Bigger and Better:

Okay, all... the pretty new blog is up and running!



Head on over to www.lifewithlily.com to read all about my new single life, where I decide to move this summer, fun dating stories, and everything in between!

I hope you enjoy! :)

It Makes Me Wanna Dance:

Alright, alright, I know that I love 'Gossip Girl' more than any self-respecting adult ever should... But Monday nights are bliss for me and I eat up every Hermes bag and moment of sexual tension.

This promo has been stuck in my head for weeks now... I love it.



I hated this song when I heard it, but being paired in such amazing fashion with the character I guiltily swoon over has made me do an about face. Damn you, Gossip Girl. Ugh.

Boys:

I just wanted to say that I had one of the most fun and ridiculous weekends of my life. I have found a great group of new friends and have been having so much fun with them for the past couple of weeks.

We drank too much killer kool-aid, played lots of Rock Band, grilled some deer burgers, watched football, drank too many Jager bombs, and cracked jokes until we could barely breathe. It was wonderful.

I have always been a guys-girl and tend to gravitate towards tight-knit groups of guys... which is exactly what these guys are, and I love it. I don't think I stopped laughing all weekend... :)

Completely Gratuitous:

With the relationship "pause" I am currently experiencing, I have lost more than my boyfriend... he got custody of my dog. :(

I got Emerson one day on a whim at 20 years old. I have had him ever since. One of the things that I loved so much about Chris was how quickly he took to Emerson, and vice versa. When we decided to look for a second dog together, it was concluded that Chris would get said new pup in the event of a break-up. We found little Lily and fell in love. Unfortunately, Lily was obviously abused by a man in her past, and therefore is very apprehensive about basically the entire gender. This resulted in a much stronger bond between the two of us, and an increasing bond between Chris and Emerson. A few weeks into life with two dogs, it was decided: I would take Lily and Chris would take Emerson instead.

I definitely miss not having Emerson around all of the time, but it is okay since I have Lily around still. But I thought I should share some adorable pictures from the first few weeks of having my very own dog:











Yeah... now you understand why I couldn't walk away from that 5-week-old cutie! He was so damn cute...

Change Is A'Comin:

(No, I'm not talking about Barack Obama this time...)

Actually, I am super excited about a brand spankin new blog that I'm working on. (More or less mulling over ideas than really doing any tangible 'work' at this point but, ya know, whatev!) I am working with this fabulous and talented lady on said new blogging endeavor, and I absolutely cannot wait to get it started!

You may be asking, "Why, Kim? Why not just keep your thoughts right here?" (Or maybe not, and that's okay too because I'm going to tell you why anyways!) I really want to specify my subject matter a bit more, or at least give it some sort of cohesion. Also, my OCD is prohibiting me from launching a stylish new blog without also starting fresh with the content.

I'll be getting a fancy new custom domain, but don't fret, I'll link everyone over when I do make the jump! "No reader left behind", that is my motto. Until then, I have that pesky senior thesis, my French lessons to finish, an adorable pup, a trip up North, and an exciting new single life to tend to! I promise to come around and share some things, but my posting will probably drop off considerably from my current state of multiple-postings-per-day while I tend to the aforementioned activities.

I'm. so. excited. :)

Etsy Shop of the Week:

Here is my choice for the week: ellembee! Totally cute t-shirts going on here...




These designs are definitely cute... I think I need that hoodie. Oh Etsy, will your amazingness ever end? I sure hope not. :)

This Is A Travesty:

I was doing some online shoe shopping and came across these from Steve Madden:


Excuse me... could these be more of a Dior knockof ? I don't think so. Let's take a second to gaze upon the real (and infinitely better) deal! (And by "deal", I don't mean that they are a "deal"... no, not at all...)


And Guess has some Manolo Blahnik knockoffs, too!


And now for the real thing...



(Have I mentioned that my best friend, V, has both of these beauties? Yeah. Which reminds me, I think I'm going to go over there and take pictures of her room for a closet, simply for your viewing pleasure! It really is awesome.)

Oh, and here are some Valentino's that make me want to contract out my first born.


And here is the BCBGirl version that is hundreds of dollars less...



In fashion, I suppose everything has been done before and following the trends is always going to land you in mimicking territory. There is a reason why high-end designers are so expensive: they are the ones setting those trends, good or bad. Then it is just up to everybody else to swipe them up and make them a different price point so more people can afford it. Same goes for home decor I'm finding...

Tobias:

I just want to take a second to say that I have the cutest nephew in the entire world! You don't believe me? Take a gander:


I haven't seen this smiley face since he was 6 weeks old... he is now 4 1/2 months! (Okay, when I last saw him he could barely even smile, which is all the more reason why I need to see my nephew again!) I really need to make it up to Minnesota soon...

HTML Skills:

In case you didn't noticed, I re-vamped things around here a little bit... There are still quite a few things that I would like to improve upon to really make it great, but I hope you enjoy the new formatting! :)

Homeless:

So I have an identity issue I could use some help with. (Okay, I have more than one, but let's save those for another day, shall we?)

I don't exactly know where to call "home". I always get flustered and start stuttering and/or rambling when someone asks the seemingly simple question of "Where are you from?". Let me give you the run down of the towns that go through my mind and all try to spill out at the same time:

First up, Haverhill, Massachusetts. This is where I was born, but I only spent a total of two years living here, both of which I don't remember since I was, ya know, a baby.


Second, Derry, New Hampshire. Eight years here makes me feel that this might be a logical answer to my question... but I haven't been here since we moved away almost 13 years ago, so it's a far cry from feeling familiar.


Next up, Woodstock, Georgia. This was home from ages 12 to 18. Less time than I spent in Derry, but it was definitely some pivotal years... middle school, high school, learning to drive, sneaking out of the house, my first few boyfriends, yada yada yada. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of bad memories and I associate Woodstock with being where my parents live... which couldn't be further from feeling welcoming.


Then there is good old Athens, Georgia, my current town. I'm registered to vote here, I pay taxes here, and I have spent my entire adult life thus far in this town. But there is little emotional attachment to this place... and I've spent a lot of that time wishing I were somewhere else.


And my last consideration, Sandown, New Hampshire. This is the place where the only people that I consider to be family (save my sisters and Auntie Sue) live. It hasn't been until recent years that I have been able to be a part of this family again, but they have welcomed me with open arms and I even now share their name. "Home" should be where your family is, but I don't have any true memories of this place other than recent ones.


Yeah, it's kind of sticky and complicated territory. Not to mention that I some times generalize and say Boston or Atlanta is my "home". I am very curious, if you have moved around a lot too, where do you call "home"?

On The Floor:

I know that I'm entirely too overzealous about getting a place to myself that isn't furnished, thus allowing me to really decorate for the first time. (Oh, and I'll finally have money to do said decorating!) Please bear with me though...

Let's talk rugs for a minute. I'm really hoping to get a place with hardwood floors no matter where I end up, thus requiring me to find some fabulous rugs. These are my favorites from Pottery Barn:


















Those last two didn't have perfectly assembled rooms to accompany them like the others, but they are cute nonetheless.

That purple one is absolutely divine and I think it would be perfect for my bedroom! I'm sure I could find places for one or two more of these lovelies as well... which ones remains to be seen however.

Pressing Pause:

For the sake of full disclosure, I guess I should talk a little bit about what is going on in my relationship as of late... if you're a Facebook friend, you might have noticed a slight change in my "relationship status", maybe not (don't worry, I have no delusions about your interest or, rather, lack thereof, in my every Facebook move).

Anyways, Chris and I have had a total of two problems during our entire relationship: 1. having to do with his parents (which maybe I'll disclose about at a later date) and 2. our (read: my) complete and utter fear of commitment.

I have been head-over-heels for Chris since the first day I met him... I've explained before how serendipitous it is that we even came together in the first place. My problem is: I know that going through life with him would be full of love and support and flat-out fun, but I just didn't see my life going in this direction so early on. I dreamed of a loft in the city and independence for my entire 20s, not settling down right out of college (which is different from marriage... Chris and I are on the same page on the marriage thing).

Maybe I'm being selfish, but what's so wrong about that? We started dating when I was still 20... which is way younger than I ever expected to find Mr. Right. My single life can't really die at 20 years old, can it!? I think I just need more time to live out my single days and gain some clarity about myself and figure out the future that I want to paint.

It has proved to be very difficult to separate our lives since they have been so closely intertwined for almost two years now, but we're working on rediscovering our independence.

So that is where I am at... feel free to throw any good advice my way or berate me for being so self-centered.