{304} in hawaiian

a few years ago my parents went to hawai'i and gifted me with this bracelet when they returned. they told the crafter that my name was "lauren" and so she carved the bracelet with the hawaiian version which is "lalena". loves it.

{277} grey cup ring

this was a fun one! now that the bombers' chances of making the play-offs are over, we don't have the added stress of the post-season (well, at least that's how i'm choosing to see it--glass is half full!). some day the grey cup will be theirs again. the drought can't last forever...can it? it's like the red sox. so, below is my version of the grey cup ring. :) woot! i finished all 20 blue bomber game day names! it was tough!

and the original photo from the cfl's website:

{232} arr, matey!

today be "international talk like a scurvy pirate day" so i used tis tavern t' translate me description. when i was asail on me vacation in disney world, i went on t' pirates o' t' carribbean ride twice n' afterwards i succumbed t' tempations o' souvenirs and purchased this pirate-ish bracelet at t' pirates shop. i, o' course, had t' have me moniker engraved n' a wee rivet indicatin' t' year i got it. full o' awe.

{211} ring

found these cool two-finger rings after googling the name "lauren". it says that tv personality, lauren conrad, got one of these rings from this company and now they're all the rage. i think they're pretty cool! i'd get one...

{145} grad ring

on this day, thirteen years ago, i graduated from high school. that's insanity. i can't believe how long it has been and yet it also feels like it really has been that long, you know? time has flown by but i've experienced so much life in that time too. let's see. what do i remember? i know that renae was my "date" for the day and she came to the banquet (good on her!). i remember going to steinbach early on in the day (why??), then going to candace's place to get my hair and make-up done by jeff. then we went to get our class photo done (where??), and then headed back to my parents' house where we took a bunch of photos individually and in groups of friends. then we changed into our robes and headed to the church for the ceremony. i walked down the aisle with brandy. i waved to my parents. while walking out of the church, i was crying. then we had the banquet (my mother gave one of the parent speeches). then we partied at the lions' club until 6:30 a.m. before heading over to j triple k for breakfast. then i slept the rest of the day. holy smokes. thirteen years.

my graduation picture. i had shoulder-length hair back then and really awful eyebrows. i got my tendrils straightened for my picture and wore my hair up. i always wore my hair up back then. and had no bangs. holy mega forehead, batman.

poufy dresses were totally in back then. maybe they still are?? who knows. if i was graduating this year, i certainly would not wear that same dress again but i still love it. it still looks beautiful. that's jess janz, chantel doerksen and stephanie brookes with me (i'm using maiden names because that's how i knew them then! lol).

my date, renae, and i. renae and i were always such super close friends growing up. all my favourite childhood memories involve her and her family. i'm glad to still be in contact with her and consider her a friend.

these were my closest friends in high school. lisa peters (on the far left) was my best friend--i was even her maid of honour when she got married. then there is amanda harder, kim penner and connie penner. i haven't seen lisa in many years, i ran into amanda actually a few months ago, i see kim occasionally around town, and i haven't seen connie in a super super long time.

richard martens was the principal at green valley at the time and louis reis was the vp.

 

at the banquet. all the grads sit on the stage in tiers so our families could stare at us. our theme was "the time of your life" and we used the green day song "i hope you've had the time of your life" as our entrance song--didn't everybody do that in 1999? i have absolutely no idea what we ate as our meal but we were given mcdonald's bibs to protect our dresses!

fitting into my grad dress again after 12 years (photo taken June 2011). i'm another 20 pounds lighter now so it might even be super large on me! can you imagine? being lighter than you were in high school? amaze-balls.

{140} tealicious jewelry

is it jewelry or jewellery? hmmm. spell check likes both.

teal is my most favourite colour. i have a whole board on pinterest devoted to the colour. teal is my favourite jewelry colour, eyeshadow colour, shirt colour, everything colour. and, yet, i don't have any teal rooms in my house. shall get on that asap!

in my jewelry closet (yes, i have a closet) i have a whole wall devoted to all teal jewelry. they are always my go-to pieces. so, i thought i'd do my name with some of them today!

the piece below i received from erin after she and andrew returned from russia and i had house-watched for them while they were away. she presented it to me following a football game at the tim hortons on kenaston (i remember everything!). it's so gorgeous. definitely one of my faves.

the piece below i received from a. eleanor after she did an ESL trip to the ukraine several years ago. i love this one too. i think i probably wear this piece the most out of all my teal jewelry because it hangs at just the right height. :)