The End of an Era

I thought it would be fun to fill out the same one I filled out last year so that I can compare when I'm old and gray...ya know? I don't do new years resolutions and I really don't think New Years Eve is such a big deal. Everyone thinks their past is magically erased when the new year starts but that's just not how it works. It's just another day really! If you want to make changes it shouldn't take a new year to get you there. Okay I'll stop my rant now.
So here goes!

2010, IN A SURVEY!

1. What is your name and what's your blog name, if you have one?

Malori, Sunday Morning Sugar

2. Where do you live? City, State? If you could live anywhere where would it be?

Chicago, Illinois. If I could live anywhere I'd live in a warm Chicago haha. Since that doesn't exist, I'll probably end up somewhere in California.

3. Where do you work? What's your job title? Do you love your job?

I work at a small boutique in the south loop. I'm a sales associate (I believe?). I do love my job :). I work with some pretty fantastic ladies and my boss is top notch. We also sell things that I drool over so that's nice too.

4. If you could work anywhere or do anything what would it be?
Ohh the million dollar question. I really don't know. I'd love to dabble in various artistic things and never have to worry about money but since that isn't practical, I'd like to be a high-up in some type of sales or sales promotion. Or perhaps some sort of marketing. I would be a happy lady if I had an office at the top of some high rise in Chicago. I'd still like to own my own business. I have always wanted to work for myself. Hopefully someday :)

5. What are you reading right now?

I'm usually reading a few books. Right now I'm working on Hannibal, Devil in the White City, and How To Win Friends and Influence People.

6. What are you listening to?

A lot of Kanye West and Maroon 5.

7. Guilty Pleasure?

Hmm... Dark Chocolate Non-Pareils

8. Name your TV shows:

Nip/Tuck

Weeds

Lie To Me

Friends (always and forever!!)

9. What is one thing you do every day?
Every day? Oh dear... I brush my teeth every day :).

10. Name the best movie(s) of the year:

The best thing I saw this year that was new was Shutter Island. I still am not sure if I believe the ending.

11. What do you like to do for fun?
Watch TV shows on Netflix, cook, read, exercise, and crafty things (knit, sew, paint, write, etc.)

12. Do you have Twitter?
Sure do

13. What was your favorite gift that you gave or received this year?
Hrmm... The best gift I received has to be a toss up between my new mixer and my tripod for my camera. The best gift I gave probably went to my mama. I gave her these cutting boards that she loved when she visited me in Chicago :).

14. What's on your bedside table?
A heart-shaped dish that holds my jewelry at the end of the night, chapstick, some books, magazines, a cup of water, and my cell phone.


If you'd like to read last year's survey, click here.

Happy New Year :)

The End of 2010

One picture from each month this year around Sunday Morning Sugar and a little recap of my year on this blog...



January/February/March/April

January:
I was reading and knitting up a storm. Starting my second semester of college. Had 8 followers on my blog (and was PUMPED about it) and was trying to find more readers. Really anticipating Valentines day even though I had no Valentine haha. Figure that out?
February:
I hosted my first giveaway, watched a lot of criminal minds, moved to a new apartment (same building), and learned to cook pomegranate BBQ tofu. I kept knitting like a crazy person and spent a lot of time doing other artistic things like painting and sketching. I also hit 100 posts and baked a pretty cake.
March:
I met a boy, watched hours of home videos, and enjoyed spring break with my family. I made a fun spring playlist and celebrated my first St. Patrick's day in Chicago. I also visited the Art Institute of Chicago...and took a road trip to see my friend Kristina in Indiana.
April:
I kept knitting like a crazy person, made a fort with my roommate, saw Matt and Kim (for freee), shared my knitting wisdom, and took a road trip to Flint, Michigan to see a piece of Rock and Roll history. I had a picnic in a park and made my first original knitting pattern.



May/June/July/August

May:
I made my 200th post, finished my second semester of college, lost a boy, took a road trip to Chicago, cooked almost constantly, knit, and hosted my second giveaway. I also went to the beach with my gay friends, found Butt Road, complained about moving out of my city for the summer, and got strep throat for THREE WEEKS.
June:
I danced in my grandma's 50th dance recital, road tripped to Phoenix from Ohio, started working for my dad, made a sweet necklace, and complained about being bored.
July:
I got my wisdom teeth taken out, learned how to make fresh pasta, saw a taping of So You Think You Can Dance, learned how to crochet and introduced Jacques and Jill. I saw Despicable Me, ordered business cards, made a summer headband, and forced the boys in my family to take my outfit pictures.
August:
I made some delicious sandwiches, launched Jacques & Jill, packed for my big move, and went on a baby road trip to Prescott with my lovely friend Kristina. I quietly dealt with anxiety and minor heartbreak regarding the boy I met in March. Also spent a great deal of time crying and stressing because trying to find an apartment in a city across the country is daunting. Especially when you need to move into it in less than a month.



September/October/November/December

September:
I started my sophomore year of college, watched my big brother play some football, hit 99 followers on google reader, went to the renegade craft fair, and ate some DELICIOUS hot dogs. I moved into my new home, ate some pazookie with my roommate, and applied for about a billion jobs.
October:
I dressed kind of slutty for Halloween, got a visit from two of my best friends in the world, found a job, turned 20, and spent some time with my family (they visited as well!). I got my very first sewing machine and became addicted to watching Weeds in Netflix instant play.
November:
My dad and I made Thanksgiving dinner together, I started offering advertising spots on my blog, and I spent some time in the sun (home for the holiday!). I cooked...a lot a lot, and took part in an outfit challenge while my washer/dryer were broken. I also shared my tips for living on a small budget and re-read one of my all time favorite books.
December:
I worked a ton, made it through finals (straight A's BITCHES!), cooked, and shared a lot of my outfit photos. I sent out a survey asking what you liked about my blog and got some amazing feedback. I decorated my very first solo Christmas tree, went home for the holidays, and baked way too many buckeyes. Finally, I ended the year with a whopping 117 followers (this number is insane to me. I'm so thankful for all of you!) and plan to make next year even better :).

I was going to post a survey on this post but I thought that would be overkill so I'll be sharing that tomorrow :). Happy last day of 2010 everyone!!

Double up!

I decided to double up on the challenge again today because one of the questions isn't the most exciting thing in the world.

DAY SEVEN: Favorite boy name

My favorite boy names are Dakota and Patrick. Also, I used to know a kid named Legend who was the coolest motha' fucka' I've ever known so I'd have to throw his name on this list as well. It'd be awesome to have a kid who could pull off such a legendary name. Am I right or am I right?

DAY EIGHT: Talk about your piercings or tattoos, if you have any

This picture showcases almost all of them. Just imagine one more on my cartilage and my bellybutton. Also, this picture is OLD SCHOOL Malori. Circa Sophomore year of high school. Enjoy that...

I don't have any tattoos (yet) but I do have a couple piercings. Less and less as the years go by. Currently I just have my nose pierced and my ears double pierced. At one point in time I had my bellybutton, nose, double pierced ears, and double pierced cartilage on one side. I took out my cartilage piercings because they never freaking healed and I couldn't sleep because it hurt so bad to lay on my ear. I just took out my bellybutton piercing over Thanksgiving break. I'm still not sure if I want to put it back in but since I haven't wanted to yet I don't think it'll be an issue. It was fun while it lasted but I got tired of being able to see it through my clothes and getting it caught on things (sorry if you're squeamish). It also got infected enough that I got tired of taking care of it. I don't mind my nose piercing because most people don't even notice it. I don't really notice it either anymore! If it starts getting infected it'll be outta here. I don't have the patience to deal them if they're going to get in my way haha.

If I can ever save enough money for a tattoo, I'd love to go to New York and have Amanda Wachob

do something for me. She's fabulous.

xo
Mal

Zodiac Signs

DAY SIX: Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality

Astrology is fun. My roommate and I used to check our horoscopes all the time last year. From what I can tell, your horoscope is usually pretty accurate when things are going well in your life. I thought it'd be fun to share my horoscope for the day before we went any further.

"Your focus should turn toward examining how you react to things that are beyond your control. A lot of unpredictable energy is swirling around you right now, sending confusing signals to the people you love. Something may happen that you can't influence -- instead of feeling powerless or frustrated, take advantage of the situation and steer it in a direction that's better for you and your people. You do have some power in this situation, so use it."

Okay this actually fits perfectly with things that are going on in my life right now. Moving right along to the overall libra description. I think it fits my personality pretty well. Libras like to keep balance and stay in the middle ground. I also read somewhere that we stir up a lot of trouble then take the middle ground and this sounds a lot like me in my younger days haha. We're outgoing, love being around people (mostly true. Has to be the right kind of people), and are happiest when in a pair (marriage, dating, etc.). Libras think in relative terms and are always comparing what is happening now to either the past or the future. Also quite accurate for me.

All in all I'd say that my sign is pretty accurate for me. I'm working on a big recap of 2010 for all of you and trying to find a good 2011 questionnaire. I did one last year and it ended up being a lot of fun :). Maybe I'll just recycle it...

xo
Mal

The Only Thing Between You and Me...

I have been swooning over this necklace since I found it about a week ago. It has officially earned it's way into today's Numba' One Spot. Be sure to check out the whole line as it is beyond beautiful.

The necklace reads: The only thing between you and me is the sea.

xo
Mal

Forgiveness, It's more than saying sorry

And the challenge continues.

DAY FOUR: Someone you wish you could forgive/could forgive you

I've thought a lot about this one and no one really comes to mind for either. I'd be lying if I said I got over things easily. When I was younger my family used to make fun of me because I could hold a grudge like a champ. As I've grown up I've learned about about thinking logically rather than emotionally. I've also calmed down a lot and when things happen I'm quick to forgive. I don't really harbor any ill will towards people in my life and I don't find myself pining for anyone's forgiveness. I think that if someone has a huge issue with me and is struggling to forgive me for something that I've done, it's more their issue than my own. Forgiveness is a very personal issue, you do it so that you can move on.

Since day four and five are sort of uneventful, I figured I'd double them up..

DAY FIVE: The last person you made a pinky promise to and why

I have no idea. The only pinky promise that comes to mind was with this precious youngster I babysit occasionally. She did something silly and didn't want me to tell her parents so she made me pinky promise. I'm pretty sure what she did was avoid going to bed so it really wasn't much of an issue at all. I'm a pretty trustworthy gal. I take it very seriously when people tell me secrets so pinky promises usually aren't necessary :).

xo
Mal

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve my family always goes to church in the afternoon then grabs an early dinner. This year was no different. I'm glad I got to be home for Christmas Eve because I think I really would have missed the traditions that my mama has created for us. Anyways, this is what we wore... (and some fun pictures of me and my family)




dress: Theory
shoes: Boutique 9
Purse: Forever 21 (gift from roomie)

Church was spent trying to keep my little brother from sticking his fingers in my ears. I'm going to complain a bit and say that there wasn't any message and I don't like that. It's a big day for us Christians and I would have liked to hear something hard hitting rather than an invitation to join the church's next series. End rant...


For dinner we went to PF Changs. Oh nom nom. My dad got a pretty pink drink (hilarious) and my mom got a tasty martini. It was a top notch dinner!!



We don't really have any traditions for after dinner so when we came home we all sort of snuggled on the couch and relaxed :). How did you all spend your Christmas eve? I hope it was as nice as mine was.

xo
Mal

Dream a Little Dream

I'm going to combine day three of my challenge with your Sunday Quote today so I can share some holiday things throughout the week :). Hereeee we go!

"A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true"
-Cinderella

DAY THREE: Your Dream

What a fantastic question!

If you're a regular reader, you know I've got big plans for my life. Who doesn't!? We all want to grow up to be fabulously happy, famous, and wealthy. We all have visions of getting paid a lot for doing a little and giving to charity/volunteering in our spare time, right?

Instead of directing you towards my yearly goals, I thought it'd be fun to share some of my long-term goals.

1) Find a career that makes me happy, and be the best at it

I am an extremely work-oriented young lady. My career is extremely important to me and is my number one goal. A lot of people think this is a little sad and that something like family or helping others should be my number one. But this is my blog and I'm going to tell you the truth here! Work is first. I find work to be extremely fulfilling and I can't even imagine how wonderful it will be when I'm doing something full time that I'm passionate about.

2) Meet a guy who treats me well, trick him into marrying me ;)

I DO want to be married. Even though my career is number one, having a family is also extremely important to me. I don't want kids until I'm in my 30's but I'd love to get married a bit younger than that. I have a notoriously horrendous track record with the boys in my life so it'd be really nice to meet someone who treats me well. If I can convince him to stick with me forever, that'd be even better! Then we can make some cute babies!

3) Find Financial Stability

In high school I was AWFUL at saving my money. I was even more awful at not spending more than I had. My parents had to pay some SERIOUS overdraft fees on more than one occasion (thanks mom and dad!). When I got a job my senior year of high school I spent all of my money on clothes, shoes, and eating out with friends. I didn't overdraft as often but was still spending my money frivolously. Now that I'm on my own, I'm determined to learn how to be responsible with my money. Each paycheck I get from my new job is split between my savings and checking account (20% goes directly into my savings). I know that I can be responsible with my money and that if I spend less now, I'll have more later when I want to do things like buy a house and support my family. This is an extremely important goal. I don't need to be rich (though it'd be nice) but I do want to manage my money well!

4) Complete my Bucket List

I have a bucket list. I feel like I should probably share it with you all, huh? We'll get there someday :). For now, just know that I would LOVE to be able to scratch everything off my bucket list. I love lists and I get so excited when I complete tasks on the various lists I make for myself. It's only fitting that one of my life goals is completing all the tasks on my ULTIMATE list.

That's all kids. I feel like that was a lot of text to read! I do have some smaller goals (you can read about them on my goals page and I even tell you about a lot of my monthly/daily goals here) but I thought it'd be best to stick with the biggest ones :).

What are your goals? I love to know more about my readers so feel free to post about your own goals and leave the link for me to read! Or, just tell me your goals in a comment!

love love,
Mal

Merry Merry Christmas!!

I hope your day is wonderful. I'm spending time with family and being lazy lazy lazy.

(I do believe this is from my first Christmas)

I'll be back tomorrow with regular posts. Thank you all for being such incredible readers. I love you :)!
xo
Mal

Guest Post-A-Palooza!

Today I want to feature one of my amazinggg sponsors, Miss. Emma from Eben Lemon. I had her write up a little post to tell you more about herself and what she does. So much better than listening to me talk about her, right? Without further adieu, here she is!!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Emma and I'm one of Sunday Morning Sugar's sponsors! I just wanted to tell you a little bit about myself and fill you in on a special event taking place. I run a little blog and Etsy shop that go by the same name Eben Lemon. I had always dreamed of having my own vintage store so when I heard about Etsy I knew it was the most feasible way to sell the wonderful vintage and handmade items that I love. Along with vintage goodies, I also sew custom skirts and knit and crochet beautiful luscious cowls. My blog is a little look at everything that inspires me and highlights my crafty spontaneous life in the fullest. I really hope you stop by and say hello!

Ok now on to the good stuff. Right now, I am trying to clear out all of my 2010 stock for new 2011 goodies. So I am having a HUGE 25% off sale at my shop. PLUS I am offering Sunday Morning Sugar readers an additional 10% off with the coupon code of BLOGREADER2010. Prices have been slashed! Enter the code in at the checkout to receive the additional discount!


Here are only a couple of the items available in my shop!

Cheers!
Emma

What are you waiting for?? Go check her out!!
Thanks so much Emma!

xo
Mal

How to Create a Navigation Bar.

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing fantastic today. Thank you Mal for letting me post on your cute blog. I wish her safe travels on her way home!!
My name is Justine. Mal was one of my first blog friends! I love talking to her and reading her blog.

my little slice of the blog world is over here.

OK, I wanted to get a little technical this morning, and teach everyone how to make their own navigation bar for his or her blog. One to fit under your header or on your side bar. 

First step, you need to make a list of what links you want! For example, I have About me, Goodreads, Twitter, Flickr and Tumblr. 

Now head to your posting page in your dashboard. You will then see a link that says EDIT PAGES. Click this.

That will bring you to a page that says add new page, DO SO.

Now, this page can be anything you please, your subject line will be at the end of your URL though, so if its your about me page, make the subject say ABOUT or ABOUT ME. Then add whatever you please in the body.

CLICK BELOW IF YOU WANT TO READ MORE

Work Clothes

I've been having a lot of fun getting dressed for work recently. I work at a boutique so I can have a little bit of fun with what I wear. I love it. This is what I wore yesterday :).

I love this top. The dark panels are sheer so if I went without a bra you'd get some serious boob action. Luckily I'm classier than that. It's still fun!

top: thrifted
skirt: forever 21
tights: target
shoes: all black (not shown)

Check back later today for a guest post from one of my best blog friends! I have work then I'm traveling back to Arizona for Christmas so I'll be a busy little bee. I have day three of the 20 day challenge ready to go but I don't want to post 3 times in one day so I'll put it up tomorrow.

Have a lovely day!


xo
Mal

My Closest Friends

DAY TWO: Write about your closest friends
Oh man, this is a loaded question huh? I'm going to talk about them in the order I met them :). I'd also like to note that I will never be forgiven for some of the pictures I'm about to post. I'm not even sorry.

Mattie

Ha! Awkward phase!

We met in PRESCHOOL bitchessss. We've played barbies, had countless sleepovers, made zillions of cellphones out of notebook paper, sang along to hundreds of spice girls songs (SAW THEM LIVE TOO!), and fast-forward to today when we still get together as often as possible. She's absolutely hilarious and genuinely wonderful. I love her so much and I'm so happy we've been friends for so long. 16 years to be exact :).

Katie

We go way back as well! I think we've been friends for about 14 years? We've had out little tiffs but I'm happy to say we still keep in touch and see each other whenever possible (maybe over SPRING BREAK IN CHICAGO!?). Katie is also hilarious. Most of my memories with her involve really obnoxious laughter. We live far far away from each other now but we still write each other letters and keep in touch.

Kristina

>

We've been friends for about 10 years I think. We met in dance then spent high school doing everything together. I've been on more vacations with this girl than my own family I think ;). Through missions trips with our church, speech and debate, dance, school, and just being awesome friends we've spent the better part of these past ten years giggling and making memories. I love when she visits me in Chicago and when I go to see her in Indiana. I'm SO happy we chose to go to college somewhat close to each other. She's an amazing friend and I'm lucky to have her. (Bonus points! The reason I know someone farther down on the list is because of her!)

Ariel

I met Ariel through church. I was afraid of her at first because she was SUPER outgoing and looked a little crazed. I would feel like an ass for writing this about her but I've told her many times. We all had an awkward phase people. No need to pretend like it didn't exist! Ariel and I share a love for great books and Starbucks dates. We also spent a lot of time watching How I Met Your Mother and eating chipwiches in high school. Good times good times.

Morgan

Morgan is my grown-up friend :). She teaches hooligan middle schoolers full time and uses her spare time to be hilarious and awesome. True story. I met Morgan in church way back in the day and didn't really start spending a lot of time with her till I graduated and moved which I just realized. That's sort of silly! Anyways, Morgan and I can talk books for days. We also share a love for good beer, delicious food, and The Office.

Sean

Seanzies is Kristina's boyfriend. He's also one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. He's extremely caring and will go out of his way to do nice things for the people he loves. For example, my senior year of high school he drove all the way home from college to spend my birthday with me. See? Great friend. He's really clumsy and a little flighty so spending time with him is always entertaining. He's also a champ in the kitchen (no kidding. This kid can make a mean dessert!) and one of my best friends in the world. I guess I have Kristina to thank for this one :).

Megan

(Freshman Orientation)

(now)

Roooooommmaaatttteeeee. We've only known each other for a year and a half but she's pretty wonderful. We met on a random street corner in Chicago and ended up living together (that's actually a long story that I just condensed like crazy) as baby freshman in college. Last year we watched about a million episodes of Friends and talked about everything from Jesus to whether or not nerd glasses were cool (we decided they were). Even though we won't be roommates again next year, she'll still be one of my best friends.

Soheil

This crazy kid lived down the hall from me last year. I had a huge crush on him when I first met him but after we hung out a few times I realized we were much better suited as friends. He is extremely outgoing, has the tenacity of a tiger, and can make me laugh like few people I know. He also has a way of NOT mincing words AT ALL. It's ridiculously funny the way he goes about saying things. I love this boy. I don't think he'll be back at Columbia next semester so I'll have to buy a plane ticket to his new school so I can continue to harass him.

Ben

Soheil's roommate. We didn't really start hanging out until second semester of last year, but if you've been following my blog you'll know that we've had some great adventures! He's introduced me to countless rock bands from the 70's (because my taste in music is horrendous, apparently...), explored new parts of Chicago with me, eaten a lot of great food (both home made and in restaurants) and dragged me all the way to Flint, Michigan to see the Grand Funk Railroad. I've had a lot of good times with this one and I hope he stays around another few years so we can keep discovering Chicago!

Eric

One of Megan's oldest friends! I met Eric last year in my dorm room one day when I came home from shopping. I walked in and he was in my kitchen wearing my apron. Needless to say we've been friends ever since.

Oh dear! I feel like I'm in middle school choosing my top 8 on myspace again. STRESSFUL! I have a lot of wonderful people in my life who share the good times with me and stick around during the bad times to pick up the pieces. The ones I listed are just a few. Maybe getting to know my friends a bit better is the same as getting to know me a bit better?


xo
Mal