Fall is Coming!!

Here are 10 things I love about Fall:

1. The cooler weather- I love when you can walk outside and not be dripping in sweat from the heat! 

2. Starbuck's carmel apple cider-A little slice of Heaven in a cup :) 

3. Leaves changing-I am so excited to see Central Park in the fall and will make sure to post some pictures!

4. Football season-I come from a family who loves football, from watching the Hawks, the Packers, the Jaguars, and just any football game!

5. My Dad's chili-This goes along with football. I only like my Dad's chili because it's simply the best. 

6. Outfits-Dressing for fall is so much fun! I love breaking out the scarves, rider boots, sweaters!

7. Pumpkin Patches-They are so much fun! I love carving pumpkins and getting to pick out the perfect pumpkin. 

8. Playing in Leaves-I am so glad that the daycare has given me an excuse to continue to do this.  It's so fun watching the kids have a blast by doing something so simple :)

9. Haunted Houses-I have a love/hate relationship because anyone who has gone with me to a haunted house knows it takes me a good 10 min. to get myself to go (or else I'll have to sit in the car by myself...) and I scream the whole time and am still scared once I get home, but seriously some of the best times I have had with friends! 

10. Curling Up With a Blanket and Reading a Good Book-I love reading and love being warm and cozy! 

So here are some of my favorite things about fall! I can't wait to show pictures of NYC in the fall time! 

 Much Love from NYC, 

 Lisa

It's Not About Location

Tuesday is the 27 of September. That means I have officially lived in New York for TWO months! This seems crazy to me because some days I feel like I have only been here a week and other days I feel like I have been here a year.

   I have learned so much while being here and feel so blessed that in those two months I have found a job, found a church, learned more about fashion thanks to my internship, met a family to babysit for, have great roommates who are caring and helpful, and also just being able to experience NYC. Everyday I wake up and I literally have to remind myself where I am. To think that 5 months ago I thought my heart would be in San Francisco! 

  I am so thankful that I have been able to stay in touch with friends and family back home! I don't think there has been a day since I have moved out here that I haven't Skyped with someone... from my mom and dad and the daycare kids to friends in college to friends in high school to my youth leaders to my grandma and aunts and uncles! It's so nice to see friendly faces and talk to people who know me!

   You're living the dream is something I have heard a lot since I moved! First of all let me just say that yes I feel like sometimes I am still in a dream and afraid to wake up because I am quite enjoying this dream ;) BUT I honestly think that this is a prime example of how God's plan for our life can be even bigger than anything we dream. I thought that New York was something so out of my reach right out of high school that I really didn't even want to dream about it and be disappointed. So I created my California dream instead. But sometimes our dreams for ourselves and God's plan for us don't match up and when that happens somethings got to give. Either we think we are right and do what we want or we give up the dream we had for our life and realize his planned life is going to be so much better than anything we could have ever dreamt. 

     The thing is once we get to this dream life that He has planned for us, don't think everything is going to be jolly and happy all the time. Yes, I live in New York and it's great but one thing I am struggling with is meeting people my own age.The question is where do you find other 19 year olds that live in NYC and have the same morals as you and are good people. I feel like they should have a friend classified section in the paper where you can place an ad for what you're looking for! The reason I think this is so hard is because I am not in a school setting. I have found a church and started work which has been great but how do you find people who are your age and going thought the same things you are? I know it's just going to take time and God is going to place people in my life when I need them. 

   I know that dreams can be scary for people because most of the time they take us outside of our comfort  zones. My comfort zone is Cedar Falls, IA! It's where I was born and raised, I went to school there, went to OHC my whole life, lived in the same house my whole life, some of my friends I have known my whole life, and people know me there. But here is the thing, I was too comfortable there and knew this by Jr. High. I knew that it would be really easy for me to stay in Iowa and either go to UNI or IUS for fashion design. I would go home at least once a month and see my family, the daycare, and friends. Friends back home could come visit me, I would be meeting new people, ect. but the thing was I could never really see myself in this dream life. I know I would have been happy but I know I wouldn't have been growing as a person or in faith like I am out here. For me it would have been the easy choice but that's not to say that people who did stay in Iowa made an easy choice. I have many friends who are going to UNI, ISU, Loras, Wartburg, and other Iowa colleges that are experiencing the same worries, fears, trying to make friends like I am dealing with.  I am also getting to see how they are growing as people and in their faith. 

   It's really not about the location because no matter where you are,  you are going to have troubles but you are also going to have joy. Never be afraid to dream big because even when those dreams fall through and we don't have a clue what to do, that is where God will show us things we never thought possible. Maybe he will tell us to stay where we are but start inviting people to church with you, maybe he wants you to take time out of our busy day and spend time with Him, maybe he wants you to move across the country or across the world, but the only thing I know is that when you listen and you stop trying to live your "perfect dream"  you start living your life the way He planned it... Great and wonderful things can happen. 

  Much Love From NYC, 

     Lisa

Eat Your Heart Out Picasso ;)

 I am not an artist! The only drawing class I took was in 10th grade. It was beginning drawing and can I just say everyone but me already knew how to draw in that class! I am all self taught when it comes to sketching. I started sketching when my Grandma Boelman got me my first sketch book when I was in 7th grade. 8th grade is when I started my interest in fashion and by 9th grade I knew that I wanted to go into fashion. I have started to put my portfolio together for FIT( college I am trying to get into) and have been looking over old sketches. Katie(elegantees) has been great by showing me some tricks to use and also letting me watch her sketch and I have already made a lot of improvement. I thought you might enjoy seeing some old sketches and the one I have been working/redoing this afternoon!

When you have a full size bed and a tiny room you have to work with what you've got. This is my lovely bed/desk/working area ;) 

Okay, this lovely sketch comes from my first ever sketch book! Let's notice that she:

                              a. has no face, hair, ears..aka i didn't know how to draw them

                              b. has no fingers...yup didn't know how to draw hands

                           c. and last but not least she doesn't have knees or feet..yes you guessed it... didn't know how to draw those either!

This sketch is another one that I did very early on! 

This sketch is from 10th grade! As you can tell I am getting a little better..she has hair, the color is better but still no face, feet, and the hands are behind her back ;) 

This one is from 11th grade! I really like this one because I love the dress. Still no face or hands though!

This is the sketch of my prom dress this year! 

This is a sketch I did this year. As you can see it's a great improvement from my first sketches. Still no face and also she is really skinny! 

The one on the left is a sketch I did this summer and the one on the right is what I did this afternoon. I reworked the lines and added color! And yes that is a face and hands you see!!

    I hope you have enjoyed seeing how my sketches have changed and gotten better. I know the more I work at them the better they will get!

 Much Love from NYC,

 Lisa 

I Love Award Season!

    I LOVE award season! Last night were the Emmys! I love watching the red carpet and seeing everyone arrive and what they are wearing! I am also always on people.com that night looking at the best and worst dress list!  Here are some trends I saw and also my best dress picks:) Hope you enjoy!

Red was the hot color of the night! I thought Lea, Angie, and Kate looked stunning in their red! 

  

I love the color of both theses dresses! Both Sofia Vergara and Sarah are from Modern Family! I love Sarah's(on the right) dress because its made by my favorite winner of Project Runway!

If you can't wear glitter to an awards show I don't know where you going to wear glitter. When wearing a gown that is full of glitter you have to make sure the gown doesn't wear you and these ladies pulled off their glittery gowns perfectly! 

Of course you always see black on the red caper and I thought these three ladies rocked their simple yet charming LBD!

I love bright colors and think Katie Holmes and Jennifer Westfeldt both did a great job picking beautiful hues for the show! 

Best dress couple goes to funny man John Krasinski from the office and his beautiful wife Emily Blunt! 

And last but not least my best dress pick is...

Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries! I LOVE the color of the dress and love that its simple, yet unexpected at the bottom! Her hair and makeup are great and I just think she looks stunning! 

For more Emmy fun and all the gowns from the night check out: http://www.people.com/people/package/0,,20304925,00.html

      I would love to designed a gown for the red carpet one day! I am a huge dresses and gown person so it is always fun to see what people pick! Hope you enjoyed my favorite picks! Let me know what your favorites were:)
 Much love from NYC,
    Lisa

My Poor Feet!

Between walking to and from the Subway, walking to my internship, walking in the city, walking to get food, walking to go to the library, walking to the park, walking to do laundry, going for runs in the park...my feet are starting to hurt. 

The main issues I am having are: 

 a. I don't have very good walking shoes

 b. I am just not used to walking every single place

 c. I wear the wrong shoes and pay for it

 d. I forgot my nice running shoes and am using my old ones 

     I also found out on Thursday that at my job I will never stop moving. I worked from 4-8 and seriously never sat or stood still. I loved it though because it went by super fast. But I realized I am going to have to figure out when to eat. My main issues are that I don't want to eat before I go because of my lovely IBS and if I eat too late, then in the morning I don't feel good because of my IBS! (The joys of having IBS!)  I know I will figure it out and if all else fails I will just pack a little snack with me:) 

    I am also trying to figure out if I can come home before Christmas. The plan was that I would be coming home in Nov. for a fashion show with elegantees but unfortunately we have had to wait with that show because of becoming too busy. :(  If I wait until Christmas, that's over 5 months that I won't see my family and friends and for me that is just wayyyy too long! 

     I have only been really homesick a couple of times but boy those couple of times were rough! There was a day were literally all I wanted to do was just hug my mom and dad but couldn't :( I think this summer I really tried and made sure I was home more. I am one that I not only love my family, I actually really enjoy being with them!  When you know you only have so many days to spend with people you really want to enjoy those times you do have. 

    A quote I love is "Just wait until you see what is possible when you shine your little light on the world." There are times where I don't know what God has planned for my little light and why he has me in NYC but I would rather find out then be left wondering what if! I know that there are going to be good days and bad days but no matter where you are you're going to have good and bad days! But my goal is to focus on the good and know that as long as my little light is shining for Him...I am going to be just fine!

 Much love from NYC, 

 Lisa

I Think I Set A New Record!

     I have been in New York for 44 days and in those 44 days I have gone to a lot of stores and in that 44 days I have not bought anything! No shirts, no skirts, no shoes, scarves, pants, dresses, jewelry or anything like it! For anyone who has known me for 5 min., you will understand what a surprise this is and how 44 days of not buying anything is quite impressive for me! I mean I am living in a shopper's dreams living in NYC!  On Monday and Tuesday this all changed :) 

    First, let me start off by saying I know I have a lot of clothes. Back home I may have a closet for just my dresses and skirts! I even cleaned out my closet before I left and gave bags and bags to a good friend. But I still had the task of getting two closets and years worth of clothes to NYC. (My Dad's solution was just take enough clothes to last two weeks and then wash them...typical guy reasoning ;)  

     I packed 5 suitcases but not all of them were filled with clothes! I left quite a bit at home. So I decided this week since I finally got a job I would go shopping and let myself get some new things to wear to work! What you also need to know is that I do not buy anything unless it is on sale or under $10 and normally I try and make everything under $10! On Monday I went to 57th st. and 7ave. This is what I found there:

I found this skirt at H&M for $7! I like it because its longer and easily can be worn with tights for fall:)

  Next stop was the Gap where I found these great flared jeans! They were $14 and I love them because they have a little stretch in them but fit perfect! 

     My first day was pretty good but I still didn't have shoes I could wear. Tuesday I decided to go to SoHo and shop. I started at a little store that I can't remember the name of and found these:

I LOVE boots! Seriously, my fall outfit is boots, jeggings, a huge scarf and I am set! These boots were on sale for $19! 

   My next spot was forever 21. I don't really like buying clothes at forever 21 because I don't really think their products are well made and I think they overprice it. I love going there for jewelry, headbands, belt, ect. 

    I found a black and purple skinny belt for $1.50 each, a gold ring for $2.80, and gray and tan nail polish for $2.00 each! 

    I love wearing my belts high waisted with skirts and theses are going to look great! I also love the funky shape of the ring. The nail polish is what I am most excited about because I have been looking for these colors for a long time! I am wearing the tan right now and love it! 

    Right now I can't afford anything at my place of employment which is a bummer since if I could I would buy everything! Anthropologie is apart of the urban brand. The other stores that are with them are free people, urban outfitters, and beholden. I decide to check out Urban Outfitter just to see if they had anything. I was quite surprised at what I found!

The red flower shirt I got for $19, the dress in the middle I got for $9 and the tank top was $4.99!

     Now normally I would never ever get something for $19 but I figured since it is the company I am working for I could pay a little more and also it fit perfect! 

    All in all I am very happy with my new clothes! One reason I am excited to start work is I LOVE putting outfits together. I am going to try and figure out a way I can post my outfits so you can see what I wear to work and maybe get inspired :) Let me know what you think of my finds :) 

    Much Love from NYC!

         Lisa

A 20 Hour Day!

   On Sunday I started training for my new job at Anthropologie! I had to be there at 9 and since it was 9/11 I wanted to make sure to give myself plenty of time to get there. I got up at 6:30 after not falling asleep until 1:30! But I got up and got ready and then headed to the subway at 7:35! I got to soho around 8:35 and just walked around and just got to know the area better! Training went well but kind of information overload! I am so excited to start working and train again on Thursday! I trained with 7 other people and everyone seems really nice!
   I got done training at 1:30 and then headed to Brooklyn to meet a family I am going to start babysitting for! The mom knows the Woods family from CF that I did babysitting for! They have two girls, 3 years old and 10 months! They are so well behaved and very fun! The mom and dad are super nice. I am so excited to have found a family because I missed being around kids soooooo much!
  My plan was to go to Hillsong at 5 for church but by the time I got off the train to go to church it was 5:25  and all I had eaten at that point was Special K cereal. I decide to just head home! I went and got a burger and fries at a place called Just Burgers! I took it back to my apartment and watched a special on CBS about 9/11! It was  actually footage from ground zero and very well done! My roommates and I then walked down to the park to see if we could see the spotlights from ground zero. We couldn't see it but it was a nice night for a walk!
     Being in New York on 9/11 was very surreal. I was in 3rd grade when 9/11 happened and remember everything from that day but didn't really understand what it meant for our country. Being here it's just crazy to think about how just an average day for everyone turned so tragic. Also watching the special you truly see the pure evil of people but also the pure goodness of people.
    I then got ready for bed but didn't fall asleep until 2! So all in all my 20 hour day was good but I did sleep in until 11 the next day which was nice!
    Thanks for all the prayers and support while I was looking for a job! God blessed me so much with this new job and I am so amazed I get to work there! I am learning that good things normally take time so its better to wait and know He has a plan for you :)
 Much love from NYC!
 Lisa

A Fashion Show, A Care Package, Excited to Start a New Job!

     On Thursday night I went to a fashion show at Samsung at the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle. This is where Elegantees is having their fashion show in Oct. so Katie and I went to check it out! The fashion show was fun and it was good to see how they set it up. Here are some pictures from the show.

Here is the runway which was grass, very cool!

One of the models

Another model!

The designer 

 On Thursday I got a special treat. I got a package!!! My sisters both were home for Labor Day. It was a little weird being the one not home! My sisters and mom went shopping during the weekend and got me a little something and sent me a "Way to Go on Getting a Job Package!" It was fill with VS underwear... Hahaha (for anyone who wears Victoria Secret underwear you know why this is a big deal)

         It was a nice little surprise to get! My family has done such a great job with sending packages and letters just letting me know they are supporting me :) Thanks mom, Kate, and Old Buddy :)

   On Sunday I start training at Anthropologie!! I start at 9 and go till 1. I am soooo excited!! I think I am really going to enjoy working retail and also I feel so lucky to be working at Anthropologie:) I will be working in SoHo. Here is there website if you want to check it out! 

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp

Here are some of the things I am loving and why lets hope the discount is a lot ;) 

Okay I am in LOVE with this dress! it's hard to see but the white are little elephants :)

I think this dress is a lot of fun and reminds me of the 1950's! 

Loves the gray and yellow combination!

You can never beat a little glitter!

I LOVE boots!!! And love the little ruffle!

This dress is just stunning and love the red:) 

 Okay so I might be broke within the first week of working here... just kidding Mom ;) But I will make sure to let you know how my first day goes. Thanks for all the support and prayers :) 

 Much Love from NYC, 

 Lisa

Some of My Favorite Things

   So today I have decide to share a few of my favorite things with you! From songs to books to websites and more. These are things that always help put me in a good mood and make me feel better so I hope you enjoy seeing some of my favorite things!

   Songs:
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjDojEOiMcE
       Everything is a song that makes me think of an amazing Big House skit that really shows the Lord's love for us!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iJA5oHoeOQ
          Thank you Katie(sister) for making me watch the VMA performance of Beyonce sing love on top and now playing this song over and over again!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AW9C3-qWug
       Adele can do no wrong in my eyes. I love every single one of her songs and this is what I listen to at night. I adore her music!
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da0JBKlyu8Q
     Good old Taylor Swift. This was the song I listened to a lot before I moved and I think it just reminded me to enjoy my time with my family and the daycare kids because of how fast everyone grows up! Taylor Swift also makes me think of driving with my friend Austin and him making up words to Hey Stephan and dying of laughter!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CwModBlV2E
    I am seriously laughing well I am writing this because I first hear this song when I was staying with my grandpa and grandma. I couldn't believe my grandparents were listening to such a rocking song and it was on life 101.9! Now my sister Kate and I love when this song comes on the radio because of how we can rock out to it!!!

Books!!!
  I haven't always loved reading but fell in love with it when I read Harry Potter #5! My mom started reading Harry Potter to me and I have probally read all the books at least 5 times!
    * Harry Potter 4 and 7 are my favorites
    * anything by Ann Brashares! She wrote the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants which I loved and also one my all time favorites The Last Summer of You and Me! I am currently reading My Name is Memory which is hard to put down because it's so good!
    * I am also reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan which is challenging and also sometimes hard to read because it makes you really look at your own life!
   * Sarah Dessen can do no wrong! Any teenage girl will agree with me and my favorite would be The Truth About Forever!
   * For a fun read, The Shopaholic Series are fun for that!
   * Bailey Flanigan Series by Karen Kingsbury- So much like my life right now!

TV shows!
  * The Office- one of the funniest shows of all time
  * How I Met Your Mother- another one of the best shows on tv
  * Glee- they sing, they dance need I say more
  * Say Yes to The Dress- Have always loved this show and makes me think of making up PE days with Rachel Patterson after school and watching this while working out!
  * The Big Bang Theory- so cute!! Enjoy watching this with Beth Keesy now though Skype ;)
  * Gossip Girl- Literally watch this for the clothes
  * Project Runway- Heidi, Michael, and Nina enough said!
  The next two shows I am not proud to admit I watch and enjoy but I do and yes mom I know God is always watching ;)
  * The Rachel Zoe Project- she is so ridiculous it's hard not to like her!
  * The Real Housewives( all of them)- yes this show is terrible and yet I still watch it!

Websites:
 http://www.people.com/people/
  Katie. Boelman's. Fault.
 ( p.s. Kate Ben as the new Bachelor!!! I do not like this. Why did she have to pick J.P!)

http://www.stylemepretty.com/
 Yes this is a wedding website and yes I check it everyday because I get sooo inspirited from dresses and I love weddings!

http://www.gap.com/
 I have been a gap person since I was little and love seeing what new things they have!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XSua37eKc8
 I love looking up fashion show on youtube and this is one of my favorite so check it out when you have some time!!

http://www.polyvore.com/
 Such a fun website full of amazing clothes!

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite things!!
 Much love from NYC,
 Lisa



  

Are You Sitting Under The Pomegranate Tree?

    Today I went back to Hillsong for church. I went at the 1pm service. Once again people were very welcoming and kind. The worship was awesome and this morning a pastor who started a church in NC came and talked. He talked over 1 Samuel 14 and focus on versus 6. In this versus Jonathan saids "Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf." The pastor focused on the word perhaps and perhaps isn't a word God uses it a word the Devil uses to try and get us to not believe. Like perhaps God will help us if we ask, of course God will help us all we have to do is ask.  He also talked about how once you join a  church it's not enough to get go to church each Sunday because in doing so you are basically sitting under the pomegranate tree letting your spiritual gifts go to waste. We also cant live by things we see, we have to live by things He has said and promised us.
   He left us with a very powerful thing to think about. Its is "Believing God's promise is bigger than my perhaps!" It was a perfect message for me to hear about the week I had with ups and downs. When I start thinking in perhaps I start fearing what God has in store for me. When we think perhaps he will help me find a job or perhaps he will help me with my skills we start to loss that completely and totally trust in him.
 This is my favorite Hillsong song from back home-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPrK3FP9Yrs&feature=related
 It will always remind me of Big House and how I have wonderful youth leaders that helped me grow and believed in me to go out and shine my light out for the Lord!

This is one they have sang both weeks that I love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bWRwjNqsoKw&feature=related
 LOVE it. still learning it but like the pastor said today sometime we have to sing things over and over before we really believed them!

Hope you enjoy!
Much love from NYC,
 Lisa

I Know What I am Doing!

   The last couple of days I have been kind of down. Noting really big I think it was just a combination of missing home, finding out it's going to be longer until I see family and friends, not hearing anything about where the CF show is going to be, not hearing anything about a job and I think feeling a little overwhelmed.
  Yesterday I think I was just straight up homesick. I think I just wanted to be around people who know me and I can be completely myself with. On my way home I was thinking about the job situation and was thinking if I hadn't heard anything by today (which was Thursday) its probably not looking too good!  When I got home and was relaxing I missed a phone call from Raegan( one of the daycare mom who I wrote down as one of my references for the Anthropologie job) She called to tell me she got a call from Anthropologie and she had called them back and it had gone really good. I called her back and chatted with her for away, got to talk to Quinnlyn and Harrison( who now of course can say my name now that I am gone ;) It was so good just talking with her and I so appreciate the nice things she say that I know helped me get the job!
   After I talked to Raegan I decide to go on a run and of course missed a call from Anthropologie. They left a message saying they wanted to talk about the next step in my application process and in my head I was like o man did I make it to the final round. I thought maybe I got another interview. I couldn't get a hold of them last night and finally did today. I talked to the gal that interview me and she said they would love me to join their Anthropologie family in SoHo!!! Pretty sure my mouth dropped open and I wanted to be like "OMG!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!" but I calmly did say "I am so excited! Thank you so much"
  The lesson I have learned in the last couple of days is that God knows what he is doing. I think I am one of those people that has to be reminded of that all the time. The last couple days have been a little emotional. To feeling like I need more skills to be here to feeling like I didn't get a job. Sometimes I think I am so worried about finding a job, making money, not disappointing people, working my hardest, doing the best job I can, finding a group of friends, finding a church, I forget that God has the plan and he always knows what he is doing even in those times I don't. Sometimes we have to feel like we are losing complete control to understand we don't have control at all. When we give it to the person in control of everything He shows us what He can do with letting him take the control.

Much Love and Joy from NYC,
 Lisa