Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Things I've Discovered My Freshman Year Of College | Don't Compare Your Year To Someone Else's

This post pretty much sums it up for ya! I am not going to re-reiterate it but definitely read it if you are struggling with comparing your experience!



Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is right around the corner and finding a great gift for someone who does so much for you can be tough! I brainstormed and came up with some awesome gifts that I know my mom loves/would love to receive so I'm sure these will provide some inspiration for one's own gift buying endeavors!


A season of her favorite tv show! My mom loves downtown abbey and would love to receive a season to have to watch whenever she pleases! This is a really great one to cater to exactly what she likes!

A candle! The candle pictured above is my moms favorite candle scent! Whenever I see the baltic amber voluspa candle anywhere I always go smell it because it remind me of home! It smells so good and I know my mom would love to have another one!

A rain jacket! My mom recently got this Fillmore Anorak Jacket and adores hers! It is the perfect spring jacket that doubles as a rain jacket while still looking cute and extra practical. They come in so many fun colors and it would surely brighten the dreariest of days!

If you can't be with your mom on her special day then send her a bouquet of her favorite flowers to show her how much you care!

My mom and I both adore cute pajamas so a new pair of comfy pjs would be a great gift for my mom! One of our favorite pajama brands is Needham Lane so definitely check out their sets!

A new perfume would also be a great gift! Recently, I have been loving a sample I have of Tory Burch's perfume and treating your mom to a new fragrance can be a fun and unexpected gift!

A pretty piece of pottery or a vase is another great gift idea! I adore Caroline Ceramics and think that all of her pieces are absolutely beautiful and would look great with some fresh flowers in there! Definitely check out all of her pieces, they are so beautiful and girly that you can't go wrong with any of her art!

Be sure to leave any cool ideas for gifts that you have in the comments below!
Also, if you haven't seen this video yet you need to stop what you are doing and watch it now, it is so great!


Monday, April 28, 2014

Things I've Discovered My Freshman Year Of College | Late Night Snack Outings Are Always Acceptable And So Are Random Dance Parties

Sometimes you have to take a break from the books and do something silly. Being overly wrapped up in my studies can be a trap that I fall into frequently but fortunately I have learned when to stop and take a break! Some of my favorite breaks include conversations and catching up with friends, snack runs, and extremely goofy (and embarrassing) dance parties with my roommate in our room!

Fortunately we both are great at not taking ourselves to seriously and majority of the time we spend in the room we are embarrassing ourselves in some way or another! If our room had a slogan it would be: "if someone walked in right now…" because of the countless number of times we say this on a daily basis.

Below I have included my favorite dance party songs (yes, they are embarrassing but thats ok) and the best late night snack options we have around us or even on our own campus!

 

With finals this week and next you can bet that there will be many dance parties and snack breaks to get me through!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Smart Girls Summit

Ever noticed that super cool button on the side of my blog that says The Smart Girls Group? Well if you haven't explored through this super cool site you desperately need to!



The Smart Girls Group prides itself on its ability to cultivate a unique environment where ambitious young women can foster their passions, inspire and be inspired by their fellow Smart Girls, and form perpetual bonds with like-minded, intelligent young women. We have created a safe, encouraging space for girls to embrace who they are, while challenging them to be all they can be. Our sisterhood is unlike any other. It is not confined to a campus, nor a specific interest. It spans across states, countries, and continents, bringing the future of female leadership together.

Whether you are reading the Guide or the Loop you will surely feel inspired and empowered after you have. I was fortunate enough to be one of the first Smart Girls Sister so I am overjoyed to see how far this group has grown in the past few years. And the ringleader, Emily, is one of the most amazing people ever! Passionate about absolutely everything and she makes you feel like you've known her forever even through email (which can be kind of hard).



This summer The Smart Girls Group is hosting an amazing event in New York City called The Smart Girls Summit. I desperately want to tell y'all that I am attending but I had already committed to working at camp when I was told about it! This two day event has amazing speakers and activities in the most fabulous city! By attending you will meet countless other girls with a passion for success and enthusiasm for being the best they can be, talk about a positive environment! 

Taking place on July 9th and 10th this is an event I so wish that I wasn't missing! Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 EST and are only $45 for conference materials, snacks, swag bag, breakfast, and lunch on both days of the event! Transportation and housing expenses are not included but this is the perfect excuse to go explore New York City!

Definitely consider signing up soon because spaces are limited and I am dying to live vicariously through your experiences!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Things I've Learned My Freshman Year | You'll Always Have Someone To Relate To

In college you never have to be alone unless you want to. You are constantly surrounded by tons of other students who are just as stressed about finals as you are and so many who are more than willing to take a "quick" study break to hear about your weekend!

Most colleges have an area of housing that is filled with tons of Freshman making the transition a bit more comfortable since everyone is new to the college scene! Because you are all living pretty close together and going through the same sort of things finding someone to relate to is super easy, you just have to be willing to try!

For me, first semester I made tons of friends on my hall that would gladly drop what they are doing to help me chose a dress for formal, edit my paper, or just sit down, eat snacks, and talk with! The dorm environment is super cohesive to building relationships with those surrounding you and everyone feels as though too many friends would be a great problem to have!

Whether you are homesick the first month, need advice on something, or need someone to console in all you have to do is look around.

In case you need a reference of who I am talking about in my story (which you probably don't because these two are as much a part of prep in your step as I am).

Caroline, Nell, and I!


For example, I lost my pet bunny Thumper about a month ago and my roommate was the first person I texted about it. She came directly back from class and skipped lunch to sit with me and cry. She was totally fine with going to a different dining area than usual so that we wouldn't see people we normally see. A week later one of my other best friends, Caroline, lost her dog. Nell and I were there for her in the same way she was there for me. And a week ago, Nell lost her dog and Caroline and I were able to repay the support and love she gave both of us while we went through the same thing. While it is a terrible fluke that this happened to all of us it is an excellent example that many people have experienced the same thing you have and they may just be right down the hall!

I'm very lucky to have great friends to depend on whenever I need them!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

My Asheville/Biltmore Easter Vacation

For Christmas this year my grandmother decided to give me a trip to Asheville as my present. And let me tell you, it was an amazing gift! We stayed at a cute little cottage in Asheville, went shopping, ate lots, and got to see the Biltmore (something I've wanted to do for years!). 

It was so nice to not have to travel all the way home for my break and instead have two important pieces of home (my mom and grandmother) come to me! 

We all got to cross lots off of our Asheville trip list and we had a ball doing it!

We had a spa morning on Friday and then headed to the Grove Park Inn for a delicious lunch on the Sunset Terrace. It was a bit overcast the day we went but the views were still incredible and it was so cool to see the architecture inside!






 



We spent the rest of Friday and Saturday exploring Asheville and then on Sunday we went to an Easter service and made our way to the Biltmore Estate! We could not have asked for better weather! The sky was bright blue and the weather was well into the 70s!


   


We went to an Easter Brunch at the restaurant on the estate and I could not get over how beautiful the views were let alone the brightness of the flowers planted!



The Biltmore hosted Easter Egg Hints for children on the lawn so lots of families came out for the day!







The garden was absolutely breathtaking and I was thrilled to see so many tulips in fun colors! I've decided that tulips are by far my favorite flower!














I highly recommend visiting the Biltmore while all the flowers are in bloom, it's simply stunning!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Things I've Discovered My Freshman Year | Backstalking Facebook Photos Is A Hobby

I got my Facebook right before Freshman year of high school. Many of my friends had them as early as seventh grade and as you can imagine, your pictures from seventh grade aren't exactly your most prized possessions! Braces, no makeup, and not knowing how to properly work a hair straightener epitomized middle school.

About a month into college I noticed the trend of going back through your friends Facebook profiles and resurfacing gems from those awkward years. While it is super entertaining as an onlooker I quickly made sure that my old photos were not too embarrassing and wouldn't mortify me if they resurfaced!

My advice to you is to be sure to delete old embarrassing photos before you get to school so you don't have to worry about all of your new college friends getting a glimpse at your embarrassing family photos that your dad decided to upload (hey dad, and I'm just using that as an example, fortunately you don't do that to us!).

But for your own entertainment, here is a blast from my past (don't be expecting embarrassing ones, those are long gone)…




Tuesday, April 22, 2014

My First Furman Visitor

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to have my first Furman overnight visitor. Coming to a small private school I wouldn't have expected very many people to have friends come and stay with them as frequently as it occurs. Regardless, I was so excited that my best friend from home got to spend a long weekend with me here!

We had a blast together and the pictures will surely prove it! To make matters even more fun, she is a Kappa Delta at Ole Miss so since I had recently been initiated (totally forgot to do a post on that) we had plenty of secrets to share!

From Paris Mountain State Park to Downtown Greenville we had a blast exploring and hanging out and I was so excited that my best friend here (my roommate, Nell) and Kate were able to become good friends as well!

Prepare yourself for a picture overload!













(I always get SOO many emails about where I got my eno and I got it at a local store in Greenville and it is the retro tri singlenest eno. I can't find it anywhere online but I also love this one and this one!)




A great time was had by all and I am excited to visit her next time!


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