So you have escaped from home ... you now have your own place.  Great right?  No parents, no chores, no nagging you know the great life.  Well almost.  Dishes!  Let's face it they need to get clean and if you are living in the world without a dishwasher that means ... you gotta wash them.  

It all starts with one cup or plate in the sink and before you know it everything you own is in there needing to be cleaned.  So what do you do?  Roll up your sleeves and start washing?

Here are some tips ....

1) When apartment hunting make sure your kitchen is off the beaten path ... you know not viewable from the front door.  

2) Decorative dishtowels over the sink will get you an extra day ... or two.  

3) Soaking them for later is never a good idea - you just end up with STANK water and slimey dishes.

4) Marissa you are in luck ... bring that little sister over and bribe her to do the dishes.  Ex. Debra and her friends would want to come over and hang out ... sure thing but ya gotta wash some dishes.  Win win.

Okay so you are gonna wash them (because little sisters are unavailable or they have finally caught on to you), go to the sink and stand there for a few minutes thinking do I really need these dishes ... I mean I could throw them out and get a whole new set for like $10.  Okay done?  Please we've all thought that.   Instead just take the plunge.  Wash and dry them ... letting them air dry will mean that they never make it back into the cabinet so spend the extra time making sure everything is put away.

So dishes are done and you vow to never eat or drink anything again.  So now what ... well while you are on a cleaning spree clean the rest of your place.  I'm sure you have stuff stuffed everywhere hidden from visitors view so get it back to square one.  At the end, you'll have a squeaky clean apartment and eat out for the next week to keep it that way but hey you're young and there is more to life than dishes and clean apartments ... right?

The first time you get a dishwasher you will love it even more and appreciate the fact that it can contain the mess until full and be done without your sweat and tears while you are out shopping.  In all seriousness, I'm not condoning a messy apartment but it's a part of college life.  There is so much going on that the last thing you want to think about after pulling an all nighter studying or sleeping off a hangover is dishes.  It doesn't make you a bad person - it's just a part of being an adult on your own. I spent my college years nearly roommate free so maybe find a roomie that loves to do dishes and live happily ever after.  But even roommates come with a cost ... more on that later.

Friday Fancies: Style Crush

I'm not one to crush over an actress/model/whatever's look.  Come on they have stylists!  However I do envy and have style crushes on those around me that can create a bold color and printed outfit.  I have outfit crushes ... so here is an attempt to make an outfit that I would totally crush on if I saw someone wearing it.

I just love mint and coral together ... now only if my skin tone loved them as much I do.  Also, it takes guts to mix prints and bold colors so I just crush over anyone's outfit that does and then scour the internet looking for the same pieces {true story}.

Have you ever had one of these moments?

Read this!

What better day to make a fresh comeback than an It's Okay Thursday!

I've done some blog soul searching and discovered that I had indeed lost my roots but I have gained some other great things along the way so those need to be embraced as well.  So here it goes ... my plan:

First off, Friday Fancies are a must have comeback post so tune in tomorrow for my fabulous outfit creation!

Second, I started this blog to WRITE and I haven't done that in a long time.  Some of it was due to writer's block and the other due to convincing myself that no one actually reads anymore because they just want pictures and the ability to move on quickly.  Well tough luck cuz I'm doing some writing. I am devoting one post a week to a new idea ... {here's a little back story} ... a fellow blogger, Stephanie at Bourbon and Glitter, recommended a book Adulting:  How to Become a Grown Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown so I checked it out from my local library and the part that hit me was when the author stated that she always gave advice to her friends and they were always saying ... you should write a book.  That is totally me.  I have dreamed of writing an advice book.  I've even tried having an advice column post which didn't really take off so what can I do with all this advice.  I often think that my friends get a bit tired of me having all the answers so who can I help? {Light bulb turns on!!}  My nieces!!!  As you all know (or now know), I have three adorable little nieces. Marissa (7) and Leah (3) are my sister Nicole's girls and Kaelyn (4) is my sister Debra's girl. When Marissa was born I dreamed of her being old enough to have chats and to give her advice and hello ... she is pretty much there.  Seven ... how are you seven!!  I ask her this all the time.  Anywho, back to my brilliance, so one day a week (exact day yet undetermined) I will do a post, Trust Me Been There. The advice will be things I've learned in life ... some serious and some hilarious because not all advice needs to be some grand speech on how to.  Sometimes it's just an omission that everyone does silly stuff and lives to laugh about it.  So I hope you will join in and feel free to give your two cents on each post.  I'd love for you all to share your stories too!

Third, so I have Fridays and some other day wrapped up so what else is going to be showing up around here?  All that fabulous random stuff that once made my blog, MY BLOG.  If you need a gist, feel free to click round on my blog and see what's up.  

Lastly, thank you all for hanging in there and all your kind words on my last post.  

Here's to my new plan!