If you use the word alot, I will judge you.

As Miley Cyrus (or was it Hannah Montana?) sang before she grew up too fast, no body's perfect.

Until this year, grammar was not my strongest skill as a journalist. I am a terrible speller and last semester I had to take a remedial grammar course. But whenever I write something, whether it's a text, paper or blog post, I try to at least get the little things right.

This semester I'm enrolled in a multimedia editing course that's weekly grammar and editing tests have given me the respect and passion for correct word use of a New York Times editor. This means that my daily Facebook and Twitter visits, text and email conversations, and even reading the bulletin boards in the residence hall I work at have started to make me judge my friends a little.

Now, unless they're fellow J-school students, I don't expect people to write with the accuracy of Grammar Girl, but I can't help but cringe when I come across common mistakes that no one with a high school degree or higher should make.

Here some of the most annoying mistakes I see every day.

Offense #1: Alot.

Alot is not a word. There is the word "a" and the world "lot" and the phrase "a lot," but alot does not exist in the English language.

I have a lot of homework to do? or I love Facebook A LOT!

A lot is used to describe how much you have, "a" modifies lot, as in "a" or "one" lot or load or homework.

Don't worry about the mechanics of the phrase, just know that a lot is two words.

Offense #2 Your or You're.

Guess what. They're not the same thing and they're definitely not interchangeable.

The word "your" is possessive. For example...

They're your annoying friends. or I love your new profile picture!

However, "your" isn't the key offender. But it's used quite often in place for the word "you're."

You're means You are. (kind of like how don't means does not, or it's means it is.)

You're is used to describe people. For example...

You're such a noob. OR I think you're the coolest person I know.

Offense #3 Spelling errors.

My spelling has improved exponentially this semester. Why? Multimedia editing has spelling tests, and spelling and grammar check has been disabled in the Stauffer-Flint computer labs.

If you don't know how to spell a word, and aren't willing to take a few seconds to grab a dictionary and look up the word, then you should not be allowed to use that word.

Most internet browsers have spellcheck, but if your's doesn't and you don't want to, or have access to looking up a word, open up Microsoft Word, type it in and let the program do the rest of the work.

English grammar is confusing. The first response I heard to every groan I ever made in a foreign language course was, "English is the hardest language to learn." But there are some grammar sins that are unforgivable.

When you have to use spell check to correct a word, don't just right click and be done with it. Read the correct spelling and try to memorize it.

Grammar matters!

Today, potential employers like to use social media outlets to stalk... I mean check out job candidates. Every time you write a paper, send an email or update your favorite social media outlet, earn the respect of your audience by taking a few seconds to review your grammar. Never type and hit post. Take a few extra seconds to read through the Facebook comment to avoid judgement.

My Religion Is You

Floral denim high waisted shorts- Saver's, $3

Pink silk flower headband- J Crew, $25 (I think)

Shirt, Walmart SUPER SALE (I know classy) $1 (and now you know why)

The title is from Lady Gaga's Teeth. The song doesn't fit the look AT ALL, but I love this line and think it's pretty romantic, maybe a little stalkerish, but whatever.

Gaga's KC show is in 16 days, and she's all I'm listening to! It's sure to be a life changing show! I think I know what I'm wearing, something beaded and sparkly. It's kinda skanky but classy, but that's how I feel about Gaga. Love her.

AJ and I wanted to have a shoot, so it was off to the secret creek thing by my house. We discovered it with Michael a few weeks during another shoot because we knew there was a cement drainage ditch there, but when we found the creek and waterfall, we knew we had to switch locations. (And the ditch was dark and scary!) The first time we went bugs were crawling in our clothes, and I got a bite on the middle of my back that still itches, so this time we came prepared with bug spray!

We both had SUPER successful shoots that day, there were so many great shots to chose from, but the fist one on here (and the one on lookbook) was so poised (not intentional!) I had to choose it! (Photo and editing by AJ)

Drew got me this headband for my birthday!

IMMA DORK.

Vintage 999 (My ebay store) is up and running! Check it out!

my first outfit post

hello there!

I'm going to take a crack at this whole outfit bloging business, I mean now that I have a big, bad lookbook! eeeep!

So I have these two AMAZING friends. Their names are Alexandra Johnston and Michael Amboyan Brown. Not only are they extremely beautiful and sexy people, but they are also extremely TALENTED photographers. They're grrrreat teachers!

This look will be on lookbook soon, titled Begin at the Beginning. It reminds me of fall and how beautiful Kansas City is at sunset. I seriously love it.

Michael took and edited this one. It's so serene.

This and the rest are AJ's (unedited), only because she let me upload all her pics today after our shoot! mmmm basking in the sunlight!

Dress, Savers, $6 (this is where I get all my clothes now, btws... I'm there like once a week! It's an obsession.)

Boots, Target, $20

Hat, borrowed from AJ

Belt, it was my grandma's (loooove free vintage)

EXCITING NEWS! I'm starting an ebay vintage store! I already have a bunch of items to list! It's called Vintage 999 because all the Buy it Nows are $9.99 or less and the auctions start at $9.99! Vintage should be affordable, and that's what my store is all about!

Here's a preview of Vintage 999 goodness:

AJ looking fierce for Vintage 999

The store should be up by the end of the week, just need to measure/size and list everything and there will be fab finds for everyone!

AJ and I shot some looks today, so expect some lookbook posts soon. I'll also be posting more pics from previously posted looks on here. So much to do! But it's all good fun!

i LOVE new york.

This is a really old post that I started and never posted! so here it is! haha!

on the train headed to JBieb! Chessie being a nerd!

Hi. It's me again.

Last week...maybe the week before (it's summer and I've lost track of time) my grandma, sister and I went to NYC! It was mostly a trip to visit family who live in upstate New York, so we only went into the city two days, but NYC is still amazing, just in case you were wondering.

The celeb of our visit was my 91 year old, great grandmother, aka Grandma Rachel. I haven't seen her in WAY too many years, so needless to say the reunion was SPECTACULAR. And much over due. Although the importance of spending time with my cousins and aunts and uncles outweighed spending time with my favorite place in the whole wide world, we managed to have quite the adventure during our two days in the city.

Our first day in New York we went to Westpoint (Army.) It was... pretty? Although military stuff isn't really much of an interest to my sister or me, we still managed to enjoy the history of Westpoint, especially the college traditions, but not going to lie, we were a little bored and Chessie was VERY distracted. While we were driving to WP she got a text from a friend saying "JUSTIN BIEBER IS HAVING A FREE CONCERT IN NYC TOMORROW!" my sister is 13, so obvi she is obsessed. She's his biggest fan! Some how she convinced my great aunts and my grandma Carol to wake up at 3 am to catch a train from Rochester to Grand Central Station in time to make it to Rochefellar Plaza in time for his performance on the Today show. Unfortunately, 10000000000000000000000 people had the same plans, and a majority got there a DAY or TWO before us, so we were not exactly front row. But Chess got a glimpse of Bieber's famous hair flip, which made her cry, so it was well worth it! However, her reaction to such a small dosage of the pint sized pop mega star makes me nervous for when we see him on her birthday at the Sprint Center. Hope they have EMTs near the floor seats. Not joking!

After that we took one of those double decker bus tours. I've been to the city a million times, but I've always secretly wanted to do it, and we learned a ton! Despite the intense heat and exhaustion. Oh and Chessie napped thought it! She used her today show poster for shade.

The bus drove my Parsons in Times Sq, (ps learned it was named that bc the NY Times headquarters was there!) and the New School buildings in the Village, so I got to show my fam where I went to school last summer! And we saw the Flat Iron building, which I'm obsessed with, so it was a good day! Day 1 ended with a visit to the Statue of Liberty.

For our second day of the city, our cousin Ralphie hooked us up! He owns a bunch of buildings on 8th, one of them being the famous John's pizzeria! He treated us to a delicious lunch. Once we were full, we crossed the street to the Mystic Theatre to see Phantom of the Opera! We decided to go to a show just a few days before, but Ralphie worked his magic to score us Orchestra seats! EEEEP! The view from row I was amazing, as was the show! Possibly the best I've seen in NYC. I'd never seen Phantom before, and where better to see it than on Broadway, it's the street's longest running show!

We had a fantastic time in New York, but now it's time to have a productive summer! I just started nannying three times a week for the sweetest two year old twin boys, and will be putting the money towards that camera/bike!

ALSO I finally got a LOOKBOOK. I've been wanting one for about a year now, and after trying everything, I finally used the magic powers of a forum to sneak my way in. I know that's kind of low, but honestly, how rude is it to make a fashion website invite only? Fashion is for everyone, and people shouldn't be excluded from expressing themselves. AND I applied for one a year ago, so at least I tried! AJ (I had to share the secret with my best girl!), MB and I are having a photo-shoot tomorrow, so I'll be posting fab looks soon! The one I currently have up is the look I submitted God knows when!

Once Chessie returns from camp with the family camera, I want to start posting an outfit here at least once a week, but as you can see from how frequently I update my blog, we'll just have to see how that goes!

I also want to try and start an ebay thrifting biz with AJ. hmmmmm. Anything to make $$$! But seriously she is such an amazing thrifter, we'd be rich.

NYC PICS!

Chessie and I with Lady Liberty

Teaching my big city cousins how we laso in Kansas! (Joke, obvi. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to laso!)

Enjoying Delicious Pizza from John's!

(R to L: Gama Carol, Aunt Bunny, Me, Chessie, and Aunt Rosalie)

With the amazing Grandma Rachel!

I love journalism! My life and Happy Birthday, Dad!

This is me hanging with my OPhiA sisters. Typical, crazy us!

So I haven't posted since I started this blog during winter break. That's a big social media no no, but it was the busiest semester of my college career so far! I took my first real journalism class, J 301, and even though it was beyond time consuming, I learned an amazing amount about journalism this semester. I also have fallen in love with news and info all over again, and I have decided that this is definitely where my future career will be.

I learned a lot about using multi-media components to enhance my stories, which of course I had heard of before (my Kansan editors have been encouraging me to do so for a year now!) but now that I was actually forced to use them, I'm obsessed! If asked back to the UDK's opinion section next semester, I am going to revamp The Hemline to include lots of technological and interactive components.

Today the new opinion section editor, Jonathan Shorman, introduced me to NY Times' fashion photographer Bill Cunningham's online video segment, On The Streets. Cunningham rides around NYC on his bicycle and snaps photos of fiercely dressed New Yorkers, then narrates fashion commentary over a slide show of his findings. He's an oldie, but you'd never know! His personality is bubbly, lively and fabulous, and he definitely knows fashion. Doing something like this on campus next year would be SO much fun! I just need a sweet camera. I've been saving up for one for a while now, but my savings always seem to dwindle away. Sad times.


Bill on his bike, being ADORABLE! I seriously love him.

Some journalists are worried that the end of journalism, especially print, is near. I say it's a new beginning! We must embrace what new technology allows us to do use it and give readers the opportunity to get as much out of our stories as possible. Yes, anyone can have a blog, Twitter or YouTube channel, but as journalists we have the advantage of know how to use these forms of multimedia in ways that will bring people back to newspapers.

If someday newspapers and magazines are only published online, I will certainly miss the feeling of the glossy cover of a Vogue, the perfume sample ads and newspaper ink smudges on my fingers, but think of all the trees will would be saving! Journalists, don't fear multimedia convergence, use it to your advantage.

One more final on Friday, and it's Pop Culture of the 1930s, so easy! We watched It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert this semester, LOVE IT. Everyone should see it, it's the most adorable film of all time! :)

Update on my life? My service sorority was inducted as an national chapter of Omega Phi Alpha, we had our first formal (I was formals chair) and it was a blast! I was elected VP of out chapter and I'll be an RA next year!


Me and my awesome little, Sydney, at the Alpha Kappa Chapter's Induction, being precious, of course!


Induction with a few of my lovely sisters :)


Look at the sweet stuff my big sent me!


O Phi-Ye-Ye A! Fiesta Formal! Me with Drew and Crystal with Nate.



Me and my roomie Crystal, being cute at formal! Look! I got bangs! (did them myself, haha)



Alpha pledge class activation! And the bangs need to be trimmed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDIO! Shout out to my dad's new blog Road to Cidermill! He's gotten really into cycling lately and is training to ride in the Cider Mill Century 50 mile ride in August. Today is his birthday, and my family and his co-workers surprised him with this new bike he's been dying for! He was so suprised, heard he cried! Dad, you're too cute! He's going to train me this summer and hopefully I'll ride with KU's cycling team next semester.

Summer is going to be a blast! Possibly going to NYC with my sister and grandma in June! Fingers crossed!

Give Me S'more Snowdays!

The good news is... we had a White Christmas!

It was absolutely magical and beautiful! And Santa brought me a new car! Yay!

The bad news? It hasn't stopped snowing! It's been snowing in Kansas City since Christmas Eve! Whoa! I feel like we moved to Minnesota. No thank you!

The weather's been crazy, and although I usually love a Winter Wonderland, I am getting sick of all this snow. But, the good that's come out of it is that my sister, Chessie, got an extra week of winter break because she's had so many snowdays!

So to pass the time we've been keeping busy in the warm indoors by baking, of course!

First, we made a funfetti Christmas tree cake!

Yummm!

Next, we decided we wanted to try some more advanced baking. Chessie gave me this FABULOUS cookbook called Stud Muffins by Judi Guizado, Gilda Jimenez, Shari Hartz and Tammy Aldag. Stud Muffins has 53 creative and delectable muffin recipes like Sweet as Pumpkin Pie muffins and Ooh-La La Quiche muffins. Each recipe has a matching Stud and his steamy story. So hilarious!

The Stud we choose was Blade, the hunky outdoorsman (although a little old for us!) The recipe, Give Me S'more Muffins.

Not only was the recipe extremely easy to follow, but the muffins were HEAVENLY!

This recipe is super creative. Instead of using flour for the muffins, you just crumble graham crackers!

Add milk, an egg, honey, then fold in some chocolate chips and marshmallows. (This is one of the most delicious batters I have ever tasted!)

The best part? You top each full spot in the muffin pan with some marshmallows, which toast in the oven while the rest of the muffin bakes! SO ADORABLE! Don't they look delish?

The muffins are a little messy, but completely worth sticky fingers!

I cannot wait to try out S'more recipes from the Stud Muffin Cookbook! (haha) It's a fantastic and hilarious gift! Thanks Chess!

Also, this was my sister's very first time baking from scratch! She did a fantastic job and I'm glad I got to share this with her!

Next week, back to KU. I'm totally making muffins for the roomies! I cannot wait to go back, but I am NOT AT ALL excited to walk to class in this Arctic weather. But I'm happy to see my friends again and watch some Jayhawk Basketball! Rock Chalk!

Stay warm!