summer mix tape, vol 2.

make them gold // chvrches
sugar // maroon 5
heartbeat // mat kearney
favorite song // ben rector
all of you // betty who
wake me up before you go go // wham!
can't stop the feeling // justin timberlake
daddy lessons // beyonce
paper thin // astrid s
sweet nothing // gabrielle aplin
what a feeling // one direction
the sound // the 1975
amazing day // coldplay
style // taylor swift


promenade 2016

i wasn't going to post prom pictures...but i caved. and thus begins the enchanting story of may 17th, 2016...



my wonderful boyfriend asked me to his prom (which we are going to pretend is my senior prom since i was in england last year during prom season.) it was on a boat along the detroit river: a little bit cold, but infinitely magical. i did my hair, makeup and nails at home, ran to target for a pair of eyelashes because i totally trashed the first pair while trying to apply them (because that's just my luck) picked up his boutonnière at the florist, and then spent the afternoon at his house. we went with another couple: his best friend and the younger sister of my best friend, mar. 



once i got to his house we had a fancy dinner together, then changed into our super posh prom clothes. of course we ended up getting a late start, because can you ever be on time when it really matters?


because awkward prom photos.


me and pete (aka mar. it's a long story.)


kisses from mama


our relationship in a picture...


my lovely corsage :)

i got my dress in kansas city while on a college visit. i added the sleeves for effect and because really, a floor length strapless dress on a crowded boat of jumpy, dancey teenagers? bad idea. in the end it looked quite similar to hermione's dress from harry potter and the goblet of fire. coincidence? maybe ;) okay BACK TO MY STORY. after ten minutes of frantically snapping pictures because we were horribly late, we all crammed into the car and headed to detroit.


our wonderful chaperone. he's a doll.

the waterfront was goooooorgeous. a bit chilly with the wind, but once we were on the boat it calmed down a bit. we posed for some more pictures and waited for the boat to arrive. once we got on the boat the party started...three whole hours of awesome. there were three different decks, with a dance floor on the top and middle floors. everyone else on the river was jealous of our awesome party boat--there was even a sailor dude who started dancing to our music despite being a kabillion feet away!



the COOLEST mirrored ceiling ever. pardon the straight shot down my dress. ha. 





totally aware that 70% of these photos are selfies. totally not sorry.

the bridge at dusk. stunning.

we docked around ten and picked pizza up on the way home. then i drove myself home and crashed because holy cow i was exhausted...but a good kind of exhaustion :) is this how all the a-list actors feel after the oscars?


seriously such a blast.a great way to start off the summer. 

xoxo, 
kate

randoms, vol. 1


watching: say anything. such a cute movie with some really good quotes.

eating: these amazing smores cookies from target, because it's not quite time for the real thing yet.

listening: really a mixed bag of things...some top 40, adele, and lots of singer/songwriter.

reading: looking for alaska by john green. i haven't gotten too far though.

thinking: that i need to get a better routine in place. i'm not exercising or doing laundry regularly, which is bad. gotta get moving!

making: nothing at the moment, which is bumming me out. i really need to get those creative juices flowing. 

quoting: "He counts the stars and calls them all by name" psalm 147:4

missing: the feeling of the florida sun on my skin. also, shorts. 

looking forward to: spring. i have such horrible spring fever right now, it's crazy. 

xoxo kate

kate's and regina's spring break adventure

i took a crazy fun trip this past week to a place near and dear to my heart...

  that's right. we went to college for spring break. and we had a blast.


we had a late night flight on saturday...and by late i mean we got in at 11pm. big brother conner and honorary big brother noah drove out to the airport to pick us up around 12. have you ever been in a tiny airport late at night? it's a ghost town.

we arrived on campus around 1 am, settled in with our sweet host katie, and went to bed around 2. we (kind of) slept in, and got ready for mass. there was a ton of time to kill before brunch so we walked around campus and took pictures in front of the big university sign. i'm still amazed we were able to climb up in our church clothes!

we had brunch with conner and his friends, went to mass, went grocery shopping, came back to the room for some down time, and went to dinner with conner again. wonderfully low key :)



on tuesday afternoon we we had a great time on the beach by naples' pier. laying on the beach in the sun with a good book was the best. after a couple hours we packed up in search of food. it was a long trek into town, but eventually we found a nice italian place, where we bought a pizza and fancy water (that actually tasted kind of horrible to us unsophisticated people.) you know you're an adult when you try to be fancy and order seven-dollar-a-bottle water, then force yourself to drink the fancy water that tastes like crap *only* because it costs seven dollars a bottle. haha. we got some tasty gelato at the cutest little organic sweet shop with the coolest flavors, like blueberry lavender and strawberry rose (mine was strawberry basil!) then, after a shady walk through the local neighborhood in the dark, we got back in the car and headed back to campus.






i ordered a kortnijeane swimmer for the trip and oh my gosh i love it! cute, comfy, and a hint of vintage? perfect. i highly recommend--and that's my personal opinion, no affiliates or anything :) check them out here!




wednesday i spent a lot of time doing algebra homework (yaaaaay haha) but of course it's spring break so i haaaaad to get out and walk around campus a bit more. it rained quite a bit, but that didn't stop us! regina got a manicure and pedicure, which ended up taking two hours, but at least she had fabulous toes ;) we had dinner at the pub, which was *amazing.* a week of cafeteria food and microwave mac n cheese made me appreciate my nice juicy burger, fries, and coke. then after dinner we visited with a friend and her roommate. it was a really lovely, relaxing way to end the day. since we didn't really do anything exciting, I don't have pictures from wednesday--so here's some more tuesday pictures for you!!



thursday was our last day on campus. we spent most of our time chilled out in the room, and i visited with the admissions counselor for michigan. we walked over to the lady of quadalupe statue, which was beautifully surrounded by flowers and little benches to sit on. For dinner we had pizza at the place in town. boy was it good...after that we visited with an old friend, and then off to the cafe to hang out with conner one last time. lots of his friends came over to introduce themselves and chat, and they were all hilarious. we ended up staying until 11:30, and it took us another half our of walking back to the dorms (read: goofing off) before we got into bed. I think my favorite part was meeting a little corgi puppy on the way back to the dorms--i squealed and jumped up and down and almost cried. i was *that* excited--although it could've been a bit of sleep deprivation too ;) i almost asked for a picture with the dog (lola was her name) but i didn't want to come off as crazy....hehe. then it was up at 5 am to catch our flight and be home by lunch time. there was a huge winter storm in michigan while we were gone, so it was quite weird going from 70 degrees and palm trees to below freezing and 13 inches of snow--but it's home :)



after a long exciting week, it's good to be home--even if it's 30 degrees colder and significantly less sunny :)

xoxo, kate