7/15/2015

Česky Krumlov

Imagine a beautiful little countryside town - rolling hills, peaceful river, tall towers, and a picturesque little castle. That is Česky Krumlov. I know everybody's talked about small towns, but this is the epitome of a small town: we walked across the entire thing in 25 minutes!

If any of y'all happen to make it to Prague (only a three hour bus ride away - even faster by car!) or the Czech Republic in general, I strongly suggest checking out this little town. It's a historical site, absolutely beautiful, and a great place for a little hiking and rafting! The girls and I had an absolute blast - and we were there for only 24 hours!
















This was our last weekend trip of our Summer Study Abroad - so crazy to look back on it and think about how I was across the globe only a few weeks ago! It was nice to end the program in a more relaxed and nature-y area - where do you like to go for weekend trips?

xx
Catch you next time.

P. S.  Want 10% off the cutest stuff at Sugar Spice & Sparkle?! Use "SWPREP" at checkout!

7/13/2015

Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale 2015

Earlier today, my best friend came over so that we could begin catching up on everything we'd missed out on over the past few weeks that I've been gone and she's been working. It was great catching up with her, but next thing we knew, I was going on and on about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale to her and the site was pulled up on my laptop!

This is one of the sales of the year, especially because it comes at just the right time - it's still hot and summer-y, but certain areas of the country are starting to gear up for Fall. You can shop early if you have a Nordstrom's card, but if you don't want to do that, the sale opens up to everyone on Friday! {Fun Fact: If you do decide to get the card, you'll earn double points if you use the card!}

If you're like me and like to plan a little early, here are some of my favorites that I picked out!

Coats | Finding the perfect coat for Fall/Winter can be So. Hard. Some are super cute but too light or too heavy. Others are great statement pieces, but just that: they have to be statement pieces. Well, whatever the occasion you need it for, here are some of the coats that caught my eye!


Business Dresses | I am a huge advocate of bringing color into the workplace! I have regular suits, but dresses and blazers and my favorite to mix and match for any number of professional events - from events with my Fraternity to the internship I had this past Spring!


Shoes | Okay, no real theme for this one because, well, SHOES. Who cares what the weather is like?! Even if you can't wear them now, this is a great time to get that pair you've been eyeing - you can always wear them next year!


Oh and by the way? If you're searching for accessories, I'm dying over this Kendra Scott necklace and this Kate Spade watch. Happy shopping! Do you know what you're buying?

xx
Catch you next time.

P. S.  Want 10% off the cutest stuff at Sugar Spice & Sparkle?! Use "SWPREP" at checkout!

7/10/2015

Little Discoveries

Happy National Piña Colada Day!


Okay so this series is supposed to be every other Friday, but so much has happened in the past week that I couldn't just let this post sit in my queue! This past week has been fairly nice in terms of getting to stay at home, try to relax a little, and starting to make my way through the mountain of 'stuff' I've accumulated in one of the corners of my house.

"Shut Up and Dance" Pregnancy Announcement Parody


This song is amazing and this parody is absolutely hilarious! I was honestly laughing so hard at some points that I just had to stop the video and call my sister. Watching this makes me think that I'd better start thinking of other fun, creative ways to announce things like this - though I'm definitely not thinking of needing any of these ideas for a long time!

#SheBelieves - USWNT Got a Ticker Tape Parade!

Last week I pretty much begged y'all to watch the Women's World Cup Final - did you?! BECAUSE WE WON! Not only did we win on the pitch, but the USWNT is the first women's team to receive a ticker tape parade. Ever. A little history: ticker tape parades have been reserved for THE milestones of our country, from our famous landing on the moon to the end of WWII! If you weren't watching it this morning, I definitely recommend looking up some clips from the parade - the speeches and pep rally were amazing!

ESPN Body Issue

Absolutely love this - I love celebrating our top athletes for who they are! I was really happy to see that there will be some women on the cover of the magazine (there are six different covers and this article talks about all of them!) - and having three men and three women cover stars, all of not only different sports but different body types and perspectives, really helps to show the slow but surely increasing respect for gender equality in athletics.

Hallelujah, A Music Video Release!


Y'all know I love Panic! At The Disco, so seeing their new video just made me really happy! You might remember this song being listed in one of my playlists from earlier this year! This song is great for getting your energy up and feeling ready to take on the day.

What have you been up to? Anything exciting happening this weekend?

xx
Catch you next time.

7/08/2015

Anticipating College {A Guest Post by Meg}

I have been home for a week now and I'm still jetlagged! I've been waking up super early every morning and it hasn't helped that I haven't really given myself a day to veg out and push myself back into a routine of normalcy.

It turns out my family left my boxes from college in a corner of the house and when I arrived back at the house, one of the first things my mom told me was "You really should start going through all of your stuff"! Well, I've been making my way through the boxes, figuring out what to sell, donate, keep at home, and what will be coming back with me in just around six weeks.

Six. Weeks. That sounds absolutely crazy to me! I am definitely excited to go back down to Tempe and be with my friends (and be busy!) again, but as I started on my school supplies box, I realized I'm a bit nervous about the next semester.

Meg, who blogs over at The Audacious Queen, has some similar feelings about anticipating the start of this new chapter of her life! I am thrilled for her to be guest posting here on TSP - we've actually been pen pals for a while!


The Audacious Queen is mainly a fashion blog, where Meg posts everything from outfits of the day to some of her favorite trends and great shopping discoveries. She also occasionally sprinkles in an opinion/lifestyle piece! Meg's blog is super cute and classy, so y'all should definitely go check it out!



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Hello everyone! My name is Meg, and I'm the one behind the blog The Audacious Queen. I'm so excited that Mikkaela asked me to guest post for her blog! I love getting the emails saying a new post is up. She's one of the first blogs I started reading, and one of the first blogger friends I made. We actually met through a pen pal program, and I've been so lucky to be able to talk to her and get blogging tips, as well as share anything I've learned over the past few months!



Today though, I'm going to talk about college and the excitement of something new. I just finished my senior year in high school, and graduated last week. In the fall I will be a freshman at Baylor University and I cannot even begin to contain my excitement! I've known since December that this was where I was going to go, so as you can imagine, these past few months have been going by super slow.

However, as I sat through my graduation ceremony last week and watched my fellow 450 classmates go receive their diplomas, it really hit me that I may never see most of these kids again. That was the first time that I really got emotional about graduating. Walking off the football field of my high school and pulling out of the parking lot was pretty sad, because I realized that I'm a high school graduate.

When I woke up the next morning, I sat in bed for a while and thought about the fact that my primary school education is done. I don't ever have to deal with anything high school related again. The drama, the people, it's all in the past. I don't have to try and hang out with the same people I've been tied to for the past four years, and some for even longer. It's scary to know that many relationships will dwindle as this summer goes on, but also exciting because with college comes new friendships.

I'm going to orientation in less than a week and I'm looking forward to that. I'll get to make my class schedule, see my actual dorm room, and meet many of my future classmates. College brings upon the unknown but I really think it's something I'm ready for. So many fellow adults in my life have offered similar advice; take advantage of everything. How many other times in your life do you get to be completely independent but yet in control of your responsibilities? You make your own schedule and decide how to spend your time and what activities you want to take part in, but it's not as serious as the work world, because in college it's your own time you're operating on.

It's also a time to create yourself. You pick your friends and how you want to be defined as. There's nothing holding you back from trying anything new, and I didn't realize how true that was until now that I'm a graduate. There are already people that I used to talk to every day that have disappeared from my life, and that's okay because it makes room for new friends that will want to stay. It really is the beginning of your life, they all say, so do what makes you happy. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be easy for me to go halfway across the country and leave behind everything that I've grown so comfortable to. But, like my parents told me in comfort, I've been growing wings for the past 17 years so it's time to put them to use.

As I embark on my journey of freshman year, there will definitely be times of ups and downs, tears of joy and tears of laughter, and pictures I'll want to keep forever and some that no filter can fix. I'm looking forward to this new experience, and I'm excited to use every advantage that I have over the course of the next year. Like high school, it's what you make of it. So for any of you reading that are about to begin something new, whether it be a school year or a job, or even going out with a new group of friends, I'll tell you what I've been told countless times over the past week.

Welcome everything with an open heart and an open mind, because you can only make a first impression once. Don't be too judgemental of anything and always flash your million dollar smile. Be excited, my friends. Be excited and positive.

Xoxo
Meg

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Great post! My freshman year was amazing and I'm so excited to start the next one! Are you gearing up for school in the Fall?

7/06/2015

All American Weekend

Hope y'all had a great Fourth of July weekend!

To kick off the weekend on Friday, my family went to see SPY (which I LOVED; it's honestly like the American take on Kingsman because "Humor!"). It's super funny - so many one-liners and quotes! - and my undying love for Jude Law despite his aging was confidently reaffirmed.

Saturday was not only Independence Day, but also my grandmother's birthday AND the day of the Women's World Cup Semi-Final between Germany and England. We went to Las Vegas to celebrate with my mom's family. There was a lot of food (I wasn't able to take pictures because everyone was starving and ate as soon as the food was ready), fun, and yelling at the television screen about strategic plays. Also, right after dinner my sister and I snuck off to take pictures for this post!

On Sunday, my dad and I drove down to Tempe to drop my little sister off at the Southwest Speech and Debate Institute (SWSDI) being held at my university, Barrett Honors at Arizona State! Exactly four years ago, my dad and sister drove to drop me off and now it's my sister's turn to take on the debate mantle. On the way home, my dad and I stopped at a restaurant to watch the USWNT kick some MAJOR booty in Vancouver #SHEBELIEVES (still salty that we could have been there in the stadium if my sister hadn't been jealous!).

This weekend was jam-packed with American awesomeness and I loved every minute of it!








Shirt: TopShop | Shorts: Target Similar Shorts: Nasty Gal | Shoes: Converse All-Stars

My favorite thing about these shorts is that the flag design is only on the front! I hold a deep respect for the American flag (i.e. Never let it touch the ground, fold it properly, etc) and having plain denim in the back definitely sold me on this pair!

So how was your Fourth of July weekend?! Did you watch the USWNT game?

xx
Catch you next time.

P. S.  Want 10% off the cutest stuff at Sugar Spice & Sparkle?! Use "SWPREP" at checkout!

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