the black sparkly dress.

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Hahaha...but seriously.

First of all, thank you for all the birthday wishes!!!  They're much appreciated :)

And now onto our regularly scheduled program...

I have an affinity for black sparkly things.

Black sparkly skirts, black sparkly shorts, black sparkly everything.

When it came time to find a dress for my 21st birthday extravaganza, I knew it had to be black and sparkly.

I ended up finding the perfect one at ASOS!

ASOS

I knew I needed it the second I saw it!  It was perfect for the Friday night of my birthday weekend.  My friends were, however, a little concerned.  You see...bad things happen when I wear black sparkly clothing.  One of my friends even had to go to the hospital after slipping and cutting open her chin one night when I had on a black sparkly skirt.

I was not so concerned about the dress.  I'm really not that superstitious.  Just because a silly black skirt causes issues, it doesn't mean a dress will!  In fact, I have black sparkly shorts and they don't cause problems.  No big deal, right?  Wrong...but we'll get to that in a bit.


Here's my evening in some pictures:

So happy to be 21!  We started off sipping some Tesco sparkling wine before heading to a party (yes, full blown party!) in our common room.

You see, it was a lot of people's birthdays this past weekend so someone organized for this one club HMV Picturehouse to provide a DJ and 3 free drinks with a line pass ticket to their club that night.  That is unheard of in American universities!  Awesome.

Caitlin and I were sad because our third musketeer was in Limerick for the weekend.

But it's okay because Al Pal came out with us too!

Caitlin!  P.S. Check out the birthday decorations in our common room.

Apparently it was someone's 18th birthday.  That's like turning 21 in the states.  The only difference is 21-year-olds have to wait a bit longer to be legal.

AlPal!

Clearly, we were discussing something of the utmost importance.  And if you're wondering why Asher's naked...I'm not quite sure.  Something happened and all the American dudes were taking off their shirts.  Who knows.  I live in Baird.  It's practically a frat house.

YAY!  I finally have a club picture after three years of clubbing in DC!

All in all, it was a fun night.  Caitlin and I made a pact to take at least 35 pictures...which we did...until a TAM occurred.  Yup, another one.  Bye, bye camera.  It was nice knowing ya.  It's okay, though.  I have a new one already.  I can't be in Europe and not have a camera.  I'm just upset this is the second camera I've broken this school year.  What can ya do?

Here's the rundown for my outfit:
Dress:  ASOS
Shoes:  Target (plain black pumps...nothing photoworthy)
Earrings:  DT earrings!

And because I was with Caitlin when she got her dress...
Dress:  Topshop

some shopping.

I know I said I wasn't going to wear cute outfits during Innovative Learning Week.  Somehow, though, walking into Brooks Brothers in a crappy outfit doesn't seem right.

So I decided to dress up a bit:

Blazer:  J. Crew (similar...gotta love the schoolboy!)

Shirt:  J. Crew Factory

Skirt:  Charlotte Russe

Tights:  Kohls?

Shoes:  Aldo

Earrings:  Forever 21

I also stopped by H&M and Topshop...check out this cute new dress!

Topshop

21.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.


21.

Ahh!  Today's the day!

And because it's my birthday...

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Have a lovely day, princesses!

abijamz.

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It's my BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!  To celebrate, here's a Spotify playlist!

AbiJAMZ.

noun:  a collection of songs that Abby likes to jam to.

Listen on Spotify!

Mamma Mia - Abba

Monster - Lady GaGa

Paparazzi - Lady GaGa

You and I - Lady GaGa

Can't Be Tamed - Miley Cyrus

I'd Do Anything - Simple Plan

Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

Rich Girl - Hall and Oates

Sexy and I Know It - LMAFO

Oops!...I Did It Again - Britney Spears

Stronger - Britney Spears

Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne

Material Girl - Madonna

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

I Love College - Asher Roth

We Found Love - Rihanna

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - Swedish House Mafia vs. Coldplay

Like a G6 - Far East Movement

Shots - LMAFO

We Are Young - Fun

Bass Down Low - Dev

Superbass - Nicki Minaj

Toxic - Britney Spears

Wannabe - Spice Girls

Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus

What the Hell - Avril Lavigne

I'm a Slave 4 U - Britney Spears

Everybody - Backstreet Boys

Booty Bounce - Dev

American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

1985 - Bowling for Soup

Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne

Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith

P.Y.T. - Michael Jackson

Blow - Ke$ha

Pretty Girl Rock - Keri Hilson

Genie in a Bottle - Christina Aguilera

Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf

Mine (Pop Mix) - Taylor Swift

Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship

LoveGame - Lady GaGa

Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

You Took the Words Outta My Mouth - Meat Loaf

I Like It - Enrique Iglesias

Kissin U - Miranda Cosgrove (just for you, puja!)

I Like it Rough - Lady GaGa

Love on Top - Beyonce

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police

Now you can jam styleprincess style!

friday favorites.

It's been a while since I've done one of these!  As usual, it's all about the little things in life.

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"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Here's what I'm LOVING, brought to you by Instagram Filters as Actions for Photoshop!

princess tissue box. (X Pro II filter)

rediscovered music.

I was busy making a playlist called "AbiJAMZ" when someone on my newsfeed posted the music video for "Genie in a Bottle."  I had totally forgotten about the song and after a quick listen, I knew I had to DL and add it to my new playlist.  Here's to rediscovering songs you used to love (when you were an eight-year-old...awk).

free t-shirts. (Inkwell filter)

Got this at a club earlier this month.  Yay for free t-shirts that don't say WONK on them!

Side Note:  American University has pushing its WONK campaign onto students by passing out free t-shirts with ____ WONK on them.  They have communications wonk, fill-in-the-blank wonk, political wonk, and even a shirt that said, "Titty WONK" for breast cancer awareness.

american university dance team!

Words cannot describe how much I miss my team.  I'm living vicariously through their awesome routines!  As soon as they're done cheering on our men's and women's basketball teams, they'll be heading to Nationals!  They've been preparing for a while and are still busy fundraising.  Help them out!

birthday cards. (Lomo-fied filter)

I absolutely love cards, so I was more than thrilled when I saw not one but three birthday cards from my parents in my mailbox!  The mail here is notoriously bad and I'm still awaiting a Valentine's Day package from my mom (as well as my phone's battery...), but somehow these made it to me super quick! I especially love the T. Swift card!

UPDATE:  Valentine's Day package came!!!

tide to go pen! (Earlybird filter).

Words can't describe how happy I am.  No longer going to freak out when I inevitably spill something on myself!

hot pink sparkly manicure. (nashville filter)

Now this is what I call innovative learning!  Manicure by The Wax Bar.  If you're ever in Edinburgh and looking to get waxed, I highly recommend them.

party in the usa!

Okay, I couldn't have asked for a more fitting theme for my 21st birthday.  I AM SO EXCITED!  They're gonna have pong, American themed visuals (can't wait to see good, old DC), and RED SOLO CUPS!  Ahhhh!

AlPal, Caitlin, and I are totally taking over.  Byez.

And on that note...

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I KNOW I AM!  Birthdayweekend, let's do this.

innovative learning.

Phew.  I haven't had classes this week because it's "Innovative Learning Week," but I've been spending nearly all my time in the library getting really far ahead on my work.  I'm pretty proud of myself, especially because I've found it really difficult to manage my time since I've been here.  I'm used to being incredibly busy and having a bazillion and a half things to do and that's just not the case.

It's really strange to me not having basketball games twice a week and three hour practices three times a week.  Not to mention, I'm spending less time in class here than I would be if I were in the states.

This experience has definitely one long vacation for me thus far, with a side of work.  I'm not complaining though.  :)

Anyway, I think this is the first week I've looked sloppy since I got here.  Not many people are around (students went home and stuff) and I've been spending the majority of my time in the library, so I'm not really looking to dress for success.  On that note, here is my one and only OOTD picture from this week (until Birthday Weekend hits!):

Sweater:  J. Crew

Skirt:  J. Crew

Tights:  Urban Outfitters

Boots:  Aldo (old)

As for my hair, I used a no-heat method to curl!  I was really happy with how it turned out...until I walked to the library in the Edinburgh wind.  Boo.  That's okay.  It's not like I spent hours doing it :)

ice, ice baby.

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Talk to me, Harry Winston.  Tell me all about it.

We're talking ice today, princesses.  Just not the kind of ice I wish we were talking about.

You see, last Thursday the AU gang and I went to a Fire and Ice themed party!

Caitlin and I were dining in JMCC when she got a text from Alex telling us he had purchased tickets for his flat's party.  We thought it was a casual affair and were planning on wearing what we had on at that moment.  That was before we found the Facebook event describing the theme...and location.  We found out that the party was taking place at this club called "Why Not?" and therefore, our plan to wear what we had on failed.  Whoops.

Changing was totally worth it because we all had a great time!

We all dressed up as ice! :)

And my favorite from the evening...

Although the night wasn't what we thought it was going to be, it turned out to be even better!

I love spontaneous evenings.

loch ness.

I ventured outside of Edinburgh for the first time this past weekend into the highlands of Scotland to visit the one and only Nessie.

I'm sure you've all seen this famous photograph:

via google.

Well...I'm sad to report that I didn't spot Nessie.  I was fully prepared to wave hi and everything.

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Oh, heyyyyy.  Sup, Nessie?!

That's okay.  Loch Ness was still incredibly beautiful and so were the other parts of Scotland we saw on the tour.  We took this bus tour from High Street in Edinburgh and traveled through Scotland all the way up to Loch Ness.

Our first destination was at a little rest stop somewhere north of Sterling.  On our way there, we drove through a town called Doune, which is home to Doune Castle.  Fun Fact:  Doune Castle is where they filmed the opening scene for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, one of my family's all time favorite movies.

via google.

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Ahem.  We also drove over the bridge over River Teith, which is the setting for the Broadway musical and Gene Kelly movie Brigadoon.

Eventually we reached our first stop, where I found a new scarf and some Harris Tweed that I've been on the hunt for.  Unfortunately, they only had men's blazers but I will find women's eventually.  I refuse to leave Scotland without my own Harris Tweed blazer.

As for my scarf...I was silly and forgot to wear one.  Cut me some slack.  I don't think well at 6 a.m.  Luckily I found a clan tartan that just so happened to match what I was wearing:

And conveniently the tartan belongs to the Baird clan, which is the name of the building I'm living in here at U of E.  Here's the description from the tag:

"The earliest record of the name in Scotland is of Henry de Barde who, as 'Mariscallus apud Strivelin', witnessed a charter by William the Lion in 1178 of some lands in Stirling to the Bishop of Glasgow.  Records trace numerous instances of Baird families in Lanarkshire and surrounding counties.  The earliest reference to Bairds in the Highlands is of William Baird in Easter Ross in 1526.  Notwithstanding the principal family in the north, were those of Auchmedan in Aberdeenshire who had arrived there from Banffshire.  Descendants of George Baird of Auchmeddan, who married a daughter of the powerful Keiths, became hereditary sheriffs of Aberdeen, and from this House came the Bairds of Newbyth and Saughtonhall.  Before 1698 John Baird was created a Baronet, this baronetcy passed to William Baird whose second son David was a leading General during the Napoleonic wars.  John Baird was responsible was responsible for the construction of New York's elevated railroads on 2nd and 6th Avenues.  The most universally celebrated to bear the name was John Logie Baird--born in Helensburgh in 1888, he gave the world's first television demonstration in 1926."

Phew.  I don't know if you read all that (and frankly, I don't blame you if you didn't), but I thought it was pretty interesting.

Continuing on...we stopped for a photo op next and on the way, passed the Hogwarts Express bridge!  Okay, okay.  Not the same exact one...but this one was built by the same company:

Apologies for a crappy picture...I had to take it through the bus windows.

Next stop:  photo op.

And I guess now would be a good time to tell you what I was wearing:

Sweater:  J. Crew

Pants:  Abercrombie

Shoes:  Sperry

Ahh, so beautiful!

The next stop on our way to Loch Ness was Glen Coe.  We stopped for another brief photo op and boy, was it windy!  Our tour guide told us that the mountains served as background for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies!  How cool is that?!

Clearly, I was loving it!

Our tour guide also pointed out the location where they filmed all the scenes around Hagrid's hut.  How cool is that?!

Eventually we were at our final destination:  Loch Ness!

Check out that mist!  I bet Nessie's back there :)

So gorgeous.  I can't even handle it.

We waited for our boat tour to begin in the middle of a snow storm, but by the time we set sail the weather was beautiful.  Cold, but beautiful.

Caitlin and I insisted on purchasing Nessie hats and thus, embarrassing Rebecca.  Totally worth it.  I'm guessing we amused some random guy on the boat because he took our picture.  Cool, I'm going to end up in a rando Facebook album.  #famous

We may not have seen Nessie, but that's okay!  If you want to learn more, check out this brief clip from "The Ballad of Nessie," the short that was shown before the Winnie-the-Pooh movie this summer!

All in all, it was a very long, fun day.  I'm so glad we went!  Although I am still a bit disappointed we didn't spot the monster.