Decision Day at WashColl

Happy Decision Day to all my high school readers!  

College is the most life changing experience and I am so thankful that I chose to do it at Washington College.  Four years ago today I chose Chestertown as my new home and today I finished my Undergraduate career!  

It's scary how fast time flies.  

Congrats to the Washington College Class of 2018 who will be joining this community in the Fall!  You have made the best decision of your life! 

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You Know How You Have That Friend..

While sitting on the beach in HHI our last day, my best pal since 6th grade and I reminisced about all the silly things we did when it dawned on me...Marie is that friend.  

We have loads of embarrassing photos and funny memories where we laughed for no reason and did stupid things.  She introduced me to The Bachelor and Sex and The City.  We took her dog for walks in the sun, in the rain, and in the cold. 

First we looked like this; 

we baked the cookies 

watched sunsets 

made awesome friendship bracelets 

stayed up late talking about boys 

hard to believe this was 4 years ago, our senior year of high school 

And now, here we are on the cusp of greatness!  Weeks from graduating college and possibly *fingers crossed* moving to the big apple and being roomies in Manhattan.  

Thank you Miss Marie for being that friend throughout all of these years.  I have some of my happiest memories with you!  

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Copenhagen Thanksgiving - A Year in Review

[a late post from Thanksgiving]

I was reminded today as I helped Grandma make the stuffing that I was not here for last year's Thanksgiving feast!  I was in wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen.  

I can remember the Thanksgiving feast that my immediate group of friends had the actual night of Thanksgiving that mostly consisted of Americans and Australians.  Instead of an expensive turkey, we opted for chicken wings, boxed mashed potatoes, and boxed stuffing.. not our classiest moment.

But later that weekend we had our very own huge Thanksgiving spread.  

I found my blog post from my study abroad blog, The Anchor Drops and felt a pang of nostalgia as I remembered skyping in for dinner last year while my parents and grandparents celebrated without me.  

Also, just found this from the movie Hans Christian Anderson (1952)

Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen from Danny Kaye.  

Singing it forever more.

Happy Turkey day

Gobble Gobble! 

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Finals Survival Guide

Finals survival guide 2 by hilarybadger featuring a pom pom blanket


Happy Finals Week!
Not much has changed since last year's final survival guide, just the geographic location.

How do you cope with this extremely stressful week?

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Happy October!

It's officially time to start decorating for Halloween!

 Halloween means sweaters, mom opening up the windows and airing out the house, and decorating from top to bottom.  Mom had awesome Halloween decorations that she passed down to me to take to college my freshman year.  She always made sure everything had a little orange and black attached & I loved it!  Dad would bring home a stack of hay and pumpkins.  It was a lovely time.  I'm excited to be here this season since I haven't experienced halloween in America since 2011! 

To get you in the spirit, here are few fancy finds from Pinterest.

Halloween desktop wallpaper

Decorating a small college suite is challenging for any season.  With garland, you can never go wrong. 

Etsy Trick or Treat Garland

Etsy Halloween Paper Garland

In a dorm room full of 21 year old females that are currently writing dissertations, there are bound to be some wine bottles laying around.  What easier way to add a touch of Halloween to your common room than a few pumpkin inspired crafty bottles.  

Pumpkin and Ghost Bottles

Have fun decorating your dorm & Happy October.  

Off Day

Do you ever find yourself in a funk? 

You're just off and you're not really sure why?  

Well that's me this week.  There is no pressing issue in my life, I'm healthy and happy but I'm just off.  My usual spunk for the every day is not here and it makes it hard to focus at work or on anything at all.  But with situation comes opportunity, and that gave me the opportunity to figure out how to make me feel most like myself. 

I'm not sure if this will be my future go to, but for this week, it's working.

Something Habitual : I always feel a sense of accomplishment after a run, no matter how long.  I've always been an athlete, but not on land.  Throw me in the pool, no problem; land sports are tricky.  I recently found a passion for running this year.  It's a great twenty-something fad and I'm digging it.  Nike+ is also awesome and it always makes me want to keep running.  

Something Nostalgic: One of my absolute favorite movies is the Sound of Music.  I found the movie soundtrack on Spotify yesterday and I've been grinning in my cubicle all day.  I feel like performing the "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" combo in my office..however that would not be appropriate.  You know, the thunderstorm gazebo number with Ralf!?   Tell me you didn't practice that in your family room?  Oh, just me? Alright. 

Something Inspirational:  Nothing like some happy words about the human experience to bring you back to what really matters.

“You’ll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things.”

Something New: I saw my girl Emeli Sande a month ago at the Pride festival in DC and she just dropped a new song.  It's GOOD. 

Something Real:  TED Talks rock...but really.  I love watching them and feeling inspired or just learning and thinking.  Today I watched one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) talk about the creative process.  If you enjoy anything creative, you'll love it.  If not, just listen, her language is incredible and inspiring.  

& finally, flowers.  By the end of the week, I plan on buying myself flowers..because, why not?

There's my cure all for this weird week.  

Do you have a ritual or a go-to when things are off?

PS. It's almost Friday!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!  

How do you plan on being patriotic today? 

I can't wait to check Bloglovin' and see everyone's super cute [red, white, and blue] outfits!  

I'm not crazy about stars, but I love me some stripes.  

Today reminds me of : flags, stripes, red & blue, strawberries & blueberries, watermelon, water balloons, parades, streamers, lawn chairs, catonsville, dc, baltimore, beaches & coolers, cut off jeans, pools, fireworks, live music, lightning bugs, friends, and sparklers.

What reminds you of the 4th?  

Have a blessed holiday with family, friends, and good health!

  Never forget the people that died so we can be free!  Live out your dreams for those people, but especially for yourself & remember how lucky you are to be born in America!  

God Bless America!

The real party is on the 3rd of July

 I am feeling pretty patriotic this 4th of July.  I'll be spending my first 4th in D.C., our nation's capital [which is exciting].  No metro'ing back to College Park, or Baltimore...I can walk to the fireworks and concert on the Mall!  I figure if I'm gonna do the 4th, DC style, it might as well be while I'm living on Mass Ave & in walking distance of everything on Capitol Hill.  

Now, from my experience last year, it seems that everyone on the political side of the game here in the district uses this time to escape DC for a week, or a long weekend.  And I can't blame them, I escaped to Annapolis with my roommate last year to avoid the extremely crowded metro's and masses of people that seem to be flocking to the district to celebrate, Founder's style.  [Because what better way to celebrate freedom and independence than to stand shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of hot/smelly people on an inescapable train car?] 

But I get it, you're in the 'center of the free world,' it's bound to be exciting, right? 

I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to spend my time, but I do know some sort of brunching experience is going to happen.  Check out this great article on the best brunches this weekend in DC for the holiday.

My roommate from Oklahoma's best friend from OSU is here for the week experiencing DC for the first time, so I am very much looking forward to doing the 'tourist tour' with her over the weekend.   

If I was to have a 4th party of my own, I'd probably use some of these super cute free printables from Life Made Simply.  I found this on Pinterest the other day and I printed some out at work [they are simply too cute not to].  Did I make cupcakes?  Nah, but I might decorate our little row house with these little tags. 

I am starting the celebration early tonight with the annual best friend family party that I've been attending since I was 15.  Good friends, a great family, great food, happy music; it's bound to be another great 3rd of July tonight! 

Do you have a 4th of July tradition? 

 How are you planning on celebrating America, land of the free and home of the brave?

Happy 3rd, everyone!