the post with gulf shores.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write about my trip to Gulf Shores. It was literally one of the best vacations that I’ve ever been on. I have an attractive group of girlfriends that I have been close with for the past 8-9 years. We’ve never been on vacation together, just the four of us, so I was pretty excited, and a little nervous too – 4 girls in close quarters for 4 nights. Estrogen limit? It ended up being amazing, and I wish we could have stayed much longer (but only if we each had individual beds and an additional bathroom).

We were so excited to get there that we actually ended up leaving at midnight and getting to the condo about 6-7 hours before we originally anticipated. We did all the necessary things – Wal-Mart trip, deciding who sleeps where, etc. Then we headed to the beach! Can I just say that everything about it was perfect? I don’t remember it being that gorgeous the last time I went (though I did go for spring break rather than summer). The water was a bit chilly, but not cold enough to not go in.

Amanda, me, and Sarah. Kat was tanning (but really burning, actually).

The first day we met these two guys, one who was from Lafayette, LA and whose family owned stables in Haughton. Small world, right?! He taught my friend, Amanda, and me to skimboard. I was aw-ful. I fell on butt, and it hurt for about two days. Not fun. But actually really fun. Cause that makes sense.

This was before I fell flat on my butt.

For dinner, we ate at Lambert’s, which was freaking delicious. The rolls are huge, and they just throw them at you. The roll thrower guy was flirtin’ with Kat and threw three rolls at her head when she told him she didn't want any. He also serenaded her twice. He was okay the first time, singing some Bruno, “Just the Way You Are,” but the second time was not so great. Don’t remember what he sang exactly. Clearly it wasn’t memorable. 

That night, a bunch of randomness and weird circumstances brought three of us (Kat had to get some sleep. She drove the whole time. Bless) to this place called Mudbugs (being from Louisiana, of course we had to check it out). It ended up being a lot of fun. Karaoke and dancing. We met three guys that we ended up seeing every day for the duration of our trip. We went to their condo, and can I just say – Amazing. View. Omg. It was gorgeous. Of course, we went to the beach, and it was chilly, but lovely at night.

Pretty friends. @0livepanda @sarahsugarkisses #TASKforce #vacation #girlstrip #gulfshores

A photo posted by Tiffany Khyla White (@tiffanykhyla) on May 14, 2013 at 7:58am PDT

The next day, we woke up and headed straight to the beach. We spent pretty much the whole day there, and every second was amazing. Played a little football with the boys.

Then got dressed for dinner at Lulu’s. That place is really cute. My food was just okay, but I tried some of other people’s and theirs was pretty good. We ended up back at Mudbugs that night. Kat and I sang a Miley duet to “Party in the USA.” Let my Filipino side show on the mic.

The day after that, we did a little shopping at Tanger Outlet then headed back to the condo to change for the dolphin cruise. It was my first dolphin cruise ever, so I was pretty pumped. We saw a good number of dolphins, but the little buggers are hard to get pictures of.

We met this guy on the boat who introduced us to some of his friends when we got off (later they met us at Florabama). One of his friends we had seen a couple times on our trip. He had dreads and he was riding his bike. Hard to miss. He told us to eat at this place called Cosmos, and it was so good. When we got there, the host told us that it would be thirty minutes, then before he could hand us the buzzer to wait, he decided to bump us up and seat us immediately by the bar. Nice guy.

Sunset dolphin cruise! #alabama #dolphincruise #sunset #gorgeous #picstitch

A photo posted by Tiffany Khyla White (@tiffanykhyla) on May 15, 2013 at 6:19pm PDT

After dinner, we went to Florabama with the guys, which was a blast. Probably my favorite part of the trip. The last time I went, it was an awkward part of the year and no one was there. Shame. This time, it was ridiculously packed. So. Much. Fun.

The next day, it was time for us to say goodbye to the beach. We had a plan to do a little photoshoot on the beach, but that didn’t happen. Oh well. We ended up driving to New Orleans (my first time!). We did a little shopping, ate a little seafood, and did a little sight-seeing. I would really love to go back and check out Bourbon. We also stopped in Natchitoches to get some Natchitoches meat pies, but they were sold out, so we got crawfish pies, which were pretty delish.

Cafe du Monde! #TASKforce #neworleans #picstitch @sarahsugarkisses @0livepanda @khwillcox

A photo posted by Tiffany Khyla White (@tiffanykhyla) on May 16, 2013 at 3:54pm PDT

This trip def brought me closer to my girls. We call each other TASK – Tiffany. Amanda. Sarah. Kat. Get it? (Officially dubbed TASKForce now. Yea. We’re cool.) We met so many people from Louisiana, which was awesome. Everyone we met was super nice. There’s just something about going on a vacation with all girls. It’s so much fun. I can’t wait for our next vaca!

-- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with the glitter.

One thing most people know about me is that I L.O.V.E. GLITTER! I just love to sparkle, and sparkly things are so pretty. So naturally, I like to make as many things sparkle as possible. And it's so easy to make {almost} anything sparkle with just two simple steps!

MATERIALS
-- Mod Podge (either matte or gloss will do)
-- Sponge brush or paint brush
-- Bowl

-- Glitter! Any color. I've used all types of glitter, and of course the brand that sticks and looks best (and costs the most) is Martha Stewart. I still buy lower priced glitter though, and sometimes, it works fabulously.

DIRECTIONS

// Mix glitter and Mod Podge in bowl.
// Using the brush, paint on (almost) anything!

It's that easy! So far the only thing that I've tried to glitter that didn't stick was my rubber iPhone case. It just peeled right off after it dried. So unfortunate, because those glitter chevron stripes were precious. Here are some things that I've glittered that came out wonderful:

GLITTER SHOES

I bought some plain white wannabe-Keds from Wal-Mart in the kid section for $5. I've gotten more compliments on these shoes than I have on any of my others (excluding my red sparkly flats. No place like home, y'all).

After the first layer

Several layers later...

I made my own ombré glitter wannabe-Keds. In love. #ombre #fakekeds #pinterest #glitter #sparkle

A photo posted by Tiffany Khyla White (@tiffanykhyla) on Apr 23, 2013 at 9:29pm PDT

GLITTER CLUTCH

I bought this clutch at Sam Moon in Dallas when I was in high school. I used it for a few months then moved on. I found it a few months ago, and now I use it on the daily.

GLITTER THERMOS

I got this cup for $2 at Michael's in the kids craft section. I wish I would have used a different brand glitter for the heart because it came out clumpy, but I still love it.

-- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with the harry potter silhouettes.

I've gotten to the point in life where, if I want something, I would rather just buy it for myself because no one else would know what I really want, i.e. clothes, craft supplies, movies (my collection is ridiculous and no one knows what I have or don't have), etc. So I love receiving handmade gifts from family and friends, and in turn, I L.O.V.E. making gifts for them as well. It has more meaning and no one else in the entire world has anything exactly like it.

So for my boyfriend's sister's birthday, I decided to make something super random. She loves Harry Potter (I mean, who doesn't?), so I decided to make something in that genre, and I settled on making some colorful silhouettes of the trio. I absolutely love how these turned out! You can also adapt this to make any kind of silhouette you want!

Materials:

• Magazines
• Scissors
• Silhoutte print out (it's pretty easy to do a google search and find something)
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brush or paint brush
• Picture frame
• Solid colored piece of paper (printer paper, card stock, construction paper, any will do)

Directions:
1 // First rip magazine pages out with colors that you like and cut the pages into strips. They can be long, short, whatever you want.

2 // Take the Mod Podge and, using the brush, paint Mod Podge onto the silhoutte print.

3 // Place the magazine strips onto the paper in any way you desire.

4 // Turn the silhouette over and use the scissors to cut the excess magazine strips off.

5 // Paint a layer of Mod Podge over the magazine strips. 

6 // When the Mod Podge is finished drying, paint a layer of Mod Podge on the back of the silhouette and place it wherever you would like on the solid colored piece of paper. It's best to choose neutral colors like black, white, or gray so that it doesn't clash with the colors in the magazine strips. 

7 // When it's done drying, place it in the frame, and you're done! 

-- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with the swimsuit cover-up.

Next month, some of my high school friends and I are taking a road trip to Gulf Shores to go to the beach. I've always been a bargain hunter, so I bought two solid bathing suit tops and two solid bottoms at JCPenney for only $5 each so I can mix and match with the solids and prints that I already have. I only have two cute swimsuit cover-ups, so I decided to search Pinterest to find a DIY, and I found the perfect one here. It came out shorter than I intended because I got a little too scissor happy, but I still love it, and I'll still wear it.

Supplies: 

• White t-shirt (I got a large, and I usually wear a small)
• Tie-dye kit (I used the Tulip brand from Wal-Mart)
• Needle and thread

Directions:

1. Tie-dye the shirt -- The kit came with an instruction booklet with different ways to tie-dye. I chose to do the spiral, because it looked the easiest. All you do is pinch where you want the middle of the spiral to be, then keep twisting it. Place three rubber bands on the shirt to secure it, separating the shirt into six sections.
   
   
   
2. Fill each section with a different color, trying not overlap the colors. Flip over on back and add more die if the color has not soaked through.
   
   
   
3. Place the shirt in a plastic bag and let sit for 6-8 hours. Rinse the shirt out in the sink or bathtub then wash the shirt by itself in a large load. My washer is a little ghetto, and it won't run unless the whole washer is full, so I had to hand wash it about five times before the water became clear. Then dry the shirt by itself.
   
   
   
4. Lay the shirt flat, then cut off both of the sleeves, creating a U-shape. Don't throw these out. You'll need them later.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Flip the shirt over then cut the sleeves to make the holes bigger, but only do this in the back, making a wide racer-back shape.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Flip the shirt back over, and cut the collar off. This is where I messed up, because I got a little scissor happy and cut into the sleeves, which is mine turned out a little shorter than intended.
   
   
   
7. Flip to the back of the shirt and cut a straight line below your collar, cutting your racer back off. (I had to skip this step because mine was already off. Oops.)
8. Cut the racer back into 3 vertical strips then braid the strips all the way up. Use your needle and thread to sew the end of your braid together.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Take your collar and fold it in half. Mark where the center is. Make a few stitches connecting your braid to the center of your collar.
   
   
   
10. Cut a strip of fabric from one of your sleeves - about 1.5 inches wide and 4 inches long. Use this fabric to cover your stitching. Stitch the end of the strip to the connection and wrap it around to cover your previous stitching. Connect your fabric at the end, and you're done!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    -- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with the friendships.

Being an Air Force brat and all, I’ve made and lost a lot of friends throughout my life. I’ve lost touch with some friends, grown apart from others, and I’ve had friendships that ended due to huge blow-outs. I’ve had a lot of people that I’ve considered to be a best friend, and others who have never been called that, but I still consider to be a close friend. Even though I’m admittedly a selfish person sometimes, I like to think that when it comes to anyone that I consider to be a friend, I’m selfless when it matters.

You know that quote that says “Sometimes we expect more from others because we’d be willing to do that much for them?” That’s how I feel about a lot of my friendships. I’m one of those people that love Christmas and birthdays because I get to think of the best gift to give to the people I love. When I’m just out shopping and I see something that reminds me of someone, I like to buy it for a ‘just because’ gift. I love surprising my friends, especially when I haven’t talked to them in a while, just to remind them that I still love them and I’m thinking about them.

The funny thing with friendship, though, is that, like in a romantic relationship, one person always cares more than the other. There are lots of different types of friends out there, and some things have been happening lately that have made me want to define some of the types of friends that I have in my life.

1. The fun friend. It’s good to have a fun friend in your life for those days when you don’t want to talk about anything serious. A fun friend is someone that you can always look to for a good time, whether it be a night on the town or just someone to make you laugh. I have a lot of fun friends in my life. There are only a few friends that I can open up to and talk to about serious stuff, but it’s rare that I do this with my fun friends. These friends are usually spontaneous and down to just have a good time. Fun friends rarely see me cry. They’re the friends I go to when I just want to smile.
2. The listening friend. Pretty much the opposite of the fun friend. These are the friends I go to when I just need someone to talk to. They’re the friends that I rant to about my problems, and I often reciprocate by listening to theirs. Of course I still have fun with some my listening friends, but maybe not as much fun as with the fun friends. Listening friends are the real friends who are always there for you, whether it be in person or over the phone. Everyone should have a listening friend.
3. The long-term friend. These are you forever friends, the people that have been in your life for so long that you can’t get rid of them now. I have some long-term friends that I’m closer to than others. Because I’ve moved around a lot, I have a lot of long-term friends that live far away from me. When we do get together, we have a good time, but when we’re apart, we rarely talk. A lot of my long-term friends were once considered to be a best friend, but we’re not as close anymore. The only bad thing about long-term friends is that sometimes when you do get together, it’s a little awkward at first because a lot has changed since you last really talked. I have some long-term friends that when we get together, it’s like no time has passed, and other long-term friends that stay awkward the whole time we’re together. I think it’s important to have long-term friends, because these friends know about some of the past heartaches that you wouldn’t want to bring up to any new friends, including your listening friends.
4. The convenience friend. This is the friend that you call up when you’re bored and have no one else to talk to. Usually your convenience friend considers you to be a convenience friend as well, so don’t feel bad for considering them as a convenience friend. Sometimes your convenience friends can also be your fun friends if your convenience friend happens to be a lot of fun.
5. The fake friend. When I say fake, I don’t mean they’re liars or anything like that. Fake friends are the people that say they miss you, but they really don’t because they don’t actually make an effort to see you when they’re in close proximity. Calling them a friend is actually kind of a stretch. The fake friend can sometimes be like a convenience friend or a friendly friend (see #10).
6. The friend of a friend. This one is pretty self-explanatory. A friend of a friend is obviously someone who is friends with your friends. You may hang out sometimes when your mutual friend invites the both of you somewhere. You make small talk when you’re there together, and you add each other on Facebook and Instagram, but you don’t talk or see each other unless your mutual friend is there too.
7. The social media friend. These are the friends that you have fun with and talk to when you’re together, but when you’re apart, you only speak through social media. You never call or FaceTime or Skype. I have a lot of these friends that I love. We text a lot, send each other SnapChats, and like each other’s photos on Instagram. We’ll tweet back and forth and write the occasional “I miss you” post on each other’s walls, but we never actually talk to each other. These are the friends that give me daily reminders that someone several miles away from me is thinking about me.
8. The holiday friend. Holiday friends are the ones that only remember that you exist when it comes to holidays. This is usually around Christmas when everyone gets the bulk “Merry Christmas” text message. Some holiday friends also remember me around Thanksgiving. People who never speak to you but will write on your wall or send a text on your birthday are also considered to be holiday friends.
9. The perfect friend. When I say perfect friend, I mean a friend that you kind of look up to, a role model of sorts. These are the friends that have a lot of good things going for them. They have the job you want or the perfect family or perfect boyfriend/girlfriend or the best wardrobe, from your perspective anyway. I can only think of a couple friends in my life that fit this type. These friends don’t make me feel bad about myself or anything. They make me want to set goals. These are the friends make me want to be a better version of myself.
10. The friendly friend. I couldn’t come up with a better term for this type of friend, but these are the friends that you’re friendly to when you see them, but you don’t really hang out. I guess the friendly friend could also be considered an acquaintance. Whenever you see each other, you’re friendly, but you don’t make an effort to see each other outside of running into each other.

There are lots of other types of friends, but these are the ones that are sticking out to me at the moment. I know I sometimes use the term loosely, but I do love all of my friends, some more than others obviously. Twenty-three years later, I’m beginning to surround myself with the friends that really matter, the ones that love me and would do anything for me, just like I would do for them, and I’m slowly getting rid of the ones who are selfish in our friendship. I have big dreams, and I don’t need any negative, fake, or convenience friends holding me back.

-- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with Europe.

I've become a woman obsessed. Obsessed with EUROPE! I was at work the other day, and I got to thinking about how I'm 23, and I haven't done enough! I mean, I've done some pretty awesome things in my life, and I've gone to lots of awesome places, but I want more. I want to go to Europe. I was only there for two years of my life at the very beginning, so it doesn't count.

I have always wanted to travel with EF College Break because all of their tours look like a blast. I feel like I've ordered brochures from them at least once a year since high school, but I've never legitly sat down and thought about the possibility of going; but now I have. Summer 2014 will be my summer for Europe. I've already started saving up for it and everything. I've also told three people about it, and now I'm writing it here, so it's officially official. I'm going to Europe in 15-18 months.

Can you imagine me in Europe? I feel like I'd hyperventilate with excitement. All the strangers I'll be on the tour with will become annoyed with how many times I say, "This is so exciting" or "This is so fun" and with the outrageous amount of pictures I'll insist on taking. I can't stop watching videos on the EF College Break Youtube page and reading about the tour that I want to do, which is Paris, London, and Rome. I'm hyperventilating with excitement just thinking about going.


When I went shopping with my boyfriend earlier today (V-day, y'all), I found myself asking "Do I want this shirt or do I want to go to Europe?" It obviously worked, because I didn't buy a single thing. The trip is going to be about $4000, so anyone who wants to donate to the "Tiffany is going to Europe in 2014" fund should contact me directly. Kidding, not kidding.

-- tiffanykhyla.

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the post with the people I'll never see again.

Other than the fact that if I die, I have no idea where I’ll get buried, I have always L.O.V.E.D. (all caps, each letter read individually) being an Air Force brat. I’ve gotten to see parts of the world that a lot of my friends haven’t. I have friends literally all over the world (meaning that if I travel, I have a couch to sleep on). I have lived an overall privileged life, and I’ve gotten several opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten had my dad not been in the military. I’ve met so many amazing people throughout my life thanks to my dad’s career choice. Not only because of the places I’ve lived in while living with him, but also because it’s a great conversation starter. The Air Force has some pretty amazing people in it, and I love sharing stories with the military people I meet.

That being said, it makes me really sad whenever I meet people that I’m never going to see or speak to again. Not only people I’ve met through moving around a lot, but also people I meet at work, when I’m out with friends, or on vacation. I’ve compiled a list of a few examples.

The most recent example: I met this man at work who is currently in the Air Force. I don’t know his name or what he does in the military, but we had a really nice chat. He’s originally from Delhi, Louisiana, so naturally that sparked up a lengthy conversation. We talked about how we hate that when we tell people we’re from Louisiana, they automatically think we live in swamps and have alligators in our backyard. We discussed our love for crawfish and king cake. Then, of course, since he’s in the Air Force, we talked about places we’ve lived. We both lived in Okinawa for awhile, but we had completely different experiences, considering I was 5-8 when I lived there, and he was there in his early 20’s. He told me about his wife (who is from Oregon) and how he was stationed in Idaho for a little while, but hated it because there was nothing to do. Right now, he’s living in Sumter, SC, which is about an hour and a half outside of Charleston, where I lived, so we spent a little bit of time talking about how we loved the beach. Like I said, I never knew his name, so I called him “Leather Jacket Guy” because he wore this black leather jacket with stripes on the shoulders. He was incredibly nice, and we had an awesome conversation, and I am unbelievably sad that I will never talk to him again. He had stayed at the hotel for a couple of weeks, so I had had other conversations with him, but the last one we had was the longest, and most memorable. He was a very nice guy.

When I went on a cruise with my friends in college (we dubbed ourselves the “Tech Fam.” There were ten of us, but only six went on the cruise.), we met these two guys on the beach in Progreso. We had just gone on the banana boat (amazingly fun) and they took a group picture of us and then took a picture with us. We discovered they were on the same cruise as us. We had some light, fun conversation before leaving to get back on the boat. We saw them again when we all decided to go to a Burlesque show on the boat (scandalous). They ended up peace-ing out early with uncomfortable, awkward looks on their faces. Bless their hearts; they weren’t even old enough to drink, except in Mexico. We also ran into them on our last day of the cruise. We were going to our last breakfast, and they were eating with their parents. I remember them saying that they were best friends. I don’t remember everything that we talked about with those guys, but apparently they made enough of an impact to be included in this post.

Chris and Maverick, the guys we met in Progreso, are the ones on the outside in the back. 

When I was in middle school, I had this amazing group of girlfriends. I loved all of them, and I still talk to a few of them every once in awhile. There was this one girl named Ashley who was just as sweet as can be. In eighth grade, we were in Advanced Art together, and, as a class, we went to New York City. It was an absolute blast. I believe there were four of us in the room – Ashley, Melissa, Emily, and me. The four of us pretty much stuck together the whole trip. I remember this one conversation from the trip. Ashley was showing the rest of us the shirt she wanted to wear the next day, and she was asking us our opinion of it. We all thought it was a sleep shirt. It was a cute little thermal though, and she wore it. I also remember her buying an “I heart mom” shirt and wearing it on the trip. There were lots of Ashley memories at my friend, Melissa’s, house. She always had random parties and get-togethers at her place (she had her own room. Lucky!) and Ashley attended a lot of these. Randomly, she just left South Carolina with her mom. We had no way of contacting her or anything. I don’t even know her last name, so a Facebook search would be impossible, but she really was such a sweet person, and I’m glad she was in my life for a little while.

Ashley is the one in the pink "I heart MOM" shirt. The other two girls are Emily and Melissa.
Sorry for being so cute in middle school.

The moral of the blog is, I’ve met some amazing people in my life. And though the aforementioned conversations and memories may seem insignificant to most, they obviously impacted me enough for me to remember these people and be sad that I’ll never get to talk to them again. Even Facebook can’t solve this problem. I guess the important thing is that I had the opportunity to know them in the first place. Like I said, I consider myself a lucky person to have lived the life I live, and sometimes, I take things for granted, but I’m learning not to since I’m getting older and wiser. My sister is constantly reminding me that I’m turning 24 this year. When did that happen? Anyway, I love people, and I love learning about other people’s lives because they’re always so different from mine. This just makes my desire to travel even greater. I’m ready for an adventure.

-- tiffanykhyla.

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