DIY watercolor mug | dream hair | no grit, no pearl | snake candleholders | crystals | necklace

Today I started to really settle into my dorm room and college routine. Sundays are the best days for checking off those annoying tasks on your to-do list that you've been putting off all week, and today I did those things. I hung up bulletin boards and wall art, washed a load of laundry, wrote down the schedule for the group exercise classes on campus, and organized notebooks and folders for class.

Now I'm settling into bed with a cup of tea because I happened to catch the start of Beetlejuice just as it was coming on ABC Family. (um, SCORE.) I'm feeling ready for the week ahead and even more ready to start falling into some sort of a routine now that I'm back at school.

P.S. I'm also so looking forward to fall now that spooky things are starting to appear on my Pinterest feed. I love the warm, raw, gypsy vibe I'm getting from these pins.

my Pinterest.

updates: junior year.

Well guys, it's halfway through the week. I finally made it and I'm settled in to my dorm room for my third year of college. It feels surreal that I'm back at UNCA for another wonderful year, and I believe that this one is going to be the best yet. Things are already so, so crazy, but I am finding joy in:

These colorful latte bowls.

Getting more active on campus with student orgs.

My ridiculously vulgar and delightfully glittery pimp cup from my bestie, placed appropriately next to my party shoes.

Sisterly love.

My guy friends taking on the ice bucket challenge.

And of course, mountain sunsets.

photo session: stephanie.

This is my beautiful friend Stephanie. We met on the set of our high school musical back when I was a Sophomore and she was a Senior. We've kept in touch ever since, and when we made plans to get together one last time before she goes back to school in Wilmington, and I go back to Asheville, she had the wonderful idea to do a little photo shoot. She suggested the idea a while ago, but schedules and life and my terrible forgetfulness got in the way and we never really got around to it.

But I'm so glad we did eventually. Stephanie is one of those incredibly kind and inspiring people who make you wonder how there could ever be any cruel people in the world. She's got a big heart, along with one of the most photogenic smiles I've ever seen, so this little photo shoot was a blast. I am beyond thankful for the practice, and I can't wait to get my hands on more opportunities like this. I desperately want to get back into photographing people and friends, because it really is my favorite thing.

from the weekend.

Just a few pictures from the mini beach trip I took this weekend. It rained two out of the three days, so we couldn't really enjoy the beach much, but we had plenty of quality family(and shopping) time.

And for the record, I think there's something so incredible about the way the coast looks on a rainy day. Everything seems a bit more dramatic. Clouds are bigger and more impending. Greens are brighter. Grays are cooler and browns, warmer. It's almost like there's nothing in this world as dark and deep as the ocean before a storm. It's very extreme in the best of ways.

Overall, it was nice to get away for a bit before I face the stress of packing and moving back to school. I now feel refreshed and ready to take it all on and transition into a new kind of routine.

pinterest favorites.

lime & sea salt cleaner | call of the sea | healthy beach snacks | day dress | sorbet pineapple boat | watermelon lips

Currently:
Listening to my Third Eye Blind playlist while packing for a mini beach trip that my sister, mom, and I are taking this weekend.
Getting super pumped about the school year coming up. (First year of college, I was freaking out and feeling so not ready to leave home. Fast forward to my third year, and I'm jealous of my bestie/suite-mate who's moving in 2 days before me.)
Wearing super simple jewelry and comfy tees.
Loving a bright pink lip.
Eating my weight in raspberries.
Feeling very intrigued by that lime + sea salt all purpose cleaning spray, but also feeling pretty convinced I'd love it and that my dream house would smell of nothing else.

my Pinterest.

bedroom update: gallery wall.

This weekend, my dad helped me hang a gallery wall in my bedroom at home. I wanted a place to store some of the many, many pieces of art I've created and accumulated since high school. I also wanted to display a few gifts/souvenirs(rose print, sunset print, and Bob Dylan poster) that I've gotten over the years in a way that seemed intentional and thoughtful. I love the way it turned out. It's definitely NOT a traditional gallery wall with matching frames and synchronized pieces, but it feels very "Liz" to me. At a single glance, I can see years of memories and better yet, years of practice and improvement within my own art.

Some quick tips for hanging your own gallery wall:

• Plan it out on your floor or a big table before putting it up on the wall. This final format you see here is probably the twelfth combination I actually tried.
• Use pieces you already have and/or accumulate more pieces over the years. Buying a ton of pieces all at once from discount places can make your gallery wall seem kinda forced and stiff, rather than homey and personal.
• If you find yourself stressing about positioning each piece, keep it super simple like I did and create two rows of prints, aligning the bottoms of the first row and the tops of the second row.
• Consult Pinterest. (Duh.) There are pretty much billion resources available online for creating your own gallery wall. It's kind of a thing now.