SATURDAY DIME: What Kay loves about summer

I'm so lucky that I live in Maryland, because I'm close enough to three major cities, New York City, Philadelphia (and Pittsburgh for that matter), and Washington D.C. I try to make as much use of them as possible! During the summer I love kicking it in D.C. with my friends or a fancy lunch with my mother.

At the end of summer, all those amazing clothes I spent the better half of the season drooling over go on sale! Just in time for the school year.

This one is pretty obvious, my birthday falls on July 17th! 

Nothing beats the refreshing chill of a nice glass of ice water, but I also love drinking ice cold fruity drinks and sun teas!

Getting to the beach! 

Because I'm away at college for so long during the fall and winter, I get to catch up with friends that I don't normally see! The gal on the right is my good friend Joan who moved to Arizona. 

I get to take the lovely Perry outside, which he loves. The world is so  big to him, it's so neat watching him crawl around and discover.

Just being outside in general. There's a really nice lake near my house that I enjoy walking around on summer evenings.

Kicking it at the pool! I found an amazing swimsuit last year.

Family vacations. This photo was snapped last year in Napa Valley, CA. I always try and bring back a souvenir or two.

~ Turtle

FANCY FRIDAY: High waisted bow ties

 

Today was miserably hot! I think it got to just over 100 degrees at one point. Looking cute in weather like this can be a challenge. I mean, sweat stains aren't attractive no matter how great the shirt is. So, if you're dealing with heat like this, but still need to look effortless and awesome try a nice top like this chiffon sleeveless blouse I found at Target and a pair of high waisted denim shorts. Light material, but fancy prints like my blouse are perfect. I went with brown gladiator sandals, belt, and my bag. I love wearing brown in the summer, it's still a nice basic color that goes with everything but isn't as bold as black can be. 

~ Turtle 

THURSDIY: Solar Jar

And the final product:

If you don't like the rustic painted look, as an alternative you can just use a sheer spray paint so that the jars come out looking a lot more clean cut. I was inspired by this article but added a few tweaks of my own to make it more clear and to give the kind of look I wanted. The best part about the lights is that you can just turn them off if you want to at night, otherwise the solar panel just recharges itself during the day. They're great for bedrooms, outdoor decks and patios for that extra DIY touch!

~ Bunny

WENSDOM: Dorm life

Living in a co-ed art dorm was an amazing experience for me. It's how I became close to Phaedra, created a sisterhood with a few other girls, and well, a family out of most the other dorm mates. We operated very much like a family, my floor felt like the family you actually live with, while the third floor felt like cousins that come around for holidays and special events, and the first floor felt like the distant family you see if you make the effort to travel to them or something. It was a very close knit quarters to say the least. There were both many ups and downs though, part of why Phaedra and I have chosen to move off campus together. Dorms in general take a certain kind of someone to survive, throwing in the co-ed factor can really amplify the experience in positive and negative ways. Looking back on it now, I really did love it for all that went right and all that went wrong. Above all I think I really learned a lot about myself in living in such an environment like a co-ed dorm.

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't underrate how important alone time is.
2. Talk to the quiet girl who never leaves her room, she may just blow your mind.
3. Make friends outside your dorm, (this one is more for specialty housing like art/science/and greek life dorms) it's important to have variety in the types of people you interact with.
4. Newborn kittens really don't belong in a dorm setting, no matter how supportive your dorm mates and RA are.
5. Repay favors, especially if you're in debt to someone who stayed up with you until 5 in the morning while you were extremely intoxicated and extremely sick.
6. Keep your door open occasionally, you never know who will stop by.
7. Don't be so quick to write people off, no one is ever all one way.
8. Try your best to avoid hostile living situations, so be upfront when someone you live with does something to or around you that you're not okay with.
9. Let's be honest, trying to have a relationship whether romantic or sexual with someone you live with is never a good idea, remember you have to see them every day even if things end badly.
10. Be yourself, broken record, but you'd surprised how many people still don't listen to that.

~much love Turtle

TASTE TEST: The classic vanilla milkshake!

Phaedra and I were thinking of a nice dessert to help us cool off during all these crazy summer heat waves. It dawned on us that we have a blender and we have ice cream...not much more thought was needed. Classic milkshakes are pretty simple to make. All it takes is combing about 5 scoops of ice cream (you may find you need more or less), a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 cup of milk. Throw it all in the blender and blend until everything is nice and smooth. Then all that's left is to enjoy! For other ideas try some of these recipes I found at Delish.

~Turtle

Meet Perry and Sinatra!

At 2:30 in the morning on an early October night this little guy wondered into my life. One of the many perks of living in a coastal town surrounded by farms and water is the fact that they don't run short on stray cats. My RA and a friend had found him mewing desperately from a recycle bin and brought him into our dorm for the night. I overheard them struggling to get him to calm down. I tapped into my animal shelter worker side and swooped in and helped them out. They were so impressed with how quickly I was able to assist things that they offered him to me. I asked the Mr. and Mrs. and after they saw pictures it soon took little convincing. I named him Sinatra Stackhouse, but everyone just calls him Sinatra. He has one bad paw that is bent inward, but it doesn't do anything except make him more adorable. His namesakes, Frank Sinatra and True Blood's Jason Stackhouse, are two of my favorite men! 

Perry, my Russian land tortoise, was a gift from my father last summer. One of the neatest gifts I've ever gotten. You see, my grandfather had this weird saying, "Never pay for children or animals." Not sure why he ever declared this to my mother all those years ago, but ever since she's never had to buy a single a pet she's ever owned, and neither have I. I plan to to keep it that way. Anyways, I knew nothing about owning a tortoise so I had a lot of research to do. To my relief owning a tortoise, despite what the harsh pet critics may say, is one the easiest pets to own. They're great starter pets, as they do not die very easily and can adjust like it's their job! Perry loves lettuce of all kinds, but dark ones like spinach and romaine are the best. The occasional tomato or strawberry as a treat and certain flowers too. I'll be posting lots of diet ideas so stay tuned! People think tortoises are dull pets, but let me assure you that is so false. Perry has quite the personality. He's not the cuddliest, but he's great to watch for hours. 

~Turtle 

An Introduction to Oscar and Annabelle

What a wonderful Monday it is! It's actually been quite the beautiful day here, making me in super high spirits and completely loving life. I thought today would be a nice introduction to my lovely, adorable, and quite personable rabbits: Oscar and Annabelle.

 OSCAR:
    Oscar is my very first rabbit and he is two years old (I can't believe it!) I got to hold him when he was only a couple of weeks old and he fit in the palm of my hand. I actually got him from my friends' sisters' rabbit who had little baby rabbits and I've been in love with them since.
    I actually named Oscar after my favorite Fire Emblem character (From Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn). Although he can't ride a horse, use a lance, or have green hair like this guy:

Oscar is a dwarf rabbit and weighs about five pounds. He absolutely loves people, but HATES getting picked up (and getting his nails clipped, ears cleaned, and for some reason newspapers).
     Thanks to Oscar, I learned a lot about rabbit care, what it takes to keep a cage clean, a rabbit happy, and to even build his own three story rabbit condo. I was able to take him to school where he would be able to free roam around my room, but since I was gone for part of the day, I thought he might get lonely so then I decided to get another wonderful rabbit.

ANNABELLE:
    I did a lot of research when it came to getting a second rabbit. Since Oscar was a boy (and neutered) I thought it would be appropriate to get him a nice girlfriend since I found out most male-female pairs for rabbits worked the best. I actually searched on petfinder for adoptable rabbits because I wanted to get an already spayed rabbit that needed a home instead of one of the rabbits from the petstore.
    I came across Annabelle from the Rat Chick Rat Rescue in Philadelphia who had recently taken part in a rabbit rescue operation where a man hoarded 40+ rabbits in cramped, smelly conditions and no sunlight or personal care. The Rat Rescue rounded up  volunteers to take care of the rabbits and I adopted Annabelle from a wonderful woman named Sunshine who helped me introduce Oscar and Annabelle to each other for the first time.They ignored each other for their first meeting, which in rabbit language is a very good sign. However, when I brought her home she would not move, was terrified of everything and would not drink. Soon, I began the bonding process between her and Oscar which took only about three weeks until they were attached at the hip to one another. Annabelle finally started to open up, and although she has a bit of a weight problem and is still fearful of most humans, she's very affectionate and I would never change adopting her for the world. As far as Annabelle's name is concerned, that is the name that Sunshine gave to her and I decided to keep it since Oscar and Annabelle just sounds too cute.

 I would like to say that as an additional disclaimer, rabbits are not starter pets and need a lot of care and attention. They're wonderful pets to have and care for but they require just as much maintenance as a cat or dog. Oscar and Annabelle are indoor house pets, but I let them outside on nice days, especially when they're shedding. Rabbits are beautiful, caring, and affectionate animals and should always be loved.

~ Bunny

The adventure begins...

We’re Kay and Phaedra, 20-something college juniors, at a small liberal arts college in a sleepy coastal town. We love it here. In fact, we love it here so much, we decided to get an apartment near our school. Upon moving in together, it dawned on us that we aren’t the only ones standing in this place—young, black girls, testing the waters of independent living for the first time—and that it would be really helpful and really awesome if there was a source to help us wade through the alluring yet confusing waters of independence. So, The Adventures of Bunny and Turtle were born. Welcome to our blog! We’ll be posting daily on multiple topics ranging from DIY crafts, first time apartment life, college ups and downs, fashion, hair, recipes, and keeping pets happy on a dime. Here we hope you find things that inspire you, move you, and of course entertain you. It's going to be one exciting ride so we hope you stick around. 


~Turtle Bunny