"Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it."

We never got to discuss the apron fashion show, did we??

Goodness. It was amazing. Heather met me at my apartment at 9 and we headed down to Greensboro. It's about 45 minutes, so it's not bad. We got there, set up my sewing machine and whatnot and got to work. I made several more. A girl who works for Project Horseshoe Farm came to make an apron with two of the ladies from there. They were so amazing and so much fun to work with. We found out that the local high school had won the State Basketball Championship, so there was going to be a parade! If you will recall, I LOVE PARADES. We went outside around noon and watched as the entire town lined Main Street. It was a sight to see. There were players, local businesses, step teams, and marching bands. It was amazing. We took lots of pictures. Then the rain came and everyone scattered. After that, we grabbed some lunch, then went back to work.

By the end of the day, I had made 6 more aprons. =D Around 5, Cameron and Ashley showed up. We set everything up, then went to do the photoshoot when Annie and Lisa showed up as well. Heather is a FABULOUS photographer, and my models were just fun. :) After that we scrambled to get everything done, but we somehow managed it.

Lots and lots of my friends showed up, and that meant SO much to me. :) The show went by in a flash, and was absolute chaos, but such a great time.

Overall, I showed 18 aprons. Raji made a ton more, so we showed hers, and another apron designer showed up too who I did not know. 

Unfortunately, by the end of the night my arm was shooting with such bad pains that I had to have Heather drive home. Thank goodness she went with me!

All in all, it was so much fun. We sold a few aprons, and I think it got everyone excited.

But really, here is what you are all here for: PICTURES!

(courtesy of Heather Smith/Cameron Bolt)

OH! PS - I'm working on a website (like I have time for this) and would love some input! Please look at it and let me know what you think! Here

"In politics stupidity is not a handicap."

I wrote an uber long blost post pertaining to this, but I think short and sweet should work.

Why I, Theresa Mince, will not be voting in this Honors College Assembly election.

I am the current Honors College Assembly treasurer. I have known Michael for a while now, and he is a great friend. He has done a lot of hard work as the Student Involvement director, and put on some rockin' tailgates. He attends all of the meetings, and is very aware of how HCA currently works.

I do not know Sarah. I was recently informed that she works in the Honors College office. Having worked there since freshman year, I probably should have known that. I cannot vouch for any of her qualities. From checking out contact sheet, I learned that she was the Co-Chair of Event Coordinating for Civic Engagement? I believe that's what it was. Please don't quote me on that.

As an office worker in Nott Hall, I have seen campaign flyers printed using Honors College supplies. That is not allowed. As someone who deals with the budget, I think we should be reimbursed for the resources they used. As an institution, the Honors College does not endorse one candidate over the other, so one should not be able to use our resources for free while the other pays for his.

As a CBHer, I do not like to be interrupted in my computer lab by non-CBHers relabeling water bottles with campaign slogans. I do not like them again using Honors College and CBH resources for something that does not work to benefit CBH in any way. As a CBH student, I have the PRIVILEGE of printing things in the lab. It's something I earn through my hard work and dedication to the program. As a whole, CBH does not support one candidate over the other, so one should not be able to use our resources for free while the other pays for his.

As an HCA officer, and a part of the original planning committee for the organization, I am deeply saddened by the way our original goals and guidelines have been ignored. Elections were meant to run with clear rules, and everyone in the Honors College is meant to be aware of the process. Stickers were not supposed to be allowed, and other students should have been allowed to run. After repeatedly raising these concerns, I have been rebuked on several occasions.

As an enjoyer of clean wall space, I have found my eyes assaulted with large, full color posters featuring the faces of both of the presidential candidates. In case I couldn't read the poster that is at eye level, no worries; there is another six inches below it! And above it!

As a user of the Nott Hall restrooms, I have found myself uncomfortable as one of the candidates peers at me creepily from a poster as I try to use my public restroom privileges. (That one was too creepy. I shouldn't be campaigned at as I try to use the restroom.)

As a general Honors College student, I am disappointed by the way things have turned out. What was meant to be an all-inclusive organization has become another avenue for the elitist attitudes of a select few. I find myself counting the days until I am free of my commitment to the Honors College Assembly. Not because I do not enjoy this direct connection to the Honors College, and the great opportunities I have had to connect with Honors College students, but because I have been continually silenced in my quest for open and honest communication. They will be days I will watch this new officer group take over, and hopefully pull the HCA plane up from the nose dive it will take if the shady political tactics continue. Yes, you want to beat out our opponent, but you don't want to make enemies while doing so.

In the end, whoever wins will be president. Whoever loses will probably be a director. Do you really want to mock and ridicule someone you will be working closely with in the near future?

So, ladies and gents, I leave you with this, my reason for not voting. Sure, I could tell you which I think may do a better job. But I won't. I oppose the way these elections came about, and I believe it unfair that many deserving Honors College students were barred from entering the race. I cannot bring myself to have a hand in deciding the future of this organization. I find the direction it is currently facing to be one of elitism and poor communication.

"The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do."

This has been one of the most insane weeks in a long time.

Spring Break was all about work. But I did get a lot done. I finished all of my aprons, my CBH database, my CAD project, my draping project, my CBH presentation, and my world lit homework. So I definitely used my time well. Unfortunately, when I got back, I didn't feel like I had accomplished anything. I always seem to be one step behind.

The drive back wasn't too terrible, but it definitely wasn't fun. I'm tired of long drives. Unless it's somewhere new and exciting, they've just begun to wear on me a lot. So I got back and Matthew and Autumn came to help me unpack my car because I had so much stuff. It took like 5 minutes. Yay friends! Then I made them dinner, then I just..did nothing, really. I was so burnt out by that point. So I started my week, yada yada. On Tuesday, I had my mock interview, so I wore a dress. I had a loooong day, and about 9:30 I ended up in the CBH lab to work on some homework. My stomach was itching really bad, so I went to the bathroom to look at it, and I had a rash all across my stomach. I figured maybe my dress was just rubbing me all day, so I took a benadryl when I got home and went to bed.

On Wednesday, I woke up and not only did I have a rash all over my stomach, but it was now covering my entire back as well. GREAT. On Wednesday I also had my CBH presentation, so I had to dress up again. I found the loosest dress I could, took half a benadryl and went about my day. I noticed while I was at work/school it subsided, so I was relieved. When I got home, I sat down on my couch to read, but I got tired so I ended up falling asleep on my couch. I woke up an hour and a half later completely COVERED in red welts. I had a rash on every part of my body that had been touching the couch.

I freaked out, obviously.

I had NO idea what could be causing this, but I KNEW it was something in my apartment and on my upholstered surfaces, and I knew I couldn't stay in my apartment. I called Annie, packed Tux up, and we slept at her place.

And by slept, I mean I got about 3 hours of sleep while Tux pawed furiously at his cat tent to keep me awake. Lovely.

I woke up Thursday morning with not a single welt on me. So that confirmed that it was something in my apartment. I remembered finding one of the pest control slips when I got back, and it makes sense. What else causes almost instantaneous contact dermatitis? But they are only supposed to spray baseboards. So I called H.A. Edwards, explained the situation, and was told they would call me back. Of course, they didn't. I called them back several times, but to no avail. At one point I was hung up on. It was lovely. Thursday afternoon I finally went to the doctor for my shoulder pain (a month later...). Luckily, nothing wrong with the bones. He gave me some meds and said if it's not better in a week we will need to do an MRI. OH GOOD. So from there I went...I don't know where, but eventually I ended up back at Annie's. She is allergic to cats, and her roommate doesn't like cats. I knew Mel was out of town, so I asked if I could stay at her room for the night. Yay old roomie love, and so I packed Tux up again and went over there once I got a hold of Heather. It was so nice to be "living" with her again. I miss that so much.

So anywho. We got all situated, then Annie, Heather, Clay, Kyle, AJ, Lindsay, Cody, Lauren, Trey, and myself went to midnight sushi. Which always makes the night better. I had a seriously amazing time, then we went back and I passed out. I didn't sleep very well, but I got a little more than the night before.

Oh, Thursday night I called a few carpet cleaning places, and Spotless Pride actually answered the phone. I explained the situation, and they were SO sympathetic, SO nice, and SO affordable. So I set up an appointment to have them come Friday morning at 10.

So today when I woke up I headed over to my apartment and arrived at the same time they did. Haha. They gave me time to pick some stuff up, were SOOO nice, and I went to eat breakfast with Heather while they did their thing. An hour and 45 minutes later, I came back to super clean carpets and couches that looked like I didn't get them for free/from the thrift store. =P Seriously, I was SO happy with the guys that came. They were so sympathetic, so nice, and did a really good job. I decided I was in need of a pedicure, so I texted Annie. I ran to Kinnucan's to look at Chaco's, then we went to Midtown and got pedis. The guy who did mine was having some serious breathing distress, so that was gross. After that, I met Clay at Belk to help him shop for some stuff. Heh. I told him next time he just has to let me loose in the store and he'll end up with a new wardrobe. =P After that I ran home, packed all of my bedding, rugs, and towels into trash bags and went back to Heather's. Oh the joys of washing EVERY POROUS SURFACE IN YOUR APARTMENT. Before I went back, I went over to H.A. Edwards, who still had not called me. They were of no help again, but I told them I never want the pest control people in my apartment again. I know I have no hard proof that that is what caused everything, but I can't think of any other legitimate explanation.

Anywho. So I washed all of that stuff, and took a glorious glorious 3 hour nap. We all know I'm not a napper, but I had maybe 7 hours of sleep total for the past two nights. I needed it. So when I woke up, I finished my laundry, packed Tux up and came back to my apartment. I changed my bedding, cleaned my bathroom, went back to Heather's to get the rest of my laundry, met Lisa and Annie at Starbucks, then went to the lab. Long story short, I am INFURIATED by SPSS and CANNOT figure out how to get it to work on my computer. SO. ANGRY. I was planning on getting SO much done tonight, and instead I got absolutely nothing done. I'm so frustrated.

But anyway.

LET'S TALK ABOUT FASHION.

Tomorrow, as you all know, is my Apron Fashion Show at Pie Lab!!

(This flyer made by the WONDERFUL Tonya Nelson. :D)

I hope to see a lot of you there. It's going to be pure fun.

My whole philosophy is that when I start getting too serious about this is when I will have to quit. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I cannot ever take myself seriously. I work hard at what I do, but I never want it to not be fun. I never want to yell at models, or boss people around. This fashion show is 100% a group effort, and everyone should know that.

BUT LOOK MORE NEWS!

Mr. Taylor pulled me aside after class on Wednesday and gave me a flyer for Birmingham Fashion Week. They are looking for 4 student designers to show during fashion week, and Mr. Taylor wants me to submit some stuff for a chance to be one of the four! =D I'm so excited!!! I just have to sketch my RTR stuff, and turn in sketches and pictures by Friday. I would loooove to be involved. It is their first year doing it, and it should be amazing. I'm SO stoked.

Alright, I've had enough. I'm just going to say screw it and call it a night. I'll try to dedicate Sunday to my CBH project, minus the time I will have to take to find fabric for my draping project.

Summer, I need you NOW.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

Ah, Spring Break. The time when college kids run off to the beach, get hammered, and fall off of things.

Just kidding.

For me, Spring Break is coming home and spending every day for a week straight trying to catch up on all the homework I have to do. How relaxing.

Mom flew up to Bham on Wednesday night. God bless Dan Gerber, he went and picked her up because I had class when her plane got in. She picked me up after class and we went back to my apartment. Spent the night cleaning and packing. Helped Clay go over his presentation, then cleaned and packed some more.

We left Thursday morning around 7:30. It only took about 7 hours to get to North Carolina, so that wasn't too bad. Spent Thursday through Saturday hanging out with Marika and gang. It's always so nice to see them. On Thursday on the way there, we went to the Women's League thrift store, which happens to be my favorite thrift store EVER. And what do you know, they are having a NINETY PERCENT OFF sale. AHHH. I was so excited. They were trying to get rid of all of their fall stuff to bring in spring. I got a bunch of fabric and some clothes for my CBH presentation. They had a lot of their spring stuff on a rack behind the counter, and they saw me eyeing it. I've bonded with the ladies who run it several times, and we always talk about fashion design and whatnot. Because of this, they let me flip through the spring racks, and I freaked out. Apparently, a woman whose sister passed away brought in a ton of her old dresses. They were vintage, American-made BEAUTIES. Talk about inspiration. I bought up a good portion of the dresses, and mom and I were on our way.

OH wait. I also got the COOLEST old garment bag EVER. It's purple and pinstriped and leather and AMAZING. And I think I paid 80 cents for it. YES. The ladies made up a good back story for it when I asked about its history. hahha

Anywho. Then we were on our way. The weekend was filled with fixing doors, fixing toilets, and spending time with my cousins. I also had to protect Tux from the killer dogs, which resulted in me being a tiny tent and setting it up in my cousin's bedroom. Talk about crazy person. But it kept him safe, so that works. 

We left Saturday, after a day of burning stuff. We left close to 5 in the afternoon and didn't get home until 3 am. Thank you, spring forward. I got pretty loopy during the trip. Some guy in the Wendy's drive thru decided to honk at me. SO. ANGRY. I yelled a lot.

Sunday I worked on my CBH database ALL. DAY. It was....great.

Yesterday, Meagan and I went to St. Augustine. It's about a 3 hour drive from here, and we decided to take a day trip. We left at 6 am (sleep and I haven't been friends lately, obviously.) and got to Vilano Beach around 9:30. Spent the next 3 hours sun bathing and watching the waves, because it was a liiittle too cold for the water. Well, I went in. But I'm crazy. After that, we headed downtown for lunch and shopping. After walking everywhere, discovering Revista had closed and Anchor was closed on Mondays, I was so sad. But we ended up at A1A Ale Works for lunch, which was delicious. And we got to sit outside. The weather was absolutely perfect. I got a yummy tuna steak sandwich and Meagan got a chicken sandwich. It was yummy and so fun to sit and watch the water and the fort.

From there, we walked around a bit more, went to a few stores, and bought a few books. Tried on some Chacos, realized there's NO way I could live with myself if I wore them, discovered Keens, and decided I could live with those because they are adorable. After that, we headed out across the Bridge of Lions. We were going to go to Anastasia Island State Park, but decided to explore St. Augustine Beach, because I've never been there. It's a public beach, with beach access much like Jax Beach; you park on a side road, hop down some wooden stairs and BAM! beach. There were a good bit of people there, but NOTHING like Clearwater. I kind of hate Clearwater. I got in the water for a bit, then we laid in the sun for a few hours and watched people play frisbee, baseball, and surf. It was fun. After that, it was back downtown for us.

We parked off of Hypolita and went in search of the Vera store. It had closed, too! St. Augustine storefronts have changed A LOT over the past year. We walked around for an hour or so, grabbed pretzels at Der Pretzel Haus, then sat for a while. We ran into the one plus size shop in St. Augustine, which is totally awful and I laugh every time I go in there. Unfortunately, the owner was like, "hey a fat girl!" and made me try a bunch of ugly things on. Ughhh. She was scary. Poor Meagan got pulled around the store grabbing things for me to try on. I yelled, "We have to go!" and we booked it out of there. Good grief.

After walking some more, ice cream and coffee were had, then we decided to head home around 8. I remembered how amazing the carousel was, so we ran over to the park before we left. It was the PERFECT end to the day. I love it. It's an outdoor carousel right at the 1/A1A split. Hehe. The drive home wasn't too bad, and we passed out as soon as we got back.

Today, I am going to TRY to finish my CBH database. The rest of the week will be spent on my CBH presentation, CAD project, Draping presentation, Apron collection, world lit homework, and Tee Time. I won't be sleeping for the next two months.

Pictures!!

“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”

Yesterday was amazing. I woke up at 7, and Ashley met me at my apartment at 8. She was the only one brave enough to get up that early. So we drove down to Greensboro, and it ended up being Ashley, Cate, myself, and two ladies from the community, who were SO nice. Cate made is a cobbler for breakfast (yum!) and we sat for a bit and talked about why we were all there and whatnot. After that, we got to work. I explained to everyone what we were trying to do, and I showed them the patterns I had made. We spent the next 4 hours sewing, talking, and making the most adorable aprons ever. Around noon or one we stopped for lunch, and we had yummy veggie quiche and salad and walnut brownie pie. Yummm. I love Pie Lab.

After lunch, we finished up a few and cleaned up. In total, we got 14 aprons done, which is really really impressive. It was such a blast. Ashley had never really sewn before, and she was a pro by the end. It was nice to come together with people I've never really met before and do something so fun.

That's really what I want this experience to be about. Yes, it's an opportunity for me to get my name out there, and to show people some of what I can do, but it's also an opportunity to get the word out about Pie Lab, and bring the community together. We got nothing but positive feedback from everyone who came in, and everyone was so excited about the fashion show.

Once I get everything off my phone, I'll post some pictures. And the flyers for the show. But here are the details:

Apron Fashion Show!

March 26, 7 pm

Pie Lab, Greensboro

Come enjoy the new line of aprons at Pie Lab, and bring some of your own to show off!

"One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often."

Life is kind of hard sometimes. Well, a lot of times. Everyone is so different and everyone's lives are so different. I have a difficult time because I don't really know how my life fits into anyone else's.

The observation was made today that the people in fashion design aren't really "my kind of people." Which sounds harsh, but it's really pretty true. I didn't grow up knowing I wanted to be in fashion. I just kind of fell into it. I feel like if I had one more year of high school, I might have ended up somewhere completely different. Fashion design was just the last thing I decided before college applications went out.

I don't really think that's true, but sometimes I feel so out of place. I wanted to be a math major for a while, because I really enjoyed math. Now, I haven't had a single math class since senior year of high school, and it makes me feel dumb. I don't remember the stuff I learned, and I would probably fail miserably at math. Which makes me really sad, because I feel like a lot of people just assume I'm not intelligent because I'm in fashion design. There is a stereotypical fashion design major, and I am certainly not it.

On the other side of the coin, you have my CBH minor. I love CBH, but I also feel ill-prepared and stupid a lot of the time. I talk about how wonderful it is to combine CBH and fashion, but it really just ends up pulling me in two opposite directions and leaving me without a place I really "belong."

That sounds SO melodramatic, and it probably is. But I've spent so much time and energy on being "different" and "unique" and yada yada that I never got the chance to really figure out what I'm exceptionally good at, or where I really fit. This is where a lot of my life problems stem from. I'm involved all over the place, and I have friends from all of these different areas, but they don't ever really mesh well.

I feel like I'm on the outside of all of these groups looking in. I don't ever really feel like a true part of many things. This can include classes, activities, and a lot of times, friend groups. Since I'm not really a part of these different programs, I don't really feel a part of the groups of friends I've made in them. I think some of my friends can feel it too, and that makes me feel excluded a lot of the time. Hello melodrama again, but it really feels like I'm the odd man out a good portion of the time.

I still don't know where I really shine, or where I'm even going to end up in my life. I'm completely and utterly lost at the moment, and it scares the hell out of me.

I might just be severely lacking in sleep, but it's a place I've been for a while now. Really, for a good portion of this year. I know I still have a year of college left, but I'm so lost in so many aspects of my life, I don't know where to begin. That's why I lose it so quickly lately. I'm so stressed and frustrated, because I can't figure things out that I used to be sure of. I don't enjoy things I used to, and I don't feel like the same person anymore. And like I said, that scares the hell out of me.

I can't seem to get back on track, because I don't know what that track is. I've been on autopilot, just going through the motions, and I don't know where my passion went. I'm so consumed by work and school and extracurriculars that I haven't had a moment to think. And I won't have a moment anytime in the foreseeable future.

Just so you all know, I will most likely be back to happy Theresa tomorrow. I have stupid mood swings, and I tend to get inspired to blog when I'm down in the dumps. I'm super pumped about the Pie Lab stuff, I'm just so overwhelmed I can't seem to focus on that happiness.

I love you all, and I'm sorry I've been such a Debbie Downer. I'm trying to fix it. I just don't really know how.

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.”

Today, I left work expecting to arrive at the Zeta Tau Alpha house and pick up a handful of t-shirts, or maybe a garbage bag's worth.

Today, I left work, arrived at the Zeta Tau Alpha house, and picked up FIVE HUNDRED THIRTY ONE t-shirts. 531. Five hundred thirty one. My jaw dropped. They were the only sorority to participate, and they will be receiving 531 Panhellenic points, as well as free tickets to the show and a huge thank you and recognition at the show.

I also got word today that we collected close to 200 t-shirts from other student organizations through the Source as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, that makes a grand total of well over 700 t-shirts. I am SO excited!!

I started to freak out a little about what we were going to do with all of them, then I realized we don't have to use them ALL this year. They can be our collection for next year as well!

I will have to cut all of the ZTA letters off the shirts, but hey, I'm okay with that. (Any offers of help are much appreciated!!)

Let's see. This weekend will be just as busy as the last one was. I will head down to Greensboro with some fabulous friends in tow, and we will spend our Saturday making aprons and bonding with some lovely ladies at Pie Lab. It's going to be wonderful.

Everyone stay tuned for the fabulous apron fashion show, as well as Tee Time, which are both shaping up to be quite the event. I need to get some press involved for both of them. Anyone interested? :)

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought."

I don't sleep much. My apartment is an absolute wreck. I can't focus on anything because there's too much to do.

But that's life.

Tux is still alive. I go to the vet once or twice a week, we give him shots, I give him meds twice a day, and we just pray like crazy that he is going to be okay. He has gained a half a pound in the past week, which is a big deal. Hopefully he will keep going and his blood count will go up.

This weekend, we had the CBH Finalist Visit. That was an adventure. I ran around like a crazy person all weekend and spent 8 hours Monday interviewing people. It was really fun, though. I like helping decide who will join our program.

Saturday I spent 7 hours at my dining room table studying for world lit. Seven hours. literally. I got up for the essentials and that was it. Then I went to Clay's and he made dinner for Abi and me. Yummm. That was a nice way to get away from homework.

Sunday and Monday were CBH. YAAAAA

Yesterday was my World Lit midterm. I'm pretty confident I got a solid A. I studied a lot, and it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness.

Last night we had a Fashion, Inc. meeting. We nominated officers. I got nominated for President. Exciting. :) I would LOVE to do it. I'm planning to focus on Fashion, Inc. next year and none of the other ridiculous things I got involved with this year. Then I went to dinner with Liz, Maryalice, and Stephanie. I'm so glad I found girls in fashion that I can actually relate to. :)

Let's see...the rest of my week will be spent making aprons for Pie Lab. I'm SO excited! We are having a work day this Saturday and the fashion show will be at the end of March.

In other news, the t-shirt drive has been a relative success, and I loooove the Source for partnering with us on this!