A Few of my Favorite Links {#24}

I don't have a ton of links for you this month because - let's be honest - it is HARD to look at the internet lately. I don't know if it's because of national and world events getting shared regularly (which, while tough to read, it is a positive thing that they're being brought to light and discussed), the fact that the U.S. Presidential is REALLY picking up speed, or some other reason, it seems that every time I click onto Twitter or Facebook or anywhere online that I can really find the links I share with you all I either want to cry my heart out or roll my eyes until they get stuck in the back of my head. #yikes Anywho, I sifted through and found a few gems that I really enjoyed and felt was appropriate to share with everyone! Game of Thrones Beginner's Guide

WARNING: GoT SPOILERS (but I think that's pretty obvious)
Brett shared this on my wall and it is hilarious! This is a quick rundown of the plot of Game of Thrones through Season 5 (there's a tiny bit of Season 6 but not a ton) which is awesome in itself but to make it even better - IT'S NARRATED BY SAMUEL L. JACKSON which we all know makes literally everything 150 times better. If you're a fan (or new to the show and do not care about spoilers) I would highly suggest you check out this video. Gotta GO! Virtual 2K/5K/10K Race

I 100% found this as a result of Google Ads totally understanding my click and search habits. :P This is a Virtual Race that combines the sport of running with the Pokémon GO! craze which is absolutely genius on the race company's part! The idea is you go for a run to hatch some of your Pokémon GO! eggs (hence the distance options) and at the end of the race you get a cool new Pokemon AND a shiny new Pokéball medal. What's not to love?

July 22 groundbreaking for new high school

It turns out that my high school alma mater is getting a brand new building (and really, a brand new school all together)! While some people may be upset by the news that their high school is getting replaced, I'm pretty stoked about this. Good ol' Dover High desparately needs a facelift - both in and out - and I'm very excited that future DHS students will get to enjoy this environment!

The Tiny Irish Island That Will Welcome American Refugees

This link is both awesome and slightly terrifying. Awesome that Ireland is super aware of how terrible of a position our country is potentially in, and terrifying that this could potentially need be an option for some people in our country. You guys.... I'm so nervous about where this Presidential season is going to take us. Fingers crossed for the best.... #YIKES!

Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention

While I'm not the biggest Hillary fan in the world (#feeltheBern), you can't deny how moving Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC was last night. It's a long video, but I highly suggest you give this a watch. 
"Today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters - and all our sons and daughters - now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States. So, don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again, because this right now is the greatest country on Earth."

What links have you been loving lately?

Taking a Breather

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting over the last two weeks. There's been quite a bit going on in my life that has prompted me to kind of take a step back from the internet and my usual hobbies. I've just wanted to stay present with my loved ones and enjoy their company instead of stressing about getting a post up on time or fussing with editing a video. To be honest, I just haven't had the energy and I needed to recharge offline.

During my brief hiatus I've been dealing with a lot - from the minor headaches of trying to fix both my laptop and a broken car window, to the stress of two of my closest friends in the area moving away and the planning of my own move, to the severe emotional weight that the tragedy in Orlando, the verdict of the recent Stanford rape case, and the discussions that I followed closely on the news and on social media directly afterwards has had on me and millions and millions of people around the world - it's been a lot to take in and process as of late and it hasn't been something that I really wanted to process online. Hence, my silence on both my blog and my YouTube channel. My plan to post about my Summer Running Tips or my Wanderlust for Thailand hasn't really felt appropriate at this time.

So, I thought it'd be best to take a bit of a breather. I've spent time to focus on getting my personal life in order and addressing curveballs as they continue to get thrown at me (life is full of those things, isn't it?), planning my move with Brett and spending quality time with Cullen & Erin before they move a few hundred miles away, and reflecting on my feelings regarding these major national events. Honestly, it's been very healing to take the time away and focus on what's important instead of stressing out about the schedule I've set for myself. After all, you can't really plan life, can you?

Anyway, I hope you're all doing well and taking care of yourselves. I'm excited to get back to doing the things I love and sharing it all with you. I'll be back to my regular posting schedule tomorrow!

A Few of my Favorite Links {#21}

April....PHEW. 

It's been a whirlwind y'all, as it usually is. If you've been following this blog for a while now you can totally tell when things are crazy for me at work because that's when posts get a bit more infrequent (usually September and April every single year). I guess that's just the trend in my life! Anywho, we had our final *major* event of the year - Pangy Day - on Friday and it was super successful! We were gambling hard with the weather. All week called for rain and even thunderstorms but kept going back and forth on when the rain would actually begin. We had outdoor activities planned from 10:30AM to 3PM, and according to all of the weather sites rain wouldn't start coming down until right around the time we would be packing it in for the day, so on Friday morning we made the official call to stay outside and we. hit. the jackpot.

While it was quite humid (we were expecting thunderstorms, after all), the sun was shining for most of the day, everyone was in their summer clothes and summer spirits, and everyone was having a blast. It was truly such a perfect day (I keep joking that Mary Lyon was looking out for us) and the weather held right until we got the last person and last piece of equipment inside after breaking down at 4PM when it immediately started pouring, thundering, and lightning-ing. Perfect timing, to say the least! With a smattering of other weekend events, we closed out our year of student programming Sunday afternoon and I can officially say I made it through my first academic year as a professional! We only have Senior Week and Commencement to worry about before we can officially call it summer time! :)

I have a few really awesome links for you today which (per usual) involve 3 of my 

most favorite things in the world - food, dogs, and Game of Thrones. I hope you enjoy!

Super Filling Sweet Potato Tacos

If you've been following my weekly vlogs or if you were around for this blog post, you'll know that I've been making a bit of an effort to be a bit more conscious when it comes to eating meet and dairy products. I by no means have cut them completely out of my life, but lately I have been pausing to consider possible alternatives, often making the decision to take a vegan or vegetarian option when it's available, and have recently made the choice to completely stop eating pig meat all together (yes, including bacon) which was a pretty easy choice as I never was too crazy about it in the first place. It's a journey and while I don't think I'll ever go completely vegan or vegetarian (then again, who knows?), making these decisions little by little will help in the transition.

Source

Enter, this recipe. I just stumbled upon it yesterday and it is completely vegan! It looks freakin' delicious and honestly not that much different than a regular taco recipe. Just really replacing the meat with sweet potatoes which sounds pretty amazing in my opinion. I definitely want to try these out the next time I'm in the mood for homemade tacos!

Pet Portraits by Incandescent Design

Source

As I've come to find out, I'm all about customized pet products that create a fun memory of your beloved furry friend. Incandescent Designs offers up these fun pet portraits for a modest (sarcasm) $200. With a finely detailed drawing, a pop of color, and a little twist to show off your pet's personality, I think this would be a fun addition to any room in your home!

Chart of 40 Different Kinds of Pizza

Source

I'm not sure when I came across this chart but I do know that I came across it when I was borderline hangry and of course fell heart-eyes-emoji in love! There are some items on this list that I wouldn't really want to try, but the vast majority of these pizzas - sign a lady UP. I think the top three pizzas I would need to try at some point in my lifetime are the Scottish Pizza Crunch, the Pizza Cone, and I really want to try Cauliflower Crust Pizza as well! What one would you want to try?

9 Times Actual History Was More F*cked Up Than Game of Thrones

Source

In honor of Game of Thrones finally returning, I obviously had to include a GoT related link of some sort! This one showed up on my Facebook feed, as most BuzzFeed articles do, and I had to click on it because I love when fictional stories are put into historical context. It's crazy just how messed up the world was back in the day and it was just considered to be normal. I mean, could you imagine hearing about a party reminiscent of the Red Wedding happening in real life?! Yikes.

What links have you been loving lately?

A Strange Day in Boston

I was planning on this post being a super cheerful one, telling you all about my amazing time at Marathon Monday, which is usually the best day of the year at Lasell. It sucks that some coward had to ruin a day that celebrates the strength of the human spirit in order to hurt people. I love my city and I know we'll be strong through this tragedy.

Here's the events of yesterday, from my point of view.