she is really just wearing basic things. I think to master this style you just have to be able to know what looks good together. Her plain black v-neck and bright red skirt are two very basic pieces, but when the brown belt is added into the outfit it makes it all come together. She also kept the look very casual by wearing flats.

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It’s finally warm again outside! That means bright colors and lots of options when it comes to fashion! In the summer months I think that there is a lot more opportunity to wear whatever you like and whatever you think is cute. However, I still think it is good to know and keep track of what some of the current trends are. Some of my favorite spring and summer trends for 2012 are neon colors, high-low skirts, and white shorts.

Neon color example: As you can see in this picture there is a lot of neon going on! My favorite part about the whole outfit I think are the sandals. Oh. My. Gosh. The neon pink against a tan looks so cute! I also love the gold accent on them. The shorts are my second favorite part of the outfit. I think they make a big statement and look super cute. Her hat and her shirt and jewelry are very bright and flattering as well.

High-low skirt: At first I didn’t really know if I liked this trend, and I thought it was kind of weird. However, now that more people are wearing them they are kind of growing on me and I actually really like them. My friend just bought a high-low dress and plans to belt it in the center and I think it looks super cute. Her dress looks kind of similar to the dress in the picture below (that is belted). Overall, I think this new trend is fun and unique.

White shorts: I know that this is definitely NOT a new trend, and I don’t really even know if you could consider it a trend? But for this blog I am going to consider it one. I like white shorts because it reminds me of summer (since technically you aren’t supposed to wear them until after Memorial Day). I like how the white looks against tan skin, and seriously you can wear just about anything with them! You can dress them up or dress them down, and I think they look really clean and fresh.

I hope you found the trends and fashion styles that I enjoy interesting! Feel free to share what you love too!

Lauren

First Animation

iPhoto Experimenting

For this assignment we are to manipulate three photos in at least three different ways. Below I will show you the three photos I chose to work with and describe what I did to change their appearance.

Photo 1: In this photo I changed the tint to a purple color just for fun and to experiment with color. I also turned the saturation very high to make it look like he was in the light or something along those lines. Finally, I shifted the picture slightly so that it was not straight up and down. I think it looks more interesting at an angle.

Photo 2: For this photo the first thing I did was I brought down the level from 100% to 77%. This made the background of the photo not as prominent and brought more attention to the little girl's face, who in my opinion, is the focal point of this photo. Next, I boosted the color to make the colors more vivid. I think that the setting of this photo is a fun and playful time and that the colors should show that. Finally, I upped the sharpness of the photo because I wanted the viewer to be able to see more detail in the little girls' clothing and face.

Photo 3: I thought it would be interesting to try and make this picture look more realistic or bring it back to it's natural color because it was black and white. So obviously, I had to change the tint of it to green because that is the color of grass and trees. After I did that I boosted the color because it still didn't look that green because before it was black and white. Lastly, I changed the contrast of the photo to make it look much more dark and make it look like there was a lot more dimension and shadows then there were before.

Traveling

What makes you feel alive? What makes you feel like you’re living and not just surviving? I know those are somewhat deep and cheesy questions to be asking, but seriously. You know the feeling when you just feel like you’re on top of the world and nothing at all could bring you down? Like you just could not be any happier? I get that feeling when I’m out seeing the world and traveling. I love going and seeing other places and how other people live. I think it is so beneficial to anyone to get away from what they are used to every once in a while. The same thing for too long gets boring, you know? Maybe this is just me, but I even like to just go for a drive every now and then, without a destination just to see where I end up and to see new places. To me that is interesting and adventurous. I think that in order to get the most out of life you need to explore what else there is in this huge world, and not just stick to the surroundings you’re used to.

I’m going to take some time now to write about past vacations. This is not me bragging, this is more me reflecting on and remembering good times with my family. 

Some of my favorite places I have vacationed at are Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, Naples, Florida, and Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Two places that mean a little more to me because of family are Mari-Dor Beach in Vermilion, Ohio and Sunset Beach in North Carolina. Mexico was awesome. That was only my second time being out of the country (besides Canada), and it was just really interesting to see how differently people live there. At the actual resort we stayed at, there wasn’t anything to culturally shocking, but from the airport to our resort it was really interesting. The way that they drive is different, they have military people on the sides of the roads, and there are also people everywhere. The water was beautiful and the food was great. 

Below is a picture of the road we were on coming from the airport going to our resort. You can see how crazy they drive!

Naples was one of the more relaxing trips I have been on. It is at the very southern most part of Florida and was very hot and humid. There were a lot of alligators, surprisingly (some a little too close for comfort)! The beaches we went to were very nice and clean and family friendly. On this trip we also decided to visit Sanibel Island because it was close by. That is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! I would love to go back. Another great trip I took was this past summer with two of my best friends. The three of us road tripped from Columbus, Ohio to Isle of Palms, South Carolina (with no parents). It was kind of a big deal because of how far we were going without our parents there. We stayed at one of my friend’s aunt’s condo that was right on the beach. It was beautiful. We would wake up, put a bathing suit on, pack lunch, and head over to the beach right away. This was a very nice trip because there was really no need to drive anywhere! 

I will insert a picture bellow of the beautiful beach

Two places that are a little closer to my heart are Sunset Beach, North Carolina and Mari-Dor Beach, Ohio (Vermilion). My grandma and grandpa have a condo down at Sunset Beach and we like to go and vacation there to visit them when they are down there. It is not very crazy at all. The majority of people there seem to be a little on the older side and like to golf or sit on the beach all day. Regardless, I love going there to have a nice, relaxing time with my family. Mari-Dor Beach is in Vermilion, Ohio and my family (aunt and uncle) actually owns it. There are probably about 20 or so cottages that they rent out in the summer time, as well as spaces people can rent to park their campers/RVs and stay. Mari-Dor is a family owned business and has been passed down through many generations. The cottages are very small and did not have air conditioning up until this past summer. There is nothing fancy about this place AT ALL, however people still bring their families back every summer to enjoy a relaxing week on the shore of Lake Erie.

Here is a picture of the beach from the bank

Places that I want to go but have never been before are New York, Chicago, LA, Nashville, and Australia! I have always wanted to go to New York City. It’s just somewhere that ever since I was little decided I wanted to go. I think because it’s so big and has so much history behind it and everyone talks about how crazy and fast paced it is. I have always wanted to visit Ellis Island and see the Statue of Liberty. Not to mention, New York is known for it’s shopping. A more recent place I have wanted to go to is Chicago. My mom and sister took a trip there about a year ago and had nothing but great things to say about it. I love going to cities and think that Chicago seems gorgeous! I have also always wanted to go to LA. I have never really been out west or to the west coast. I have this image of what I think LA would be like in my mind and I would love to see it and experience it for myself. I want to go to Nashville mainly because of how much music history is there and how much music is still prevalent there now. I have heard it is very pretty, and I think I would enjoy it very much. As for going somewhere out of the country, I think it would be sweet to go to Australia. Everything I have heard about it and all the pictures I have seen seem so amazing! I think it would truly be a great and adventurous vacation to go on. I can’t go to all these places right now, so in the mean time I will stick to being a student and trying to save up any little amount of money I get. Maybe I should start taking donations and asking people if they would like to fund my trips (haha).

Where are your favorite vacation spots and where would you like to visit? I would love to know!

Sorority Life

Everyone has something to say about sororities. Either they hate them, love them, or just don't really care. Well, before I came to college I was one of the "I don't really care" people. None of the older women in my family had been in one before me besides my older cousin. Because I didn't know much about them or what they stood for, I just wasn't that interested. However, my mom and dad still thought I should research it and look a little more into it because of the whole networking situation (not to mention all the friends you would make just after getting to college and how it could help the transition).

I was really stressing out about whether or not I wanted to join, and didn’t know who to talk to about it. I decided to ask my cousin, because she was really the only person I was close with who had gone through the process of being in a sorority. Of course she suggested that I join one, but she was also very understanding and tried to see where I was coming from and what my concerns were. All I really “knew” about them was the stereotypes you see in movies and hear about from other people (not the best things). She assured me that it was not like that at all, and suggested I go through formal recruitment in the fall. She explained that going through recruitment you get to visit all the houses and meet girls in each sorority to help you find your perfect fit. She even explained to me that after going through recruitment, if I still felt unsure and didn’t really want to do it I didn’t have to join.

UNREALISTIC:

REALISTIC:

The recruitment process was long and stressful, but also so fun. PNMs (potential new members) were all over campus those two weeks, all dressed in the same assigned attire for that day. I remember being so nervous waiting to go into each house, wondering what they were going to ask me and even more importantly how I was going to answer! At the end of the first day, it was crazy to think that one of the houses I had been to earlier would soon be my sorority, and the girls that I met could possibly be my sisters. The process of narrowing down houses and figuring out which ones I liked and didn’t like seemed crazy to me at first. You had to compare and look at the pros and cons and try to remember the girls you talked to and how you thought the conversations went. You also have to take into consideration if you liked their philanthropy and felt strongly about it and if you could, one day, see yourself living in the house. Now for me, as someone who knew basically nothing about sororities, I was very confused as to how the actual process of who picked you and who you picked worked. It is basically a ranking type of thing. You rank the houses you went to from your favorite to your least favorite, and each sorority has to decide if they want to ask you back again for the next round or not. Everyone that I had talked to about this process assured me that it all worked out the way it was supposed to. Honestly, I did not really know what they meant by that and didn’t really have that much faith in the system. But one of the girls said something that made sense to me. She said, “if you had a good conversation and got along with the girls, they will most likely ask you back and you will most likely rank them higher”. If you think about it that way I think it makes total sense. Why would you want to be asked back to a house where you did not get a long with the girls? Anyway, when it comes time to turn in your top three picks everything gets a little more stressful. This was such a hard decision for me (I even called my mom). I was torn between two that I really loved. I chose the order based on what I thought would benefit me more in the long run. 

Bid day comes next. This is a day that every sorority girl looks forward to. There is so much excitement in the air, and everyone can’t wait to unite with their sisters. For bid day this year all the sororities and PNMs gathered at McCracken field waiting to see where they would end up and waiting to welcome their new babies into the sorority. The moment we were finally able to rip open our bids was insane. When you saw who your bid was from you ran to meet up with all the other girls who had received a bid from that same sorority. Then, one-by-one each group got to run to be united with their new sisters! It really was just a giant celebration. 

Below is a photo of my two friends and I after receiving our bids on bid day

The next few months you go through a new member period before getting initiated. You learn all about your sorority and you spend time getting to know all the girls. Joining a sorority has already made me so much more involved on campus then I would have been had I not joined. We are always doing things to raise money or help promote for our philanthropy, as well as supporting the other sororities and fraternities with their events. Another thing that I think being in a sorority has helped me with is keeping up my grades and staying focused on my studies. You have to keep a certain GPA and have a certain amount of credit hours to remain an active member. Last but not least, I have met so many new people that I probably wouldn’t have, had I not gone Greek. I am incredibly thankful for the sisterhood and friendships that my sorority has provided me, and can not wait to see what the future holds.

Bottom line, I am SO glad that I went through with it and made the decision to accept my bid and join a sorority.

Peace, Love, and Chi Omega :)

P.S. click HERE for more information about sororities at Ohio University