Valentine's Day 2014

This year the Valentine's Day season was lots of fun. It was just super crafty! I had fun making all kinds of different Valentines. Here are some that I made.

I also made some owl cupcakes and attached a note to them saying "Guess HOOO loves you." 

I had someone in mind that I wanted to be my Valentine. I saw this idea before on Pinterest, so I just had to do it. I made a message in a bottle. It came out soo cute, and it was really easy. I got the bottle at the local craft store for only $1.50, wrote the note, rolled it up, and tied it with a bow. The only semi-difficult part tying the note tight enough to fit in the bottle.  So did the message in a bottle work? Of course!                                   Unfortunately we were both leaving town on Valentine's Day Friday, so we celebrated a few days early. We started off the evening by cooking dinner together. We made Santa Fe Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers, and it came out fabulous. I would attach the URL to the recipe, but the link isn't working all of a sudden. 

The Fried Ice-cream 

Dessert was a different story. I have been craving Fried Ice-cream. I found a recipe to make it, and I thought to myself, "it is something new. Why not try it?" I have already had bad experiences with hot oil in the past, so when it came time to fry the coated ice cream I was on the opposite side of the kitchen as he did it. Good thing it wasn't me, because long story short it started a fire in my kitchen. I am not exaggerating when I say that a 2.5-3 ft flame was bursting out of the pan. We got it under control, but needless to say we did not have our fried ice-cream. Afterwards, we learned that the coating on the ice-cream had to cover the ice cream ball perfectly, which seems impossible to do. Next time, I'll just go to a Mexican Restaurant and pay for it. 

My Rose

The evening was finished by watching one of my favorite movies, 500 Days of Summer. It was a great Valentine's Day to say the least. Whether you shared it with a significant other, your girlfriends, your family, or even just by yourself, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day.

With Love, Ciara Ann 

Soul Meets Body: Bohemian

No need to fear, the social experiment is still happening!! We just paused for the weekend and redid our schedule.

• Tuesday; Preppy
• Wednesday: Emo
• Thursday: Scene
• Friday: Girly

In the mean time, today is bohemian! We must allow ourselves to become one with nature and optimize our free spirits. One must needed item is a versatile vest. I had that one covered. The vest that I am wearing I bought my sophomore year of high school, and I barely wear it because it needs the perfect outfit. I honestly end up wearing it on spirit days in high school, or on days like today.

Bohemian essential? The flower crown! Also, its about the feathers man! Thanks to Uncle Byron I had plenty of feathers to share between simple parachute and I. 

Really want to get into the mood? listen to some Indie music! My favorite band, He is We, fits perfectly into this. 

Our source for the day? http://www.collegefashion.net/fashion-tips/boho-fashion-essentials/

Tomorrow we deal with the prim and proper and the argyle. 

Its not a choice its a lifestyle..

With love,

Ciara Ann

Soul Meets Body; Grunge

Day number two is happening and we are kicking it old school a tad, with grunge. What do you think of when you think Grunge? Flannel, Kurt Cobain, Ripped Jeans? <--- that pretty much sums it up.
Similar to being a hipster, Grunge style is not about caring what others think. It is matches it matches, if it doesn't it doesn't. I actually really digged this look, and it didn't look half bad.

" If you want to dress grunge, you will have to give up any value you might put into matching or looking too clean." 

We wanted to go with the obvious signature of flannel. We would have done ripped jeans, but the Honor Code at BYUI doesn't permit ripped jeans. I wanted to rock the beanie that helps enlighten a "grunger" to a state of Nirvana. Simple Parachute (Bethany) and I might be getting a little lazy since both the Grunge and Hipster look don't require hair maintenance. 

Want the grunge makeup look? Use lots of eye liner and do some smokey eye.  

Source of the Day; http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-Grunge

Tomorrow we get in touch with the source of inspiration for those cheesy icons we put all over our Myspace pages.

It's not a choice, it's a lifestyle...

With Love,

Ciara Ann 

Soul Meets Body: Hipster

My lovely roommate and I often joke about past fads and trends that we subjected ourselves too growing up. We decided we wanted to do a social/artistic challenge, where for one week we put ourselves into past (and current) fads. We might be looking ridiculous, but hey we don't care. Here is our 7 day break down:

• Thursday: Hipster
• Friday: Grunge 
• Saturday: Scene
• Sunday: Shabby Chic
• Monday: Bohemian
• Tuesday: Preppy
• Wednesday: Emo

We wanted to get really into this, so we named our experiment "Soul Meets Body" after the Death Cab for Cutie song. Anyways, we had to do our research for this hipster look, so we went to the realest source out there....wiki-how made by Wikipedia. hahahaha

So what makes someone a hipster? 

Rock the just getting out of bed look; "you should try to go for a look that makes it look like you didn't spend hours trying to pick the perfect outfit but that you just threw it together at the last minute." They also reccomend graphic t-shirts, t-shirts w/ a message, or even your 7th grade gym uniform shirt.  

HOW CAN WE FORGET THE HIPSTER ATTITUDE? The most important rule about being a hipster, don't ever call yourself a hipster! Also, you must exemplify to its optimum potential, the IDGAF attitude. 

Here is a link to our source; http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Teenage-Hipster(Girls)

We even drank tea (herbal tea since we are Mormon) to get into the spirit. Day one was a success. Actual hipsters, don't be offended. This is just for fun. Besides, if this offends you, you aren't a real hipster......Just Sayin. Bethany, a.ka. Simple Parachute, will be documenting our journey on her Tumblr. Tomorrow, we shall find our internal nirvana. 

Being a hipster is a lifestyle choice......

With Love,

Ciara Ann 

(a.k.a. The We and She) 

Stand Ye in Holy Places

This is a side of me that everyone knows about, but they don't always hear me talk about it in depth. People know my standards, but I thought it would be time that I shared my religious growth, especially since I have been here at BYUI.

• I love seeing the temple right outside my window. Some people go all the time, and that is a habit I really want to develop. The temple is such a beautiful place, but not only because it looks like a castle. It is because inside truly beautiful promises are made with the Lord, and sometimes with your eternal companion. One day I will get married there, to the love of my life. 
• The standards of the LDS church is the way to true happiness. Living in modern society it can be hard not to be pressured into thinking that certain recreational activities/choices are okay. Honestly, those choices only lead to more problems and being weighed down by the chains of the advisory. 
• Every night my roomies and I do roommate prayer and read a section from our Strength for Youth pamphlet. It is used as a guideline booklet for references for anything we will encounter in life. Those conversations with like minded individuals is an awesome experiences that allows many situations for the spirit to be invited in.

I can't even begin to describe all the spiritual experiences and feelings I get here. Heavenly Father and his gospel is the center of all my classes, because he is the center of pursuance of education. 

With Love,

Ciara Ann