A New Wardrobe for Christmas

One thing that is helping me face the transition from Christmas Break total vacation mode into real life is the bounty of new clothes and accessories which Mom, Susan, and Grandma have added to my wardrobe. This year I got so many cute new pieces and I'm so excited to work them into new ensembles.

Now, I was not up for actually trying on all my new clothes, as this:

is my current state of pajama-ed comfort, and after an afternoon of shopping and trying on clothes, I just don't want to change. Though my new clothes would be better displayed by my actually wearing them, here's what I was able to manage:


This new coat was my main gift from Mom and Dad. My old coat was from my freshman year of high school, and I love having this new one! Sarah gave me the scarf and hobo gloves to give it a fun pop of color. Too bad it isn't colder here so I could actually enjoy the cozy warmth of my new winter outerwear.
This sweater vest from Shade is one that Mom has that I wore once over Thanksgiving Break and loved. It's long, and cozy, and I love it! Unfortunately, it looks a little funny with my new shorter-length coat; on the way into King Soopers on the first day I wore it, I realized that under my coat, the vest looked like a cape or wide tail. Haha. That won't stop me from wearing it on many a winter day in Provo!

I LOVE this purple jacket from Susan! I've never really been a purple person, but as of late I've been accumulating a rather significant amount of this deep, egg-planty purple into my wardrobe, and am rather enjoying the effect of this color with my vast amounts of charcoal. The jacket is made of boiled wool--which sounds really creepy to me--which, according to Susan, is all the rage, so she hooked us up, of course. Thanks! Also pictured above are the Anne Taylor Loft charcoal trousers Mom gave me, which are made of flowy, beautiful material. I feel so sophisticated wearing them, and am so excited for them to make their BYU debut.

And, what Christmas wardrobe would be complete without a couple pairs of shoes?! Not one from my family, certainly. =) Santa left me a fantastic pair of bronzish/charcoal, metallic flats with jewel detail on the toe. (Unfortunately, the top jewel on the left shoe popped off somewhere in Sam's Club, and the jewel on the right shoe met it's end at our New Year's Eve party.) And yes, Mom and Susan found a pair of Jedi boots they deem acceptable, and even cute! I saw many a cute pair of flat boots such as these on campus last semester, along with some not-so-acceptable pairs. These seem more Pocohantas to me than Luke Skywalker, (sp?) but I'm a fan. Thanks Mom and Susan!

Finally, Christmas Day delivered with two of the most awesome necklaces I've ever seen, let alone owned. The left was a treasure found in my stocking, and the right was a wonderful surprise from Susan.

And of course, I did a little after-Christmas shopping, but ended up spending very little of my own money. Charlotte gave me a gift card to the Gap, and Grandma and Grandpa gave me one to Macy's. Pictured below are my spoils from shopping this afternoon, during which my purchases came to a couple dollars under my gift card amounts. Perfect.

Inventory:
3 thin layering turtlenecks in mustard yellow, charcoal, and off-white (That last one didn't make it into the picture.)
1 black vest, complete with metallic charcoal buttons
1 cream-colored varsity cardigan. It looks almost like a doctor's coat in this picture, but I promise, it's way cute on. We all wanted one!
1 pleated black skirt from The Gap, complete with buttons all the way down!
Grand Total: $66.16.
Not bad at all.

Oh, and I found this for $10.00 at Marshall's!

I feel so blessed by the generosity of so many. My new pieces make returning to normal life so much more exciting; I love being in a family that loves shopping and style, and it is a blessing to be surrounded by so many stylish and beautiful women to learn from.

Don't Give up on Me Yet!

Thank you to my fellow bloggers who have still been checking in on my blog, though I haven't produced anything new in a while. Getting back to blogging will be part of my transition back into real life, but for now I'm not quite ready to venture that far into the real world. No worries, I'll be back soon with pictures proving the existence of fashionably acceptable Jedi boots. Stay tuned!

Meaning in Music

I have my choir concert tomorrow (I'm in University Chorale, the non-audition school choir) and I was working on memorizing my music last week, and I was very moved by the beautiful lyrics to one of our pieces. The piece is called "Christ Hath a Garden," and I never paid too much attention to the lyrics until now, but the song means so much more now that I've thought about them:

Christ hath a garden walled around
a paradise of fruitful ground,
chosen by love and fenced by grace
from out the world's wide wilderness.

Like trees of spice, his servants stand,
there planted by his mighty hand,
by Eden's gracious streams that flow
to feed their beauty where they grow.

Awake, O wind of heaven and bear
their sweetest perfume through the air,
stir up, O south the boughs that bloom
'til the beloved master come.

That he may come and linger yet
among the trees that he hath set,
that he may evermore be seen
to walk among the springing green.

I am so moved by the image of Christ lingering among us, the plants in His garden. He put us here, upon fruitful ground, that we may grow and share our beauty with the world.

My concert is tomorrow night, and I am so excited to perform with a choir again. My most powerful musical experiences have occurred when performing with a choir, and I have missed that so much this year. When I and the rest of the choir is focused on the director, we all become part of something so much bigger than us as individuals; when this happens, I can feel the music move and grow and live within us as an ensemble for those few sublime moments.

Random Updates, Thoughts, Plans

Can I just say how more I love studying art and music than memorizing facts about rocks and stars? I actually enjoy memorizing how to recognize art from Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Ucello, Durer, Cimabue, El Greco, Giotto, and Vermeer. Hmmm? Art and music, or plate tectonics and the life cycle of a star? Tough call.

I took my last physical science midterm last night, and I only have the final before I can forget all about that stupid class. I don't do very well on the tests, (my highest score was an 83, and it was on the first, and easiest test) but it's because I would have to spend way more time memorizing and drilling concepts than I want to devote to a dumb GE. What was the most frustrating GE you ever took?

So, last Tuesday I declared it an official "Do the Bare Minimum of Homework and Get into the Christmas Spirit" day. It was AWESOME! After a long day of work and class I picked up Charlotte and we went to Target, which is officially my favorite place for therapeutic errand-running. I always come out of Super Target feeling happy, whether it's due to the 12-pack of Coke Zero in my shopping bag, or in this case, the Christmas tree and sparkly decorations I came out with. I bought a pre-lit, 3-foot tree for just $25, and I bought a box of small, sparkly, round ornaments in green, red, pink, aqua, and silver. Perfect. I also bought some white and green sparkly snowflake ornaments, and Charlotte bought me a bright sprig (I don't know what else to call it) to stick at the top of my tree.

When I got home, I had the suite all to myself, so I turned on the latest episode of "Chuck" and decorated my very first Christmas tree! I felt pure holiday joy, and now every time I come home to my tree after a long day, it brings me happiness and peace. One of my friends said that "It's an Emily tree!" I agree, seeing as I even tied together some of my ribbons in colors that match the ornaments to make a garland. Channeling Mom and Susan's decorating that week, I primped my tree, wove in my garland, and hung my ornaments two-to-a-hook.

This picture doesn't really do it justice, seeing as my camera screen cracked while it was in my schoolbag, so I can't see what my pictures look like until I put them onto my computer. I'll borrow Charlotte's camera soon so I can do justice to my colorful, spunky tree. I'm pretty much in love.

I'm Alive!

My recent blogging break was due to severe tunnel vision leading up to Thanksgiving Break. I'm back from break now, and working on getting through the end of my classes and finals, so that in just 14 short days I can return home, hopefully satisfied with my grades and ready to forget about everything else but being home with my family.

Last week was wonderful because I was able to do all the things with my family and in my home that I don't get to do here.

I was goofy with my siblings!

I mopped!

I hugged my family and smelled Mom's perfume again!

I ate a lot of really good food!


I listened to hours of Christmas music, free from roommates who think it's too early in the season!

I also:
-watched the tv shows that my family has been saving on our DVR, which primarily included hours and hours of "House."
-went to Costco with Mom and Grandma.
-did some Christmas and personal shopping. (At the Banana Republic Factory Store by our house, everything was 50% off, and I did have to keep myself from splurging too much.)
-sat on real couches that don't have hard wooden beams in them.
-didn't do any of the reading I brought with me.
-wore warm, cozy pajamas because I was sleeping where it actually gets pleasantly chilly at night.
-benefited from my Mom's laundry day, and I didn't have to swipe my card to start the machines.
-had time to iron all my clothes, and came home with a crisp stack of freshly ironed jeans. Ahh, the luxury.

I LOVE BEING HOME!