Clothes Minded

Along with updating my jewelry (see last post) I have also been updating my closet too! My closet contained mostly a bevy of band T's, Vnecks (with the color of choice was black and gray), and worn out jeans. .  Yeeeah so it was safe to say that unlike most of my chick friends who cringe at the idea of coming up with an excuse as to why they just spent an arm and a leg on more clothes....I on the other hand cringed at the thought of buying new clothes because it's hard to find clothes that not only fit but also fit a girl in her 20's as opposed to a woman in her 50's. That being said shopping has always been a nightmare for me....until I got a little help from this one girl...Leney!  Uh this girl is a saint!  I tend to get difficult when I become discourage, but she kept trying to convince me to have an open mind.  Though I only walked away with 3 things on our little shopping adventure, I did however gain some wisdom as to what to look for and how to wear it. 

So I went out by myself nervously and made a conscience attempt to see if I could find some pieces that looked somewhat fitting to the description she gave me...

                      I started at small and bought a BLUE shirt at Plato's Closet

 I found a white and blue gingham shirt with blue jean shorts both from Old Navy (which actually fit well!)

                                I found this green shirt from Old Navy as well

              The bow shirt came from Plato's, The belt and skirt game from target

 The light blue shirt and belt came from target and the dark blue skirt came from Old Navy

                                    All of this came from target (the shirt was only $5!)

The blue jean jacket I have had for awhile but never knew how to wear it until Leney "strongly convinced me" to get this white cotton and lace dress. This was the first dress I've bought since...well I don't know...but I am glad I listened to the girl. This outfit she came up with is pretty nice once I put it on!

I cannot believe I am a skirt/shorts girl now!  I use to consider those torcher devices, but now I found them very comfortable in this hot Richmond weather :)

A Burst of Craftyness

I had this random burst of creative energy that just needed to be released...and here's the product of which was fueled by the artsy fire :D

leather and gold chain necklace with a green stoned carved into a leaf

 leather and gold  chained necklace with a fossilized shell (found this pendant at the bead store)

                                          gold dipped green glass beaded bracelet

 brown plastic beads bracelet (randomly found like a billion of these in my room and have noo clue where they came from)

                                            Silver diamond bracelet with a glass bead

 black ribbon necklace with a pendant I found at Joann Fabric

 leather bracelet with a pink carved leaf (found this at the bead store)

 leather bracelet with a carved  green leaf (I'm not 100% sure what the leaf is made out of but I also found it at the bead store)

 silver 3 diamond bracelet with painted glass beads

                                    plastic golden rose bracelet with black ceramic beads

                         bracelet with gold dipped red glass beads with the metal flower bead

Diamond bracelet with a hand-made wire chain and a smaller version of the bead above

I'm pretty happy with the outcome especially since a few of these beads came from one of my favorite go to bead store Fandangle Bead Store !

hope y'all have been having a lovely week!

Preach Sister!

A few months ago I stumbled upon a youtube video(sorry about the title name) by this girl Trisha Paytay.  I decided to watch a few more and fell in love with her! Today right after I posted I found she put up this new video addressing comments people have been leaving about her videos and I was blow away by her extream self-confidence!   I myself admit I have a hard time loving the body God has given me.  People have made fun of me for my curves and that hasn't really helped me and to see how she has handled the same negative comments was very encouraging! :) 

What I've been up to lately

Gosh so much has been happening since I started break...that being said I feel like the best way to fill y'all in is to do this in separate posts...until then here's a taste of what's to come!

                                            Made some new things

                               went on a camp out with my youth group

                                  New hair color, and a new wardrobe


btw...cannot believe I have over a thousand views..crazy! I hope ya look forward to the posts to come!

A Little Hunting In The City

I have had a lovely first week of summer break so far, but as much as I enjoy not waking up to an alarm clock…it would be nice to have some money, and so today I started job hunting.  So of all places I could have started, I figured why not go to one of my favorite places…

                                                 Carytown!


Though I had a little bit of luck, my hunt ended after about 2 hours walking around in wedges (one word, painful!)

The weather was the only thing looking good today ;)


After chilling at home for a while my girl Sarah came over we took a quick jaunt in the car over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA for short). 

                                                       I love Sarah's smile :)

Now I have been to the VMFA before, but Sarah being an art history major made the experience so much more fascinating!

 at the entrance of the museum, looks like a splash from a pool of melted crayons

I love stained glass

 This peice is best seen close up

I like how the artist veiws Chist's light as a dark color, that is such a unique idea!

Afterwards we headed over to one of my favorite places for thai food, Elephant Thai!

Once my city adventure came to an end, I got to finish the day with one of my all time favorite shows...

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

No school = I can make things again!

School is over for the summer and so of course the first thing I'm going to do is get back to making stuff again!  I made a few more state pendants, and book boxes!

So can't wait to make some more stuff this summer!

Oh also if you are interested in buying a state pendant / a book box, you can hit me up at lcmcneely@gmail.com!

An All American Affection

As a kid the musical world was not something I was well involved in.  I only had 5 Cd's.  2 of which were from the Spice girls, 2 of NSync’s, and Chumbawamba (a 10yr old listening to a song about drinking…in my defense I had no idea I was 10!)  It's safe to say that I was living under a rock.

In 2003 I started high school and met some really cool people I am still close to today. One of the people I befriended was Landon who was nice enough to give me some musical education.  knew I was clueless about music so they burned me 3 Cd's 2 of them consisted of Audio Adrenaline, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, and Switchfoot.  I had heard of those bands in middle school because the popular kids were obsessed with them, but the last CD was a band I had never heard of…they were called The All American Rejects (aka AAR). 

This First song off the album was “My Paper Heart” (sung by a gorgeous man named Tyson Ritter) and oh my gosh it was the perfect song for an emo 14yr old girl.

 

   Tyson Ritter and Emma Stone featured in the movie "House Bunny"

4 years ago on my 21’st birthday I was given 4 tickets to see them along with Blink 182, and fallout boy live in Virginia Beach. While on the way to the show on the passengers in the car half way into the journey they decided to tell me that AAR would not be performing. I was devastated and very upset.  Don’t get me wrong seeing Blink and Fallout Boy was pretty awesome…but since AAR was a no show, the concert was a little bit of a downer.

                                                       Fall Out Boy

Blink 182

On December 19, 2011 The All American Rejects announced their new album “Kids in the Street” which would be available in stores March 26, 2012.  Needless to say I was stoked to hear they were still alive and kicking!

Then a few months later I got another email on February 23, 2012 stating that they would be playing at The National on May 1st! When I read this I was in class when I got it so I had to strongly fight the urge to scream like a little girl; however, as soon as I got in the car I let it out.

Being a broke college kid I had to figure out how I was going to pay for tickets and who I would be taking.  Both situations ended up being rather discouraging with two tickets being a total of $50 and no one really that into going.  As time grew nearer and nearer, I felt hope was lost, until one of my friends who came with me to the show in VA Beach asked me this random question…

“What would you say I knew someone who could get you into that show for free?” 

Excuse… The man wasn’t kidding! Ok now I just had to find someone to go with….that ended up being a pipe dream.  No one I asked either wanted to go but couldn’t or could go but didn’t really want to.  I didn’t want to drag someone to this show.  I decided to do what any desperate Christian would do…pray. Yes I prayed to God asking if I could have the opportunity to see a non-Christian band.

I went on with my day, going to my college worship night.  I couldn’t help but to look at the clock seeing the hands move closer and closer to 7pm which was when the show started.  I went to the dinner (that happens before the worship) and caught up with friends.  I sat down at a table with one of the girls that rejected my offer (yes I purposefully used the word rejected) and she asked “So no one wanted to go?” and then…..

Her sister Kelly said she wanted to go, but had to ask for permission…those brief seconds felt like forever!

                                                        Kelly the Saint

We got the ok and headed off to find an amazing parking spot right near the venue, and then were kindly let in by the security who was informed about my sad show story. 

At this point I was approaching the top of my metaphorical roller coaster….and then “my song” was being sung by my favorite singer! And the rush of speeding down the hill came and I screamed like a little girl, and then was smacked into reality by Kelly (thank you Kelly).

I love Tyson's voice!

The show was AMAZING, and the people also attending were super nice! With every song we got to move closer and closer to the stage (it helps when you are 5’3)

What I got to hear them play (not in order):

• My Paper Heart
• Move Along
• I for You
• Swing, Swing
• Why Worry
• Affection
• Someday's Gone
• Kids In The Street
• Ends Tonight
• Fast & Slow
• Walk Over Me
• Gives You Hell
• I Wanna

When I thought the show was over I headed to the merch table to get a shirt. This random merch guy started fanning me with a giant sign, and said if I buy their new CD I could meet them. *sad face* “I already bought it”, I said….then he said….”If you buy a shirt, I’ll let you and your friend meet them.”  I was speechless, but managed squeak out an “ok” and buy a shirt (with a little financial help from Kelly).  

 He hands me two glorious bands and says we can see them after their next 3 songs.  Wait 3 more songs?!? JACKPOT! 

After their set we stayed behind with the few other lucky people who were given the same opportunity to meet the band.

sneaking a shot of Tyson at the table (we weren’t supposed to take pics)

after 10 years of obsessing.... I was face to face with Tyson Ritter

He sees me smiles and I said,
Me: “Can I ask you a dumb question?”
Tyson: “There’s no such thing as a dumb question, what’s up?”
Me: “Can I get a hug?”
Tyson: “Sure!”

I was surprisingly composed! I went through the line to get everyone’s autograph and almost passed up meeting nick wheeler! Nick was so sweet and asked, “what about me?”  Uh those guys are so nice and hilarious!

Fully Autographed shirt by Tyson Ritter, Nick Wheeler, Chris Gaylor, and Mike Kennerty


I’ve been questioning if this really happened, but my wrists have bands that prove it wasn’t, and I also have a picture…so I guess it wasn’t.

The moral of this rather long story I would have to say is this:
You would be surprised with God if you actually trusted that He hears your every word.
“Whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24