Nineteen

Today is my last day as a teenager. I'm currently in the back seat of my family's car, on the way back from a family trip to visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania. So yes, my last day as a teenager is being spent crammed into a tiny seat with luggage and trying to stay sane for ten hours.
Anyway, to get to the point, there's a lot in this past year I'd like to reflect on. I would write a long post about all of the fantastic moments that made this year what it was, but I will preface this post by saying that I am currently disaffiliated from my sorority so that I can be a recruitment counselor (which is an opportunity I'm so excited about!) meaning that I can't post any pictures of or with my sorority sisters. So that cuts out a large chunk of my school year. Know that those moments rank highly in my heart, and that I will post about my first year in my sorority after bid day!
To continue, here are some of the important things that happened to me this year. In words, then pictures.

Summer 2011:

• Blogging with Danielle, listening to her fall in love on the other end of the phone
• Getting nervous for Queens
• Pennsylvania with Mom
• Recovering from one of my Worst flares just in time for Queens
• Losing weight 
• Seeing Next to Normal twice
• Developing a nail polish obsession (D, it's YOUR fault!)

Fall 2011: 

• Feeling at home at Queens immediately
• Recruitment with my best friend Rachel
• Joining my sorority, finding a home there
• Having a fantastic semester
• Boston with Teaching Fellows
• Cutting most of my hair off! 
• Condoleezza Rice spoke at Queens  
• Casino Night
• Halloween (hahaha) 
• Sorority Events
• Thanksgiving in Virginia
• Boar's Head (Queens Tradition!)
• My Christmas Tree in the dorm
• Working harder than ever, but loving it
• Exam Break Breakfast
• Sunday night dinners at home
•  Leaving for break knowing I had a great place to come back to after break
• Christmas with Family

Orientation at Queens!

Teaching Fellows go to Boston! 

Thanksgiving (actually, the day after, which was BBQ fest!)

Casino Night- a great Queens tradition! 

This is what exam week looks like. 

Spring 2012: 

• A much more difficult semester
• Close friends
• Little :) 
• Struggling with my health the entire semester
• Grey's Anatomy Obsession 
• Landing myself in the hospital for viral meningitis
• Going to my sorority leadership weekend despite everything 
• More sorority events! Getting more involved with my sorority.
• Hunger Games Midnight Showing
• Becoming a Pi Chi- learning more about Greek life as a whole.
• Homecoming
• Greek Week! 
• Working my ass off
• Shakespeare... worst idea ever
• Am Lit- best idea ever 
• Exam Break Breakfaaaast gone wild 

After seeing Spamalot

Some of the Pi Chis at a Sorority event! 

A ton of the Greek women at Queens went to see The Hunger Games at  the midnight  premiere! It was a fun Panhellenic bonding event.

Summer 2012 so far: 

• Struggling with my health
• Pretty Chatty.
• Naturopath finally giving me some real help 
• Tonys Party with Jenny--- winning tickets to Jekyll and Hyde! 
• Colbie Callait, Gavin DeGraw, and Andy Grammer concert with Jenny
• KIAWAH!
• Pennsylvania
• Finally joining the technology world with my iPhone (early bday gift!)  

Concert with my best friend! 

Husk in Charleston 

My instagram addiction is obvious (also, this is Lake Latonka!)

Juno on the lake in her cute little lifejacket! 

Getting ready for a boat ride! 

My latest purchase: a crewcuts shirt featuring a chihuahua with neon orange/rhinestone sunglasses. Worth every penny.

Lake Latonka has THE BEST fireworks. These don't do them any justice, obviously.

Our family photo at the Lake house! 

So that's basically my nineteenth year! Let's hope twenty is even better! 

Hope y'all are having great summers so far! 

Love, 

Hannah

PS- Feel free to follow me on instagram- my username is agracelamb,  as always! 

Nineteen!

It was a great birthday. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and for celebrating with me :)  We didn't take many party pictures (whoops!) but here are a few.

We made Cake Pops and had chocolate fondue. SUCH a great combo!

 

My big birthday gift this year was a Michael Kors watch. Totally in love!

Eighteen

As of midnight tonight, today is my last day as an eighteen year old. I can't help but feel relieved. I don't want this to be a post of complaints or rants, but anyone who knows me understands what a difficult year this has been. To recap a little bit, I thought I'd make a list of what my 18th year has been like:

• My last summer at home. Tense goodbyes, sweet moments, great trips. 
  
• Leaving for Asheville. Saying goodbye to my best friends, my team and my family. 
• Losing my roommate (whoops) starting classes, struggling to make friends and feeling out of place.
• Getting shingles only a few weeks into the school year
• Getting a Crohn's flare and struggling to go to classes
• Getting shingles again
• Leaving Asheville for good
  
• Finishing school from home
  
• Deciding to transfer to Queens. The best decision I made all year. Knowing I'd finally be at home. 
• Getting shingles two more times (that makes 4) and being hospitalized
• Seeing In the Heights, Spring Awakening, and Avenue Q... falling in love with musicals completely. 
  
• Being pulled off my meds
• Doing a whole semester at home without school  
• Going to the Caribbean with my family, having 2 weeks of perfect health
  
• Getting sicker and sicker
• Summer classes
• Finding out my disease has progressed to the worst point it has ever been, restarting meds
  
• Starting Beauty Forum with Danielle
  
• A week later starting Bicoastal Beauties in Prep Talk

I really hope that didn't sound like complaining. I am truly grateful for the support I've had this year. I know that I am on the road to recovery and that hopefully I'll be on my way to college this time next month. It has been a tough year, and I'm glad to kind of tie it up and be done with it.  I will say that because of all the medical madness I have been fortunate enough to be able to find out a lot more about myself. I also was able to transfer schools, which never could have happened without the time off.  Here's to hoping 19 is a little sweeter, a little more normal and a lot less medical.  I'll send this year off with some pictures of my favorite moments. 

My 18th birthday party

Family at the Beach last summer

Julian and Eric (not pictured) came to visit Hannah T and I while we were at the beach :)

Virginia trip at the Newseum!

Dorm room in Asheville

Goat in Asheville, one of my first days.

The creek behind my dorm in Asheville.

Courtney Markowitz of Spring Awakening. She played Ilse, and was lovely.

Jenny and I with Christopher Wood, who played Melchior.

Jackson, Graham and I in New Orleans.

My father and I in New Orleans

Relaxing on the beach at Maya Chan in Costa Maya, Mexico.

Our family on the cruise.

A parrot on my shoulder in Roatan!

Starting Beauty Forum and Writing for Prep Talk... I can't even begin to explain how much fun it has been. I love makeup and I love blogging, so combining the two has been amazing.

Here we are, back at my birthday. Here's hoping 19 is a fantastic year! 

July!

This summer is absolutely disappearing. Can you believe it's July? My birthday is in a few days! AHH! 19 is kind of a small one though, so I'm keeping it quiet.
That's a lie. I'll probably make it as big of a deal as I can ;)
What can I say?  I love birthdays.

I hope by now you've seen Beauty Forum and  Bicoastal Beauties. I am so happy and proud of what Danielle and I have accomplished in such a short time. It hasn't even been two weeks, and we've got a great little blog up. We're working our butts off, having a great time and probably spending too much money. It's been a blast. I wouldn't want to work with anyone else.

Make sure you've signed up for Prep Talk so that you can read our weekly column, Bicoastal Beauties!

All the beauty blogging has had my mind focused on makeup. You're shocked, I know!

 Makeup artist Francois Nars released an amazing book called Makeup Your Mind Express Yourself

What is great about this book is that he made over REAL women and breaks down the looks using NARS products. I definitely need a copy!

This is only part of the NARS collection. I want Mounia. So pretty, like apple cider.

The other thing on my mind is BLUSH. I'm absolutely entranced by it this week. Seriously. Can't get it off my mind. I want like six new shades. Recommendations, ladies? I think I want to buy all of the NARS collection, which will leave me broke forever. 

Lastly, I've noticed that since I've become a beauty blogger I notice everyone's hair and makeup. I've always done this, but now it's a little ridiculous. My mom is starting to get really annoyed by it. Seriously though, how flawless did Cat Deeley look on So You Think You Can Dance the other night? So glamorous! 

Sorry for the slightly awkward screen cap. This was really difficult to capture late at night! I loved the retro hair and makeup, though.

Anyhow, this is kind of a hodgepodge post. Hope you enjoyed it. Happy July everyone!