Friday Five: Vacations

This has been a fun week of getting back to blogging. I went home last night for a little escape from school and, of course, to see my dog. Sometimes we all just need a little vacation, or a stay-cation if you don't have the time to get away. I love going to school just a couple of hours away from home because it means that I can come home for a home-cooked meal or meet Momma halfway for dinner on a regular basis. Remind me again why I want to move away after college? (just kidding...)

Links I Love...

Good news, the person people who deflated the Patriots' footballs has confessed.

Most trip guides focus on all the places you should go on vacation, but this entertaining guide tells you what destinations you should avoid.

As someone who is a bit more on the short side, I prefer heels, but this is a nice rule of thumb if you're ever deciding between heels or flats.

Who said school supply shopping is only for kids?

Everyone needs an easy and delicious dessert recipe to bring to a party.


Have a great weekend!

xx
erin

Get Rid of the Dust Bunnies

So I woke up yesterday, went to class, and class was cancelled! I somehow missed the email on Tuesday night and was super confused when Meghan didn't wake up to go to class with me. On one hand, I was super bummed that I woke up so early for nothing, on the other hand though, I was up early on a day when I had no other classes. Later in the morning, I went to look for a pair of flats to wear to the job fair, and, as I pulled them out from under my bed, a dust bunny came with them. I realized that I don't think I have ever vacuumed under my bed, at least since I put it there almost a year and a half ago.

When I got back that afternoon, I went to work on cleaning my room, and I mean really cleaning. I pulled the bed out from the wall and picked up all the random stuff that had gotten stuck under it, and did the same with every other big piece of furniture. In the end, the cleaning and purging resulted in 3 trash bags to take to the dumpster, a full vacuum canister, and a totally rearranged room. It felt fantastic.

Sometimes a really good clean is just what a room needs. I am sure each of you vacuum and dust, at least when your mom comes to visit, but how often do you clean things that don't always need to be cleaned. I went through the drawers I stuff random papers in, I went under my couch that empty water bottles had managed to get stuck under, and I fought dust bunnies as they travelled all over my hardwood floors. Believe me when I say that I am not judging people for having a few dust bunnies, but if you are anything like me, you think there is nothing better or more relaxing than a clean, organized room. My little adventure yesterday inspired me to do a little Pinterest hunting and I came across an awesome checklist from Lauren Conrad of cleaning tasks to do, and when to do them. 

What is your apartment cleaning routine?

xx

erin

Becoming a Morning Person

I have never been a morning person. However, there is something about mornings that I absolutely love. Waking up for my 5:15am spin class this summer had an amazing effect on my attitude towards the day and I think it is because I just felt so productive. I am a chronic procrastinator and I think that my preference for staying up late sort of enables that. This semester I am taking my first ever 8am in college...yeah, my last semester of college. It is also the only class I have on Monday/Wednesday, so when I am done at 9:15, I am looking at a wide open day. In college, I feel like, even if people have classes in the morning, the day doesn't really seem to start until noon, but since I am already up, I am choosing to capitalize on the day. The best way that I know to get my day off on the right foot is through healthy habits.

It is definitely a work in progress, but I am really going to work on shifting my schedule to involve going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 6am to tackle the day. Whether I get an early morning workout in, blog, or read a good book. I want to be able to have some time to do something in the mornings. I don't know if I am going to make the gym my early morning routine again, but does anyone already have a early bird routine they love? Or does anyone else want to undertake this personal challenge with me? I know it is always helpful to have a buddy system when it comes to this kind of stuff to keep each other accountable. If you are looking to start on a morning routine, here are some tips I have from doing it this summer that really made sure I got the day going.

One: Plan Ahead

Make your to-do list the night before and lay out your outfit for the morning. Even if your productivity is just writing emails, put your slippers by your bed and get that coffee maker ready so all you have to do is hit "start," trust me, it helps.

Two: Learn to Obey the Alarm

I have gotten so, so bad at this. I have to set multiple alarms to wake up. Start to try to minimize the number of alarms you set so that you are ready to wake up on the first one.

Three: Unplug 30 Minutes Before Bed

It actually helps. I know doctors and experts have said it a lot, but it is worth repeating. I notice that I am able to go to bed much easier if I am just reading for a bit before bed. Also, I started ignoring my phone if it goes off while I am in bed...TBH it is usually a ScoreCenter update.

Four: Eat Breakfast

I found that even getting a banana down is very helpful. Just try to eat something so that you have fuel for your body to run on. Coffee is also a good fuel, but apparently we cannot exist on coffee alone...though I kind of wish we could.

Five: Have a Morning Playlist

Do not piss off your roommate by blasting One Direction or Miranda Lambert in the morning, but if there is some music that you like to sing along to or dance to, turn it on. Just make sure you are wearing headphones or have the volume low so you don't annoy roommates and neighbors.

Six: Turn on the Light

I find it harder (though not impossible) to go back to sleep once there is light in the room. Make waking up a nice process at the beginning of your transition. Turning on the light, sitting in bed, and reading theSkimm has become a nice way for me to wake up in the morning and mentally prepare myself to start the day.

xx

erin

Guess Who's Back

Good Morning! Guess who's back? I have missed blogging and throughout my little hiatus, I have had so many "that would be a good blog post" moments, but not capitalizing on them actually ended up being better for me than blogging about them. Blogging had become a part of my routine and I truly enjoyed both writing it and getting feedback from people about how much they enjoyed it.

However, at some point towards the end of the semester, I had this moment where I felt "frivolous" writing a blog post. It was due to the combination of everything going on at UVA, how I was feeling about things in my personal life, and just the content that I was writing. This is going to sound selfish, but I do blog, in part, for myself. Without the joy I get from blogging, this is a chore or a job, not a hobby on the side.

Now, I am not going to start blogging about all sorts of serious issues and stray away from the traditional content of my blog. Instead, I am going to do a better job of planning my posts and making sure that I enjoy the blogging experience as a whole, like I did when I first started. This blog is my little escape from the every day concerns of getting a job after college, remembering that I am in my last semester of college, and just wanting to push myself to be the best version of myself possible.

Thanks for coming back and reading my blog after so much time off. I really do love hearing from everyone reading it. I have always loved knowing that I can bring a little bit of happiness to other peoples' days (this is actually a hint at the new business venture I am launching) and I cannot wait to get back into blogging. As always, I would love to get feedback about my writing, blog posts, and what you want to see on this blog!

xx

erin

Mountain Weekend

I am currently sitting in a Starbucks in Waynesboro, Virginia after a successful trip to Walmart. Seriously though, my momma made this coffee yesterday for my drive down to Charlottesville that I absolutely loved and one of the first things I saw when I walked into the store were the K-Cups of that brand...SCORE! Anyways, I was in Wintergreen with my dad's family last night and am going back down for a couple of days of skiing and hanging out with my friends before we go back for sorority recruitment.

In honor of this little trip in the mountains, I thought I'd share a cozy outfit inspired by what I packed for the long weekend. Seriously, all wool socks and sweaters with some comfy pants. 

find it all here!

xx

erin

Pardon the Dust

The blog is getting a makeover! I am going to be working on revamping the content, layout, and debuting my next little adventure in the coming weeks. I decided to focus solely on this instead of blogging in between, but you can keep up with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! I am pretty excited about all these changes as I get ready to begin my last semester of college!!!

xx

erin