If you didn't know already I'm in a long distance relationship. Ky and I have been dating for about a year and a half now. Which is totally crazy!! He lives in Chicago-- where I'm from-- and I'm at school in Indiana. I do get to see him on breaks and I often go home for a weekend to see him and my mom! Summers are great though cause I get to see him for 3 whole months!! Since the semester just started... I'm back at school. I'm also going on a trip to Florida over my spring break so I'm not sure when I'm going to see him next since nothing is planned yet. I've been scrolling through my feed on Pinterest the other day and saw this amazing idea for long distance relationships! Open when letters!! For those that don't know what that is.. it's a bunch of letters that say "Open when... [insert feeling here]" I thought this was a great idea so I decided to make some of my own! Here are a few examples of mine!

All you need to use to make these are...

• Envelopes- I got my super cute ones from Staples
• Pen/pencil
• Markers
• Paper
• Your own words
• Anything else you think would be fun to include!!

Open when... you first receive these letters

This one is going to be the first letter that he reads. It is basically the reasons why I'm doing this because I'm sure Ky's going to be beyond confused about why he's getting a bunch of letters.

Open when... you're missing me a lot

This one is pretty important. Being away from each other for long periods of time is hard and we tend to miss each other basically 24/7. This is a bunch of reasons why I miss him and I also included a few pictures of us so that he can look at when he needs to see me!

Open when... you need a laugh

Every now and again we need a little pick me up. I included a hilarious, corny joke that I wrote on a handmade card and also included a bunch of jokes in the letter as well!

Open when... you want to know more about me

Since Ky and I have been together for almost a year and a half we know a lot about each other. However, you still learn a lot about the other every day for years! I included a long list of things that I think he might not know about me. And if he ends up knowing some of them already then he gets bonus points in my book!!

Open when... it is the day before you get to see me again!

This one is a very exciting letter! The day before we get to see each other is one of the hardest, longest days because you just want to get to the other already! The excitement is almost unbearable and this letter shows how excited I am to see Ky! 

I made a bunch of other letters as well and will probably keep continuing to think of more ideas for open when letters! I ended every letter the same.. "Love, Liv"and sealed it with a kiss. Literally. I actually put a light pink lipstick on and kissed the signature in the letter! It actually made the letter look even more adorable and personal!

What ideas can you think of for open when letters?!

xo

Olivia

Liebster Award

Hey everyone! I've been nominated for a second time for a Liebster Award by Farrah from Fairyburger! Thank you Farrah for nominating me! If you want to read my post on my first nomination for a Liebster Award click here!

Farrah's 10 Questions

1. What's your favorite comfort food?
My favorite comfort food is definitely chocolate. I will eat just about any type of chocolate except white chocolate. For some reason I feel as if it's fake chocolate and just doesn't taste as good to me as dark chocolate does which is my all time favorite! If I'm at the store and going to by chocolate, I always end up going with the Dark chocolate raspberry filled chocolate made by either Ghirardelli or Lindt!
2. What's a recipe you've come across recently that you'd love to try/make?
So I've been on Pinterest for like the past 20 minutes deciding which recipe to choose for this one. I'm obsessed with anything flavored pumpkin and am obsessed with chocolate. So I decided to go with pumpkin brownies! They look incredible and I'd love to make them! However, I'll have to change up some of the ingredients to accommodate the fact that I have to eat gluten-free.
3. What's a super irrational fear that you have?
Hmm this is a tough one. I think I'll go with seeing birds. I have absolutely no reason to be afraid of birds. I've never been attacked by one and I've never seen one attack someone. I'm not afraid of like one or two birds though; just big flocks of them. Every day when I walk home from class at 5pm there is this huge flock of birds (about 100) that flies over my head. I literally hyperventilate when I see them and can't look up.
4. If you could win an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?
The place that I would go to would be Fiji. This past summer I volunteered at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I love everything under the sea and would kill to go scuba diving in their coral reefs. I would also love to go to Nadi in Fiji to see all of the handcrafted objects at their markets. Touring Nukubaluvu Village would also be amazing because I would be able to participate in a sevu-sevu (gift) ceremony and dance with grass-skirts. As you could tell, I've done a good amount of research in the past haha.
5. What accomplishment from 2014 are you most proud of so far?
My biggest accomplishment that I did this past year would probably be asked to be a mentor for freshman at University of Indiana. It is such a great honor to be considered for this and to be able to help others in whatever they need help in. Freshman year could be a stressful situation especially if you're not used to being away from your friends or family. The transition from high school to college is intense and being able to help lessen that is a great thing to be asked to do.
6. What's your favorite way to treat/pamper yourself?
My favorite way to treat or pamper myself would probably be getting a massage. I know that's so cliché but it's true. I don't get one often but after each semester is over, I treat myself with a massage. Finals week and the semester as a whole is so incredibly stressful and being able to finally relax without having to worry about homework or exams is a great feeling!
7. What was your favorite childhood book?
When I was younger my favorite books were The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I loved the adventures that they had and what they overcame. I literally was obsessed but I haven't read them since I was a lot younger.
8. Favorite movie that you've seen this year?
I definitely have to go with Mockingjay. I'm OBSESSED with The Hunger Games and have read the trilogy like a hundred times. I loved how the plot of this movie wasn't about the games like the first two movies. I won't say anymore about the plot in case no one has seen it yet! I also have to say that Liam Hemsworth is beautiful in this movie! However, I'm super pissed that I have to wait another whole year for the second part to come out.
9. What are 3 of your favorite posts from your archives?
I have only been blogging since August and am soo grateful on how well my blog is doing! My 3 favorite posts would have to be my Helpful Study Tips, my 25 Before 25, and my Reverse Bucket List posts! Be sure to check them out if you have tim!
10. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
I'm for sure most looking forward to my birthday this year! On February 26th I, finally, turn 21! Most of my best friends are already 21 and I can't wait to finally be able to go out with them! Also my boyfriend is going to be 24 in April and I'm excited to be able to go out with him and his friends!

My Questions For My Nominees

1. What would you think your spirit animal is?

2. If you could pick a decade to live in, what would it be and why?

3. What is the best trip you've ever been on?

4. What is your favorite quote that inspires you?

5. If you could meet anyone famous, who would it be and why?

6. What super power would you want to have?

7. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

8. What do you like to do besides blogging?

9. Are you a morning or night person?

10. What piece of advice would you give to other bloggers?

I'm nominating my fellow Lifestyle 1 tribe members!

Madison from The Wetherills Say I Do

Rebecca from Rebecca Chapman

Daniela from Lifestyle with Danny

Samantha from Second Chance Mom

Corinne from The Feminist Feline (but you were also nominated by Farrah as well!)
Jen from Escape & Inspire

Can't wait to read your responses ladies!!

xo

Olivia

November Blog Challenge- Day 12-14

I feel like to do this blog challenge I'm going to start doing a full week in one post every Friday. That way I can get back to writing other topics rather than just writing about what the blog challenge wants me to write for each day. With that being said... here's days 12-14!!

Day 12- Things That Make Your Day
I have a lot of things that make my day! Here are a few of my favorite ones that help me get through the tough, stressful days as well as the carefree ones!

- Getting a good morning text from Ky every morning
- My morning Starbucks runs
- Wearing leggings, boots, and oversized sweaters
- The beauty of fall
- Knowing that I have an amazing support system backing me up
- Listening to Fleetwood Mac all day long!
- Puppies!!

Ky's family dog Charlie Browne (their last name)

- Cuddling in my warm, comfy bed
- Having a nice glass of red wine after a long day

- Crossing things off of my to do lists (yes I have multiple haha)
- Reading a book next to the fireplace in the union at Indiana University
- Getting I love you texts from Ky
- Getting text messages from my little cousins from their mom's phone about how they miss me (cutest thing ever)

Day 13- If I Won The Lottery
If I won't the lottery there would be a few things that I would do. Have of the money I would use for myself. The other half I would give away to the OMNI Youth Services program. This is an organization that helps those who need to be put back on track and also helps give counseling as well as other various services. The rest of the money I would also split in half as well. One half I would put away in the bank for the future and the other half I would use for myself. Realistically, I would use that money to help pay off bills and my student loan. Unrealistically, I would go on a trip. I would probably either go to Greece or Fiji. I hear Fiji has an AMAZING coral reef and I'd love to visit that! If I went to Greece, I'd love to see all of the architecture and learn all of the history. I love looking at beautiful buildings and homes! I also love watching sunsets and would love to see the sunset in both of these amazing countries! Wow wouldn't it be amazing to win the lottery! How awesome would that be?!

Day 14- An Average Day
I think for this they want me to explain what an average day in my life is. Soo here it is.

I'm going to tell you how a typical Monday goes (since I'm writing this on Monday haha). I wake up around 7:36 to hop in the shower to wake myself up. After taking a nice, warm shower on a cold morning, I brush my teeth and decide whether I want to put my contacts in or not. After a few minutes on debating this, I usually end up putting them in. This usually means that I'm going to have a non-lazy day since to me, glasses=lazy. Then I go to my closet after checking what the weather will be for the day and usually decide with a pair of my favorite Lululemon leggings with an oversized sweater and boots. Next I put on the minimal make up that I wear on a daily basis (top eyeliner, mascara, and powder foundation). I grab my backpack and put in what I will need for the day (chemistry, anatomy, and my research class). My long walk to class always consists of listening to Fleetwood Mac and debating whether Starbucks is needed and usually it is! Now it's class time... 9:05-9:55 I have chemistry and 10:10-11:00 I have anatomy. After anatomy my friend Blum and I go to the union to get some food and to do some last minute homework or studying. From 1:00-2:15 I have my research class and then from 2:30-3:30ish I mentor a freshman from the club LEAD that I'm apart of. After my meeting I usually go home to do some homework or study and eat at some point. An episode of Private Practice is usually what I watch before I go to bed along with FINALLY being able to talk to Ky after his long day at work. Not too exciting of a day but I usually have something exciting that is randomly thrown out there!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!
xo
Olivia

#TBT My Trip To Door County

So I'm thinking on Thursdays that I will do a throwback thursday post. I think that'll be a lot of fun! So, here's the start of my new series #TBT!! Today I'm writing about my trip to Door County, Wisconsin. I have been going to Door County since I was born. I've gone almost every summer and have gone during the winter time a few times! Door County is such a beautiful place right on the peninsula in northern Wisconsin. My family usually stays in Ephraim but sometimes we stay in Fish Creek. These pictures are from two specific trips (only pictures I had on my computer). One of the times I went with my whole family (mom, dad, and Emma) and the other time I went only with my mom. Gotta love old pictures!

We like to do a lot of activities in Door County. We usually do some sort of water sport. We've gone tubing, parasailing, gone fishing, renting a boat, or riding jet skis. We also do some sort of art project. My family is VERY artsy (especially my mom) and do all sorts of crafts. There is this place called Hands On which is an art studio. They literally have every type of art you can think of! We've done ceramics, painting (canvas and ceramics), splatter paint, made ornaments, sculptures and more! 

We also usually will go horseback riding at this one specific stables (I forgot the name). It's hilarious because my dad HATES horseback riding and we went every year. His hatred for horseback riding happened when we were in the Wisconsin Dells horseback riding in the woods and every time a tree came up (soo every 5 seconds) the horse would smack him into the tree. Lets just say the horse wasn't a fan of my dad. It was pretty funny for the rest of us but he hated every moment of it.

Our nights were filled with eating amazing food especially a Fish Boil from The Old Post Office. It is an amazing restaurant that has a little preview showing them actually boiling the fish and telling many different stories about the area we're in and how they get the fish etc. Such an amazing experience with amazing people! After that we would go to Wilsons for ice cream. They're known for putting a jelly bean at the bottom of your cone! It was always fun guessing which color we would get! 

Wishing I could go back to Door County! Hopefully I can go again this coming summer! It's been a few years since I've been able to find time to go out there. It's the best because the cell service is awful so it's a great time to unplug for the time you're there!

Have a great Thursday everyone!
xo
Olivia

Reverse Bucket List

A while ago I came across someone who made a reverse bucket list (unfortunately I can't seem to find that exact post). A lot of people have a bucket list of what they want to do at some point in their lives and I do too! I also like the idea of having a reverse bucket list. It allows people to talk about what they have done in their lives. And who knows! Maybe someone might add one of these things on their own bucket lists! Here's my reverse bucket list!!

- Skydiving
- Zip-lining in Mexico
- Riding jet skis in Mexico
- Parachuting in Mexico and Door County, WI
- Winning a state championship in dance

- Making a blog
- Get paid to write for a different blog
- Visit Israel
- Ride a camel

- Swim in the Mediterranean Sea
- Go to the ballet
- Learn to wakeboard and snowboard
- Get into college (GO IU!!)

These are a few of my favorite things that I was able to cross of my bucket list! Some are more dare devilish that others but they are all amazingly fun! I hope I'm going to be able to cross off more items from my bucket list and add them to my reverse bucket list!

xo
Olivia

November Blog Challenge- Day 8-10

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I spent my weekend at home in Chicago. Got too see Ky and my mom! Such a great weekend! Since I don't usually blog on the weekends, I'm going to do days 8-10 on this post!

Day 8- Worst Habits
Some of my habits are hard for me to figure out considering most habits are ones that you don't realize that you do. However, I'm going to list a few (of my many) habits that I do.
- Eat things in 2's. For some reason I will eat things in 2's. This is only for things like popcorn and candy. One for each side of my mouth. I know.. It's super weird
- I have a terrible habit of cracking my knuckles. And when I crack my knuckles it's a VERY loud noise. I'm trying soo hard to stop but it's super hard!
- Going along with the one above ^^^ I have to crack my back before I go to sleep. For some reason it helps me relax and not feel stiff. However, it's probably going to all backfire on me one day...

Day 9- Best Physical Feature
Hmm... This is a tough one. I'd say that my best physical feature is my legs. It's the one part of my body that I actually don't complain about. Gotta love having dancer's legs!

Day 10- Few of My Favorite Things
I love this one! This is such a fun thing to post about!
- My beautiful necklace that my boyfriend, Ky gave me for the holidays this past year

- Wine glasses with very tall stems (Scandal anyone??)
- The Ellen Degeneres Show (OBSESSED)
- Green tea
- My Audrey Hepburn stretch canvas

- Dark red and dark blue nail polish
- Anything blue
- Inspirational quotes
- The Shedd Aquarium (especially belugas)
- Leggings
- My shot glass collection (I get one everywhere I go!)

What are some things that you guys love??

xo
Olivia

November Blog Challenge- What's In My Bag

Hey guys! So I'm starting to participate in Farrah's November Blog Challenge! I loved reading about this and wanted to join her in all of the fun!
I know it's November 7th so I'm starting a little late. From now on I'm going to post the challenge for each day! Today is about what's in my bag. I don't usually carry a bag around with me. I typically just have either my black or dark red cross over purse. The only things that I keep with me is my phone, my wallet, a pack of gum, my keys, a pen (just in case I need to write something down), and my favorite Sephora lipstick.

Since I go to college at Indiana University, I usually have my backpack with me. In that I keep whatever binder I need for each class, my little bag of pens and pencils (every color pen because I color code everything), my Lily Pulitzer planner, my amazing camelbak water bottle that has a built in straw filter (I'm literally obsessed with this), and my wallet with my school ID. I know I'm a little boring when it comes to what I keep in my bags. I feel like when I get out of college I'll actually have a bigger bag to keep basically everything in it (like my mom)!

My question to you guys is... What do you keep in your bags?

xo
Olivia

Family Weekend At USI

I've been super busy with school work this past week so I never got around to putting up a post about my awesome weekend visiting my sister! Last weekend my mom and I drove down to stay with my dad Friday night. We had a great time and my dad made one of my favorite foods: stuffed mushrooms! He's an amazing cook and I definitely miss his cooking. After playing with my dog, Sasha, for a few hours we all got exhausted and went to bed. The next morning we took the 2 1/2 hour drive from my dad's house to Evansville, Indiana where University of Southern Indiana is. That is where my sister is a freshman! It's soo weird that she's in college now!

We had a relaxing day filled with a LOT of food and a LOT of shopping. I got a few new sweaters (you can never have too much) and some jeans. I also got an awesome new headband for the winter to keep my ears warm from Target! Emma had to make a paddle for one of her sister's in her house since she's officially in Alpha Sigma Alpha! She's soo excited! I got in the mood to do an arts and crafts too so I just painted a pumpkin that is actually really cute! After I finished with mine, I helped her with the paddle. It turned out really good! Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it..

We had a great, successful family weekend! Definitely was hard leaving but we had a great time and can't wait for next year's family weekend!!

xo
Olivia

Halloween Costumes

The month of October puts everyone in a great mood. One of the main reasons for this is because of Halloween!! This is actually my favorite holiday so I'm a little biased haha. I love dressing up and I really go all out. Halloween decorations are some of my favorite things to shop for! They're all soo fun and I love everything about it! Ky, however, absolutely HATES Halloween and refuses to ever dress up. We'll see if I can get him to change his mind. Here are a few of my favorite Halloween costumes that I've seen in the past. I hope they will help give you all some ideas for costumes!

These pictures are from this past weekend. I know it's not Halloween yet but you have to love multiple Halloween parties! This means many different outfits! I went as goth, my roommate went as a playboy bunny... (yeah idk), and then 2 other people went as Cosmo and Wanda from The Fairly Odd Parents! How funny?! For my look I did heavy dark brown eye shadow and black eyeliner for the eyes. For my lips I actually used eyeliner and then put on lip gloss to make it shine! For my outfit I just wore combat boots, black high waisted jeans, and a black crop top. For the chocker I cut the top part off of black tights! 

 These were Halloween costumes from my Freshman year (right) and Sophomore year (left) in college. Freshman year I went as a cat and my friend went as a school girl. I just used eyeliner for the whiskers, pink lipstick for my nose, and did the cat eye look with my eyeliner on my eyes. For the paws I cut the fingertips off of a pair of gloves from CVS or Walgreens. The cat ears and cat tail (not shown) are from a Halloween store. My sophomore year I went as batman. I'm obsessed with Batman. For this look I got the leggings with mesh on them from Charlotte Russe. The shirt and cape came as a pack from either Spencers or Hot Topic. For the face mask I actually used black eyeliner to draw the Batman symbol and then colored it all in with eyeliner as well. Eyelids, eyebrows, skin and all. I actually use baby whips to take off my makeup because I feel as though they're more natural and softer for the skin.

 Here are some costume ideas for younger kids! These are my cousins that I'm obsessed with. They're the cutest things. This year is on the left and last year is on the right. I couldn't find a good pic of Brody's costume from last year. Last year Leighton went as Mr. Funny Bones. It's one of his favorite characters from whatever movie it's from haha. I think it would be cool to spice it up a bit and spray paint all of the white bones with glow in the dark paint. That will definitely make it easy for you to find your kids in the dark while trick-or-treating! This year Brody is going as Maleficent from the new movie Maleficent. For the makeup her mom used a sparkly, purple eyeshadow and a darker, purple eyeliner and winged it out like the horns on her head. For Leighton, he's going as a stormtrooper from Star Wars. Such a little guy costume. Loving these kids so much and always love seeing what they come up with for Halloween costumes!

What are you guys dressing up as for Halloween??

xo
Olivia

Start Of My Junior Year

Today I thought I'd share some of the fun things I've done so far in my junior year of college at Indiana University (go Hoosiers!!). The slideshow above shows a few of my favorite things that I've done. The first party that I went out to this year in August was at a Fraternity. The theme was jersey themed so I obviously am repping the Chicago Bulls. It was a lot of fun and I got to see all of my friends that I haven't gotten to see this past summer since they live all over the country. 

I threw in the picture on the left from this past summer at Country Thunder. It was the end of the summer and was a blast! Basically it is a 4 day concert filled with tons of famous Country stars in Wisconsin. I got to see Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Brantley Gilbert, Thomas Rhett and soo many more. My friends and I camped out in a tent the entire weekend and I kid you not I've never felt soo dirty in my life. The showers consist of a hose and the shampoo and conditioner that you bring.  The entire weekend I only showered once. I know it sounds disgusting but it was soo hot and everyone didn't shower if you were camping out. We played football (I got better the more I drank) and played a TON of drinking games. If you're not a fan of country music but you're friends are still going, there is an after party that plays more electronic music. That's fun too!

 Most of the other pictures are from different parties. The pics that I'm wearing a red IU shirt and jean shorts are from the tailgate. It was soo much fun! We don't go to our football games because we're not good. Except that we beat Mizzou this past weekend!!! Our tailgates are crazy and huge. They're a lot of fun and can be intimidating. Pregaming for tailgates are probably one of my favorite parts because everyone wears crazy IU clothes and just has a ton of fun drinking and dancing!

This past weekend I went home to see Ky. We had a great weekend together. We lasted a month without seeing each other.. A whole month!! That was the longest month ever and I'll have to make sure that we don't wait a month to see each other again. My mom came down to Chicago on Saturday to hang out and she gave me a ton of presents. Gotta love moms for giving you presents when you're home! On Sunday I went to the Cubs game with Ky and his parents. It was my first baseball game ever!! I know I live in Chicago, we have 2 baseball teams and I've never been to a game. Everyone freaks out when I say that I've never been to a game. It was a great time going to the game even though it was kinda rainy and cold. We stayed until after the 7th inning stretch and then left to make sure I didn't miss my bus going back to IU. Great weekend!!! I'll keep posting more fun things that I get to do periodically!! Have a great day everyone!!

xo
Olivia