J'adore June, Will You Too?

So I feel like between yesterday's Instagram recap and Wednesday's reintroduction post this week has almost been all about getting to know me better.  If you read yesterday's post then you know just how much I love Instagram and today I have an awesome announcement to make that continues my getting to know you trend and incorporates that love! I am so excited to tell you that the lovely Jordyn of The Fairy Princess Diaries, aka one of my blog besties, and I are co-hosting an Instagram challenge for the month of June!

We are both huge fans of Instagram and love a good photo challenge so I figured it was only appropriate that we had our own.  Jordyn and I are basically the girliest girls around so of course on our end we had to add some pink girly fun!  I love alliterations so I thought J'adore June would be a cute name for our challenge, j'adore means I adore in French and who doesn't adore June?  We would be absolutely ecstatic if you adored June and us and joined us in our photo challenge for the month!  It will be a lot more fun if it's not just Jordyn and I posting pictures so I would love to invite you to join along with us in posting a picture everyday in June along with the hashtag #JadoreJune.  Below are the 'prompts' for everyday and I'm really excited to hopefully see everyone's unique take on each idea.  I will be checking out the hashtag #JadoreJune every day (ok more like multiple times a day) on Instagram to see the new posts and I know Jordyn will be too!

We are kicking of the challenge Monday, June 1st with j'adore and I can't wait to just what you adore. Every week Jordyn and I will be sharing (and giving a shoutout to) our favorites!  So make sure to follow Jordyn (@fairyprincessjord) and me (@crumbsandcurls) and make sure to tag your pictures #JadoreJune to join in on the fun.  We will both be following back and checking out all of your posts! Since you haven't seen enough of my Instagram pics this week here are a few more to get you ready for Monday...

So basically we really, really hope you all will be joining us for #JadoreJune and we couldn't be more excited to see what you post!  I will have a reminder up here and on Instagram on Monday and even if you don't join us I hope you enjoy the pictures we put up throughout the month!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Today I'm linking up with Oh Hey Friday,  That Friday Blog Hop, Casual Friday, and Fab Favorites. 

April | May on Instagram

I'm a very visual person so it's no surprise that Instagram is my favorite social media platform (find me at @crumbsandcurls!).  I love how it allows you to share pieces of your life through pictures & really enjoy taking photos to share.  At the beginning of April I recapped my January, February & March on Instagram, & I thought that since it's been a while it was time to do an Instagram recap of the last two months.  I know it's only May 28th, but it's basically the end of May so I thought it was ok to do it a bit early.  Here are my favorite Instagram pictures from the last two months!

I shared this shot of my Maltese, Coco Chanel, on National Pet Day.  If you've seen my Instagram before you know I love sharing pictures of this little nugget because I just adore her!

For my sorority's International Reunion Day the Villanova Alpha Gamma Delta chapter comes together with the Saint Joseph's University Alpha Gamma Delta chapter for a luncheon.  Last year it was held at Villanova so this year we had it at St. Joe's & it just so happens that my sister is a member of the St. Joe's chapter!  We made sure to take lots of adorable double sister pictures like this.

At Villanova there are the most gorgeous pink trees that bloom in the spring.  I passed this one on my way to class every day & finally had to take a picture one day.  This was taken on one of those quintessential spring days & I'm so happy I was able to capture it.

This is me & two of my sorority sisters one Sunday after brunch.  Colleen, on the far left, graduated last year & lives kind of far from school so it was so great to get to see her!

At the beginning of May one of my best friends I have made at Villanova got engaged to her boyfriend.  We went out for drinks & dinner to celebrate & this is us at the restaurant.  Her & her fiancé are the cutest couple & I could not be happier for the two of them!  Also her ring is absolutely gorgeous!

This is me outside of my apartment building at school the day I moved out.  I have lived in the same building for the last three years & next year I will be living in a different one so it was a little weird to be leaving it for good.  I have been really lucky with housing at school & had the cutest little apartment that I made so many great memories in!

I took this a few days after I got back from school during a walk with Coco.  My Dad & I like to take her to the lake near our house & walk her around it.  This is the church I grew up in, which is right on the lake.  It is such a beautiful church & I love the pink trees in front of it.

I'm not usually a selfie person, but I went for it & cut quite a few inches of my hair off so I thought it deserved a selfie.  The messy lob is so in right now & I've been loving it on everyone I see it on from bloggers to celebrities so I thought summer was the perfect time for something new.  I am so happy I cut it & I have to say it's really nice that my hair styling time has been cut in half!

The Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia is an old fashion ice cream parlour that makes the most delicious ice cream.  It also is the only place that I can get ice cream out at because of all of my food allergies.  If you're ever in Old City in Philadelphia you have to check it out!

These guys have been my good friends since freshmen year of college & they all recently graduated. Here we're at Chris's (the guy on the far right) graduation party & I was definitely feeling sentimental.

In March I had gotten my eyebrows waxed at a place near school & the women completely waxed off half of my one eyebrow!  Needless to say I was not happy & spent a while growing them back in & decided to let them completely grow out so I could get them shaped again.  I had been hearing about what a great job they do shaping brows at Benefit Cosmetics so one day when I was in Princeton I decided to stop by their boutique & get my eyebrows waxed & shaped.  I was so happy with how my brows turned out & that day they happened to be holding a fundraiser where 100% of the cost of brow waxes went to charities empowering women, which I loved.

While I was in Princeton my Mom & I walked through Princeton University's campus.  I am such a nerd & love checking out other college campuses.  Princeton is gorgeous & never disappoints.

I went out to school to put a few things in my storage locker & had to go to my favorite brunch spot while I was there.  Nudy's Cafe has the most amazing food, my favorite is their Cinnamon Bun French Toast, which is pictured here!

I have been lusting over white Converse sneakers for quite some time now, they are so chic & every stylish girl I know owns a pair.  I finally got this pair the other day & could not love them more!

Over the weekend I had my first steamers of the season, which was a great way to start summer! Steamers are one of my favorites & I can't wait to eat them all season.

So this was a quick recap of what has been going on in my life for the last two months.  You can see more on my Instagram account, @crumbsandcurls.  Make sure to follow me & leave me a comment letting me know your stopping by from here so I can follow back!

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Get to Know Me

I haven't done any posts about myself in quite some time so I thought today would be the perfect day to take the time to reintroduce myself.  I always love reading posts like this and hope you do too. One of my favorite things about 'blogland' is that it's so big and so small at the same time and in my opinion it's always nice to get to know the person behind the blog.  Without any further ado here is a little more about me...

I started Crumbs & Curls back in 2013 when I was recovering from surgery.  I couldn't move after the surgery and was so bored so I decided to start a blog to give myself something to do.  I had no idea at the time that I would fall in love with blogging, meet so many wonderful people, and have so many great experiences because of this little space.

I am from a small town by the beach in New Jersey.  I have lived in the same area my entire life and only ever moved for the first time last summer (to the town over).  I have one sister named Bridget, and a Maltese named Coco Chanel.  I am also super close with my parents.

I go to Villanova University, which is just outside of Philadelphia.  In August I will be starting my fifth and final year of college.  I was undecided on my major until the end of my sophomore year when I declared a Communications major.  Since I've been at school I've learned a lot about sports (I knew next to nothing about them before college!) and I am a huge fan of our basketball team.

At school I am a founding member of the Lambda Gamma Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta.  Joining a sorority has been one of the best decisions I've made since I've been at college.  I can honestly say that it has changed my life for the better and I have made the most amazing friends through it.  My sister is a member of Alpha Gam at her school and my Mom became an Alpha Gam through a mother initiate program my chapter did.  So we're a whole fam of Alpha Gams!

Now that we've gotten the basics down here are a few facts about me.  I took the questions from a post Leslie did a while back that I thought was so fun!

1. What's your middle name?

My middle name is Anne and my initials are K.A.T., my Mom thought Kat would be a cute nickname I did not.

2. If you could live anywhere else in the world where would you live?

In the US: Southern California, I want that gorgeous weather all the time! Out of the country: Paris, it's always been a dream of mine since I am a bit of a Francophile.

3. Tell us about your guilty pleasures.

Reality TV, Netflix binges, wearing workout clothes when I don't work out (like ever), and s'mores (I eat them way too often). 

4. What do you like best about your job? If you weren't doing that, what career would you have pursued?

I am currently a student and I love school because I am a huge nerd.  I'm one of those people who truly enjoys learning and the first 2 years of school I was undecided because I liked everything and couldn't pick a major.  I finally picked a Communications major and have been very happy ever since, but in an alternate universe (one where I liked science) I would have majored in Biology and gone Pre-Med to be a dermatologist or majored in Chemical Engineering so that I could create cosmetics.

5. Five items you'd grab during a fire. (People and pets don't count. Those are a given.)

-My current purse because it holds my entire life.

-My Louis Vuitton Speedy because I worked my butt off to buy it and really love it.

-Family photos, like the old school ones that aren't digital.

-My 'good' jewelry because each piece has a story behind it and is special to me.

-A vintage leopard belt that was my favorite (and most fashionable!) Great Aunt's, it's a very special piece and so sentimental.

6. Marathon running...something you'd like to pursue or just plain crazy?

I can't tell you how badly I wish I loved or even kind of liked to run, I seriously admire anyone that does because I hate it.  In a dream world running a marathon would be something I would love to pursue, but in real life it's just plain crazy.

7. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Gluten free pasta with red sauce and fresh mozzarella.  Italian food is my absolute favorite and this is a simple yet delicious meal that I am always eating!

8. Last person you spoke to...annnnnd....go!

My Mom.

9. Favorite childhood toy.

Definitely Barbies, although I was weird and didn't really 'play' with them, I loved dressing them up, doing their hair, and posing them.  So basically my Barbie playtime foreshadowed my love of fashion.

10. Breakfast cereal of choice.

I'm not really a cereal person (I like to eat pretzels for breakfast which is weird), but if I am feeling like eating some cereal I do love Peanut Butter Captain Crunch.

If you're not totally sick of me at this point you want to know even more about me here are some old posts that I've written that have a lot of random facts and some other info about me.

Now it's your turn!  Tell me about yourself in the comments below, I would love to get to know you better!

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Today I'm linking up with Random Wednesday, WIWW, I Feel Pretty, WIWW, Mid Week Muse, and What's Up Wednesday.

Looks I Love Lately

I hope everyone had a great long weekend!  If you've been here before you know that I love celebrity fashion.  I've been looking through all the celeb looks from the past 2 weeks and picked my favorites to share with you.

(Left to Right)

Julianne Hough in Lorena Sarbu at the Dancing with the Stars finale in Los Angeles

Kristin Cavallari in Tatyana Merenyuk at the JDRF L.A. Imagine Gala in Century City, CA

Julianne Hough in Jenny Packham at the Dancing with the Stars finale in Los Angeles

(Left to Right)

Dakota Fanning in Dior at Dior's Cruise Collection show in Cannes, France

Amy Adams in Max Mara at Max Mara Flagship opening in London

Emma Stone in Ulyana Sergeenko Couture at a Aloha screening in London

All of these ladies look gorgeous in their looks!  Which look is your favorite?

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!

Today I'm linking up with Confident Twosday.

D.I.Y. Alcohol Bouquet

On Sunday I went to one of my good friend's graduation party, he's one of my best friends at school and over the years has become so close with my family too, I knew as a family we were going to get him something more serious (we went with a nice tie!), but I wanted to give him something fun too.  My sister had seen an alcohol bouquet somewhere and gave me the idea to make one for him.  I had so much fun making it and it made a big hit at the party.  This is a great gift for graduation, 21st birthdays, and more.  It would also be perfect to pair up with a Hangover Kit!

Supplies:

-A vase or bucket

-20 Wooden or metal dowels

-A block of styrofoam or floral foam large enough to fit the vase or bucket

-8 to 10 assorted mini liquor bottles

-Plastic shot glasses

-Mini candy bars

-Hot glue gun

-Paint (optional)

-Ribbon (optional)

-Cellophane (optional)

Instructions:

-Optional: paint the vase or bucket with a school logo or phrase, I painted our school's logo on the one I made, allow to dry.

-Use the hot glue gun to glue the mini liquor bottles and plastic shot glasses to the dowels.  Make sure to use enough glue (aka a lot of glue) so that they will stay, allow to dry.

-Optional: Cut pieces of ribbon and glue individual pieces to the dowels, once dry curl the ribbon.

-Place the styrofoam or floral foam at the bottom of the vase or bucket.

-Take the dowels with the bottles and shot glasses (and ribbon) and stick them into the foam, make sure they are far enough in that they will not move.  When placing the dowels make sure to arrange them at differing heights.

-If you are transporting the alcohol bouquet somewhere far, like I was, I recommend wrapping the entire bouquet in cellophane and tying it off with ribbon (picture below).

-Enjoy!

~Use pictures for reference.

This was fairly easy to make and I had a great time doing it.  An alcohol bouquet is such a fun gift to give and I love it for guys because they can be so hard to buy for!  I'm thinking I might have to make another one for my sister's 21st birthday and add some glitter to hers.  If you have any upcoming grad parties this is sure to make an awesome gift! 

  

                

Make sure to add me on Snapchat - @kthomp22!