Five on Friday

Goodness friends I haven't linked up for Five on Friday in such a long time! I'd say it's about time to join the lovely ladies again. Linking up with Christina, Darci, April, and Natasha for my favorites from this week!
{one} Simplifying my life is something I am focusing on this year! Cleaning out my closet was LONG overdo. My process for this was anything I haven't worn in the last month or two months gets donated. I have challenged myself to not buy any new pieces of clothing, my own version of the contentment challenge.

{two} This gorgeous calendar caught my eye in Anthro a few weeks ago. I LOVED the image of the derby on the front and once I saw all the beautiful images it contained I just had to have it. The 2014 Travel America Calendar from Rifle Paper Co. highlights iconic images around our beautiful nation and i jsut so happens that I have only been to the first five places listed... coincidence? Maybe but I cant wait to travel to the other 7!

{three} I am in the beginning stages of my PowerSheets journey and they are nestled in my beautiful Simplified Life Binder, that I talk about here. This process has been a very revealing, brutally honest process. I am working through Lara Casey's Goal Setting Series and.... it's tough. God keeps revealing to me "Fear not for I am with you," Isaiah 41:10. It is so hard to give over control but goodness, I have to just trust that His plans are A MILLION times better than any plans I could every dream up!

{four} A perfect reminder as I begin many new adventures! Print by Mandy Cave Watercolor.

{five} STILL reeling over this experience of a lifetime! If any of y'all follow along you know I love two animals very, very dearly... Newfoundland dogs and manatees. During my Christmas break I had the privilege of swimming with the gentle wild manatees in Crystal River! See all my pictures here :) Warning they are so cute your heart will melt!

Happy Weekend from my manatee friends and I!

Five on Friday

Another whirlwind week behind me! So thankful for the weekend, which includes my last home football game as a student, and Thanksgiving family time is just around the corner. It will be so nice to escape from the school grind for maybee a day. Linking up with the lovely ladies for my cherished five from this week!

{one} The red cup from Starbucks is the ultimate sign that Christmas is near!

{two} I am absolute loving the Day Designer by Whitney English. I am such a lover of anything organizational. Pretty planners and pretty paper have a soft spot in my heart. She originally had a stunning gold stripe planner along with the classic black stripes but not surprisingly the gold stripes is already out of stock. While I have a planner that goes through July of 2014, I cant help but dream of a new one already!

{three} I am still loving flannels, vests and my beautiful Tory Burch flats! 

Flannel from Eddie Bauer// Black Quilted Vest from Old Navy

{four} Pretty Stationery... If y'all follow along you know that I am a handwritten letter lover. I adore getting mail so naturally, I love gorgeous stationery. It melts my heart! I am interested in possibly launching an Etsy shop for prints, calligraphy, and stationery when I re-brand someday... fingers crossed!

{five} Quiet time on the beach with my sister and her pug Ava. You can see more pictures here. It was so nice to escape the hustle and bustle of school life for a little beach get away last weekend!

Isn't she such a model?! HA! Happy Friday friends :)

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! Today has been such a good day and it just keeps getting better and better:) Here are my favorite 5 from this week!

{one} SOUTHERN WEDDINGS VOLUME 6... Yes THE Southern Weddings magazine was released a few days early to some stores!! The official release date is 11/12/13... could they be anymore perfect?! Y'all this magazine and the women who spend countless hours creating it are absolutely incredible. Southern Weddings magazine is a true testament to their hearts and what is so special about the South and marriage... yes I said marriage not a wedding. As soon as I heard a few were being put on shelves early, I ran out to the nearest Barnes and Noble to snag myself a copy. I could not be more excited that I am going to their launch party next week and will finally meet the Southern Weddings gals!! Everyone please look at the real couple on this gorgeous cover... swoon...

{two} Calligraphy... I have wanted to learn handwritten calligraphy for so long now! My handwriting is not picture perfect but I know it just takes practice.

One of my favorite customized notebook companies, May Designs, teamed up with Design Roots, a lovely calligraphy and invitation studio, to create the perfect calligraphy kit! It is called C is for Calligraphy and the kit comes with a practice guide, a pen, one Brause 66 nib, and a little jar of black ink. I ordered mine this morning and can't wait for it to arrive! Order yours {here}

{three} I had the day off work today and got to take my sisters little pug to Lake Johnson. A little stroll turned into a 3 mile jog/walk around the lake...oops! It was just such a beautiful day!!

Mile Two: Ava was not a happy camper at this point

{four} Felt the need to brighten up my phone case! I am loving the green and navy look, its very different from my usual black and white.

{five} My parents are headin' to Raleigh in the morning! I am so excited to see them and go to the flea market and one of Raleigh's many delicious restaurants... also my best friend from high school, who dives for UNCW, will be in Raleigh for a meet versus NCSU! Such a great weekend ahead:)

Five on Friday

Joining Christina {here}, April {here}, Natasha {here} and Darci {here} for the weekly Five on Friday link-up! 

{one} I'm going to be a Second Cousin y'all!! It sounds silly but the Jones side of my family is so close. We are lucky that all of the cousins are in roughly a 15 year age range {33 to 19}. Growing up our families would go to the North Carolina coast every summer for vacation as well as have annual holiday gatherings at Grandmom and Granddads. I love how close all us cousins are to each other and how we feel we can call or visit each other whenever! Last week the family received the most exciting news from the oldest cousin Matt, who is married to Christina of Carolina Charm, that they are having a baby!! AHHH I couldn't be more excited!! The news came in the sweetest form of Grandmom finding out...

{two}Does anyone remember Phantom?! When I was little we would take a Phantom with a cute little rhyme on it and a bag full of Halloween goodies and spread the spook around the neighborhood! Otherwise known as the only acceptable time to run around in all black at night and ding-dong-ditch friends...so much fun! This past weekend when I was home I was able to babysit the sweet Johnson kids. When I was brainstorming something fun for us to do, Phantom came to mind! I headed to the store and loaded up on fun things like glow sticks and of course... mustaches!

 Needless to say the mustaches were a hit!

   The kids and I had such a great time! It's always fun to run around and act like a kid :)

{three} Updating a blog is an all consuming task! I love decorating and am a little bit of a perfectionist so I find myself trying to make improvements whenever I can. This week I worked on the logo, getting rid of the pixel look and centering it! I also made a new pin it button and will be working on a blog signature in the next week. Lets just say I definitely enjoy working on the blog more than my building pile of school work.

{four} The State Fair is in town! This is the absolute symbol of fall in the Raleigh area. My roommates and I are lucky enough to live so close to the fair grounds that we can hear the 10 minutes of fireworks everyyyy nighttt from 9:45 to 9:55.... but other than that, I love the fair!

{five} This week was the Making Things Happen conference in Chapel Hill! This inspiring conference was created by the oh so talented Lara Casey and Emily Ley. While I in no way had the funds to be able to attend the conference, I was able to follow along on instagram and twitter with #mthconference. These women are incredibly inspiring... fear is something that drives our lives and unfortunately prevents a lot of people from pursuing what they love.

Fear is something that has followed me all of my life, especially during creating this blog. Fear told me I was not good enough, interesting enough or creative enough to be able to create a successful blog. I often feel inadequate in the blogging world as there are so so many blogs out there that are very similar. I want to stand out in this crazy blogging world and show whoever comes to my site who I truly am. Being transparent, that's what I am aiming for!

Y'all, I have such big dreams for this blog and my life in general! Making Things Happen is all about conquering your fears and pushing yourself to reach your goals today, not tomorrow. We all have something standing in our way of that illusive goal, why not move it out of the way today!

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Have a Fall filled weekend :)