Life Lately.

My life has been a world-wind of a whimsical mix of fortunate and stressful events. Time is no longer of the essence; however, strangely I enjoy my crazy, event filled life! I'm still living the life of a pre-med student, and now I can officially add CEO and fashion model to my title. My socialite dreams are definitely budding, and for all of the right reasons. For those who don't know, my goal is to become a socialite, not for my personal benefit, but for networking opportunities for the non-profit organization that I started. Anyways, I have a lot to make up for three months gone, so I'll go ahead and get started =) 1. Camp Darrell was a success! Camp Darrell is the camp that I started 3 years ago through Party For Autism, in honor of my cousin. This was our first year having camp at a University, and I can definitely say that this was the best year yet! We had 10 amazing campers, and they were all brave enough to go through the daily ropes challenges.

I also had an amazing staff this year!

2. I hiked up a mountain! For resident advising training, we were sent away to Camp Hanes for a weekend in North Carolina. There, I climbed my first hike, an hour long trip up a (baby) mountain. I was so proud when I got to the top!

3.  I got a modeling gig! So, funny story....I don't even know how this happened! One day before work, I went to the Paul Mitchell school for a model call for my city's Fashion Week just to see what a casting was like, and after getting a few pictures taking, I will now be walking in our Fashion Week! and because of that, I've been doing a whole lot of this... 4. I found love =) Probably the best thing from this summer was finding my new boyfriend, Matt. After my heartbreak with my ex, I didn't think that I would be able to accept his love...but he definitely took me by surprise. (I decided that I didn't really like any of our pictures together...so picture is pending. Ahhhh, the suspense!) Other than that, I've just been enjoying my life with all of the new people I've been meeting this year! For those in school, cheers to an awesome semester!

Your Hand Marks Are Permanent

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know about the Anti-Bullying Campaign Party  For Autism is doing for children with special needs. Here is the excerpt written on our website:

"“Children with special needs are ten times more likely to be bullied than other kids.” This statistic is what made our CEO, Bree Law, start Party For Autism. After witnessing a classmate be pushed around and humiliated on a high school bus without anyone stepping in to stop the violent acts, Law knew that she had to do something, not only for her classmate, but for other people with special needs that are bullied on a daily basis, and have no one to turn to. Then rose the “Your Hand Marks are Permanent” Campaign, that will be starting at UNC Charlotte the week of April 23rd. Posters will be hung around the university’s campus, as well as an awareness wall in the student union that will display the signatures of students who vow to bring awareness to the issue."

This campaign will be going on all year, and hopefully the years to come to bring awareness and hopefully a solution to this problem. As CEO of Party For Autism, I would like to invite all of my fellow bloggers to publicly join our campaign, the best way us bloggers know how: by picture! 

Here are the instructions:

1. Take a picture of yourself with a painted hand mark on your face (the paint can be any color), like so...

2. Send the picture to bree.law@partyforautism.org and say that you give us permission to use your picture of artofbeingcool.blogspot.com and partyforautism.org.

And that's it!

I appreciate in advance anyone who vows to join our campaign. This awareness will hopefully show these children that they are not alone in their every day struggles.

If we get more than 50 bloggers to join our campaign by May 30th, we will send 1 child with special needs to our week long summer camp, Camp Darrell FOR FREE!

Read More about the "Your Hand Marks Are Permanent" Campaign here.

UNCC's Holi!

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to come back and share my pictures from UNCC's first annual Holi Moli! This was such a cool event, and I am so glad that I was apart of the group that put this together! Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

Holi Moli!

I am so excited! My school, thanks to my fellow members on the Campus Activities Board, have finally accepted the tradition of Holi, a Hindu "Festival of Colors" to bring in the Spring! We were suppose to do this event last week; however due to rain, we had to cancel it. But I am so excited for tomorrow! I have loved the idea of Holi ever since I heard the "Soni Soni" song below. Our Holi festival won't be as amazing as the the video below though, well maybe minus the awesome choreography!

Here's a video of when Chapel Hill did Holi Moli a few weeks ago. I'll make sure I post pictures from today!

Doing My Part. Vote against Amendment One!

Hi Everyone! On Monday, I had the opportunity to volunteer with Protect NC Families, an organization the is helping promote awareness of the Amendment One. This amendment states that marriage between one man and one women will be the only legal union that will be recognized in our state. If this amendment is passed, not only will same sex couples be banned from legal marriage, but children of unwed parents may lose health benefits as well! Therefore, thanks to my friend, Yasmine, I was able to do my part and volunteer! Here are pictures below of us "hard at work!"

This sign hung over the bathroom door. Love it!

If you can, make sure that you vote against this Amendment on May 8th!Have a great day!

Midweek Dinner Party

Earlier this week, I threw a little dinner party since one of my best friends came in to town from Maryland. I had not seen her in about a year, so I had to make sure I did something special for her before she left! This was just what I needed, after the funk that I've been in. Plus, I have been on a crazy cooking craze, so I was more than happy to cook for my friends. My guy friends were especially happy!The Menu:Sauted Chicken with OnionsOven Baked Salmon in a honey glazeCorn on the CobSpringtime Pasta

 All that was left of the chicken and salmon before I could grab my camera!

My friends wanted to play chess, but unfortunately a few of my pieces are missing after I moved to my apartment; however, there way no stopping them! I learned that chap stick, a lighter and a dime make perfect chess pieces!

We've all decided that this needs to be a regular thing! Maybe next time one of the guys will cook instead!Have you thrown any dinner parties recently?

A Day in Charleston

 The first week of March, my university had our Spring Break. Though I spent most of my week prepping for Party For Autism events and sleeping (basically a foreign language to me, being a Biology major), I took one day to drive to Charleston with my friend, Kortney and her little girl, Frankie (a.k.a. Frankenstein, Frankfurter, Frank of America, Frank N' Beans, Frankie Doodle, and many more ;)). Sometimes it's healthy to just get away from it all, even if it's just for one day! Plus, Charleston is beautiful! 

She looks so innocent, right? Wrong! Below is a $800 painting that Frank of America almost knocked over. 

 Earlier that day, we went to the aquarium to see the 4D Dora movie for Frankfurter; however, she did not like the special effects! We ended up getting drenched by all of the puddles Dora decided to step in and rivers she decided to jump into! We decided after that, we might as well go to the beach!

Scarf: Forever 21; Shirt: Forever 21; Shorts: Target (only $12!)

Welp, that's enough pictures for one post! Where would you go for a day, to get away?