My Aggie Ring Day

This first part is of the actual ceremony where I received my ring.  There were literally hundreds (maybe thousands?) of people standing around waiting, taking pictures, and havin' lots of Aggie fun on the unseasonably warm spring day.  I wanted it to be special, so only my parents, Curtis, and his parents went with me to pick it up.  We stood outside of the building for about 20 minutes, until finally they called my group, Group 8.  We scooted (literally..there were so many people) our way over to the lines for the rings. My name was on the sign, which was pretty cool, I signed a form saying I picked up my ring, and Curtis slipped that little gold ring on my finger.. foreshadowing for a couple months later?  I think so. 

Curt's bro-in-law, Curt's sis, me, Curtis, Curt's dad. We got dem gold rings covered, yo.

At Texas A&M, we take our class rings extremely seriously. I don't know of any other school that has an entire day dedicated to students going and picking up their class rings, or has silly little traditions to go along with what happens afterward. Fun fact: Every Aggie Ring in the world looks exactly the same. We're rather into tradition here. The photos above are from my "Ring Dunk." You put your ring at the bottom of a pitcher of whatever beverage you choose, and you have to drink all of it to get to the ring.."or else you don't get your ring," ha. Aggie Ring Dunks are typically performed with..beer. And seeing as I'm not much of a drinker, I think it would've been one awful idea for me to have dunked my ring in beer, so I did it with unsweet tea. Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater. NO. It was so hard, y'all! My stomach was literally confused at what on earth I was doing forcing half a gallon of tea into it all at once. Which would be why I look like a crazy in the last photo with Curtis, haha. I dunked with my closest college friends, so it was lots of fun. I just want y'all to know, my pitcher I dunked in was $5 from Goodwill, and no, I didn't buy a poncho like everyone else, I found a clear plastic trash bag and made head and arm holes.  Cheap-o, why yes I am. 
All-in-all, I loved my Aggie Ring Day. It was better than I could have ever imagined, and I'm so proud to be a Fightin' Texas Aggie! Although, I will never be chugging anything ever again. 

And yes, I'm joining a family of giants.

Cecilia

One of my favorite songs when I was a little kid was Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel, and by some odd happenstance, while I was getting ready this particular morning, it came on (my neighbors probably hate me for playing music at 7AM) and I thought to myself, how befitting.. this outfit just seemed to fit the song so well. Maybe it'd fit better if I didn't have to wear tights and it was 90 degrees outside, instead of the 60 degrees it actually was. Hey, random cold front, where'd you come from? But, this song just seems like such a summer song to me. Clearly, I'm not breakin' any hearts though.. tehe.

I'm pretty proud of myself, I've made it over two and a half weeks without shopping..honestly, I haven't even been tempted really. I've just been going crazy on my Pinterest and pinning every outfit imaginable to help inspire me to shop my own closet. Another tool that's been instrumental in my shopping ban has been Go Chic or Go Home, if you haven't ever visited the site before, I definitely recommend it. It's helped me organize my closet and serves as a great reminder that I really do have a ton of clothes and that shopping for more won't solve anything. 

In saying all of that, all of these pieces (minus the accessories) are relatively old. Y'all have seen the lace top before (here and here), it's one of my favorites and I'm so glad to have figured out a new way to wear it. The skirt I've had forever, and it's a little too big now, but I'm in love with the color.. and I can always get it taken in if I want to. The flats are shoes that aren't the most comfortable, as are most Target flats in my opinion, but they're so cute! Also, wearing tights with them does help a bit because they don't rub the backs of my ankles. My boater hat, how I love thee! It's the perfect summer hat, and like the lovely Danielle said on her blog the other day, hats are perfect for those days when your hair gives you the fits. I did buy my hat with a bit of a purpose though, you can't go on a big 'ole boat without a boater hat! Duh! Lastly, my sunglasses.. I wasn't sure about them when I first bought 'em a few weeks ago, and I wouldn't have bought them if they weren't $3, but I really had been wanting some round sunnies! I think they've grown on me now though.

Friday, oh Friday, you have finally returned to us. This particular Friday is especially exciting for me, you see I receive my Aggie Ring this afternoon, at 3:30 to be exact. My family's already in town, and Curt's parents and my best friend, Kelsey, will all be here pretty soon. Getting my Aggie Ring has always been a big deal for me, probably because I'm a girl and I like shiny gold things too much.. but also because it's such an accomplishment. For a girl whose family didn't go to big colleges and get fancy degrees, it's quite a big deal. Now, I've just got to actually finish college for it to truly be real, but receiving this ring is a reminder of what I'm working towards. It's so easy to just stay in bed in the mornings, or pretend like that exam really isn't that big of a deal, but having an education isn't something to be taken for granted. I am so blessed to have gotten into such an amazing university, one I love deeply, and I will be so proud to represent once I get out into the "real world." I'll be sure to post pictures and tell y'all about all of the festivities this afternoon and evening hold in-store sometime next week!

I hope you lovely ladies have a fantastic start to your weekends. Now go rock out to some Simon & Garfunkel ;) 

Linking up with: Two Thirty-Five Designs, Plane Pretty

___________________________

Top: Target (similar, lusting over)
Skirt: Forever 21 (similar)
Belt: New York & Co.
Tights: Target (exact)
Flats: Target (save, spend, spend)
Hat: Target (exact)
Sunnies: Gap via Ross (save, spend, splurge)
___________________________