All's well that ends well.

Remember when Kendall had to go the emergency room the night before her graduation? When I said that in my family, whatever can go wrong will go wrong?

Well, friends, nothing was different in my preparations for my trip to France.

Yesterday afternoon I was with my sister Paige going to Target to get some last minute things.

I was in my mom's car,

and she had less than a quarter of a tank,

so I decided to fill up for her.

Just to be nice.

When I thought the pump was done pumping,

I pulled the pump out of my car.

What I didn't know was

the pump was not done.

So there was about 30 seconds where I got entirely doused with gasoline.

My left eye took it the hardest, unfortunately.

So I spent my evening in the ER,

getting my eye flushed out with the most uncomfortable little contact thing.

It was awful.

And I really smelled like gasoline.

It was bad.

But after two hours at the hospital,

I got discharged,

free and clear,

good to go on my trip!

So I came home to a bouquet of flowers (shown above) from my darlin' sister Kendall.

My best friends Morgan and Kevin came over, bearing patriotic going away gifts. (photos coming later!)

The perfect evening (post-hospital).

I'm leaving my house in an hour for the airport!

Next post coming at you from Paris, France.

Tomorrow!

Soon enough I will have a photo just like this--that I took myself!

The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American. It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift as we grow older--intelligence and good manners.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

It seems only fitting that my favorite author would send me off on my journey abroad!

I am ecstatic about my trip, and cannot wait to share every detail with all of you.

I am so excited for the eating,

sightseeing,

conversing en Francais,

taking an obscene amount of photos,

making both American and French friends,

and most of all, living as if I were French for a month.

A bientot! (wish I knew how to type accents...)

Five Things Friday

This is a special edition of Five Things Friday

because it is the last one I'll write in America

(at least for a few weeks!).

On Tuesday I'm off to France,

so I couldn't resist this opportunity to share all of my favorite things

about our fair country.

1. I love red, white, and blue. I seriously can't think of a better color combination. Betsy Ross knew what was up. No look is more classic than a pair of red high-waisted shorts and a blue and white striped tank. Please believe I'll be rockin' this outfit on July 4 and of course on Bastille Day, because the founding fathers of France knew what was up too.

2. I geek out over American history. I am a sucker for self-directed action, and Paul Revere and friends saw a problem they wanted to address and acted upon it. My best friend Morgan and I went to Washington DC when we were 14 and the American History Museum was without question my favorite part of the trip.

3. America is a melting pot. In one of my sociology classes, the professor argued that America is less of a melting pot and more of a stew, in which you can visibly see each part and there is not a whole lot of mixing. In any case, the "America as melting pot" image is still popular, so we're going with it. I love that when I come home to Hollister, Hispanic culture is readily apparent wherever I go. And when I'm at school in Berkeley, I am exposed to pretty much any culture you could imagine (especially in sociology). My favorite manifestation of the melting pot its influence on food. Rarely do I eat American food. I joke with my friends that I'm the most Mexican person they know, because I literally eat Mexican food at least three times a week. But I also love boba, Italian, sushi, Thai, and most of all, Indian.

4. Great American cities. My intense love for urbanity must have come out of living in a small town my whole life. I yearn for the fast-paced attitude and ability to walk everywhere. San Francisco is my greatest love, and always will be. But I've spent time in LA (not my fave, but suffices), New York, and Nashville, and I love them all. I have yet to visit an international city, but will be sure to report on how they stack up against my beloved American urban centers.

5. I love the fact that I still get goosebumps when I think about 9/11. I was only 11, of course, but I remember that day so vividly. The image of the firemen hoisting the flag over ground zero still makes me tear up, and whenever I think about the men who forced the plane to crash in Pennsylvania instead of the White House I get goosebumps so intensely that I shiver. It was a tragic day, but also a day that proved so much about how strong this country is. Yes, we were susceptible to terrorism, but we were also united. I think it's the most blatant symbol of Americana and American pride.

Okay, so maybe I teared up a little (or maybe a lot) when I was writing out that last one.

As excited as I am for my time abroad,

I am really going to miss my home.

I'm proud to be an American!

Happy Friday!

You got your sundress on for game day, just to drink beer on an old tailgate

Somethin' bout a good ol' country song that makes me want to be a real Southern belle (and not just the one I play in the movie in my head). Luke Bryan's Sorority Girl makes me desperately long for sweet tea on a wrap-around porch and a Southern gentleman to call my very own.

Plus, it's catchy as hell (even if it doesn't mention my affiliation). And I do wear sundresses on game day, just to drink beer at a tailgate. So maybe I'm not so not-Southern after all.

Perhaps it's the fact that in just a while I'll be on a plane to sororityland for the weekend (is it bad that I'm most excited about a tour of my national headquarters?!), but this song is my jam right now.

The violet--the official sorority flower of Sigma Kappa

The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation that you ever had.

-anonymous

Tomorrow I'm off to Indianapolis for my sorority's yearly meeting.

Convention looming on the horizon has made me ponder life and friendship.

A lot of people accuse members of the Greek community of "buying their friends"

but in my opinion nothing could be further from the truth.

The friends, nay, best friends I've made in my chapter are the people I was destined to be friends with.

These women will be in my wedding,

know my children (if that happens),

and know my deepest secrets even when we've grown up and apart.

I cherish the memories I've made with them,

and am so grateful that I have another year of memories to create.

My sorority's open motto is one heart one way

and that truly resonates in my mind.

Friends share a heart, a pathway, and a bond so deep that it cannot be broken

no matter what times and circumstances do to rip it apart.

I am so grateful for my friends,

and cannot wait to meet my sisters from all around the country this weekend.

#sosorority

Happy first day of summer!

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

It's freakin' hot here in CenCal (Central California, get it? I'm so clev)

so I'm spending the day indoors...SHOPPING.

I still need a few things for my trips

so my mom and I are about to embark on a spending spree!

And since it's the longest day of the year,

I plan to embrace the sunshine for as long as it'll let me.

Hope you all are able to survive the heat

and find some ways to enjoy it!

One week until France,

six weeks until I'm 21!

**Before the Tim McGraw concert with my besty!

Five Things Friday

Today is my Daddy's birthday!

Unfortunately I'm away at a conference, so I'm missing out on both birthday and Father's Day celebrations! :(

In honor of my dear ol' dad, today's Five Things Friday are all things Craig.

1. When my grandma was pregnant with my dad, she was so convinced that she was having a girl that she didn't even bother to consider boys' names. "Craig Alan" was purely a spur-of-the-moment hospital decision.

2. My dad has a nickname for everyone. Seriously, boys we're are dating, new customers, teachers, relatives...meet him for 5 minutes and he'll have a nickname for ya. He must have some strange aversion to birth names. Perhaps because of item #1 on this list?

3. When I was a junior in high school, I was convinced that I wanted to go back east for college. So my dad took me on a tour...in February. He planned it that way so that it would be cold and I wouldn't like it. And his plan worked! I wound up only applying to California schools.

4. My dad plays city league basketball (with a bunch of other old guys) and every year he swears it's his last season. Literally. Every year. We'll see when he finally quits.

5. Craig is a big fan of P90X, which includes nuggets of wisdom such as "Do your best, and forget the rest," which dear Craig likes to use as pep talks. Cheesy, but effective. Most of teh time.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I love you!

I won an awesome give away!

You guys, I'm so excited to have won Christine's Project Have Hope give away!

If you know me well, you know that I never win anything. Seriously. At Sober Grad Night after high school graduation (where everyone is guaranteed a prize) I didn't win a single. thing. The entire night. Nothing. So I'm very excited to have won my first blog give away!

What is most special about this give away is that it comes from such an amazing organization. From PHH's website:

"Project Have Hope works with a group of 100 women in the Acholi Quarter of Uganda and helps them transform their lives and the lives of their families. Through the sale of their beautiful, handmade paper bead jewelry, the women can feed their families, send their children to school, and look forward to a richer future."

There's nothing I love more than community-focused empowerment and action, so I feel like I won double with this. I am getting some awesome hand-made paper products AND I found a fantastic organization to support.

I recommend you check out Project Have Hope's website. They also have a fundraising program for people here in the states to support families in Uganda.

Such a great way to start my week. Hope you're all having a happy Monday!

Five Things Friday

Today I'm off on a little road trip adventure to LA with my best friend Morgan!

Even though I'm about to embark on a 6 hour drive, I couldn't resist doing my usual

Five Things Friday! Here it goes!

1. Tomorrow night Morgan and I are seeing Tim McGraw in concert! I cannot wait to rock my cowboy boots (purchased in Nashville, so they're legit) and listen to some of my favorite country songs. The Band Perry and Luke Bryan are co-headlining with Tim, and given that "If I Die Young" and "Sorority Girl" have been my two main jams of summer, I am fricken stoked to see all of them!

2. One of my major life goals is to visit all 50 states. I've been to 20 states + DC so far, and I'll be adding a couple more this summer (Colorado, Indiana, and maybe some surprises!).

3. I could eat Mexican food 3 meals a day every single day if possible. Huevos rancheros for breakfast, taco salad for lunch, and a cheese enchilada for dinner. The perfect day. Perhaps fattening, but I would enjoy it so much that it wouldn't matter a bit.

4. I went shopping on Tuesday and literally bought everything on my France wish list. Maybe a little embarrassing, but it was all stuff I needed, right? Can't wait to share some pictures of it all :)

5. On Wednesday, my friends Diana and Brenna (I went to elementary school with them, and then they went to a different high school) and I had a little adventure at Diana's beach house in Santa Cruz. The house is literally right on the beach, so I woke up to the sound of waves crashing on the shore. We had red wine and a cheese platter--so fancy. At some point I became a grown up, and I think I like it.

No random photo today because blogger hates me :(

Recipe: Cake Pops

Now this is a recipe that calls for a little patience and a whole lotta sweet tooth.

Have you tried cake pops yet? They sell adorable little perfect ones at Sbux. Try one of those before you make your own!

What I love most is that these are super easy to get good at making, and everyone fawns over them because they're so cute. I did a trial run a few weeks ago and they turned out okay, but I made a second batch of 'em for Kendall's graduation party that everybody loved (even me, my harshest critic)!

What you need:

A baked cake (I like funfetti or yellow...or if you're hardcore make one from scratch!)

A mixing bowl

A tub of frosting (vanilla for funfetti or chocolate for yellow)

Candy chips that you can melt (Michael's craft stores have an excellent assortment of colors and they're relatively inexpensive)

Large lollipop sticks

A styrofoam brick

How you make them:

1. Start crumbling the cake into the mixing bowl. Should be about the consistency of breadcrumbs.

2. Once you've mashed up the whole cake, mix in one spoonful of frosting at a time until the mixture is entirely moist. I usually use about half a can of frosting, but add more if you like things extra sweet!

3. Wash your hands and start shaping the cake/frosting mixture into balls, about 2 inches in diameter. Place them on a plate, and once all your mixture is balled up pop them in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

4. Get your candy chips and melt them in a microwave safe bowl (microwave for no more than 30 seconds at a time and stir in between).

5. Take out the cake balls. Place sticks in them, no more than about a centimeter deep.

6. Dip the cake ball into the melted candy. You might have to swirl it around and even use a spoon to make sure it's all covered. Add sprinkles to decorate if you wish!

7. Place the pop into the styrofoam to harden.

8. Enjoy!

The dipping can be tricky the first time you do it, but I promise it gets easier!

Let me know if you try them!

My France Wish List

I'm headed to France in 23 short days! I've got lots of things to do before I leave. I made a wish list of things I need to buy (hint hint, Mom...)--these are obviously absolute necessities.

Passport cover

Hello, it's super important that I have my passport at all times. It would totally be easier to keep track of if I had a cute cover like this one.

White pants

Someone once told me no one wears shorts in Paris (truth, or vicious rumor?) In any case, I'm gonna need something more summery than my usjh (abbrev of usual--thoughts?) denim.

LBD

Every girl's best friend. I have a fabulous one in my possession already, but I'm saving it for causin' some trouble in Vegas for my 21st.

Weekend bag

Barca is booked, and Amsterdam is in the works, so I'm gonna need something reasonably sized to take with me on my cheap plane flights. And it's obvi gonna have to be stylish too.

Sigh. I wish my taste yearned for less expensive things.

That's all I could think of for now. I think I've got most of the rest of my wardrobe covered, and I already have a suitcase big enough to make me look like a fool as I lug it around the airport.

Anything else I forgot? Any tips for a first-time major traveller?

Lunch on the patio

Today the weather was finally nice enough to be outside!

Paige and I dined on the patio for lunch. We had salad, carrots, and fruit.

Isn't the salad beautiful? We mixed lettuce, cucumbers, olives, banana peppers, and jalapenos, topped with salsa as dressing. SO GOOD, and even better that we were outside in the sun.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Monday!

Kendall's Graduation in Pictures

One of the things that is most endearing to me about my family is that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Seriously, regardless of how good an Archer's karma might be or how hard you've prayed for everything to be in its right place, something bad always happens.

Kendall's high school graduation was no different.

Despite how fab she looks in all these pictures, Kendall got released from the emergency room a mere 11 hours before her graduation ceremony started (meaning only 7 hours before she had to wake up in the morning.) She woke up with horrendous food poisoning and was sick all day Thursday. She went to the ER to get all hydrated and well again, and rallied for the ceremony and her party the next day.

A true champ that one is. And doesn't she look gorg?

A few weeks ago, my mom officially put me in charge of the little family party, so being the cray-cray that I am, I went to town. I literally spent 13 hours baking the day before, and spent the morning of scrambling around decorating. Totally worth it to make my sister happy :) and I think things turned out pretty good, right? I'm considering a career in party planning at the behest of the party guests :)

Husky cupcake recipe can be found here (super easy, I promise!)

On me: Dress Rachel Roy, Ring F21, Watch Michael Kors, Shoes Target

On Kendall: Dress Single, Shoes F21 (hair and make up done by yours truly)

Sunday Gratitude

Sometimes I am just struck by how amazingly blessed I am to have my friends and family in my life.

I spent the weekend surrounded by people I love and who love me, and for that I am tremendously thankful.

Today I just wanna pinch myself. My life is full of love, happiness, and smiles.

Five Things Friday

Today is a special edition of Five Things Friday,

because today is my little sister Kendall's high school graduation!

Taking a moment to make this all about me (typical...), I cannot believe I graduated three years ago! It feels like yesterday that I was waking up, curling my hair, and heading to school to graduate! (maybe one day I'll tell the story of how my graduation gown got stolen right before the ceremony...) So much has changed since then, but I still feel the same in a lot of ways.

Since this Friday is Kendall's special day, I am dedicating my five things to facts and useless trivia about my favorite 18 year old. Here it goes!

1.) Kendall was born on my second-and-a-half birthday. This means that every year, on each of our birthdays, we wish the other a happy half birthday. On February 2, I try to get half the attention ;) When we were little, my mom would get the half birthday girl a present too.

2.) For the past year, Kendall served as the State Vice President of the California Association of Student Councils. She was the second in command of a statewide organization at age 17...she's a bad ass, enough said.

3.) Kendall applied to 16 colleges (clearly she's a crazy person) and got into 14! I may be biased, but I'd say that's pretty damn impressive. She worked so hard in high school, and I'm so proud of her! She's headed to the University of Washington in the fall, and our teams face off on the football team in September! Can't wait.

4.) Kendall could eat Subway everyday. In fact, she probably has it almost everyday. This is an obsession of which I approve. Subway is tasty.

5.) You know how some people just aren't morning people? Well, Kendall takes that trait to a whole new level. Waking her up is highly inadvisable. I wouldn't recommend it to even a trained professional. Good thing she's about to go to college, which means setting your own schedule and not ever getting up before noon if you don't want to. Kendall's a girl who likes her sleep, that's for sure.

Congratulations Kendall! You're finally done with high school forever.

I am so proud of you and am excited to see all the things you accomplish.

I love you!

On the Healthy Living Soapbox

The other day my best friend demanded that I teach her my healthy living ways. Now, I’m the first to admit I wasn’t always so healthy. Up until around January, working out was something I had to do because it was necessary if I wanted to lose weight. That’s the mindset that I began my fitness journey with. Jordan, don’t have that cookie! You’re never gonna lose weight if you have it. Jordan, get your booty to the gym! How do you ever expect to lose weight if you’re this lazy?!

But then something happened. Some inner working I had been longing for finally clicked, and exercise and healthy eating became something I got to do, rather than had to do. And that’s when the weight finally started coming off. I exercised everyday because it made me feel good, and I ate healthy because I needed powerful fuel to get me through my work outs.

And I’ve continued this healthy lifestyle. People comment on my weight loss a lot, and while I am excited about fitting into old clothes and looking in the mirror and thinking “Damn girl!,” I’m mostly excited that I’ve become fully committed to making healthy life choices. And I figure if I can inspire one person to do the same, my purpose is fulfilled.

So, that’s what brings me to this blog post: what is it specifically that I love about exercise and healthy eating? This was a question I hadn’t really pondered, aside from the broad “I like the way it makes me feel.” In true Happy List fashion, I’ve compiled a list of the reasons why I have become nearly obsessive with health and wellness:

1. I love getting creative about my meals. My mom always keeps the kitchen stocked with fresh fruits and veggies, and I love being able to put them together. Last week I had egg whites with avocado, spinach, and tomatoes, and last night I made myself tomato and carrot juice. Eating only fresh foods allows me to make colorful and healthy combinations.
2. That feeling when you think your heart might pound out of your chest? I live for it. I love challenging my body and finding out it is capable of doing things I never would have guessed. If someone told me 6 months ago that I would be running regularly (and loving it), I would have laughed in their faces. But now I am addicted to the adrenaline rush. Runner’s high is such a true thing.
3. It helps me sleep. My mom has terrible insomnia, and in the fall I was getting early hints of it—not being able to sleep longer than an hour, sleeping the whole night but waking up exhausted—but when I’m jammin’ on my exercise and eating healthy routine, I sleep soundly through the night.
4. “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.” Enough said.
5. I feel good about myself.

So there you have it. I'm so happy with the changes I've made, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to make them without the inspiration of the blogging community. :)

Time for some exercise!

Happy June!

via

"If a June night could talk,

it would probably boast it invented romance."

-Bern Williams

What I love most about June is that it makes summer feel so official.

June is the month of popsicles, laying by the pool, and walking around barefoot. It's the time of aloe on a sunburn, ice clinking in a glass, and freckles appearing on noses. There is something so romantic and relaxing about turning the calendar over from May to June.

I'm so excited to see what this month brings!

Happy June everyone!