Growing Up & Moving Out

Talk about adventures. Let's start with where I was when we last left off. I was working for a photography company taking school portraits, I was living at home, and I was struggling greatly with any sense of independence. It's tough enough being someone who is over the age of 21 and still living at home. It is another to be someone who lost their independence when they got sick. I didn't have a choice in the matter and that made it extremely hard. When I finally got a full time job doing something that I mildly enjoyed, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. No big light. It was more of a flashlight really, but none the less it was there. I became content with the reality that was before. Full time job, live at home a bit while longer until I can afford to move out (in NJ it would have taken me at least 2 years) and start my life. I was also a volunteer coach for my high school cheerleading team. One of the girls on the team was the daughter of my old Photography teacher. It was great seeing him again, but he didn't understand why I wasn't out in the world taking photos. He always encouraged me to go after that dream, but I was quick to dismiss it. When I first graduated high school I went to school in Delaware to become a Phys. Ed. teacher. Yikes. That may be someone else's perfect dream, but it was never mine. That was me settling for what I thought I should do. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a photographer for an NFL team who told me I had a shot at making my true dream come true if I was willing to work for it. That was all I needed.

I applied to multiple schools, looked at multiple schools, but there was only one that had I wanted. Western Kentucky University. The Photojournalism program at this school was more then just school, it was a lifestyle. It threw you into everything that you would be doing in the real world, but with more freedom. That's the perks of being a student. I was nervous, extremely nervous. I'd be older then the other kids. What if I forgot how to go about college. I felt like a high school freshman again, but I took the leap.

I made the cut, got into the school, had a shot at the program, and by August 27 I was moved in to my apartment in Kentucky and buying the rest of my schoolbooks.

This brings us to now. I'm proud to say that I made it through the semester with all B's (for anyone who knows me I have never been a good student), I'm officially a Photojournalism Student at WKU, and I'm excited for the future ahead.

As long as my health keeps cooperating I'd say I have a very good and long road to ride on.


Talk to you when the semester starts.


xoxo Meila

Cake Pop Adventures!!

Oh how I love the holidays. Other then family & friends, I'm am (selfishly) a fan of gifts. Here me out before you get judgey.

I'm the biggest giver come Holiday Season. Everyone at least gets a card. If we are close you get something awesome, just ask my friend Alex. I got him a beer mug with his FACE painted on it! Courtesy of Gina M of Crystal Peace Studios. (Side note: her work is amazing and she is the nicest person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting on Etsy.com thus far.)

One thing I got for Christmas from someone special was a Bella Cake Pop and Donut Hole Maker! I couldn't be happier. I have been looking for something like this for so long! Now, I'm not a profession baker or anything, you'll believe me when you see the photos, but a good old fashion girl who likes to spend quality time in the kitchen. I also love taking photos so here we are.

My Journey begins...

I used just a typical Betty Crocker yellow cake box mix & yes, that is my polka apron I have on. Thanks for noticing =).

They turned out amazing, but it did take a few batches to finally get ones I didn't have to throw out. At first my mom and I figured we could just give them little icing hats, but as we're not at great at icing... they were just dollops on top of cake pops.

So, there sat a lonely bag of dark chocolate chips.. and there came our idea.

So we dunked the ones we had left into the lake of melted chocolate & when we ran out of cake pops to dunk, that's when the real creativity started. Give two women a fondue pot of chocolate and just watch the magic happen!

We ran out of things to dunk so on came the home made Peanut Butter Cups! (my mom's favorite by the way.)

I only have one word of advice if you make these at home... make them much much smaller! We had to split one and still couldn't finish it because it was rich! #toomuchfood


Enjoy your snowy Saturday!

xoxo, Meila

Bedroom Make-over!

It is about that time.. & might I say way overdue. My parents are kind enough to convince me not to move out of the house just yet, for many reasons, but the deal was that I was going to redo my room.

Honestly? This should have been done about 6 years ago lol. It looks exactly the same as when I was 10. Same walls, same furniture, same terrible terrible window dressings. I just can't look as pastel striped walls anymore. It's driving me even more crazy then the fact that I am still living at home, but ANYWAY...

I am extremely excited to get this going. So far... Pintrest has been my best friend and interior decorator. I know that My walls will be a medium grey and my bed will have drawers in it.

One thing I don't like about my room now is there is just no room! The walls are literally lined with furniture. There was so much room to put things that now my space is overflowing with "stuff". Taking the storage space down a notch will make me clean out... & give me peace of mind.

Let's be honest... everyone needs that lol.

I'll keep you updated.

xoxo Meila

Camouflage

I've always been a fan of the camo persuasion. Most likely for no other reason that I look at sticks and fields every morning I wake up. One thing I always wished was that the fashion world would take more of a risk in that department.

I'm not talking about the camo that you see now. The so called "Army Print", which by the way.. they don't use anymore. I'd much rather see them used the "Real Tree" print instead... Let's see if we can't make something for that, shall we?

xoxo Meila

'Tis The Season!

Not only am I busy, busy, busy, but sickness is in the air! I go to a different school every day so I was bound to catch something.

Thankfully, I skated through the weekend without any symptoms!

I traveled down to East coast to Virginia to see a good friend of mine and see the sights. We went pumpkin picking and found our way through a corn maize! (See what I did there.)

(J.Crew shirt, American Eagle ripped jeggings, Jessica Simpson aviators, mother nature's pumpkin)

Of course, It was slightly cold out, & by slightly I mean it was absolutely freezing) so we headed back. Seeing as we had ourselves a great set of pumpkins... there was only one thing to do... CREATE!

(My secret is out... I'm a nerd.)

& just in case you thought I was tired of being cold, I decided to elongate the torture and sit outside in the rain the next night in the freezing cold. The only reason it was all worth it... I was watching baseball. Never mind the 3 hour rain delay and the fact that we lost... It was still great.

(Tulle jacket, Special military Orioles hat)

& here I sit with my weekend over, my work week already begun, and my immune system fully taking the hit. Tonight I will indulge in soup, Netflix, and some serious zzz's. Until next time =).

xoxo Meila

P.S. - Words to live by: Don't ever wear TOM's in the cold rain for more then 2 hours. You won't feel your feet until the next day.

Birthday Work Day!

& Happy Birthday to me! Good times.

Tonight, I want to talk about work attire. I see so many articles written and photo shoots shot for what to wear to work... at the office. I'm a photographer. More then that, I'm a photographer who works with kids... So the hot heels and pencil skirt is just not going to cut it for me.

Thanks to a wonderful store called Express, I have found the perfect work pants. They are sleek, comfortable, and professional. I have bought 3 pairs of these pants in black, 2 skinnies and 1 boot cut, and I wear them every day I work.

Next, the shoes. my choices are brown and black. I choose Sperry's because they are comfortable and easy to slip on, but I'd really like a nice pair of comfortable oxford. Much more professional rather then nautical (not that I'm getting sick of it or anything).

These 2 things are my staples. Every day I wear them to work & any other creativity found in my outfit will just have to be from the waist up.

This brings us to today's birthday suit!

Granted, this is me after a very long hard days work.

I wanted something fun, friendly, and professional.
I chose a Ralph Lauren no iron button up with a polka-dotted J.Crew button up sweater. It was awesome. It was only awesome because the only reason it all came together was because I was cold. This is a fact. Then I caught myself in a door reflection and realized it was meant to be. Especially because it was on my birthday.

Now I'm just rambling.

Now to figure out what else I can pair with my staples. I'll let you know what I figure out for tomorrow.

Good night all.

xoxo Meila

Blogging High

This goes out to all my fellow bloggers.

It feels so good to write. More then that, it feels amazing to write down what your thinking, publish it onto a site, and see that there are people out there actually reading your work.

I had that feeling back in college when I was writing for the paper for my Journalism class. It was so great to be proud of what I was writing. You can be humble and not care about what other people think, but at the end of the day even the rebels care and they are usually the ones who care the most.

Not going to lie, there’s a calmness that comes over me when I feel my fingers run over the keyboard and I see my thoughts flow; from my head, to my fingers, to the screen.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s good to be back in the blogging world and I hope it only grows from here.

xoxo Meila