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}

TFW

xx

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

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

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

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

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!

Wunder Under Crop

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!

Run Inspire Crop II

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

TFW

Happy Sunday!

xx

What Royar Read: Mid-Summer

This summer has kind of been the summer of terrible books. While I still have a stack 10 high on my nightstand waiting for me to try, the ones thus far have been quite subpar.

Wasn't terrible, but I really had to push myself through this one. The ending was a little cliche and the diction got on my nerves towards the middle end.

The only Nicholas Sparks book I hadn't read, so now I've read them all!

I've started reading Brad Thor this summer and I really like the Scot Harvath series. They're quick reads and great beach books!

One of the more disappointing books I've read. Had great promise but a terrible ending

Kind of a weird book but I just really liked it for some reason and it was the fastest book I've read all summer.

LOVED this! Will definitely follow Jim Tressel a little more this season

Currently Reading:

Quite the beach reads, right?

What have you read this summer?

xx

Summer Sundays

Good Sunday morning y'all!!! There's something definitely special about summer Sunday mornings that I just LOVE. As I'm counting down the last three (don't want to talk about it) weekends at home, I really do enjoy getting an early coffee, late brunch, and a long walk on the beach with my sweet Mama.

This summer seems to have been busier than the month of May which I would have thought impossible, but seeing as it's now the middle of July and I can count on one hand the number of times I've blogged.....yeah, summer life is crazy. Internship #1 is dunzo, I'm onto #2 Thursday, and then off to Alabama in two weeks then home for my last 5 days in Virginia!

Even though I have Pure Barre in an hour and a million things to do and see and eat before I move, life is definitely good today.

xx

Happy 4th!!!

Happy Fourth of July y'all!!! I can't believe it's already the "midpoint" of summer as my Mother calls it - this summer has seemed to fly by! I will be either laying on the beach or the deck all day and then off to dinner with friends and fireworks at some point!

Wishing you and your family a very Happy July 4th!!

xx

July

Rabbit, rabbit y'all! I can't believe that today is the first day of July and starts my last month at home! June kind of slipped away from me with interning and lifeguarding really taking up most of my time. It's been a great start to the summer, but I feel bad neglecting blogging and pushing it off.

I wouldn't say my passion and love for this has gone away, but it's almost sort of a selfish cause behind my procrastination. When I started my blog, the whole "southern/preppy/WASPy" what-have-you was nearly nonexistent, and now there are thousands of clothing companies, anonymous twitter accounts and blogs all promoting their 'idea' of the lifestyle that I, like many other people, had grown up knowing but never put a title on. 

I guess this is a bit reverse-hipster of me, but I feel like the title and content is now almost cliche, and I'm at sort of a crossroads. I haven't made any major decisions, and I want to continue to keep this up, but it's definitely not like it used to be excuse me as I click nostalgically through my high school posts. One of my greatest flaws is that I don't like to do anything halfway, and I would rather not do something at all than do it less than 150%. While this is a great asset, it means I give a lot of 110%s to a lot of things, and this is something where the gratification is not always immediate. 

I'm working hard on revamping a little and sprucing this up before I head off to school a month from Wednesday (not even talking about it), but for now, I'm still Royar, the YSP!

Happy Monday!

xx

Happy (Official) Summer!!

Happy First Day of Summer and National Wear Your Lilly Day!!

I've been a very bad blogger this month - but really, where has the month gone? Between interning, working, and trying to put a dent in my summer reading list I feel like the last few weeks have flown by!

Today I have on my murfee in toile and my beloved white jeans - what are you wearing to celebrate?

xx

A Whole Week? Yikes!

I can't believe it's been a week since I've even opened the blogger in draft! Sometimes our heads just need a break and especially with everything going on at the end of the year, life just gets crazy! Definitely tunnel vision for sure.

So what have I been up to?

Lots and lots of grad parties! We went on a ship, the next night decked out in all white, then went to the beach the next day!

I've spent many afternoons laying out on my deck and at the beach. The start of summer wouldn't be complete without sand in my shoes!

We had our Vespers service last week as well! I cried a lot but it was fantastic and a great way to kick off graduation weekend. I can't wait to show y'all my grad dress - but that's for another post!

My eyes look so weird thanks to iPhone flash + dark fountain, but I'm so so so obsessed with my Vespers dress. This is my new favorite dress and literally go into my closet just to look at it. It's from Jules Reid and I've been working on building her blog for her! Go check it out - she is one cool lady and I've had so much fun working with her and getting to know her!

The rest of my summer is going to be spent laying on the beach as much as I can, interning, spinning, lifeguarding, and trying to pack up my life before I leave for school on August 7th!

It's so crazy that everything is starting to slow down but pick up at the same time! 

xx

On High School

"You get a strange feeling when you are about to leave a place. Like you'll not only miss the people you love, but you'll miss the person you are now, at this time and place, because you'll never be this way ever again."- Azar Nafisi

The things that matter the most always turn out right in the end. So maybe the things that go wrong or don't work out really only mattered for a short time anyways.

Anything can happen. You can struggle (and struggle......) in a class you thought would be so easy. You can wait for something to materialize and watch it fall to pieces. You can lose people very close to you unexpectedly. Life is like that, and unfortunately, high school is too. But always remember, anything can happen.

Boys will come and go, but girlfriends are forever. I never dated or "talked" to anyone and never went to prom either and my senior homecoming (you can pick your jaw up off the floor now). And no, I don't feel like I missed out on anything. I have wonderful guy friends that I wouldn't trade for the world and while being the eternal third wheel was/is not fun at times, I've never had to avoid any boy in my grade either. I am the guy's girl and it's always better in my opinion to hold their respect. My best girls (you know who you are) are the ones I have stuck it out with practically my entire life. We may have drifted at parts, but it's funny how the right friends always come back to you.

Don't do the things you think you should do. Do the things you want to do, when you want to do them, and the way you want them done.

Be who you are and be in love with yourself. This took me lots of tears and three long years to figure out that people actually liked the more YSPy side of me and that I was well liked. Self-esteem was something I really did struggle with for awhile, and I do wish that I had realized sooner that people will still love you even if you think you're really weird. 

On the flip side, keep changing. Try new things, talk to new people, read a different book, take a challenging class. My best friends now are people I once thought were way cooler than me (and yes, I used to be that shallow. Shame on you, little Royar).  Strike up a conversation with random people. Say hi to everyone you pass in the hall. Some of my best friends now are people I thought were too cool to talk to a loser like me didn't even talk to at the beginning of senior year.

The days and nights that turn out not in your favor are there to remind you of how good it feels like when it all falls into place.

Find your rock. Your rock should not be a person; it should be something that will never change. It makes you come alive and fulfills whatever your passion. Exercise is that rock for me, and at the lowest times in my life I've turned to it. The darkest times in my high school years were definitely the times I wasn't being active. No matter what was happening in my life or who my friends were that year, running was always the same. One of my biggest regrets of high school was not running cross country all six years and quitting lacrosse in tenth grade. I truly wish I hadn't given up. 

Grades matter, but what you learn and how you use it matters most in the long run. Maybe I never will have to use my knowledge of Ronald Reagan's initial bid for the governorship of California or do a statistical ANOVA again, but I firmly believe that what you learn about learning and yourself in the classroom are what matters most. I know how to push myself to learn things and how to adapt to teachers who TOTALLY don't jive with my learning style.

I think I summed it up best in my charge to the upper school during my last chapel: 

The work never ends, but high school does. 

Love your classmates, thank your teachers, be good people.

I honestly don't think I would change much about my high school experience. I wish I had worked a little harder freshman year and been more open with people, but hindsight is always 20/20. I think what matters most is not what you do, but what you learn from your actions. This year has shown me that hard work pays off and that being yourself might not be the absolute worst thing in the world.

xx

New Lilly Planner

Y'all know how obsessed I am with my planner, and it's time to reorder! The new Lilly prints came out a few days ago and I'm stuck between two patterns!

I love this print and it's super pretty!

but.....I love elephants and I have nothing in this print and I'm going to Alabama....

I need to decide pretty soon so I can preorder, and if you order through Lilly it's free shipping!

What print are you getting?

xx

College Thursday: WorthyStyle’s go-to list for freshmen (Part I)

Today's College Thursday post comes from one of my favorite bloggers and fellow Virginian, Whitney from Worthy Style!

Hey y’all! So I have had a lot of fun following Royar’s blog the past few years, and

especially thrilled she is headed to Bama (ROLL TIDE!), where my Mom went to grad

school. I am a Virginia native, twenty-something, with parents who both went to undergrad

here in Virginia (JMU and W&L). I followed what has traditionally been, in my family,

a predominantly male tradition of boarding school. I attended boarding school for my

sophomore through senior years of high school, and learned a lot. I think boarding school

amply prepared me for life on dorm, as it did not faze me whatsoever. I told Royar about

many ideas I had of things to pack for her dorm room, as I learned them from my seven

years living in a dorm or apartment!

The following items I highly suggest you adding to your dorm shopping list. If you or your parents have Ebates, now would be a good time to go ahead and order everything (that is a referral link where you get $5 for my referral). It saved my family a lot of money shopping for school this way. Then you can enjoy your last summer at home before college.

First of all, make yourself an emergency kit. Royar is moving into tornado alley, but I know I was at Randolph-Macon for only a month when we got hit with a hurricane that campus closed for TWO weeks. So, have your parents get you a weather radio, some of those cell phone/iPad boost chargers, some batteries, and an LED flashlight. Go to Target and buy one of their emergency kits in the pharmacy section and place it with the other items. Put them in a strong box, like a fireproof safe you can stick under your desk or under your bed (unless you loft it). Another option would be one of those heavy- duty aluminum train cases you see makeup artists use. Something you can carry if necessary is best! Another item to pick up in the pharmacy? Advil, Tylenol, Aleve. They are good for different things. Roommates will love you for having these, too. Advil is good/safe for preventing hangovers (take 1 or 2 with a bottle of water before going out), Tylenol for general headaches, Aleve for muscular pain. Then you can keep yourself going regardless of your circumstances. Some schools close their Health Center on the weekends so it is good to have some basics for the time being.

Are you a light sleeper? I am, but I am also highly affected by light as well. I made do with generic nylon eye masks for years, but now I swear by this eye mask from Magellans. Gwyneth Paltrow wrote about it on her goop newsletter and I purchased it in black. It is $16 well- spent! Another bed-time savior of mine is a noise machine. I love it and normally a roommate is receptive as long as you tell them about it ahead of time. Pick a sound together that you both are good with (ocean waves is what I have always found best for all) and set it up so it is more on your side of the room.

A drying rack sounds weird, and it kind-of is, but it can also be a life-saver. Some dorm rooms require endless amounts of quarters to dry your clothes. If you are not in the laundry room drying your clothes yourself, you might walk in to find your items in a damp pile – unceremoniously plopped on the counter. Save some $$ and keep your cute clothes safe with a drying rack! When the dryers in the dorm are full, you will love this thing. The foldable kind is good as once it is done drying you can stick it back in your closet or under your bed.

Another item is a behind-the-door shoe rack. Some dorm rooms give each student a small closet with door on either side. Other schools only have open space inset into the wall with a hanging rod so you have to figure out what to do on your own. A behind-the-door shoe rack could be hung on the door to your suite-style bathroom, on a curtain rod, on the door to your closet, or even on the end of one of your bunks. It is such a space-saver. Instead of dealing with a bunch of boxes you can stick your Rainbows, Tory Burch Revas, Jack Rogers, and Sperrys and keep them off the floor.

Here are some other incidentals that are great for your desk area

• Power strips 
• Surge protectors for everything (seriously, anything worth $$ should go in one) and also helps with us ladies sharing one room and using a hairdryer, straightener, curling iron, etc. 1-3 extension cords 
• A lamp that clips onto things. Great if you are going out and your roommate is staying in, and she wants to sleep. You don’t want the entire room to be lights out and want to be able to find your stuff, so that is where this helps. Also, a book clip light is great, too. LED lights are powerful and last a long time. If you stay up late studying or get up early to study you can clip this to your book and highlight or catch up on class reading in bed or at your desk.

I hope you all find these ideas to be helpful! It is really only the first year that getting all of

this stuff makes move-in stressful and expensive. As long as you are buying these items in

relatively neutral colors, they should last all four years you are in undergrad. Pretty great

argument to make for the parents, right? I will be sure to include more tips in my next guest

post, especially including items such as fashion and beauty products to make your life easier

on dorm.

Thanks so much Whitney! xx

The Endless Summer

So now that school is over, graduation is in two weeks, and I have no serious commitments in the foreseeable future, I'm going to take a little break.

I'm a little more burnt out than I thought I was, and it kind of hit me yesterday as I drove home from downtown after having lunch with a friend. I literally couldn't convince myself that I had nothing to do  yesterday afternoon and today. 

I went out and laid by the pool and read US Weekly. It. Was. So. Weird.

That, and the fact that I literally cannot read a page of a book to save my life right now, I'm putting myself on a little technology/blogging/etc vacation for awhile. I need to enjoy these next few weeks, not enjoy thinking about the blog posts I'm going to write about them.

The in-between life is weird, but I can't say I'm not enjoying it already!

Friday Five

1. Today is my first official day of summer! I'm working at my internship this morning and then it's off to the beach this afternoon!

2. Love this quote I found on Pinterest the other day!

3. So obsessed with this picture from Lilly!

4. I just ordered this dress from Just Madras! I think it'll be perfect for one of my grad parties!

5. I still haven't seen Gatsby yet, shame on me, but I LOVE this song by Lana. The video is perfection.

The One That Got Away

While searching for white dresses to wear to a grad party of mine next week, I stumbled across this beauty from Anthro.

How gorgeous is this? Sadly they're sold out of almost every size, so I guess this is the one that got away!

xx