Just stopping by!

Just wanted to pop in and share this picture today!  In April I converted and received full communion in the Catholic Church and I owe it all to the curly-haired guy in the picture.  Watching  him and seeing how important his faith is to him throughout the course of our relationship was so inspirational.  It taught me a lot about myself and I never realized how beautiful it was to have God as a part of a relationship until he came along.  I'm so grateful to have him in my life and I love him like crazy.  

Happy Monday everyone!  

Happy Mother's Day!

This is my favorite picture of us, mainly because I look so much like her and I can't even handle my face.  What a brat!

I wanted to take the time to wish all the momma's out there a very happy and relaxed Mother's Day this weekend!  I, of course, have to give an extra special shout out to my very beautiful mom!  She has been a source of guidance and support my whole life and I am a lucky girl to have had her by my side as my partner in crime.  Her and I are so different but so similar at the same time and while that can cause our personalities to clash, most of the time it is a riot.  I couldn't ask for a better woman to laugh through life with even when the moments aren't so funny.  She'd probably kill me for saying this but the woman has total self esteem issues which never made sense to me.  She is so beautiful, inside and out!  My mom can literally put a smile on anyone's face and leave it to her to chat up every single person she can.  She's the friendliest person out there and as a teenager (because teenagers don't appreciate their parents) I think that used to embarrassed me. It doesn't though, at least not now.  It's her best quality.

As a kid, I used to, tragically, attempt breakfast in bed for her special day but have since learned to stick to some flowers and a nice card.  She never wants much (I think all mom's say this) but we always like to do a little something for her regardless of what she says.

I hope everyone has a beautiful day tomorrow! A very happy Mother's Day to Tim's wonderful momma as well as my grandmother's and aunts!

<3

Summer goals for 2013

Lately I've been talking a lot without really doing a lot.  It fees like my "to do list" in my head is about 10 pages long and I already feel defeated! To avoid further feelings of defeat, I have decided to refer to this daunting "to do list" as my goals for the summer because then we can all throw a party when I accomplish one :)

Anyways, I figured it was time to write it all down so that I can be held accountable for these so-called goals of mine!  Hereeee goes nothing!

1.  Lose 40 pounds by the start of my senior year of college.  Guys, the big year is coming up and I sorta just wanna look fabulous for it.  Most importantly, I wan't to feel good during it.  There's nothing worse than looking back on pictures and thinking "wow, I really don't like how I look here."  You'll never want to look at those pictures and that's a shame.

2.  Room re-do!  I gave my room at home a major overhaul the summer before I left for college and although it seems silly, there isn't much in that room that represents my current style.  A lot changes in 3ish year and I figured now is a great time for a mini-haul.  The plan thus far is to paint a chalkboard wall, build a bookshelf out of crates, give my desk area a total makeover including a new paint job and spruce things up as we go.  I want this to be done cheaply, because I am after all a broke college kid.

3.  Speaking of that room of mine...I need to clean bad.  Never in my life have I felt the need to just throw everything (well mostly everything) away and start over.  There's so much in my room that I don't need anymore and the clutter is becoming unbearable.  Ideally I'd like to donate basically everything and anything I can.  Stay tuned because I imagine this is going to be a hot mess.

4.  Enhance this blogging experience.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I have a lot of goals for this here blog.  I just haven't done them yet and Tim keeps lovingly reminding me of that.  I'd like to take this summer and really make this something.

5.  Find an internship for the fall that I will enjoy.  I want to really fall in love with my major again and that means I refuse to settle in the fall.  I want to find something that makes me happy even if it means being picky.

6.  I'd like to work on myself a bit.  I feel like everyone says this, but it's true.  I'd like to take some time to explore myself and figure out how to make myself a better woman.  Being in a relationship has shown me a lot of what I like and don't like about myself and I really want to improve the things that need improving!

7.  I would like to cut down my use of social media.  Lately I have been so aware of how the stupid iPhone (I love you iPhone, don't be mad) interjects into our daily lives.  Sometimes I ban them for the day when Tim and I are together because there is nothing I hate worse than sitting somewhere with him and both of us are constantly checking Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and trying to beat 1,000 levels of Candy Crush Saga.  Give it a rest!  The plan is once I leave school for summer (because how the hell am I going to get through finals without distractions?!) I am going to delete the apps from my iPhone and only check in when I am near a computer or my iPad (which is like never).

That's all I can think of for now, but I feel like this is going to be updated quite frequently!

What are you guys planning to accomplish this summer?!

New Hampshire, I love you

This weekend Tim and I headed to New Hampshire with some friends for a magnificent, relaxing vacation at  our friends beautiful log cabin.  Unfortunately, it's back to reality for all of us college kids tomorrow as we are literally beginning finals week, but it's fine...we all did so much studying this weekend ;)

I'm kidding.  This weekend I did not a single lick of school work and let me tell you it felt great.  I can't tell you the last time I was this sun burnt or this relaxed.  Aside from sightseeing and eating our hearts out from Connecticut to Vermont to New Hampshire, we napped.  Sometimes you forget how good it feels to get away for a while.

I took some pictures, mostly of scenery (actually only of scenery, I don't have a single group shot! ugh!)  If any of you ever feel like getting away to a place you will be able to totally relax, head to New Hampshire.

 This was the sunset on our first night there...it was enough to make me want to stay forever.

 Our friend has three adorable dogs and a cat named Jake...he was fun to hang out with.

 This isn't like a courtesy wave either guys, it's a full on, smile included, wave

 Welcome to the longest candy counter folks, Littleton, NH.  

 So many fudge options...all ridiculously good.

 It makes me sad because these pictures don't do it justice!

 Jake

 Homemade vanilla and caramel swirl ice cream.  Excuse my nails...the last thing on my mind was painting them!

New Hampshire does this thing where when you ask for hot chocolate with whipped cream you get sprinkles on top.  Can I just tell you how obsessed I am with this concept?!

Overall, it was a great little vacation and I could have stayed forever.  I was only a little sad that I didn't get to see a moose.  Okay, maybe a lot sad.

Link Love!

It's hell week over here as we are quickly approaching finals week!  Final papers are due and I am swamped with work, so please excuse my absence on the blog this week.  I wanted to stop by before tomorrow because I am heading to New Hampshire with Tim and some friends for a much needed mini vacation.  I love New Hampshire and am so excited to be heading back.  I'll be sure to take tons of pictures!

For now, here are all the things I am loving on the internet!

1.  Rifle Paper Co. in general.  They have the most adorable stationary and I am dying to buy their recipe tins.  Check them out!
2.  This super cute bracelet from Kate Spade.  Gimmie now, please!

3.  This stunnnnnning necklace from Jeweliq because I am really into statement jewelry these days

4.  Philadelphia's travel website because it is so detailed and so much cooler than the one for New York City...New York, step your game up!  *Planning a trip to Philly!  Anyone have some good ideas?

5.  The website for Monster's University because it's the cutest thing ever and it's also set up like a real university website and it just makes me giggle.  

That's it for now!  See you all soon :)

Confessions of a college student

Quite frankly, I am freaking tired.  I'm a junior now, which means I have been working my butt off for the last three years patiently (okay impatiently) waiting for graduation.  As I approach my senior year I am growing wearier of what is to come.  I'm actually scared to death.

Given some time, college wears you thin.  There are too many expectations from too many people and I am seriously at my wits end.  Why are we never allowed to decided what we want for ourselves at this age?  Instead, we let a million other people tell us what we should be doing and criticize us for what we aren't doing and then we obsess over it a million times!  It's not fair and to be frank, it's a vicious cycle.  I sat down tonight with Tim's sister and brother-in-law (who should honestly travel the world as motivational speakers for weary college kids) and they talked some sense into me.

"You'll be fine," they told me. 

If you had asked me if I would be fine this morning when I rolled out of bed for church, I would have laughed till I was blue in the face.  Lately I have been feeling a lot of pressure from those in my field of work including students, professors, advisors and my internship.  I feel like I haven't sat down to really think about what I want from my life and my career, instead, I hyper-focus on what others tell me I need to do.  That concept is ridiculous and I'm not afraid to feel that way anymore.  Especially not after today's pep-talk.  No way, right now I feel empowered.

I feel empowered to do what I want with my career.  I feel empowered to be my own person and to listen to my intuitions not those around me clouding my judgment.  I once had a professor tell me that If I wanted to be successful as a woman in my field of work, I should plan to never marry and never have children.  I left class upset that night (who am I kidding, I called Tim crying).  The point is, that's not true and I wont let that affect me anymore.

I guess what I want to stress to everyone is that you need to do what makes you happy and to do it on your own accord otherwise you wont be happy.  The truth is, I don't want to do what those people tell me I should do.  I just want to be happy.  I'm glad his sister and brother-in-law provided some clarity because I needed it.  Sometimes things just wear you thin and if all else fails just trust the person that tells you that you'll be fine.  They are probably right.

Reading, Living and Loving Relish

I'm pretty certain after reading Daphne Oz's new book, Relish, that her and I should be best friends.  I bought the book simply because I love Daphne Oz and anticipated it to be just a cookbook but friends, it's so much more.

Relish is a book to live by.

From cover to cover, Relish contains practical tips to eating well, loving well, and living well.  From healthy recipes for all three meals to beautiful cocktails and deserts, Daphne Oz gives you a taste of her world.  You can tell how much love when into writing this book and boy do I love it back.

As women, I feel like we often need a few good words to live by and now it seems we have a book.  Every woman should own Relish and not just because it's filled with phenomenal recipe's that are also good for you but because it's filled with advice from hosting a dinner party to navigating a food store.  There's no shortage of incredible, wholesome advice in Relish and as a girl in her young twenties, I needed that!  It's not often you pick up a book and think, "Gee!  This woman read my mind!"  I like to think that in the near future I will need to crack this book open to recall what Daphne said about applying bronzer or when I need to host a dinner party.  Guys, I'm glad I own this book and if you don't already have it, go get it...

To be it simply, Relish is beautifully written.  There's nothing complex about her writing, which, I think is the best part.  To open Relish is to read a conversation with an old friend, it's that good. 


*This is not a sponsored post, I just needed to share this all with you!