Aug 7, 2013

C'est Fini.

Today as I walk out of my house (at 6am, natch) for the last time until Christmas, I am closing the door on my childhood, my life in Virginia, and my life as The Young Southern Prep. This is such a weird post to write, kind of akin to writing my own obituary, but an epilogue nonetheless. 

All good things must come to an end, and likewise, I have decided to step back from blogging for some time. I don't like finality, so I can't say that in a few months I won't be back here writing seven posts a week, but right now, my heart really just isn't in it anymore.

While it's so tempting to blog and to give myself the opportunity to do so through these next few weeks, I've come to realize that I need to be living for them for myself and my friends, not for the blog post I'm going to write about it later.

I never imagined the things that would happen when I started my blog in mid-January of my freshman year of high school, but this little thing certainly has changed my life for the better. I have gotten to know so many wonderful people and I've enjoyed the glimpse of people's lives through their own blogs. My high school experience was made infinitely cooler as "the girl with the blog", but as high school has ended, I've decided that this should be a stopping point. I've written my way through snowstorms and stressed nights, trips to China, France, India, good weeks, bad weeks, graduations, weekend getaways, and everything under the sun. 

Never fear, this is not the end, you can still find me on twitter and pinterest, and writing for The Smart Girls Guide.

What else can I say, c'est fini!

xx,

Royar
{The Young Southern Prep}

Aug 4, 2013

TFW


xx

Jul 30, 2013

I'm Bama Bound!

In typical all or nothing Royar fashion, I'm finally going to orientation today for college! It's definitely weird knowing I'm going to be back in Tuscaloosa for good next week but it's going to be a fun last minute trip for my Mom and I!

I'm wearing my Just Madras Skipper Dress on the plane and it's the perfect airport dress - lightweight and very comfortable, not to mention polished!

I also wore it for the Fourth and it was perfect to throw on after a long beach day!

Today was also my last day as an intern for summer 2013! It's definitely been an interesting summer and I've loved the experiences I've gotten to have. Now the hunt is on for summer 2014, crazy to say!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

xx

Jul 28, 2013

TFW


I'm crazy excited for this week and it's going to be super busy running around doing last minute things to get ready to leave!

xx

Jul 26, 2013

Friday Five

1. Working in offices this summer has definitely given me a new appreciation for Fridays. TGIF, y'all!

2. Sign #5843545 you're leaving for school? Your car gets sold. Really. I've been whippin' it in the Suburban the past week and I wouldn't say it's the most fun to drive, but it does beat the Camry. I will maintain until the day I die that there are few things better in life than going 65 with the windows down on the interstate with Luke Bryan playing along. File that under things I'm going to miss about VB.

3. Someone asked me yesterday what I was going to miss the most about home. I replied, "Virginia Food." Oops.  Never sorry.

4. I've never posted on Vine, but sometimes I'll get on and lay in my bed and watch videos for like 45 minutes. Does this happen to anyone else? Some accounts are so addicting!

5. Is anyone else a little freaked out by the fact that today is the last friday in July? Summer has gone by so fast!

xx

Jul 24, 2013

Two Weeks.

I have approximately 14 days left as a resident of Virginia and then it's off to Alabama. My moods and feelings about this whole college thing range from "OMG OMG OMG I'm so excited so many new friends and people and things to do and see" to "I'm locking myself in the Suburban and living at home forever and ever and I'll work as a nanny or something as long as I can stay here".

This summer has been so crazily busy that interning kept most of these feelings at bay for June and really until the middle of July. Since I didn't really handle my feelings in a healthy way until, um, last week, the past few days have been a serious roller coaster of ups and downs and second thoughts and reality checks.

My list of places to eat are growing more and more lined with blue and only a few places remain: The Yard House next friday, my favorite mexican restaurant with my favorite waiters who are almost family now for my last night in town, Whole Foods for cupcakes, Sugar Plum for a slice of cake. No Frill for chicken sandwiches, Chicks for fried oysters, and Bakers Crust for tavern chips all got crossed off last week. One last Taste run is in order today with one of my favorite people ever, but who am I kidding, I'll probably take a second lunch sometime before I leave just for one more Hilltop.

I'm trying to balance running so I keep my head on straight, TidalWheel so I can have more time to hangout with my friends and favorite instructors, and now Pure Barre so I can kick those lassssssst five pounds off the scale that I was supposed to lose the week after graduation. Many thanks to those three for keeping my legs consistently sore/bruised for the past three weeks. (Sidenote: Pure Barre is no joke.)

Then there are things I can't even deal with/talk about: minute things like shower caddies, laptop cases, waterproofing backpacks, ordering stationery, when exactly my last sit on the beach day is, new glasses, where I'll fill prescriptions. In my next life, maybe I'll write a book about all this, and how to do things like moving more efficiently, because the refrain "I went to summer camp, this will be easy!" no longer applies. Things like school colors and matching and dorm schemes now apply.

Case in point: my mother and I go to Target for a white shirt, see one of my best friends, talk to him for an hour and a half, and leave with sheets and towels at 10:30 at night. I then proceed to take my sheets and towels to my monogrammer, get in a debate about what font and which colors to use with her, finally leave.  I picked up my coral sheets and navy towels in a trashbag three days later. Old high school habits die really, really, really hard. This has also been evidenced by the amount of orange and blue I've found in my room while packing and weeding things out. 

Back to my point, there are things I'm anticipating, like getting to eat at my favorite places, and things I'm not thinking about, like saying goodbye to my 30 or so closest friends until Christmas. Nothing triggers a good old "why didn't I go to UVA and follow the normal route with my friends so I could come home on the weekends and still see everyone" freak out like realizing I won't be at home or see anyone until almost 2014. Yikes. There's going to be no safety net of friends to fall back on the first week of school or knowing everyone in my class or my home to come to.

But that's okay. Life goes on and even though I'm a little terrified, I am ready to fly from the nest. I might stumble a little bit, but that's okay. I might not 100% think it yet, but I am ready and I know I'll be okay. I think it's my orange and blue bulldog heart that might take the longest to convert.

xx

Jul 23, 2013

Work It Out: Lululemon

Now that I don't really play sports anymore, I don't really have a need for nike shorts (insert tears here) except to run in. I now go to spin at a Soul Cycle-esque place and do Pure Barre four times a week each, so I've definitely created a need for leggings more so than shorts.

Enter Lululemon.

I've blogged about my love of my wunder unders before and I bought myself a second pair for graduation. They're seriously the best things ever, and yes pricey, but my pair that I bought in January and wear on a weekly basis look the exact same as my new pair.

They're also super comfy for running around town in! I'll wear mine with my jacks and a tshirt to lunch and they also look great with tennis shoes!


Even though I'm technically on a workout clothing buying freeze, the run inspire crop ii's are definitely going to be my next purchase so I can run around in them during the winter!


Lululemon also has really cute tops, but I've found Target has very similar ones for a fraction of the price. 

Are you a Lulu fan?

xx