Graduation Weekend Recap

I had originally planned to get this published a few days earlier, but I have spent the last few days writing thank you notes for graduation gifts, and recovering from our grad party. Thanks for bearing with me!

This past weekend, I graduated from Central Catholic High School. The weekend was so eventful and so memorable. The action kicked off on Thursday with the Senior Awards Ceremony and Senior luncheon, Friday my grandparents came into town, Saturday was our graduation party, and Sunday was the actual ceremony. Definitely a busy weekend, but it was very enjoyable and lots of fun!

I thought I'd write a post (more for my own reference and memories) recapping the main events of the weekend.

Thursday: Senior Awards Ceremony and Luncheon

On Thursday, we had a senior Mass, and the awards ceremony and luncheon immediately followed. It was the last time our senior class was in the school building all together. Various academic, service, and athletic awards were given out at the ceremony, as well as recognition for scholarships. After the ceremony, all of the seniors and their parents headed to the cafeteria for a luncheon. The junior class, our senior class adviser, and our principal spoke at the luncheon about our class. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get emotional. We celebrated with cake, and also received our first official "alumni mailing." So weird!

My mom, me, my sister Hannah, and my sister Natalie before the awards ceremony. We are all wearing Lilly Pulitzer, naturally. Hannah's dress is available here.

And....

I sent in this photo to Lilly Pulitzer Madison Avenue's "Throwback Thursday" contest on their Facebook page. (The photo had to feature vintage or previous season Lilly dresses.) About ten minutes after I sent the email, our photo was posted as the contest winner. I was so excited!

There we are on the FB page!

One of many pictures we took with our friends

It was so weird to be addressed as "alumni." I guess that term always makes me think of older people. Nonetheless, I love this pencil sketch of the school that the Alumni Association gave to all the seniors.

Saturday: Our Graduation Party

We held our party on Saturday night, which was actually the night before the ceremony. All of our family was already in town for the weekend, so it worked out really nicely. We invited family, family friends, a few teachers, our high school friends, and classmates. We had a pretty great turnout, and the weather was perfect! It was a great evening!

THE SETTING: We held the party in our backyard. We rented a tent and some tables. For the color scheme, we stuck with blue and gold, our high school colors. It looked really great! 

Here's the tent all set up. As you can see, we alternated the tablecloths with blue and gold overlays. In the middle is a long table that we used for the food.

More details: 

Top: Cake pops! I made cake pops for the celebration. (I use the tutorial from Little Miss Momma) I made yellow cake, and alternated dipping in milk chocolate and white chocolate. I then embellished with blue and gold sprinkles. I printed a little decorative tag with our names and college logos, and attached it to the cellophane bag with ribbon. They were a hit.

Bottom left: Mizzou napkins! Yes my mom bought Mizzou plates and napkins for the cake.

Bottom right: the centerpieces were little fish bowls filled with blue and gold flat stones, water, and a floating flower candle. My mom also bought gold doilies and blue and gold grad confetti.

THE FOOD: The party was catered. It was so much easier not having to worry about food, and we knew the food would be good! Our cleaning lady's son is a professional chef in Chicago, but also caters for private parties. We had him do all the food. He's Mexican, so his specialty is classic Mexican cuisine. The food was OUTSTANDING. Rafael and his assistant spent the day in our kitchen whipping up delicious dishes. The menu included pork, rice, shrimp ceviche, homemade guacamole, Mexican slaw, salsa, and fruit. Naturally, each table was set with its own bowl of chips and salsa as well. I'd be lying if I said I haven't had the leftovers for lunch everyday this week. So good!

(Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the  food!)

For dessert, we had the cake pops, and then we had a cake for each of my sisters and I. I had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting with the Mizzou tiger, my sister Hannah had a lemon cake with buttercream frosting with a St. Louis Billiken, and my sister Natalie had a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting with an Iowa Hawkeye. Most of the cake was gone at the end, which was so surprising, and definitely a good thing! I think it was probably because our grad party was one of the first of the season, so people weren't "caked out" yet.

The dessert table! Complete with plates and napkins with our respective school logos. Only my mother would search the Internet for those!

Here we are posing with our cakes. So nicely decorated, and so delicious!

I can't wait to be a Mizzou tiger!

For cards and gifts, we put together this little table. My mom ordered wrapping paper with each of our school mascots, and wrapped a gift box and cut a slit in it. We used these for cards. We also put a small framed wallet senior picture in front of each box in case people didn't know who was going to school where. I originally wasn't going to do any sort of picture collage. Some parties you go to have like three massive photo boards, and I honestly think its overwhelming and kind of tacky. I decided to do a small photo board with a few key pictures, using a tutorial from Pinterest. 

Close up of the board.

Here we are with my little brother before the party. All of us girls wore Lilly, again! Hannah wore the same dress from the awards ceremony (see link above.) Natalie wore the Pearl dress in Shorely Blue Chomp Chomp. I wore a Lilly from last season that I bought on 6pm.com. And of course, I wore Ralph Lauren pearls and my Jack Rogers Navajos in Platinum.

We had such an enjoyable evening. It was great to chat and catch up with family and friends, and it was the perfect summer evening. Party was a success!

Sunday: Graduation Day!

Sunday was the actual ceremony. The ceremony wasn't until 5:00, so instead of doing a dinner afterwards, we had brunch on the terrace at the country club with family. It was a beautiful morning, and very enjoyable.

Since I go to Catholic school, the graduation ceremony consisted of a mass with the graduation ceremony afterward. The ceremony went well, except for the fact that it was ungodly hot in the church and one of my classmates fainted. Otherwise, the ceremony was beautiful! It was a very happy moment walking up to the altar to receive my diploma. One of my best friends was the valedictorian, and yes, her amazing speech made me cry. (Good job, Magz!)

My immediate family, both sets of grandparents, my aunt (Mom's twin sister), my nanny Bertie (she's been with us since I was six months old), and my sister's boyfriend came to the ceremony. I was so lucky they could all be there to see me graduate!

After the ceremony, all of the graduates and their families gathered outside the church for pictures. There was cake and punch in the church basement as well.

Receiving my diploma

 

Throwing up our caps! We did it! (I took this photo from our school's Facebook page.)

Here we are with some of our best friends! McKenna, wearing an adorable green dress from The Limited, is going to study journalism at Indiana University. Neely (4th from left) is going to study international relations at George Mason University. Hannie is on the end, wearing an adorable polka dot dress from TJ Maxx. She is going to Mizzou (yay!) to study business.

Sarah and I. She is going to Eastern Illinois University to study special education. She's going to be so great!

Here we are with our best friend Timmy. We've been best friends since Kindergarten! Timmy is going to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study computer engineering in the honors program. He is going to be unbelievably successful!

Isaiah was in our pre-kindergarten class and we used to have play dates with him. That seems like just yesterday! We remained friends in high school. He is going to the University of Notre Dame to major in pre-med.

Here we are with our very stylish friend, Marion (she's wearing a J.Crew dress!). Our families have been great friends for as long as I can remember. Marion is going to Villanova University to study business.

Here's little miss Valedictorian on the left :) Magz is one of our very best friends. Couldn't have made it through the awkward junior high years without her! She is attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

Here we are with Bertie. She is basically our second mom. She has been our babysitter/nanny since we were six months old. She has taught me how to sew, and do so many other things. I can't imagine life without her. Love you!

My parents and I. (Loving my mom's seersucker dress and my day's Lilly tie!)

With my Aunt Linda

With my grandma and grandpa Russell. I'm so lucky to have them in my life!

With my grandma and grandpa Woodcock. Love them so much!

Showing off our outfits and our honor cords and caps. Nat and I wore the same thing as we wore to the party. Hannah wore a fun skirt and shirt combo from TJ Maxx.

Hats off!

I love this picture! Inspired by the College Prepster.

OUTFIT RECAP:

Left: (awards ceremony) Vintage Lilly Pulitzer dress, Onex sandals.

Middle: (Sunday brunch) Loft dress (old), BCBGeneration sandals (old), consignment necklace, Longchamp bag.

Right: (party and ceremony) Lilly Pulitzer Dress. (old)

Graduation weekend was so memorable. I am so lucky I was able to spend it with my closest family and friends. My time at CCHS has come to a close, but I will always look back on my time in high school with a smile. I'm so so excited for college!

Did you graduate high school recently? What did you do to celebrate? What did you do for your grad party? What did you wear? Comment away, I want to know!

Stay Stylish. Stay Classy. Be Creative.

Emily

5 Things That Will Forever Remind Me of High School

It's been rather quiet around Stylish.Classy.Creative for the past week. I do apologize! It's been crazy busy, getting ready for the senior luncheon and awards ceremony, making final preparations for my sisters' and I's grad party (it's tonight), and even trying to schedule an appointment for me to get my wisdom teeth out (ugh!). Needless to say, blogging has been momentarily put on the back burner. However, now that graduation weekend has officially kicked off, I figured it was due time for a very fitting post.

I graduate from Central Catholic High School tonight at 5:00. It's still a bit surreal. We've had our senior awards banquet and set foot in the school building one last time as a class. I'm slowly starting to come to the realization that it's actually happening! Last night was my grad party, and I think that reaffirmed my realization. 

As I've mentioned in several previous posts, my time at CCHS was so unique. There are several different aspects, whether it is physical objects, or experiences, that will always remind me of my time in high school. I thought it would be fun to highlight these "5 Things" in a blog post. Read on!

#1: Khaki Pants

Yes, we wore uniforms. Okay, so we weren't subjected to the plaid skirts/blazers/ties that are present at some Catholic high schools. We had a little bit of freedom in our "dress code." Girls could wear khaki/navy/dark brown skirts/pants/bermudas/capris and light blue/gold/navy/white polos or button up blouses. We were allowed to wear sweaters, and school logo sweatshirts and fleeces without a hood. Pretty lenient and very comfortable! You had plenty of ways to "express yourself" but getting dressed each day wasn't too much of an ordeal. 

After wearing the CCHS uniform for four years, I can honestly say that I don't think I will ever be able to wear khakis again. They remind me too much of my school uniform. Every single girl stocked up on the pairs from Aeropostale (pictured above) each fall. They were flattering for a pair of khaki pants, but I just don't think I will ever have a pair of khakis in my wardrobe. They will forever be synonymous with my high school uniform!

#2: Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies

It might be safe to say that if you haven't ever had an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie, you haven't lived. These delicious treats were baked by the hundreds every day in our school cafeteria. They were stacked neatly in their cute little plastic drawers, and protected by the parchment paper wrapper with an Otis quote such as "Cookies Make the World go Round." (Yes, Otis, they do!) The smell of the delicious cookies baking would greet my nose every morning. (They were baked in special Otis ovens, naturally!) During the first few weeks of freshman year, people were obsessed with the cookies! Several guys would get packages several times a day. Not the healthiest, that's for sure. I did have a brief run in with "Otis Obsesssion" my freshman year, but then I made a rule for myself. My rule was that I could have the cookies once a week. I usually chose to eat them on Fridays as a special treat, but there was also many days after a tough AP U.S. History test that I would treat myself to Otis as well. My favorite flavors were butter sugar or milk chocolate chunk. So moist and delicious. From now on, if I ever see Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, I will think of my high school days.

#3: Eclipse Gum

Our school was gum free, so you actually weren't allowed to chew gum. Obviously, this didn't stop us. During freshman and sophomore year, I kept one of the Eclipse Big Paks in my locker. People quickly found out, and flocked to me to get their gum fix. I'll never forget one time during freshman year, when the gum pack fell from the shelf of my locker and spilled all over the hallway. My English teacher was not pleased. Every day after lunch during sophomore year, Maggie and Erin would stop at my locker to get gum before we all walked to wellness together. It was our daily routine. Needless to say, Eclipse gum will always evoke memories of my time as an underclassmen in high school.

Maggie and Erin and I, doing one of our class "Wellness Crew" poses

#4: Pretzel M&Ms

Wow, yet another junk food that will always remind me of high school. Pretzel M&Ms were a big part of my sophomore year volleyball season. My friend Sarah and I would go to the concession stand after our JV volleyball game and grab a pack to eat while we watched the varsity game. It was our little routine, and we were a bit obsessed. We still talk about our obsession with pretzel M&Ms.

Sarah and I on New Year's a few years ago. 

#5: Tennis

The team after a weekend tournament. Love these girls!

For the first two years of high school, I was a volleyball player. Once junior year rolled around, I knew I would need more time to devote to AP classes, so volleyball was out of the picture. In its place landed tennis, a sport that I had only recently taken up during the winter of my sophomore year. I was a bit nervous to join the team at first, as most of the girls had been playing tennis since they were young. I made the team junior year, and I had a great season. Senior year was amazing, we had so much fun singing on the bus to tournaments, goofing around at practice, and of course consuming lots of food. (We had an organized snack schedule for matches, and if you forgot to bring your snack, you were hated :)) I loved that tennis put me with a group of girls who I normally didn't hang out with. It was truly a breath of fresh air. The coaches were great as well, and were very flexible and reasonable. I definitely wasn't the best in my team, but I truly enjoyed the friendship, exercise, and community that tennis offered. It's a sport that I hope to continue to play recreationally in college and beyond. Whenever I play, I will always be reminded of the fun times I had playing tennis in high school. 

Do you have any items/experiences that (will always) remind you of your time in high school?

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative

Emily

10 Days

10 Days

That's how many days I have left of high school.

I. Can't. Even. Believe. It.

This year has flown. There is no other way to describe it. It seems that every passing year moves along at a faster and faster pace.

I am facing these last 10 days with mixed emotions.

There will be laughs
There will be smiles
There will be tears

I am so ready to move on to the next phase of my life: college. I will be attending the University of Missouri in the fall to study journalism. I am so excited for all of the independence, new experiences, and new relationships that await me. I have already found a roommate and we have begun to plan our decor! I can't wait to take engaging classes with lively and diverse professors, and enrich my life by furthering my education and exposing myself to new experiences.

*********

I am so happy to say that I have really enjoyed my time in high school, but it is definitely not going to be the peak of my life. I formed so many great friendships, took a variety of classes with engaging and insightful teachers, and was presented with many opportunities and experiences that I will never forget. I worked hard and had fun. I am proud of my high school career, and can't wait to carry the successes I have had in high school into college with me.

I am so lucky to have been able to attend a small high school that was like a family. I can't imagine what the last four years would have been like if I hadn't attended Central Catholic. Central has instilled in me the values, faith, smarts, and leadership skills that I need to carry into the future. I have been so lucky to have found a group of friends who share the same values as me and encourage me to make healthy decisions and engage in smart behavior. All of this would have been more difficult at a larger school.

I have been going to school with a majority of the people in my class since Kindergarten. It is so bizarre to think that after graduation day, I may never see some of these people ever again. Our class is a family  and I like to think we all get along pretty well. Sure, everyone has their own friend groups and interests, but when it comes down to it, we definitely have each other's backs.

Walking out of school on May 10th is going to be a unique feeling. We will all be saying goodbye. Goodbye to each other, goodbye to routine, goodbye to familiarity. I'm sure there will be tears shed. Central Catholic has been such a big part of all of our lives. It's hard to say goodbye to something you love and have such fond memories of.

However, May 10th will also be a day of saying hello. Hello to new beginnings, hello to opportunity, hello to new experiences. Yes, there is no "next year" as we have thought about every year of school since Kindergarten. However, there is "the rest of your life." How gratifying is it to know you have your whole life ahead of you? So exciting!

Everyone views these last 10 days as something different

"10 Days until my life is over."
"10 Days until freedom."
"10 Days until crazy summer partying."

I really hope that no one thinks that the next ten days bring the end of their life and happiness. High school is a quick stop on the journey of life. Yes, it's fun, and yes, it may seem like the end all be all. However, life holds many more experiences, joys, and relationships that are deeper and more meaningful than what can be found in high school.

I sincerely hope that most everyone in my class will view the next ten days as something like this:

"10 days until the beginning of the rest of my life."

For many, this can be daunting. Leaving the comforts of your home, friends, school, and family can be scary. The next phase is going to be difficult. Settling in to a new place (for most) is challenging both physically and emotionally. Don't let fear overcome you. Seize every opportunity, live every moment. There will never be another time in your life like it.

So, 10 Days.

I am going to make the next ten days count. The last ten days of riding to school with my sisters, the last ten days of putting on my school uniform in the morning, the last ten days of my mom waking me up for school, the last ten days of eating lunch in the cafeteria with my friends.

Yes, I'm excited, sad, scared, happy, and just about every emotion in between.

10 more days with the best senior class I could ask for definitely yields these kinds of emotions.

It's going to be hard to leave. Central has been such a unique experience.

However, I am confident and ready to move on to the next chapter of life, and welcome it with open arms.

10 more days of high school

10 more days until the beginning of the rest of my life

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative.

Emily