I got this idea from a post on free people's blog, I thought it was an interesting writing piece to put in my journal. After a long day of school, homework, and ACT prep, I finally pulled out my elephant journal, put Don McLean's record on, and sprawled out on my bed. The first couple sentences came easy to me, but the rest was a tad bit challenging.

Dear Aubrey,

Do you remember those nights when you were 8 years old and still had your mom write the alphabet on your back to help you fall asleep? She wrote each letter in cursive, the curves and dips writing on your soul. She would hum "Aubrey" by Bread early in the morning. Do you feel that scar on the side of your mouth, what about the one on the bottom of your chin, or the one on the center of your forehead? Those scars all show how you have lived. The scar on your lip is either from running into a door while chasing Bobby or falling on the stairs, which you did frequently. The one on your chin is from falling up the stairs, and the one on your forehead is from the God awful chicken pox that you got in 6th grade. All these scars show what you have been through and what you have overcome.

A year before 6th grade, you lost your best friend, your beloved Grammy. Your Grammy watched you from the time you were born until you were 4 years old, you two would watch Veggie Tales or as she called them "Weggie Tales" because she had a Polish accent and all. In 5th grade, you lost your "favorite lady" to Pancreatic Cancer and I swear you cried for a month straight and all you wanted was a hug from her. You really loved your Grammy, but you also loved your Nonni. 

 Your Nonni taught you about being Sicilian and how to make pasta perfectly. Then in the very beginning of 2014, you lost her to Lymphoma and you've been devastated every since, you almost cry every month because you just want to tell her so many things, but she's not here. And now you are having a pretty good year because you have great friends and family. You are happy with occasional sadness, but the future looks way better. 

In 2 years you will be off to your dream university, studying business and youth ministry. After college, Angela and you are going to open a cafe, it will flourish, maybe you'll name it Sophie's after your Grammy, maybe not. You will get married to the man of your dreams and Angela will marry her tattooed man. You will have beautiful children, who love their "Aunt" Angela (They will call her Aunt because you two are more sisters than cousins). Your life will be just what God planned it to be and you will be happy. Remember to love God and the things he gives you. 

Love always, Aubrey.

I strongly encourage you to write a letter to your self, it helps make you self aware and can even help improve your confidence. Writing to myself helped me discover myself more, and it can help you too. 

xoxo, aubs

frigid tuesday

Hi! It's nice to see you (maybe again)! This week is seriously taking forever, I woke up and thought it was friday. to make things worse, it is 21 degrees but with windchill it is 8 degrees. My whole house is cold, I feel like I live inside a freezer. Besides the fact that i am cold and wish it was friday already, today went pretty well. I came home and watched Grey's Anatomy from last week, did my workout, did a ton of homework, and now I am posting this! I am hoping to write some poetry tonight or do some act prep, I'll probably pick writing. :)

Today my outfit consists of a turtleneck from Forever21, Jeans from Silver Jeans, and a cardigan from Forever21 

I'll try to update tomorrow, depends how busy I am.

love always, Aubrey

yes please

Hey lovelies :-) I hope everyone is having a fabulous day, I know I sure am! I decided to take a break from cleaning my room to post this for you all! All I've really done today was go to church and relax, which is all I really want to do anyways. I'm also thinking about posting some sort of diy this week, I'm feeling quite crafty!

I enlisted the help of my brother today and all he did was take a bunch of goofy candids of me dancing, so enjoy me embarrassing myself.

I have so many free people catalogs because I just love them, they're so artistic and have so much fashion inspiration in them. The subscription to the catalog is also free.

Also here I am just casually reading (not really oops) yes please by my favorite human ever, Amy Poehler. Seriously though, read Amy's book! Amy Poehler is this amazing woman, who is hilarious and honest. She is super empowering and has a great story to share with you! Also, if you hate reading, you can download the audio version on amazon!

Blue, hippie inspired shirt: kohl's

Jeans: silver jeans (these are joga boyfriend jeans, but they don't seem to sell them anymore. the ones i linked are similar) 

The Front Bottoms record: bar none records

see you soon :)

xoxo, aubrey

powerful dressing with a kick

hi everyone! today i am going to try something new, i am going to post a recipe. i am thinking about posting a recipe once a week, because i want to encourage you to make something delicious for your family, significant other, friends, just yourself, etc.
today's recipe is not my own creation, but it is one of my absolute favorites recipes.

today's recipe is from Shoshanna's kitchen and it is her "lean & green salad dressing"
(see her blog for measurements)
- apple cider vinegar (i use Bragg's)
- extra virgin olive oil (i use the organic olive oil from Costco)
- honey (raw honey is preferred, but any honey without additives should do)
- black pepper (i use the whole peppercorns)
- oregano (dry or fresh)
- Celtic sea salt (i bought mine from Shoshanna's store, but you can really use any sea salt)
- garlic (you can use garlic powder, i prefer fresh garlic myself)
- a blender of some sort (i use my vitamix, but i've seen people use a standard blender, nutribullet, food processor, etc.)

before i start making this glorious dressing i get all my ingredients out and line them up on my counter, i believe it's just easier that way.

next i add the olive oil and apple cider vinegar, it is completely normal for them to separate.

then i add the oregano, which usually lies on the top of the oil.

when adding the honey, i use a butter knife to scrape the edges of the measuring spoon so i don't waste any. 

fact: did you know that honey is the only food that never goes bad?

next i add the peppercorns

then i add the sea salt, the Celtic sea salt has a little moisture in it, so make sure you get all of it off your spoon.

 to peel garlic i take a knife and lay it flat on top of the garlic, than i press down with my hand with a lot of force. pressing down on the garlic helps the skin release from the garlic itself.

next i add the garlic.

do not forget the lid, i did this once and made a horrible mess. it seems like it would be so easy to remember this simple thing, but if you get distracted you will forget and have a big problem.

i start out very slow with the blender to mix everything up a little bit.

then i crank up the speed to high so i don't have any huge chunks of garlic or pepper.

when the dressing is all done, it should be very smooth and combined.

i put my dressing in a glass dressing container or a mason jar, you are free to use whatever container you want.

you can put this dressing on any type of salad, i prefer to put it over mixed greens and cucumber because the dressing has such a great flavor, i don't want to diminish it with a ton of veggies.

i hope you try this dressing and fall in love with it like i have, also make sure to check out Shosanna's blog and youtube channel for more healthy recipes. 

xoxo, aubrey

late roses

Hello cuties. I was home bound all day because the windchill was in the -20s (f) and we didn't have school. I hope the rest of you all had a fantastic day. 

All I really did today was drink yogi green tea from the mug my cousin, Angela bought me for my birthday and look through old free people catalogs for inspiration. 

I look extremely pale because the lighting in my room is hideous and icky.

The half up half down bun is my go to hair style when I don't feel like really doing my hair, also I got coconut oil in my hair so it's extremely oily. :/ 

Shirt: kohl's

Jeans: pacsun (the ones i linked are similar because they don't sell the ones i have anymore)

xoxo, aubrey

starry, starry night

Hello beauties, Today was my first day back after a four day weekend and I could not be more tired. I didn't do much at school today expect watch a few educational movies and pre-id for act (ew.) I seriously look like I got ran over by a school bus today and my skin is horribly breaking out, so I decided not to post any pictures with my face in them, sorry :/

a lot of people ask me about my record player and whether i would recommend it or not. i would definitely recommend crosley's record players to anyone, they have great sound and a very nice needle. i have a ton of my mom's old records and they sound amazing on my crosley.

As I explored my mom's records I came across a few that I absolutely love so I thought I would indulge you all on them.

The first one I absolutely love is the American Pie by Don McLean; Don McLean is a well-known singer in my family, my uncle has been singing American Pie and Vincent at family gathering since I was about 4 years old. My favorite song off the record is Till Tomorrow. 

The second favorite record of my mom's is the Pretty in Pink soundtrack; Pretty in Pink is my favorite movie so I immediately picked up the record and jammed out. Whenever I listen to the record I imagine that I am Andie and that Blane is in love with me and then I get sad because it's not real.

The third record I love is the Violent Femmes self titled album; if you have heard this record then you know exactly why someone would love it.

My fourth and final favorite record (for the time being) is Anthology of Bread by Bread; first of all I love this record because it's the reason my mom named me Aubrey also I love the artistic tone to Bread's music.

american pie ⏐ pretty in pink soundtrack ⏐ violent femmes ⏐ anthology of bread

Here is my go-to "I feel like crap", "I don't want to be here", "I need sleep" outfit.

Cardigan: forever21 ( can't find it, but nordstrom's has a similar one)

The 1975 t-shirt: i got mine through the 1975's website, but hot topic has it for cheaper

Joggers: forever21 

hope you all had or have a great day, depending on when you read this! 

xoxo, aubrey

don't leave me alone tonight

Hey hey hey. I hope all is well with all of you (if people are actually reading this)!! My day is actually going very well. I did a lot of praising the Lord at church and organized a few of my poems.

Enjoy your week everyone, I know I will; monday and tuesday off for midwinter break, can I get a heck yes? Okay i'll just give myself one, "HECK YES" I am so weird I'm sorry.

Paper: some left over journal pages my friend gave me

Notebook: i bought it at Tjmaxx this summer, i don't know if it is still for sale

Necklace: Michael's, i can't find it on their website, your best bet is to look in the store

Agate stone: urban outfitters

Record: it's from my mom's old collection but they sell it at urban also

xoxo, Aubrey