101 in 1001 #48: Donate old prom dresses to charity.

One of the parts of "adulting" that I'm not wild about is how much less frequently I find/make time to volunteer. Back in high school and college, philanthropy was insanely accessible, and with so much more free time, it was easy to embed it in my regular course of activities. These days, it seems like it's so much easier to hit up a happy hour or put in a bit of extra time at the office than it is to seek out ways to do good. Needless to say, I was excited when this particular 101 in 1001 item morphed into a chance to give goods and time!

In looking for places to donate old formal dresses, I stumbled across the website of Operation Glass Slipper. Founded in 2006, OGS's mission is to help high school girls who couldn't otherwise afford to attend prom find the dress (and shoes, and accessories) of their dreams at the annual "Princess Day." Attendees, or "princesses," are paired up with volunteers ("fairy godmothers") to pick out a dress, shoes, purse and jewelry, entirely furnished by donations, at no cost. Together, my mom and I donated six of Emily's and my old dresses, and also signed up to act as fairy godmothers on the day of the event last March! 

With my love of fashion, all things sparkly, and princesses, this could not have been a better event for me to participate in. I had such a ball with the two girls I was paired with! I spent around two hours with each of them, painstakingly going through the racks dress by dress to find the perfect one. It was especially fun that each of my girls had super different tastes...Shay, my first appointment, was looking for something slinky, backless and jewel-toned, and Kabel, my second, wanted something poofy and princessy to fit with her prom's "Night of Enchantment" theme. While each of them ended up taking second (and third) trips back through the racks, we ultimately found the perfect dresses for each of them! My mom and I hooked up a few times to fight through tricky shoe questions or debate the perfect earring...

...and by the end of the day, I was so happy it was almost as if I had gotten to pick out prom dresses myself! It was absolutely magical to see girls getting so excited about their choices, and to hear their stories. Even better, every volunteer was incredibly supportive and complimentary. There were numerous times where other volunteers would stop and compliment one of the girls I was working with, and I definitely did the same thing. The atmosphere was giddy with positivity, which was truly reflected in the girls' attitudes. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing to help with the event in the future...it was such a fun day, it hardly even felt like volunteering! 

Just for fun, here's a little trip down memory lane of the dresses we donated in action! Try to restrain your laughter: 

Priceless, right? If you're a Twin Cities resident with dresses of your own to donate, or are interested in getting involved, check out Operation Glass Slipper here...or join me to check another philanthropic goal off my 101 in 1001!

101 in 1001 #6: Take a tropical getaway.

As I write this, my bed is covered with an assortment of sundresses and sandals, a half-packed suitcase gaping open on the floor. I have a list running in my head that looks something like "Crap, I need to get sunscreen...I don't remember, does aloe vera expire?...where the heck did I put my PASSPORT?!"...I'm headed to Mexico in less than 24 hours!! 

My dearest Kelsie has been talking about a Mexico trip for the better part of a year now, and we planned it out for serious starting last fall, when her grandparents gifted us the chance to use a week of their timeshare in Playa Del Carmen. We booked flights shortly after New Year's, and I've been counting down anxiously ever since! Even though Minnesota's winter has been mild-as-can-be this year, I'm still craving sunshine, sand between my toes, and swim-up-bar action. 

This week is going to be one of supreme relaxing...we have no plans apart from scoping out each of the hotel's ELEVEN pools, spending plenty of time on the beach, and catching up on sleep and reading lists. We leave tomorrow at the obscenely early hour of 5:45am, and I personally cannot wait. 

Things will be quiet around here for the next week or so...stay in touch by checking out my travel adventures via Instagram! Here's to a week with maximum margaritas and minimal sunburn! 

101 in 1001: #25: Use up an entire chapstick.

Oh my gosh, this was such a frivolous goal. I almost feel ridiculous being excited about it. Almost. 

See, I'm one of those people who tends to be incredibly scatterbrained. My mom always used to call my life "organized chaos" when I was younger...for all I know, she still does. I tended to know where the important things were, but little stuff? Always lost in the shuffle. I notoriously never have a pen, can rarely find my keys if they're not securely placed on the hook by the door the second I get home, and have even misplaced my car at the Mall of America (easier to do than you'd think). Obviously chapstick is a low-priority item...and therefore often lost for me. It got so bad that after my move back downtown in October, I found no less than eight separate, practically untouched Burt's Bees chapsticks in my boxes and bags. That's totally ridiculous. 

That said, having eight chapsticks meant I could have one pretty much everywhere. I stuck one in a side zipper pocket of my purse, one in the sunglasses holder in my car, one in my bathroom medicine cabinet, one on my nightstand, and already had one in my cube at work, right next to the hand sanitizer and lotion that I use religiously. 

Having them visible and accessible made remembering to use them (multiple times) daily much easier, and I have to say, my usually dry, cracked, winter-chapped lips are loving it. The desk one was the official first to be used up: it took about six months and, as little as it is, it's so satisfying that I actually burned through an entire tube before losing it. 

Here's to the little victories and frivolous goals, and checking another item off my 101 in 1001! 

101 in 1001 #58: Create a gallery wall in an apartment/future home

Finally! After living on my own for over five months, I finally put up my gallery wall! It's been such a labor of love and an exercise in capturing what I really want, but I am so thrilled with the final product. Ready?!

Pardon the glare...I was enjoying yesterday's extra sunshine and gorgeous weather with my windows open! I'm very pleased with how it turned out...I think the variety of textures, frame colors, and content is perfect and really captures exactly where I am in life right now in a uniquely Lizzie way. 

I'm super nitpicky about spacing, levels, and layout when it comes to gallery walls...I've had one in each apartment I've lived in now! This is by far my largest and most varied, though, so I agonized over how to make sure I had a layout I liked and didn't end up frustrated with a hammer and a million nail holes in my wall before I ended up somewhere good. 

Here's my foolproof, cheat-sheet way to get a perfect gallery wall with minimum rearranging on the wall!

First, I got scissor-happy with a roll of kraft paper (I found mine at Office Max) and each of the pieces I wanted on my wall. 

Using the scissors (and later, a straight razor on tougher pieces), I cut a kraft paper template of each piece and labeled it so I had a flexible layout I could play with. I had initially planned on using leftover paper grocery/Target bags, but enough of my pieces were too wide or long to make that work. The kraft paper was super cheap, and it'll make cute shabby-chic wrapping paper (or I could aspire to greatness like Em's Christmas wrapping! Right....).

Once I had them all cut out, I laid them out on my bed and put something weighty on each of them to let them flatten out (while I went to the gym). This step proooobably wasn't necessary, in hindsight...but it did make it a lot easier to work with the cutouts later!

Once I finished up and was ready to play with the layout, blocking things out on the wall was as easy as putting tape on the back of each cutout and sticking them up on the wall. This was a great way to visualize spacing and work out height...I know I'm not the only one who's hammered a nail into the wall only to realize it would leave a print absurdly high or low!

Once I had a piece in a good place on the wall, I headed back out to my living room and mimicked the layout on the wall with the actual art on the floor. Another great way to check that I wasn't putting a bunch of similar pieces, or a ton of matching frames, close together.  

Ultimately, I ended up with a wall that looked like this...

And a floor that looked like this...

And then I called in the big guns. And by the big guns, I mean an actual guy with an actual hammer (because apparently I don't have a hammer? Come on). Stu was kind enough to hang fifteen frames for me in exchange for a gin and tonic and a happy hour once we finished...as well as my undying gratitude. According to him, the kraft paper block-out on the wall actually was helpful, so I'll chalk that one up as a win in my book! 

It only took an hour to get everything put up...and after a detour to the hardware store to get a few picture hangers, I ended up with this gorgeous finished product! 

I'm a little bit enchanted with it. Nothing feels lovelier than having a home that feels personal in every way, and I love that I finally have my wall done and ready to go! Now all it needs is perhaps jusqu'un petite piece of art from Paris! 

101 in 1001 #95: Buy a lottery ticket.

Okay, okay...first off, I know the odds of ever winning the lottery are NEVER in your favor. Not even when the Powerball skyrockets to $450 million. Still, this dreamer had to take her shot...which is why I found myself signing a contract last Tuesday to enter into my department's Powerball pool. 

That's right, folks. My risk-averse insurance company accounting and finance department went in on a lottery pool and signed a contract and everything. I must say, it made it all feel really official, and totally put stars in my eyes just because it seemed so well-planned. Our pool of ten used this contract, and deputized a leader to go pick up the tickets. 

As a total pragmatist when it comes to this sort of thing, I've never purchased lottery tickets. I learned a lot about the process and nuances of the lottery last week, though! We opted for the basic ticket, without a Power Play option (which is essentially a drawn multiplier of your winnings, if you do win). Our contract specified that we would equally divide any winnings; others I'd seen can specify that winnings below a certain threshold go back into a communal pool to be used to buy future tickets. Our plan would have been to take the lump sum payout, which after federal and state taxes would have amounted to about $15 million apiece. 

There you have'em! Our numbers didn't turn out to be lucky, but with a 1 in 175 million chance of winning, I can't say I was realistically hoping for a win. That said...we did all spend more than a little time dreaming and researching. Jim, one of the finance directors, found this fun factoid: If you drive more than 2 miles from your home or workplace to purchase a lottery ticket, the odds of you killing someone or being killed in a car accident en route are HIGHER than your odds of winning the lottery. Reassuring, huh? Enough to make me a lifelong pedestrian...ha! Until I read this list...which details how much more likely you are to die as a pedestrian, be a movie star, get struck by lightning, or sink a hole-in-one. Can't help but laugh. 

Just because, though...if I had beaten those odds and won my $15 million portion of the payout...I'd go to a half-time equivalent at work (no more 40-hour weeks here!), buy a timeshare in a private jet, and think about purchasing this house (the Dream Home Kelsie and I fell in love with last fall!): 

Pretty nice pipe dream, huh? To check out the rest of my (more realistic) 101 in 1001, head here!