My Gymnastics Clothing Collection

If you know me, then you know I'm pretty much obsessed with gymnastics. And if you read my blog at all (or know me), then you know I'm really into fashion and love clothes. So naturally, I have a bunch of gymnastics clothing, especially t-shirts, even though I've never been a gymnast. Even though most of this collection is Illini stuff, I do have quite a few other shirts and other clothing items from gymnastics publications, meets, and more. I will continue to update this post as time goes on, because I'm sure to get more gymnastics shirts. Take a look into my closet and see my gymnastics clothing collection sorted by categories:

(Sorry the shirts are so wrinkly!)

Collegiate Gymnastics

University of Illinois

This is the first Illini gymnastics shirt I got. My mom bought it for me during my visit there in 2013. It was on sale for $5 because the store was having a moving sale, so I was happy about that. 

This rebranded shirt actually comes in four different colors: orange, navy, grey, and white. I only have this orange one so far, but I plan on buying them all, because I want them all and will then have even more options for when Illinois has a meet.
I got my little niece Sofie, who loves gymnastics and said wants to be a "famous gymnast" when she grows up, a shirt just like this (but in kids' sizes). I may or may not be trying to make her an Illinois gymnastics fan. (I gave her an autographed Illinois women's gymnastics poster for Christmas.)

Updated Illinois Gymnastics shirt after Nike rebrand

This was originally an XXL t-shirt that was on sale for $2, which is why I got it despite it being way too big for me. I attempted to cut it into a tank top, but it doesn't look too great because everything's cut unevenly, so I'm just going to put it on a canvas and hang it. 

Another Illinois gym shirt with the rebranded block I

My Favorite Moments of 2014

A new year brings new memories, but there are always old memories I'll never forget, and 2014 was definitely more eventful than I could have ever hoped for. Here are some of my favorite (personal) moments of 2014.

Any time I Skyped Phoebe
Phoebe is my best friend despite the fact that we live over 2,000 miles away from each other. She's been one of my very best friends since we became friends in 2006. Since she's in California now and no longer a five-minute walk away, I value anytime we share together.
She and I mostly Skype over breaks from school with my twin sister, Ashley. Even though we haven't seen each other in over a year, when we Skype, it's like she never moved away, and that means the world to me. I've never had such a close friend for so long, so I really appreciate that we can still see
each other and talk, even if it's not in person.

When I met Shawn Johnson
February 4 was pretty much the best day ever. That was the day I met Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. I'm a huge gymnastics fan, so when I found out that I was going to have the opportunity to meet Shawn, I was ecstatic.
Johnson was on the University of Illinois campus to commentate for a Big Ten gymnastics meet and was also a lecturer as part of the Illini Union Board's lecture series. Shawn spoke about the experiences written in her book, A Winning Balance. After the little speech Shawn gave, there was a book signing for fans to get books signed and to get a picture with her.

My sister and I getting our picture taken with Shawn. (The IUB staff said pictures had to be taken in groups of five, so three random guys we don't know had to be in our picture.) | Photo courtesy of the IUB Facebook