Mixing Things Up

Well, I am mixing things up today on Kai Leigh Bow. I am going to do a fashion post today, because over on one of my favorite blogs, they are having a Link-up, and I thought I would link up! The link-up party is about wearing one piece in many ways. I love being able to mix things up, and I never buy something unless I know for sure a few different ways I can wear it.

The piece I chose to showcase today is a basic everyone probably has. Literally, you have this piece in your dresser or closet or wherever you keep clothes. It is a black t-shirt.

 See? Super basic black tee. Which is totally not like me at all, but yet, it is. I have three different ways to wear a black tee on here, but there are probably a million and a half others. If you don't already have one, find a black t-shirt that you like. You might want a scoop neck or have it looser fitting. Pick one that works for you. I love this one, and it is from Wet Seal. It is soft and comfortable, and fits great. And it was $5! (Definitely worth it.) I also have it in blue, which is almost as great as black.
When I go for a neutral, I tend to go for black over white. I cannot be trusted with white. Black is better for me and my clumsy self.

Outfit 1:

For this outfit, I paired the black shirt with a pair of colored skinnies, a bold necklace and ring, and some black sandals. I love the zipper detail in the necklace, and this color of jeans is one of my favorites! But it could work with any color of jeans, and any other bold accessories and look just as cute!

Outfit 2: 

For this less casual look, I added a blue blazer (I might, as of recent, have a slight blazer obsession. I am pretty sure I have 8 of them,) printed skinny jeans (unfortunately, the zipper on these pants broke. But I am too cheap to replace the jeans and to lazy to replace the zipper. I plan on adding snaps or something, but for now, I just wear long shirts to cover the always-down fly,) and purple accessories. This could work with any kind or color of  jacket, and if you're not into little heart-polka-dots, then plain jeans would work too. Use a bright color to keep the outfit from looking too dark.

Outfit 3:

This last look is something I would definitely, 100%, without a doubt wear to church! The skirt is bright and fun (I have an almost identical one in turquoise) and the cardigan pulls it all together. If I remember correctly, this is my first printed cardigan. Which, seeing as I have more cardigans than I can count, is pretty shocking. Also, isn't my key necklace amazing? No, I do not know what the key is from, my mom found it in a box of stuff so I put it on a chain with a bow. This would work with any color skirt and coordinating cardigan. 

Now, I know these pictures aren't great and that my room is a mess (I did this at around midnight last night), but I hope someone out there benefits from this re-mix. Its fun to see how many great outfits you can make with something as simple as a black t-shirt. 

(In fact, I saw a lady today wearing a black shirt, cobalt blue jeans, and metallic shoes, and I thought about this post.)

Anyway, I don't know if anyone is here from Audrey's blog, but if you are, you should stick around. :) I think I'm a pretty cool person, although I could probably win the "worst blogger of the year" award if there was one.

Wait, is there one?

I sure hope not....

Anyway, peace out!

Five Friday: Five Reasons Why Today was a Good Day

Today, while pretty boring at first, ended up being a pretty good day. Here's why:

5: I got to have a water balloon fight! The balloons were purple. And they hurt when you threw them. And the grass was itchy and I have like a bajillion bug bites now, but I was with my friends, so it was fun.

4: I ate dinner at Zupa's! If you haven't gone, you should. It is pretty pricey for what you get, but it is delicious, so sometimes its ok to splurge. Granted I only had a salad, which they greatly under dress, so I basically had lettuce with a couple of bites of chicken and some olives (which, besides the lettuce were the most prominent part of the salad) and in some bites I could taste the ranch or guacamole. (Don't be fooled, their sandwiches and soups are WAY better than their salads, but the diet doesn't allow for bread or some stuff that's in the soup.) But they have diet Dr. Pepper, so dinner was excellent!

3: I finished the first season of Jane by Design. Ok, so that's acutally a sad thing, because that is the only season on Netflix. But, that means I have to try to find a new show to watch. I started New Girl, but if anyone has any suggestions for me that have more than one season on Netflix, hook a girl up, please!

2: I got to go swimming! I love swimming. Really, swimming is my favorite! Especially swimming in the ocean, with the waves! :) (By the way, I did not swim in an ocean today.... just a pool, but it is still fun!)

1: And the number one reason today was great......*drumrooooooolllllllllllllllllll* I got a letter from JAKE!!!!! It was short and written in cursive (yes, CURSIVE), but it means the world to me! He told me he liked the package, and he wore the tie the next day, AND got a compliment on it. :D (Being the designer of that tie, it means the world to me. And by designer, I mean I picked out fabric and sewed it. But still, designer.) He didn't really have time to tell me a whole lot, but it's ok, because I read the emails he sends his family, which they post on his blog. But now I can FINALLY write him again. My dad told me I was being weird, writing him every week, which I disagree with but whatever... So I am going to write him ASAP! :)

So that, ladies and gentlemen (do any gentlemen even read this?), is why today was ultimately, a good day.
Peace Out!

Youtube Tuesday

I'm really tired, so here's a short, sweet post. With the bestest Pixar short EVER.

Seriously, ever.

Here it is...

Paperman!

Watch it. Love it. Go "awwww". Because it is just amazing.

Peace Out.

Fitness Moment Monday

So, I have noticed a lot of my clothes have been getting a little tight, or completely not fitting, recently. Ok, not super recently, but since I started up at BYU. Everyone always talks about the Freshman 15, and when your eating choices are minimal, and not very healthy, it definitely happens. In fact, since high school (so a summer, 2 semesters at the Y, and half of a summer) I have gained weight. 20 pounds of it, in fact. Now, you all know how much I love clothes, so since my wardrobe is slowly dwindling from being too small, I have decided to do something. And more than just maybe go to the gym once a week.

I decided this last night, and this morning I weighed myself and took some measurements. I am going to write down my goal weight and measurements next to it, and hopefully before I go back up to BYU next month (it feels soooo good to say next month, I miss Provo!) I will be able to fit back in all my clothes.

To do this, I have a short crunches/push-ups/plank/squat routine to do every day, plus I'm going to go to a class at the gym or play Just Dance (hey, if you do the workout mode, its actually not a bad cardio and arm workout) for an hour every day. (Sunday is the exception to this "every day" thing.)

Now this is the part I want no comments on. I don't want anyone lecturing me on health crap, or telling me that this is bad. I am also going to do Low-Carb for the rest of the summer. (Please note, low carb is not NO carb. I realize that our bodies do need some carbs to function, but low carb cuts out a crapload of sugar, and makes your body burn fat instead of burning carbs.) I have done low carb a few times in the past, and I get good results. It makes me eat more vegetables and protein and drink more water. It is hard for the first few days, but after that it gets easy. (And on days where I can't do low carb for some reason, like when I go to California next week, I will be using Sensa. No comments on Sensa either, ok?)

I am doing this for myself, not because anyone told me to. Also, I am not doing this because I think I'm fat. I am not fat. I never said I was. But I also am not skinny. And I will not ever be skinny. Even when I was in the best shape of my life, when I was a synchronized swimmer and in the pool 12 hours a week, I was not skinny. I am me, and I just want to fit into my clothes and be a little bit healthier. Ok? That's it.

And I'm going to need help with this, to keep me on track! Don't let me fail, readers of my blog!

Peace Out!

Wearing Wednesday, Thoughtful Thursday, all brought to you by Five Things Friday.

Well, it hasn't even been one week, and my plan to blog every day has failed. FAILED. I even remember thinking, I need to post on my blog. Then I'd get on my computer and think, eh, better not.
So here I am, making up the last few days, since I was too lazy to actually post on those days.

Wearing Wednesday:

So, I actually wore this on Thursday (shhhh!) but I'm going to post it anyways.

This is what I wore on the 4th of July! Yay!

What I'm Wearing:

Dress: Savers

Necklace: Christmas Present (from JC Penny)

Scarf: my Mom's closet

Belt: off an old shirt

Shoes: my Mom's closet

I loved that this had a totally retro/vintage look to it. I just got the dress Monday at Saver's (for $3.50!) and I thought with the red and blue accents, it was perfect! This dress is my new favorite, I think! It's super lightweight, so it's perfect for these Arizona summers, but can easily be layered for Utah winters! Ah, I love it!

Thoughtful Thursday:

So, I finished my first tie that I'm actually sending off! It is super awesome! So I'm sending it to Jake, of course! I was just going to send him the tie and maybe a couple of other things in a small package, but my mom had a flat-rate shipping box she wasn't going to use, so the package ended up being so much bigger than I planned. In fact, I haven't even filled it yet!
I would like to take a moment to thank Pinterest for helping me come up with ideas for this package. And I would like to return the favor and show what I put, with the cheesy sayings to go along with everything, you know, just in case there are people like me who need inspiration.

I went with the theme of "Summer Fun" because, well, it's summer, and it is such an easy theme!

(I don't know why this pic is upside-down...) This is the tie I made!  :) The note says "So you look cool this summer!"

"You are one 'Hot Tamale' of a missionary!" (I'm not sure if you are supposed to call missionaries "hot tamales", but whatever.)

"You already have the Light of Christ in your eyes, you don't need sunlight in your eyes too!" Can you believe these are Dollar Store sunglasses? I should have gotten myself some...

Tootsie Rolls, inside the water bottle as a little surprise! "I hope you're on a roll!"

"The armor of God doesn't protect you from UVA/UVB." (I don't even know if Jake is riding a bike or driving a car... if its a car, this won't be very helpful. :P)

"I am a huge fan of the work you are doing!" 

"Chews the right!" Haha, punny!

"I 'mint' to tell you, you are an amazing missionary!" (Alright, so I actually tell him that in every letter, but I couldn't think of anything else to say...)

"Soak yourself in the spirit!" on one side, and "Have a 'ball' on your mission!" on the other. I don't even know if he will use these water balls or water balloons, but they are summery.

I decided to throw in extra batteries for the fan. "You've got the Power!"

BUBBLES! (I almost didn't put these in. I LOVE bubbles.) "Don't let anyone burst your bubble!"

"Drink water. Don't die. Ok? Ok." I was running out of creative juice at this point....

I thought this was super clever! I turned a Pay Day bar into a P-Day bar! Heehee!

So, if you have any ideas of other things to throw in, let me know! (Of course, I'm sending a letter with the package!) I'm pretty much super excited to send this!

Five-Things Friday:

Here are five of my favorite movies. In no particular order, since my very favorite changes from day-to-day.

1) Tangled

Disney, great music, princess who is a total spazz, most attractive Disney male EVER.... What more do you need?

2) Hairspray

Poofy dresses, big hair, singing and dancing, John Travolta in drag,  James Marsden AND Zac Efron.  Yes. Just Yes.

3) Enchanted

My dream wedding dress, singing, talking animals, animation AND live action, James Marsden, Peter Pettigrew. :)

4) 27 Dresses

Dresses, humor, James Marsden (Am I sensing a pattern here?), she ends up with the cuter guy, and weddings. 

5) Pitch Perfect

Singing, dancing, Fat Amy, Skylar Astin, SOCK PUPPETS. Aca-amazing!

Well, it was even hard to narrow this list to five. Maybe next week I'll do my next five favorite movies. Just because there are so many more! :)

Anyways, thanks for reading this incredibly long blog post. You are good people. I like you. 

Peace out!

YouTube Tuesday: Missionary Fun

I have seen a few funny videos of missionaries lately. And since missionaries probably consume 90% of my thoughts now-a-days, I find them extra funny. I mean, when I think of missionaries, I still think of these older guys who are just super serious all the time. I forget that they are my age, and they, too, like to have fun! I think that my friends on missions are completely different people, when in reality, they are the same guys as before they left, they are just living their lives a little differently. These videos help remind me of how awesome and fun missionaries are. :)

I hope you enjoy these as much as me! 

Peace out!

Moment Monday: A Spiritual Moment

So, my moment for this first "Moment Monday" actually happened just today. It was completely unexpected but definitely spiritual.
I was set apart this evening for my new calling in my Single's Ward. (For those who don't know, a calling is like your job in the ward, and getting set apart means getting a special blessing for the calling.) I was called to be part of my Relief Society Meeting Committee. I thought that getting that calling was weird since I am only going to have it for two months, and the activities we plan are monthly activities. I didn't understand why they would need me to help plan two activities, one of which I probably won't even be able to attend. I thought it was silly, but I just decided to go along with it.
At FHE, I was pulled aside to get set apart. I had been set apart for other callings, and the blessings were always encouraging, but I had never gained a lot of spiritual insight from them. I was asked for my full name, and the blessing began. I knew from the moment he said "Kai Leigh Bowen" that this blessing was not his words, but the words of the Lord. The blessing was exactly what I needed, it gave me comfort, advice, and insight into my life that I had never had before. I was told that the Lord knows my struggles and everything I am going through. I was advised to read my scriptures daily and to pray morning and night so I can receive answers from the Lord. I was also told that I was very close to God in the pre-mortal life.
I have definitely been very thoughtful lately and have had a lot on my mind (a lot of it having to do with people...well, more like person...who have recently left on missions). This blessing brought me joy and comfort and excitement. I know that the Lord is on my side. He wants only what is best for me, and if I put my life into His hands, He will bless me beyond what I can ever hope for.
And that is what I plan to do. I do not need to worry about things (although, I'm sure I still will), because if I exercise my faith, and do all that I'm supposed to do, there is no way I can be unhappy.

Here's to a happy life!

If you've had any spiritual moments you would like to share, feel free to comment below! :)