A Few of my Favorite Links {#19}

Hello everyone! I took a little (unintentional) week's break off from the blog last week. I was feeling very exhausted throughout the week as a lot was weighing on my mind, and when that happens blogging is typically the last thing I'd like to do, but through journaling and creativity and of course the incredible support from B,  I've been able to process through it and I'm feeling much better. Sometimes you just need to take a mental health break!

Activities and events are back in full swing at MHC and it feels like I'm finally settling into my routine. My colleagues and I have come up with a solid plan so no single one of us is always caught at work late on Fridays or Saturdays. It seems like things are progressing forward in a very positive way which is always a glorious feeling to have while you're at work. I'm very lucky to be a part of such a cohesive staff! #blessed #sockgameonpoint

I'm creeping up toward a butt load of travel in these last weeks of winter and I'm super excited about them! First off I will taking a vacation down to Fort Lauderdale next week (!!!) with my friend Rob while Brett is recruiting for work. We found some really cheap round trip flights (Under $200 to get there and back! Uhm, yes please.) and I'm staying at this cute little Air BnB that's not far from the house the coaches are renting, and about a 10 minute bike ride from the beach! I'm definitely planning on renting a bike for my time down there so I can travel around in the warm Florida air easily. I'm looking forward to spending time far away from stress. I'm (of course) planning on hitting the beach, but in my down time journaling, drawing, reading, filming videos, and blogging. It's going to be so niccceeeee. Cannot wait.

Shortly after I return I will be travelling to the exact opposite climate - Canada. My friend and colleague Erin and I are going up to Montréal for the ACPA International Convention which will be so much fun! I'm excited to attend some educational sessions, network, and eat lots and lots of poutine. We're planning on doing some touristy things in our down time as well as Erin's never been to Montréal and the last time I went I was about 14 years old and was there for my sister's softball tournament so I don't remember too much of the city. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Now that we're all caught up on my life, I'm going to hop right into my favorite links as of late. First of which is very exciting... I'm published, y'all!

Changing Campus Traditions

My two BSU counterparts (my former supervisor, Matt, and former co-advisor, Casey) and I wrote this article that was finally published in the first 2016 issue of Programming magazine - the publication for the field of Campus Activities! We've been working on this initiative to make our Homecoming pageants more inclusive since I arrived as a graduate student in 2013, and thought that sharing our experience - both the challenges and the successes - would be a great thing to contribute to our field. I'm really proud of this article and proud of OSIL for being courageous in the face of changing a beloved campus tradition!

$100 Donut Iced with Cristal Champagne and 24k Gold

This.... this is ridiculous. I can't decide if I hate this because it's so ridiculous or love it because it's so ridiculous. I mean, the donut is $100 and made of gold, but it sounds pretty disgusting if you ask me. "It's a donut filled with ube mousse, champagne jelly, and covered with a glaze made from Cristal champagne and 24k gold flakes." Probably not something I want to be eating. What do you think? Either way this was too out of control to not share, so it's making this edition Favorite Links.

Cocktail Chemistry - Ice Ball Cocktail

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while! While this is definitely not a super simple process to recreate, you can't beat the presentation! I mean, how cool would it be to be served your drink in an ice ball?! I have a feeling if I attempted this I would fail miserably, but the idea of this is so awesome.

I Tried to Become the Most Popular Person on a Cruise

I loved this little article! This is the story of a guy who went on a cruise on his own and tried to make as many friends as he could. Being very socially anxious and introverted, stories of people who have the guts to take on a challenge like this is so fascinating and inspiring to me! If you need a little pick me up or a cheerful story, give this article a read!

Cuddle Clones

I basically fell out of my chair when I found out that this was a thing. HOW CUTE ARE THESE?! This company will create custom plush replicas of your pet and I'm IN LOVE. Granted, they are quite pricey, but if you're far away from your pet or want something to remember a furry friend that you might have lost in the past, I think this would be so incredible. Whoever thought of this is a genius.

New, Female-Powered 'Ghostbusters' LEGO Set Unleashed

In girl power news, LEGO has released their new Ghostbusters set featuring the new cast of lady characters! I love when toy companies great "girl toys" that are more than just pink, purple, princessey, and stereotypically "girly". Love. It. I bet I would love to have some female LEGO characters to play with when I was growing up. My sister and I had a huge box of LEGOs that we always played with as kids and I can't really think of ever having a girl LEGO person. This set features exclusively female LEGO people and it's awesome and deserves to be praised.

THE EIGHTH HARRY POTTER BOOK!

My brain basically exploded when I found out about this earlier this week. I knew this play was being released but I had no idea that the story was also being released in book form! I'm still not entirely sure if this is a novel or the script to the play, but either way I'm excited AF and am obviously going to pre-order it. How could you not?!

What links are you loving lately?

Summer 2015 Wishlist

I feel like I've mentioned it several times on this blog, but I LOVE SUMMER. I love the hot weather, the sun staying out 'til 9PM, and so many fun activities! With grad school in the rearview, I've had so much more time this year to just relax and make so many awesome plans with the people I love and it has been wonderful. I've also seen so many fun summer products out there this year that I've been dying to get my hands on! I thought it would be fun to compile a list and share with you some of the items that I'm drooling over this season.

Food-shaped Floaties

Pizza - $55 at Urban Outfitters

Pretzel - $29 at Urban Outfitters

I keep seeing fun food-shape floaties circling Instagram and they are so adorable! How cool would it be to just float around on a donut or a pretzel in the sunshine? The designs above are a little bit more expensive than I would pay for an inflatable I'd probably only use a handful of times a year, but they are so adorable that I would probably have a hard time walking away from one that might be a little bit cheaper!

I Love Running/I Hate Running Tank

$22 (Originally $27) at ActiveApparel

It's pretty much impossible to run in the hot summer sun unless you're rocking a tank top, and when this design popped up my Facebook timeline I fell in love! The graphic is a perfect representation of my feelings toward long-distance running, and I think it'd be so funny to wear this while marathon training!

Strut Your Stuff Elephant Cross-Body

$298 at Kate Spade

While I could nevereverevereverever justify blowing nearly $300 on a small cross-body bag, this one is amazing. I love the origami elephant design (obviously) and the bag features 14k gold hardware. You know what's the kicker - THE EARS DOUBLE AS EXTERIOR POCKETS. WHAT. *heart eye emoji* If only I made enough money to make this dream a reality... At least it's fun to look at, though!

Kadee Island Flat

$31.99 at Crocs

I am normally not a fan of Crocs at all, but I've always said that they make really adorable flats! There was an ACUHO-I intern at BSU this summer who had a really adorable pair of nude Crocs flats that prompted me to peruse their website to see what kind of designs they had available. I fell in love with these guys and just might buy a pair the next time I have a spare $32. I mean, I can't say I would hate having an insanely lightweight and comfortable pair of shoes I can wear to work!

SNL & Judd Apatow Memoirs

Memoirs and biographies are by far my favorite genre of books, and this past year some really cool titles have been released. I recently purchased Modern Love by one of my favorite comedians, Aziz Ansari and will be diving into it soon, but I really want to get my hands on the newest edition of Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by its Stars, Writers and Guests by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller that was released in September, and Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow. (But first I should probably get through a book or two that I already own...)

Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer

From 21st Amendment Brewery

This beer was first released in 2002, but for whatever reason I keep hearing people talk about it and keep seeing it all over ever store I go to this summer. I'm a big fan of lighter wheat beers and pale ales, and I'm not opposed to having those beers have a little kick of fruit flavor in them during the summer months, so I'd really like to give this a shot at some point this summer!

What are some products you'd really like to try out this summer?

A Few of my Favorite Links {#12}

It's been a while since I've done a favorite links post! I kind of forgot that these have been a staple on my blog for quite some time, but now that I've pretty much caught everyone up on all of my life's happenings on this space, I finally have some time to chat about the things that I've been loving online lately! Hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do! :)

A First Look A LEGO's Official WALL-E Set

How. Freaking. Adorable. WALL-E is one of the most underrated Pixar movies to date and the fact that LEGO, one of my favorite toy companies, decided to create a WALL-E set makes me so, so excited! How cute would this look on a bookshelf? This was instantly put this on my wishlist!

12 Tricks to Appear Smart in Emails

This post (originally found on thecooperreview.com) is a hilarious infographic on how to wow your colleagues on your email game. Email is a huge, cumbersome part of all of our lives, so poking fun at the etiquette of passing notes electronically is always fun. Check out this post to pick up some new tricks to really impress your coworkers the next time you're in the office! ;)

Blues Cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme


I love when artists take well-known songs and interpret them into different genres, so when I saw this pop up on my Feedly, I knew I was going to be heart-eyes Emoji over this! This is a blues interpretation of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme (coincidentally, one of my favorite TV shows of all time) and it is excellent. I highly encourage you to take a listen, whether you're a fan of the show or a fan of blues music in general! Today I F*cked Up, and It Was Glorious Enough To Post Online
I read this post while I was in bed one lazy Saturday morning and I was cry-laughing the entire time. It also helped that I was reading these stories out loud who was also cry-laughing, but I never wanted this post to end. It's based on a sub-Reddit (I'm not a Reddit-er so I hope I'm using the lingo correctly) called "Today I F*cked Up" and it pulls some of the best stories that the author could find at the time of posting. If you need a quick pick me up for the rest of your week, take a look at this post, and maybe even click onto Reddit itself and read through a few. Amazing.
Under Construction: A LEGO Block Wedding Cake

(Clearly, I love LEGOs.) This is an incredible wedding cake that depicts mini-figs constructing the cake out of LEGO blocks and rolling out the white icing. Not saying that this will 100% be my future wedding cake, but this might 100% be my future wedding cake... 5 Things Successful Runners Never Do

This article is a quick reminder that yes, running is hard, but it's supposed to be. I sometimes let myself slack on my running when the going gets tough. I compare myself to other people, get discouraged by my bad runs, and probably over-exaggerate when I'm feeling just a little bit uncomfortable during my runs. It's important to remember to embrace the suck and realize that when you hit a rough patch, it only means you're about to improve! (Only runners will get that, hah!)

College is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one.

I read this while I was on duty a few weeks ago and it really resonated with me. There are many people who attend college now because it's the norm in our society, and many of those attendees enter their collegiate career with the attitude of "I'm paying thousands of dollars for this, so I deserve (fill in the blank)". I see this attitude every day I am at work, I remember hearing it come out of my friends' mouths when I was an undergrad myself, and I'm sure I even uttered it a few times myself. Those that are in college need to realize that college isn't there to make you feel comfortable. It's supposed to challenge you and frustrate you, because that's when you're going to grow. The Washington Post does a great job of putting this idea into words, so give it a read!

What are some links you're loving lately?