And the winner is....

It's Monday once again, and that means it's time to announce last week's Decor 2 Ur Door giveaway winner....

Congratulations to Marshall! 
If you didn't win (AKA you're anyone except for Marsh), fear not! Just keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway- there may or may not be one in the works.... ;)

Since I felt bad I couldn't give a precious monogramed sursy to each of my lovely readers, here are a few virtual bouquets of beautiful blooms just for you! (Hey, if you're anything like me, just seeing flowers will brighten your day!)

Anemones are a little special to me, and y'all know how I feel about peonies, right? Le sigh. 

The beautiful different pink roses with the pop of green in that rustic wood box is sheer perfection. 

Hot pink peonies plus red ranunculus equals gorg!  

Number one fave flowers? Obviously peonies. Hydrangeas (the ultimate southern bloom, in my opinion) come in second, and I think ranunculus, dahlias, and (white) anemones come in pretty close after that.... Oh dear, I just love flowers too much!
Sorry if that didn't cheer you up any, but flowers seem to always do the trick for me! In fact, I have a whole Pinterest board for blooms! Funny story: John and I have a little running game we play where he guesses my favorites. He's gotten the important ones down- color (which is just, like, know me for a second and hello, it's pink)  and candy (Lindor truffles, and thank goodness he knows that one). However, it never fails... When I ask him for my favorite flower... He gets flustered and guesses "Ummm... Roses?" "No..." "Sunflowers?" No, but those do make me very happy! "Carnations?" "WAIT, WHAT?!?! John, NO ONE'S favorite flowers are carnations!" Bless his heart. This conversation actually happened this weekend, although substitute sunflowers for gerber daisies (again, not a bad guess!). He just can't seem to get peonies through his head. Maybe year three is the year he gets it straight ;)
Are y'all as flower crazy as I am, or am I just straight up crazy?! 

Five on Friday

Is it just me, or did this week fly by?! I'm not complaining- I'm ready for the weekend! Let's get to the good stuff! 1. Monogram Giveaway In case you missed it, on Monday I posted my first ever giveaway! Yay for pretty monogrammed pillows and sheets! It's not too late to enter so check it out!

You could win any of these goodies!
2. Marley Lilly App I must just be in the monogram mood these days (let's face it, every day is a good day for a monogram), because I was super excited to download Marley Lilly's free monogram-making app. Just download the app and make cute backgrounds for your phone! Here are a few of my favorite creations so far:

     
Which is your favorite? My phone's background is currently the one on the right!
3. Gelous Nail Gel The other day, I saw this pin and knew I wanted to try this technique that supposedly gives you gel mani lookalike nails. Although I don't have pictures to prove it, I painted my nails on Sunday and they're still chip-less! That, my friends, is unheard of for me. Unless I go to the salon, I'm usually guaranteed a chip or two within the first few days- not with a coat of Gelous Nail Gel! 

I got mine at Sally Beauty, but I've heard they have it at CVS, and of course, you can buy it on Amazon.
4. Two years.  On Wednesday, John and I celebrated our two year anniversary. I'm so blessed to say I've been dating my best friend for twenty-four months! I'm pretty excited for year number three and all the years to come!

Celebrating by jumping for joy. Want to know where we were? Read number five...
5. Gravitopia. John and I wanted to go on a special date Wednesday night, and nothing screams intimate and romantic like a trampoline park, right?! When I told John my idea for our big 2 year date, he was obviously game. There were trampolines covering most of the ground, special rooms for trampoline dodgeball, multiple foam pits, trampolines and basketball hoops to practice slam-dunking, and tightrope-esque slack-lines to balance on.... AKA a daredevil's dream! As for me, I carefully read all of the rules before the jumping commenced, and I refused to do flips of any sort even when John coaxed me (he should know better- I'm an accident waiting to happen!). No injuries allowed before my big run in two weeks! After an hour of fun, we were both pretty ready to cool off. Let me tell ya, it's a workout jumping around for an hour! We were both a liiiittle sweaty-and hungry! We drove downtown and had dinner at Tupelo Honey, one of our favorite places, and finished with ice cream at Greenville's beloved coffee and ice cream shop Spill the Beans. It was a date neither of us will ever forget, and I highly recommend kids and adults check out Gravitopia or a trampoline park near you! I have a feeling I'll definitely bring the girls I nanny to Charlotte's trampoline park, Sky High Sports!

Riddle me this: how did one dude do this across the Grand Canyon without a foam-pit underneath?

Obviously, my week hasn't been too shabby so far! Like I said, that doesn't mean I'm not ready for the weekend, though! Cheers to Friday!

As usual, the hostess(es) with the mostest(es?) are April, Christina, Natasha, and Darci! 

Monogram Monday: My First Giveaway!

About a month ago, I won my first giveaway from Rebekah at Living Lavender. I was super excited to win a $25 Sephora giftcard- I went all, "I've never won anything in my entire life!" After that, I quickly decided that I loved giveaways and knew I wanted to do one on the blog. (Deciding how to spend my giftcard has been much harder- there are, like, three different Benefit products at the top of my list...) I wasn't sure how I was going to make a giveaway happen, but thanks to an email I got a while ago from Decor 2 Ur Door, I'm pleased to announce one of my readers is winning a prize valued at close to fifty dollars! (But let's face it: can you put a price on the excitement of winning something?! I think not.)

If you've never heard of Decor 2 Ur Door, don't worry. Neither had I, until their sweet representative, Megan, contacted me about collaborating on a giveaway. Decor 2 Ur Door designs custom dorm room decor and bedding (but fear not, post-grad friends: the bedding comes in full and queen sizes- not just the typical dorm "XL twin"), including lots of monogrammed items and Designer Bedding in a Bag. 

I'll be honest: the second I saw "Bedding in a Bag," I was worried this might be the usual Bed Bath and Beyond deal. There's nothing wrong with that, but I didn't want to give anything to my readers that wasn't fabulous. As soon as I saw the pictures of some of Decor 2 Ur Door's bedding, I knew fabulous didn't even cover it- this company is genius! This isn't your average "Bed in a bag" stuff- this decor can be customized with lots of different patterns that range from cutesy to sophisticated, from sorority sister to post-grad girl. Here are a few of my favorites:

This Coral Crazy Damask Bed in a Bag is perfection with the aqua accents, right?!

Three years ago, freshman-year-Chelsea would have died over this pink and green combo (let's be honest: senior-year-Chelsea is still loving it thanks to the quatrifoil bed scarf)!

Another one of my faves- can you tell I'm into geometric patterns right now?

Megan said this was last year's most popular design, and with chevron's high demand in 2013, I see why!

This set is a little more subdued and mature, but that doesn't make it any less gorgeous!

Now that we're all on the same page of obsessing over Decor 2 Ur Door, let's talk giveaway details! Next Monday, I'll announce the winner of the Decor 2 Ur Door monogrammed throw pillow or sheet set- whichever you choose is up to you! Just enter below!

Well friends, what's the verdict? Is everyone else as excited about this giveaway as I am?! Probably not, because I feel like I'm reaching a few milestones with this: my first giveaway, and I finally created some social media accounts for Girl Growing Up! I can't wait to follow y'all on Twitter and Instagram! (And I mean that in the least creepy way possible, I promise...) 

Happy Monogram Monday- I'll be back later this week to fill you in on my Spring Break adventures!

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Six on Sunday: Out with the old...

Guys, I know when I popped in last week to say hi, I promised a Five on Friday, but then Friday kind of turned into a traveling whirlwind! And same for Saturday. Since Friday, we've gone from Clemson, SC to Columbus, OH to Chicago, IL! Whew! So far, Spring Break 2014 is a blast! I decided to tack a plus one onto my usual five as some sort of "I'm sorry for slacking on blogging" thing. 

 If you're wondering about today's post title, I was feelin' inspired by the dude who helped me at the Verizon store the other day. As he shut off my old phone and turned on my new phone, he said, "Out with the old, and in with the new, right?" I agreed with him, at least when it came to phone. Sometimes, new is exciting and wonderful, but old can be pretty fantastic too, so this Five on Friday is a mixture of new and old.
1. Like I said, I got a new phone on Thursday! Yay! I've had the iPhone 4 (not 4s... Just plain old 4) for three years now, so it was about time for an upgrade. A few weeks ago, my phone decided to stop sending and receiving texts randomly, and I got tired of being paranoid people would think I was ignoring them on purpose. So, if I have any friends out there who feel snubbed, just know it was an accident. And I'm sorry. And you should resend that text now, because I have this!

Okay, so it looks pretty similar to my old phone, with a pink Lifeproof, and whatnot... But it's amazing how much bigger the screen is and how much faster this phone is- the home and lock buttons even work! Score!

2. New shoes. Since I gave an example of new being good, it's time for some bad: new running shoes. As much as I wanted to love these Adidas Energy Boosts, I just couldn't. They did feel fab on my feet as a ran, but the left shoe hit my ankle at a bad spot. After too much bleeding and too many gross blisters, I realized my feet just weren't adjusting. Sigh. Now I have to find a new new pair of shoes, because my old shoes are wayyy too worn, and I need a new pair for my half marathon pronto! I have less than a month (eek!) until the race, and I want my feet to be used to the new shoes. I'd take any suggestions y'all have!

My first (and last) picture wearing these beauties... RIP, Boosts (and subsequently, blisters!). 

3.PLL Obsession. Y'all, my PLL obsession is bordering on dangerous. I've never binged on Netflix before, and I didn't understand how people could get so sucked into a tv show. Oh how I wish I could go back to those simple days... Now I'm a season deep in Pretty Little Liars and I can't stop watching! It does get a little tricky, because while I'm watching old episodes on Netflix, I'm also watching the new episodes as they're shown on ABC Family! Tuesday is the season finale and I CAN'T WAIT.

Honestly, it's a good thing I've been so busy during the days, or I really would be dunzo with the entire show by now!

4. Lately I've been to a couple parties that are very "out with the old, in with the new." A bridal shower for my sweet friend, and a 21st birthday party! I was excited to help Juleah say goodbye to single life as she opened fruit infused water pitchers and fine china! I missed the shower I helped host (all the bridesmaids went in together), but I was able to make up for it by jotting down the presents she received at her shower. It sounds silly, but it made me feel like a total bridesmaid! I don't have any pictures of the shower, but I do have this super natural-lookin' selfie because I wanted to show the dress to my mom.

So thankful for my sweet friend (and Corey's girlfriend) Morgan for letting me borrow this classic J. Crew scalloped number!

As for the birthday party, I had a chance to help my sweet friend Leslie celebrate her 21st! I put this little sursy together before the party, because I was on a bit of a festive kick...

Some bunny is 21! Mini champs bottles plus Easter grass plus mini Reese's eggs equals a hoppin' good time! 

As Christine (pretty girl on the left who NEEDS HER OWN BLOG! hehe) put it, we're the three amigos of Early Childhood! I have almost all my classes with these precious friends- isn't Leslie adorable in her birthday garb?!

5. I'm super hip on the out with the old when it comes to school.... In my last post, you could probably tell I was beyond ready for a break, so it's probably no surprise that I've welcomed spring break with open arms! As I typed this post originally, John and I were on our way to Columbus, OH to visit my cousin before ending up in Chi-town for Saint Patty's Day! We're pretty pumped- me especially, since after Chicago we're going to visit this cutie!

The last time I saw Charlotte was this summer- this little baby doll can walk and talk now, and I can't wait to see her! 
6. Since this post is a little late, here's a sneak peak into my spring break trip so far.... Here's an old and new picture of me in my old favorite place in Chicago....

I know John loves me because he humored me with a trip to the American Girl Place- I was in heaven the first time I visited with my Bitty Baby! It's been over thirteen years since my last trip to Chicago, but this store was still just as delightful! (John didn't quite "get" it.)

I hope y'all have a happy Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow and take advantage of a new week!

Popping in with Popular Pins

Hello, strangers!

When I realized it'd been eleven days since my last post, I was disappointed in myself. I think that's about how long I've been in a real funk. Tired, discouraged, blah blah blah... I was talking to a friend earlier, and I was glad to hear I wasn't alone- I think it's just that time of year when everyone is itching for a break! Thankfully, Spring Break is right around the corner! 

Before break, I have lots to do, so I'm not going to do too heavy of a post- just a few of my most recent popular pins on Pinterest! Now, I feel like I should define "popular" since some people may have different definitions. We're going to go with 50 or more re-pins today. Here are a few recent favorites: 

I think I originally saw this dress on one of Mary's post and I just loved it- so did my friends!

Only Vineyard Vines could make "Whalies" this adorable! (Get it, wellies plus the signature whales?! Heehee!)

 

Lots of friends and followers were hoping the same thing when they repinned this pretty print!

How fun is this simplistic watch?! I'm a sucker for bows, which made this Asos watch right up my alley! 

Although I pinned this a while ago, it's been getting a lot of love lately- can't same I blame people, because the cropped look is super hot right now (much to my tummy's chagrin!). Plus, ya can't go wrong with scallops. 

Last but not least, these precious C. Wonder flats. I knew these were amazing when I saw them, but I didn't know hundreds of others would think so too! I was pretty excited to see Southern Living even jumped on board and featured them in their latest issue, along with some other things I'd already pinned- guess my fantasy closet (AKA Pinterest) is on trend this season!
Anything you've pinned lately that's gotten a lot of love? Is it sad that I get excited to see a pin is popular? Just kidding, don't answer that... We both already know the answer. I hope everyone is having a lovely week- can't wait to come back with a Five on Friday in just a few days!