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

Olympics

Hi! Because I'm so on time and punctual when it comes to blogging (sarcasm) I'm just now posting about the Olympics! Yay! So in this post I will show you my favorite moments and athletes. Most of them are gymnastics, because that's like, the only sport I watch. But don't worry, there's others too.

So, first I'll start off with the opening ceremony.  I really liked it- it had a very British feel to it, but it was also, I don't know, a little un-exotic? But that might be because American and British culture are similar in some ways. I mean they are just right across the pond. They also speak the same language as us, so maybe that has something to do with it. Anyways, it was the first time I watched an Olympic Opening Ceremony all the way through- it was so much fun! I'm planning to do that with every other opening ceremony that I live to see. On top you can see a collage of some of the highlights of the opening ceremony, including the UK walking into the track, the flags, the medieval villages in Britain, the British soldiers, and the Olympic rings.

Now for the athletes! Let's start with gymnastics!

Man, I love gymanstics! I wish I was an Olympic gymnast- but I think my nerves would get to me. And I'm too tall. (Anything above 5'2 is considered too tall, depressing right?) Anyways, I really loved watching all of the Fierce/Fab Five compete. Everyone of them was unique and amazing! In the collage above I have 13 mixed photos of all of them! From top left going clockwise around: Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, all 5 with their gold, Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, all 5 when they found out the won gold, and in the middle is all 5 with their gold. My favorite moments of the games include the team final and the floor final. Aly Raisman is my favorite gymnast from the team and I loved watching her on floor. She had a fantastic floor routine with fantastic music she just lit up that whole darn stadium! It was pretty fantastic!

I really hope I get to see Kyla Ross at Rio in 2016. She is a fabulous gymnast and very artistic, and being only 15 at this Olympics, I think she could definitely be a strong member in 2016. What do you think?

One of my other favorite moments would have to be watching Goksu Uctas on beam. She is the only Turkish gymnast ever to compete in the games and said that just being there was a dream. While she didn't win any medals, it was a joy to watch someone come to the Olympics because they loved their sport, not because they wanted to win anything.

Another great moment was watching Kirani James and Oscar Pistorius compete in 400-meter race. Oscar Pistorius is a South African leg amputee who is competing in this year's Olympics and Paralympics. After this race, Grenadine Kirani James and Oscar Pistorius changed name tags, a sign of respect and sportsmanship. I thought this was amazing! This is what the Olympics are about- (besides medals and all that jazz) sportsmanship and world peace. :-)

Oh, and who can forget the good queen and Mr. Bond. Quite spectacular wouldn't you say? 

While there were many other great moments, these were some of the scenes that stood out to me the most. What were some of your favorite Olympic moments?

~Margaux

ps. Please vote on my sidebar where you think the 2020 games should be! The three choices are actually the three real cities that are vying for a chance to host that 2020 Olympic Games!

NOTE: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE PHOTOS SHOWN IN THIS POST!

Baby Name Tuesday: Week 4

Hello, hello, hello! Here is a long overdue baby name Tuesday week 4 post! It's been over a month since I lasted posted one of these fun name posts and I am getting back in the swing of things. This week, I have planned out an Olympic post (can you believe it's been a month since the opening ceremony) and hopefully my Florida pics will be posted as well.

Anyways, today I'm going to do a baby name game! Have you ever heard one of these? Well there are many types. Some include creating a mini life (like MASH) or basing an entire family off of a photo of a house, but today I'm going to do a simpler one- this game you have no control over on the outcome. It's all about your birthday! It's easy- find the girl name and the boy name that corresponds with your birth month (the first name) and your birth date (the middle name). Have fun!

Girls' Names

month (first name):

January = Joyce

February = Flavia

March = Minerva

April = Astra

May = Mirabel

June = Jolie

July = Juliet

August = Arabella

September = Stella

October = Olga

November = Nell

December = Diana

date (middle name):

01 = Amica

02 = Coco

03 = Ruby

04 = Stephanie

05 = Mina

06 = Quinn

07 = Itzel

08 = Katniss

09 = Madeleine

10 = Tuesday

11 = Prima

12 = Rebecca

13 = Magnolia

14 = Pearl

15 = Wren

16 = Primrose

17 = Josephine

18 = Elaine

19 = Dahlia

20 = Amelia

21 = Molly

22 = Nina

23 = Nylah

24 = Cora

25 = Thisbe

26 = Musetta

27 = Ophelia

28 = Hazel

29 = Elizabeth

30 = Karina

31 = Savannah

Boys' Names

month (first name):

January = Jagger

February = Fox

March = Maverick

April = Adriano

May = Miguel

June = Johan

July = José

August = Alastair

September = Silvano

October = Octavio

November = Nolan

December = Declan

date (middle name):

01 = Alvin

02 = Caesar

03 = Remy

04 = Espen

05 = Mackenzie

06 = Ryan

07 = Payton

08 = Teagan

09 = Atticus

10 = Aubrey

11 = Fidel

12 = Rhett

13 = Logan

14 = Hendrix

15 = Christopher

16 = Cullen

17 = Thurston

18 = Wolf

19 = Jack

20 = Gabriel

21 = Potter

22 = Isaac

23 = Evan

24 = Liam

25 = Emerson

26 = Cedro

27 = Micah

28 = Noah

29 = Bruno

30 = Robin

31 = Charles

My birthday is December 15 so my names are Diana Wren and Declan Christopher. So, what did you get? I would love to know!

~Margaux