dear pop pop, you are dearly missed.

dear grandpa,

not a day goes by that i don't miss you. you were quite the character. always keeping us entertained by something you were saying or doing. you were an amazing man. i mean you helped raise ten children and not to mention the basically twenty grandchildren as well. i'll never forget the way you'd yell up the stairs "HEY UHHH KAIII-LEIGH!" i think bo may be the only person to do one of the best impressions of you doing that. 

 you gave me my love for new york city and for me i cannot thank you enough for that. you helped provide me with a love for gardening because you helped share that love of gardening with my dad. in turn, he shared that passion with me. 

if there's one thing i wish i had more of...it was more time with you. i wish i could have given you more hugs. i wish that i could have sat down with you and talked more. but i'll never forget the times i did have with you. and i will never forget when we were at the diner and you said "i like my women how i like my coffee...BLACK." only you grandpa. only you :) you didn't care what anyone thought of you. you set a great example for me to follow. you were just you and you didn't care what anyone thought about that. 

i am proud to say i am in our family. i love being a gibbons :) you were (and are) so wonderful. thank you for the many ways you have made an impact on my life. thank you so much for the wonderful family you created. thank you so much (again) for my love of new york city.

i love you so much. i hope that heaven's gardens are looking fabulous :)

LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU EVERYDAY. 

rest in peace james francis gibbons.

february 13th, 2010.

 

 my granpda is on the far left.

 

on the far left again. such a handsome grandfather i have.

 

the 3rd from the left. black suit. such a classy man :)

 with my uncle jimmy and cousin bo.

with my dad and sister addison. one of the last times we saw him.

with aunt jen at my grandpa's favorite place. the shore :)

just laying in bed with aunt nancy

for grandpas birthday i went to new jersey. we threw his ashes into the ocean (don't tell anyone!) and so this is my grandpa. literally. i love this photo :)

 granpda's house that all my family grew up in. 40 kipling way.

things i love this very wednesday [fashionably wise]

here are some of the things i am loving on this beautiful wednesday :]

everything piece of the fashion, the makeup, the hair, the feeling evoked from the photographs. especially the shoes. oh the shoes! they are FABULOUS. and chanel iman in her minnie mouse shoot? SO ADOREABLE. when my cousin annie comes up we're going to do a shoot somewhat like that. i can't wati!

oh my goodness i love looking through fashion photography. the photos 3, 4, and 5, are so lovely i think. the model looks so feminine and fragile but still strong at the same time. you can find more of these here.

hope youre having a lovely middle of your week ! ps check out the model's face in photo number 8. the one behind chanel iman. CLASSIC.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

photo credit: wildfoxcouture

giveaway giveaway giveaway

the lovely photographer, miss anna gleave, has just informed me that she is doing a giveaway from her photography business for the month of february. you'll win a free mini shoot by her. she does phenomal photography (her website is here if you'd like to click and have a looksies!) and travels around the united states A LOT so if you don't live in utah/colorado/idaho thats okay!

contest rules are very simple. they are listed here. just follow her blog and leave her a comment letting her know you've done so! if you want extra votes you may also follow her facebook page ! make sure to leave her a comment there too so you can get an extra vote :)

she does beautiful work so don't miss out :)

happy giveaway !

dear 2011, what have i been doing?

well to answer that...there's been a whole lot i've been doing i feel like. but then again, most of the time i feel like i have been doing a whole lot of nothing. at least i can say that i have two jobs now again. i work at the daycare center during the day and on the weekends (sometimes weekdays) i work at the bistro downtown.

i just got moved over to the bistro (main street bistro that is!) for weekends and can i just tell you my life has instantly become so much better? i am so happy over there! i love every single person i work with and i get to dress more of my style. im not saying that wearing cocktail dresses every weekend wasn't my style...that was fun. at bistro though, i get to play around with what im wearing a little more and i get to be more casual. so if you're ever out and about come see me :]

as for whats new...well i'll make a list !

1. my best friend sabra moved in with me for the month. that has been so much fun.

2. i think i may go visit vegas in april for my birthday.

3. i have watched season 1-3 of its always sunny in philadelphia and i am currently saving up to get seasons 5 and 6.

4. i still don't have a boyfriend but what else is new.

5. i have only received 5 parking tickets in 2011!

6. i worked out once this year. this sounds like nothing BUT for me...its a big deal.

7. i may have figured out what i will be doing with myself next year.

8. i finally starting thinking seriously about what i want to do with my life...i think i finally figured it out.

9. thats really all i can think of :]

anyways. whats new with everyone else? is everyone sticking to their resolutions? i'll be honest...i haven't stuck with mine at all. :/ buttttt tomorrow is always a new day which is why im going to start being healthy tomorrow! im so excited to feel good inside and out, physically and mentally. Being healthy will really help me with that. my cousin annie gave me some great advice on eating well so i can have a better body, a healthier body, and i can feel one hundred percent more confident. i can't wait to start. now i just gotta stick to it.

i hope everyone has been doing fabulously :]

ps here's some photos i found that i just happen to randomly really like ! [especially the alexander mcqueen dress!!!!]

black swan love

i just want everyone to know, that if you have not seen 'black swan' yet, you best go see it. obviously its rated R so it is NOT for children, but it is honestly one of the most incredible movies i have seen in a very long time. it could quite possibly be the best movie i have ever seen.

i love all of the dance pieces in it and the intensity of everything throughout the movie is so...well, intense! i do highly recommend preparing yourself for this movie because it can be hard to handle and get through at some points. its definitely a psychological piece of work for your mind to comprehend. this movie is just absolutely beautiful though.

it makes me want to enroll in ballet classes. i love dance. and it just makes me want to get back into it all the more. it also made me love natalie portman and mila kunis all the more. they were incredible in this. 

xoox

merry christmas 2010 !

i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas this year. it's time to start making preparations for next christmas :]

xoox

good morning christmas!

sisters

thank you mckenna! i love this!

this fits us better 

socks!

my minnie mouse ears!!!! my favorite gift!

just part of our mess

the christmas breakfast i made for myself! 

one of my favorite christmas songs :]

xoox.

the little tree ive been dying to show all of you :]

finally finally finally i got my tree up! im so excited because its so cute. i didn't know what theme i wanted for it, because i think all trees should have some sort of theme so its not a jumbled mixture...sometimes that can look cute though. one day all of a sudden though it hit me...MINNIE MOUSE! how could this not have occured to me before? so as soon as it did, i got to work on ideas, and went out and bought decorations.

for the cutest minnie mouse tree ever:

1. white lights

2. red ornaments.

3. white ornaments.

4. hearts.

5. dark pink ornaments.

6. white ribbon.

7. red and white polka dot bow tree topper.

now, i made my own tree topper. im sure online you can buy one but i thought it would be neat if i did my own. it took me a while to do because i had to cut out the shape and make sure it looked perfect. then i glued it all together. cut out the white circles *i had to do this multiple times to to achieve the perfect size dot* and then i glued those on. then i cut all the extra edges off. after this i drew on the lines where the creases would be in the bow. next i put black glitter on the edges, and lines. afterwards, red glitter was sprinkled all over (except for on the white...obviously!). for the white cirlces i took this white shimmer powder and dusted that on top. i didnt want it to be too over the top glittery. 

anyways i think my tree turned out beautiful. im really happy with it and i know that i can keep it for years to come and be able to add cute things to it too! 

as well as putting up my tree i also cute out about twenty or more snowflakes by hand. yes im talking the kind that you make in elementary school or also the kind that buddy the elf makes and hangs all over gimbel's in the movie ELF! id like to think that i am a little more skilled than i was in 2nd grade. i think they turned out really neat! i used clear fishing wire to hang them up. i strung a clear line of fishing wire from one wall to another and then i tied the snowflakes on (they were attached to clear fishing wire as well) so that they were all different heights. 

unfortunately because im only 5'3'' i couldn't reach very high on the walls to hang up the wire (and yes i have heard of a ladder but i dont have one!). so if you come over to my house and are taller than me please make sure to duck! we don't need anyone getting clotheslined. :)

also i added a picture of me in my minnie house sweatshirt last year. i got a minnie mouse long sleeve tee yesterday from my best friend brie! i can't wait to take a picture wearing it !!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

xoox.


(if you want to see any of the pictures on here in a bigger format just click on them!)