Spring Favorites 2015!

This weekend marks the first day of summer! HOORAYYY! Summer is my favorite season - sunshine, ice cream stands, fireworks, flip flops, and all the BBQ food you could ever dream of. Love. It. Brett and I have a lot of fun things planned for this summer, including moving into my new apartment, taking a trip down the Cape with some friends, and spending as much time together before football takes over his life once again in August. I'm SO EXCITED!

I 100% skipped out on doing my favorites for the winter, but I really wanted to get back on the favorites ~trend~ for the spring! Let's hop right into it.

Activity | Playing Pokémon Alpha Saphire

Brett bought me Alpha Sapphire as a graduation gift and of course the day after I graduated I needed to hop right into it! I was super duper into the game for a long while but sessions with Orientation has since interrupted my streak of playing for hours upon hours. I'm 6 badges in right now (All you PokéFans will know what that means) and I can't wait to have a bit more time to finally beat the game. It's so much fun (as Pokémon always is) and I love that I have a reason to spend some time on my 3DS again! :)

App | Dreamdays 365

This app is one of the millions of countdown apps out there, but I love the way this one looks and operates. There is a very minimalist feel to this app, which I love, and I looked at it almost every day as graduation drew nearer and nearer. If you're counting down to something exciting and are looking for a nice looking and functional countdown app, I would recommend this one!

Apparel | Bridgewater State University Alumni Tee

I mean, of course! Not only do I love this shirt because I get to brag about the fact that I actually graduated from grad school, but my organization, PC, gave it to me as a parting gift. I'll always think of them whenever I wear this shirt. Double special! :)

Book | Wild by Cheryl Strayed

This was the only book I read in the spring, but this book was great. Memoirs are my favorite genre of literature, especially if it involves travel and adventure! This book made me want to go hiking so badly every time I picked it up to continue reading. I have always thought long-distance hiking would be such a cool adventure, and this book made me fall even more in love with the idea. This book would be perfect for anyone who feels like they are in a bit of a crossroads in their life, or anyone who is craving a bit of adventure.

Food & Drink | Espresso Bacon @ The Fix in Worcester, MA

Tim and Joanne took me out to this restaurant on my last day of my internship at Clark, and as soon as I saw "Espresso Bacon" on the menu I KNEW I had to order it. Oh my goodness. So delicious. I'm pretty sure I blogged about this in one of my life updates in May. But still. Oh my goodness. *drool* I can't wait to go back there to get some more (with an ADULT milkshake, because they have those there #heaven)!

Home & Office | Filofax A5 Saffiano in Pear

Obviously. I love this thing. I knew I would love the A5 size! I felt so cramped in the Personal size, but now I feel like I can really plan comfortably and utilize my Filofax to its full capability. Right now my schedule has been extremely repetitive (Orientation is basically 3 weeks of déjà vu), but once I move and start my new job I'll be relying on it a bit more. I can't wait to show you all the inside soon! :)

Movie | Pitch Perfect 2

I was a bit nervous about how good this would actually be (I'm not typically a fan of sequels) but I was laughing so hard throughout this whole movie. It's a lot of the same thing as the first movie, and it's a very "cutesy" story line like the first movie, but it is entertaining as hell. (One recommendation: leave your politically correct hat at the door if you really want to enjoy this movie, because most of the jokes are SUPER inappropriate. They really do attack every identity in this film!)

Song | "Lean On" by Major Lazer & DJ Snake


When I first heard this song, I'm pretty sure I plaid it on repeat for 48 straight hours. The beat is so catchy and cool, I absolutely love it. GREAT jam to fall in love with right before summer kicks off!
TV Show | Game of Thrones Season 5

DUH. Holy crap. This season was INSANE. Game of Thrones never fails to impress me. The story line is incredible, the actors are amazing, the cinematography is stunning, and the plot twists KILL YOU ON THE INSIDE. I'm not going to put any spoilers in here, but THAT SEASON FINALE. JEEEEEEEEEEEEZ. The best part about this season is that it ends at the same place the latest book ends, so now NO ONE really knows what's going to happen next except for the creators. Brett and I are really considering starting to read the books together to tide us over until the next season releases, because who knows when that will be? If you haven't started watching this show, YOU NEED TO START WATCHING THIS SHOW. /endtiradeaboutGoT

Memory | Birthday/End of Classes/New Job/Graduation Week

Also another obvious one. This was one of the greatest weeks of my life and I feel so lucky to be fortunate enough to experience it. I turned 25 and ended my grad school classes on the same day, the next day I accepted my position with Mount Holyoke, and the day after that I graduated and spent the entire rest of the week celebrating with the people I love the most. What more can you really ask for as a twenty-something? Who knows if I'll be lucky enough to have a week like that again, but I will always look back on that week of one of the best of my life! :)

What were some of your favorite things this spring?

Year 2: Goals for Spring 2015

This is it, folks. The fourth and final semester of my #SAgrad experience. It seems that just last week I was stressing out over which programs would accept me and where I would end up in the following months. Now, I find myself in a strangely similar situation, only instead of worrying about a graduate program, I'm unsure of what institution will want me to join their team as a full-time staff member/real life person. Guys, at some point in the next few months, I'm going to be pretty dang close being to an actual adult. WHAT.

With the students being back in action at all of the campuses I work at, graduate classes starting next Monday, and my Master's degree so close I can taste it, I think now is the perfect time for me to set some serious goals for myself to take me through this last semester before REALLY being forced into the real world. I'm nervous, I'm unsure, but I'm ready.

1. Make relationships a bigger priority | I would say that I definitely neglected my relationships with friends, family, and even with Brett a little bit throughout my experience as a graduate student. I'm very lucky to have extremely supportive people in my life that understand that I can't call them or spend time with them due to my busy schedule, but at the end of the day, they're the ones that are there for me through thick and thin and I really need to start making them a larger priority in my life. I hope to make a much bigger effort to spend time with them as I near the end of my grad experience.

2. Maintain GPA & graduate with honors | Similar to last semester, I would love to keep my GPA up. I was able to graduate with honors from my undergraduate institution, and although I know GPA and grades aren't really what gives you a job after graduation, it's something that I'll feel accomplished about if I am able to pull off again as a graduate student.

3. Embrace creativity | For Christmas I was fortunate enough to receive a wide variety of arts and crafts materials, as well as a new GoPro camera. I really want to make the most of these gifts and really tap into my creativity. I find that I can let out the most stress when I'm running and when I'm creating, I think I've focused more on running than creating while I've been in grad school because running allows you to shut your brain off while creating forces you to use your brain, which is often the last thing I want to do when I get home after a 13+ hour day of problem solving at work and learning new things in class. However, I know that creating is something I always say I wish I had more time for, so I intend to try and squeeze in a bit more creativity in my life this semester in order to satisfy that wish.

4. Chin up, chin up, chin up! | I'm going to be honest here: I am definitely not looking forward to the job search process. Dealing with uncertainty and rejection are not my strongest qualities, but those are both things that I'm going to have to deal with frequently over the next few months. I have to remember that it's all part of the process and that I will wind up where I need to be. This will also be a great opportunity to lean on my first goal a bit, and remind myself why the people I have in my life are so special. They make my heart feel full when the rest of me is feeling a bit empty!

5. Make time for at least one race | As I'm picturing this semester, I'm having a hard time factoring in any sort of race. I'm hoping to make time for at least one race to keep my mind focused on something other than how stressed out I am! I have a few half marathons in mind, so we'll see when/where I'll be running this semester.

6. Spend more time away from screens | I spend most of each day staring at a screen for work. During breaks, I'll typically stare at my phone screen checking Twitter, Instagram, or reading blog posts. When I'm in class, I'm typically staring at a projection screen for 3 hour lectures. When I get home at night, I continue to stare at a TV screen or the screen of my iPad watching Netflix, or at the screen of my computer typing this or that for class. I spend A LOT of time staring at screens, and I'd like to reduce that time if at all possible. As I mentioned in goal #3, I could spend some time painting or drawing, I could spend some more time curling up with a book that I actually want to read, or I can devote more time talking to the people I care about. I want to get away from staring at screens for every waking second, if at all possible!

7. Keep moving forward | Similar to #4, I need to remember that even if things aren't moving as quickly as I'd like them to in the job search process, it doesn't mean other aspects of my life have to completely stop. There's a serious possibility that I may not have a job lined up on graduation day, but that doesn't mean the world is going to stop spinning. I can move forward with my relationships. I can move forward with my running, blogging, and art. I can move forward on a lot of aspects of my life while I'm waiting for my career to begin. I just need to remember that it's okay to not have everything in life figured out!

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Like I did in the fall, I'm going to print the image used in this post and stick it at my work desk, in my home office, and in my Filofax, so I can see my goals throughout the whole semester. These goals are a bit daunting but I think they'll be attainable if I just keep them in mind. I'll give you an update of how I did after graduation (again - WHAT.)!

Friday Five {#2}

Friday Five

Five things that mattered to me this week!

1. Last night I organized a movie night social for the ResLife department complete with snacks, a big screen, and stadium seating. We watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and (as it always goes) the book was much better. Not to say that it was a bad movie, it was actually pretty decent. But they left out some huge plot points that were pretty important to the story. And seeing Emma Watson attempt an American accent was pretty painful. I'd say stick with the book if you want to really enjoy the story!

2. Being the organization freak that I am, I've been drooling over the Erin Condren Life Planners! My friend Joanne has one and I fell in love with it when she showed it to me a few months ago, and after totally forgetting the name of the company, I finally tracked them down. I already have a 2013 planner, but come the new year, I'm totally investing in one of these beauties. Fellow organization freaks, watch this video and drool with me:

3. It's Boston Marathon weekend! If you live in Massachusetts or went to a Boston-area college, you know that this is always an exciting weekend. Lasell was right on the heart of the marathon route, so every Marathon Monday the whole campus would head down to the race and cheer on the runners all day long. It was one of those days where the student body was all together and happy, which really made it the best day of the whole year. I'm planning on going to Lasell on Monday to celebrate with my friends!
4. Speaking of being an organization freak, I've caught the spring cleaning bug. Last night I spent two hours cleaning out junk drawers and organizing the apartment a little bit better. It feels so good to go through everything and throw a bunch of stuff away! It definitely energizes me and inspires me to be more creative, now that I have more space to do so.
5. Rob showed me an awesome Game of Thrones Facebook game called Game of Thrones: Ascent and I'm officially addicted. It's a choose-your-own-adventure-style game that lets you create your own house, align with one of the great houses, go on quests, and lots of other cool things that fans of the show would really enjoy. If you're a Game of Thrones fan or if you're looking for a new game to play online, I highly suggest you try this game out!
Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sunshine and Some Direction

It's ridiculous(ly awesome) how nice it's been outside this week. I feel like those of us that live in areas that go through all four seasons of the year are the only ones that can truly understand the excitement of warmer weather and fresh air. After a long, cold winter, the mere action of opening the windows of my apartment fills me with so much happiness, it's almost absurd. Johnny Cupcakes once wrote something similar about winter in Boston over on his blog, and it's stuck with me ever since I read it...

"Winter makes us appreciate all of the other seasons that much more. All of New England is happy when the trees start to bloom, birds come out, beach days arise, leaves change colors, etc.. Whereas if you live in a warm state, the luxury rubs off quick. I remember visiting Florida and California and jumping up and down like a kid on a trampoline because I was so pumped on the weather. I look around and everyone is walking around like zombies… buzz-kill. It’s not their fault, they’re just not excited about it as they have it every day."

I welcome warm weather with open arms each year, even if I do get a little too excited about it. Tuesday I wore shorts all day long, even when I was out on duty at night time. A few of my coworkers looked at me like I was crazy, but it didn't make me second guess my wardrobe decision. Warm weather is kind of a rarity in New England, so when it comes around, I don't take a single second for granted. Give me all the sun you've got, mother nature!

Yesterday I received my acceptance letter into Bridgewater State University's Student Affairs Counseling program! I'm over the moon about finally getting this letter. I now know where I'm going to be come the fall. I know I'm going to be saving a lot more money than if I were to move down to South Carolina, and I know I'm going to get much more out of a counseling based program than an administration based program. I'm excited to get back to school and learn more about my field, and I'm happy to have some direction for my future!

Friday Five {#1}

Friday Five 
Five things that mattered to me this week!

1. Spring weather is finally showing its face in New England! Saturday after I got out of work, Brett and I decided to go out back to the practice football field and play some lax and football for a couple hours. So excited for the weather to start warming up and to start spending more time outside.

2. The Badminton Club that I advise kicked off their doubles tournament last night and there were about 20 students there! Never thought I'd be advising a Badminton Club in my life, but helping the president's ideas come to fruition is great to see, and reminds me why I want to be in student affairs in the first place. Although the club is just starting out, I think that it's coming along great. I'm excited for next semester - we're going to try and put a travel team together and play against other colleges!

3. I've been drowning in applications and interviews this week, from both ends of the spectrum. I interviewed for a Study Abroad GA down at University of South Carolina yesterday morning, ResLife has been talking about hiring new staff the past couple weeks, and I've been working on my reapplication for my current position. I feel that every spring, especially in the Higher Ed field, is a time of uncertainty. I'm waiting on replies from jobs and graduate programs, and I'm not really sure where I'm going to be come the fall, but hopefully that will all fall into place in a few weeks.

4. Baseball is back! The Red Sox kicked off their 2013 season with a smack down on the Yankees (yessss!) and even though I'm still wrapped up with my first love (hockey), I'm looking forward to a summer filled with late night baseball marathons.

5. Speaking of marathons, I'm running my second half this Sunday - the Great Bay Half Marathon up in my home state of New Hampshire. Can't wait to race, see my puppies, show my friends around my home turf, and be home for the first time since Christmas!

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!