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!

A beautiful day!

Took this photo yesterday on my way to the Post Office, so beautiful!!!

They end of the semester is always so frustrating.  It of course has a lot to do with all the work that needs to get done in a short time but for me, I just want to be outside!  It feels like lately, Monday through Friday have brought some of the most gorgeous days this spring thus far.  Then the weekend hits and spring decides it wants to hide again until Monday!  It's unfair, really it is!  I am at work today, feeling a little bit like I'm in jail because I'd much rather be sitting in Central Park with a picnic basket and my boyfriend.  I can't tell you how eager I am for the semester to be done so I can spend more time outside.  Not to mention, I have two really fun dates planned for Tim that need to involve beautiful weather...so please spring, stick around!

What I'm reading

Or rather, what I read...

As you all know, Hair Bows and Smiles is brand new to the blog scene.  After avidly reading sites like Love Taza and Tulips and Flight suits I felt inspired to create my own.  The idea was simple, I wanted to write about life and all things Ashley.  So far the experience has been great but I don't want the growth of the blog to simply plateau.  I want to continue to strengthen what I am writing and doing on this blog so that you, my readers, will keep coming back and continuing to tell your friends about the site!

So that brings me to the book I just finished, Blog, Inc.  Perhaps some of you know the author, Joy Cho, who is over at Oh, Joy!.  Regardless if you do or don't, the book was phenomenal!

I was nervous that the book would only discuss ways to start a blog and thus not include all the important information about the aftermath of creating a blog, but I was wrong!  Joy chronicles every aspect of blogging, from gaining followers to adding advertisements.  I am so glad I picked this book up because I already know it will serve as my little encyclopedia for the rest of my blogging career.

If any of you visiting are bloggers yourself, I seriously suggest getting this book as fast as you can.  It was excellent.

The night diner food changed my life

Diner food is just different than food at another restaurant.  When you go to a diner it is because you expect and want diner food.  This is exactly what I was thinking when my girlfriends claimed they were taking me to the best diner in the entire state of New Jersey last night.

Although it wasn't in the best of areas, Tops Diner in Newark N.J. was immediately a friendly and fun environment.  I couldn't get over how cute of a place it was and how huge it was inside!  Anyway, I was totally not expecting anything more than the typical, greasy, delicious diner food that I get at my usual place in Somerville.  Boy was I wrong!

When the waitress sat us and put the menus down I was blown away!  So many options, so much more than you would generally get and they were all creative and fantastic sounding. I had no idea what to get and eventually settled on a chocolate milkshake (my friends all raved about them) and red velvet pancakes.  Yes I ate like crap last night, sorry diet.  

First of all, the milkshake was delicious and the red velvet pancakes were sinful.  The food was nothing like typical diner food and I think my mind was blown.  Seriously, Tops Diner will forever set the bar way too high for any other diners I eat at...sorry in advance.  

The true test will be to take Tim and see if he loves it.  

In other news, I am now a yogurt snob?!  I bought yogurt that was on super sale over the weekend and it isn't as expensive as the yogurt I usually buy, but hey I wanted a good deal.  Well....I totally hate it.  Which is stupid, but I do. 

A little break

If feels like I haven't blogged in a while even though it's only been a couple of days.  If you all have checked in and were disappointed to not see something new, I am so sorry!  I've been taking a couple of days to read a new book called Blog, Inc. that I am hoping will help strengthen this blog and make it a whole hell of a lot more interesting for all of you!   Other than that, the semester is winding down so it's gotten far more busy that I had imagined.  Between homework, papers and events, there is hardly time for Tim and I to spend together on the weekends which sucks a lot.  I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to the summer.

Because I love pictures, here's a few from this weekend!

Charlotte and I had a huge presentation on Friday...so this is us very nervous

On Saturday night, Tim and I went to a barbecue for our friend who just beat cancer! It was a great night with friends!

Fresh strawberries in my favorite Crate&Barrel fruit crate!

Panera with Charlotte to finish off our Sunday food shopping spree! Um, their green tea is AMAZING. Go.Buy.Now

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Doing anything good?

A few of my favorite moments from the past week

 

 So as much as I'd love to explain all these photos right under the pictures themselves, Blogger is giving me a hard time today and won't let me.  So I'll start from the top!

See those fancy dressed up photos?  Don't we clean up well? Tim and I went with friends to an anniversary dinner for where we work and it was really nice.  I'm obsessed with the necklace I am wearing because I got it on super sale from the Gap that morning and it just happened to match my shoes perfectly.  It's so exciting when that happens.

The blue striped shoes are new as well and they were also a lucky find at the Gap.  I got them 50% off and any time that happens, you better know it was a good day.  Tim and I had gone shopping that day and because I am a child and we both love Disney, he bought me a George Sanderson from Monsters Inc. and I couldn't be more excited.  Pooh bear and the peas were the first things Tim ever bought me (for Valentine's Day.)

After those pictures was last Sunday right after Church.  It was beautiful out and it was just one of those days where you hardly wear makeup, wear a maxi dress, and hang outside with your man.  Tim has been wanting to play catch lately (only boy in the family syndrome) and so because I love him, I suck it up, put a glove on and throw my hardest.

That Sunday we also headed to Walmart so I could buy that awesome mason jar tumblr and obviously pause to take a picture with Mario (Tim's best guy friend is named Mario so we thought we were being funny).

Lastly, I had an awful day on Tuesday.  On top of putting up with crap from my University I had awful anxiety.  Tim surprised me and took me out to a great little Italian place for food and out for ice cream afterwards.  He is so amazing to me and I'm not too sure how I lucked out.

So sorry that was so much at once.  Life is busy over on my end and I can hardly keep up with myself, let alone the blog!  But I'm trying because I adore you all so much.

In other news, I am at work today and I am finding it hard to believe that it's only 11:30ish and that I haven't been here longer than an hour and a half.  I'm eager to go home even though I have an event tonight.  Womp.

I'm hoping to get the pictures up from my confirmation soon and talk a little about all of that and in the coming weeks I will be reviewing Daphne Oz's new book Relish and Joy Cho's book Blog, Inc.

Stay tuned and as always, thanks for reading :)