A Care Package for a Sweet Girl

Hello guys.

A sweet camp friend of mine, Amanda, was just diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma last weekend. Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer of lymph tissue that affects the spleen, borne marrow, or other sites.

I met Amanda last summer at my summer camp, and I have known her sister, Shauna, even longer. Shauna and I went to camp two years ago, met back last summer, and have remained friends throughout those years. It was so much fun meeting her sister this year and it was heart breaking to learn she was diagnosed with cancer.

Amanda and Shauna live about 45 minutes away from me and we have never gotten the chance to see each other except for summer camp. We text and talk are still friends throughout the school year, but it's not the same as going to the same school or living in the same neighborhood, which makes it even more sad knowing that I won't get to see them and offer my support face-to-face.

My mom came up with a great idea to send Amanda a care package filled with goodies so she isn't bored throughout chemo or her months of home-schooling, and she knows that we wish her the best. But, I don't know what to put in the care package!  I've already started a small list below:

• the latest issue of Seventeen and Teen Vogue
• The Dark Unwinding (a really excellent novel)
• nail polish
• iTunes gift card.

I still need some more ideas, though! Please suggest anything that you think a 12-year-old girl would like. Whether it's favorite novels (please, nothing cancer related or depressing or inappropriate), favorite magazines, favorite movies, or things you like to do in your free time. I'd really appreciate this (and I know Amanda would too).

My mom and I are planning to put these items in a colorfully decorated box and send them to her so she knows even her camp friends are looking out for her. :-)

Thank you for your suggestions- I can't wait to read them!
~Margaux

Baby Name Tuesday: Week 6

Hey guys! The top winner on my poll (as of now) says the most liked BNT topic is a decade series! So, I'm going to start with the 1880s. Why? Because that is the first Social Security name list on the website. You can see the full list here.

For this decade series, each week I will talk about a new decade, some similarities of names then and now, favorite names, and/or least favorite names. It will be a whole lot of fun!

So the top ten names for boys and girls in the 1880s are as follows:

Girls

1. Mary
2. Anna
3. Emma
4. Elizabeth
5. Margaret 
6. Minnie 
7. Ida
8. Bertha
9. Clara
10. Alice

Boys

1. John
2. William
3. James
4. George
5. Charles 
6. Frank
7. Joseph
8. Henry
9. Thomas
10. Edward

If you look closely at each name list, you may recognize some names- either as kids in your class or as your grandparent's names! You may recognize some of the girls' names on the list from my vintage name post a few weeks ago. While Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary are classics, Alice, Clara, and Emma are popular vintage names right now. Alice, Clara, and Emma dropped in the 1900s, but are rising very quickly as part of this vintage-names trend.

As for boys names, those on the list are classics- timeless and will always be popular. But some names, like Edward are falling (maybe it's the Twilight association?) and Henry (LOVE this name) is rising.

Some of my other favorite 1880s names not mentioned in list are Nina, Eva, Louis, and Harvey. What are yours?

But please, Bertha and Alva (yes, it's for a boy) don't ever come back into style!

Over and out,

~Margaux

New Design and Florida Trip!

Hey guys! What do you all think of my new design? It's much more light and peppy and I thought that it was perfect for my blog right now!
Anyways, as I promised, my pictures from Florida!

We went on a beach hike. 

I love Northern Florida's beaches! It was a really nice time to visit too- the ocean was warm and it made it all the more enjoyable!

We also visited the Naval museum there. 

There was like, a billion planes.

Not really, but were tons of aircraft, models, and replicas of old war planes- especially from both World Wars.

They also had this fun little carton about needing scrap for the war effort in WWII. It even showed some Disney characters! (I spotted Donald Duck and Chip and Dale.)

Isn't cool?

We also went snorkeling! From left to right, my brother, my sister, and me!

~Margaux

p.s. I have been reading your comments from my most recent post and I am definitely taking your ideas into consideration. I just bought a lot of clothes so I think my some fashion posts might be due as well as some more BNTs. :-)

p.s.s. also, please vote on my new poll!

I Want to Hear What You Have to Say!

Hello all! I assume most of you have noticed my almost 2-week long hiatus and I am very sorry about that. My Florida and a recipe tutorial photos are uploading right now and I am think of ideas for this week's Baby Name Tuesday, but basically I am having a hard time writing on this blog mainly because I don't have any ideas. So, I want to know what you, the (hopefully) loyal reader wants from this blog. Do you want a giveaway? A contest? A new blog design? More weekly posts (like a Baby Name Tuesday, but with another topic for another day)? Videos? Photos? Lists? Hair Tutorials? Fashion? Dragons, unicorns, and tea cup pigs? What would YOU like? Please comment below.

Thank you for your help- it is greatly appreciated!

~Margaux

p.s. Have any of you ever watched Once Upon a Time, I really want to watch it, but my mom would like to know it's "appropriate." Please help a poor girl out and tell me what you think of that show (and if it's "appropriate")!

p.s.s Do you have any ideas for an upcoming Baby Name Tuesday? Please share!

Baby Name Tuesday: Week 5

Hey! What's your favorite baby naming trend? Do you even know what that means? Well a baby name trend is basically a popular streak that has a certain style of names. Like Biblical names (Rebekah Jedidiah), mythological names (Athena, Orion), and funky hipster names (Clementine,  Magnus). But, right now vintage names are in and I LOVE them!

Unlike vintage clothing, I love vintage names! The girls' names are feminine, fresh, and delicate, while the boys' are masculine, classic, and are hidden gems. Here are some of my favorites!

Warning: the list below may contain your great-grandparents names.

Girls
Vivian- means "life," Latin name
Evelyn- means "desired," English name
Minnie- means "resolute protection," German name
June-  Latin month name
Clara- means "bright, clear," Latin name
Josephine- means "Jehovah increases"
Lillian- means "lily, a flower," English from Latin name
Genevieve- means "woman of the people," French from a German name

Boys
Leo- means "lion," Latin name
Charlie- means "free man," English name
Victor- means "conqueror," Latin name
Everett- means "brave as a wild boar," English variation on a German name
Henry- means "estate ruler," German name
Benjamin- means "son of the right hand," Hebrew name
Theodore- means "gift of God," Greek name

So, what are some of your favorite vintage names? You can see the full list here.

~Margaux