Weekend Recap

Hey so I know that 8 o'clock on a Monday night no longer qualifies as a weekend, but I've been sucked into Gossip Girl. I've carved out like an hour yesterday to do actual homework and started and finished the entire first season of the show yesterday. I'm addicted. I started season two after class today and it took me this long to find motivation to stop and actually get some work done.

This brought back rowing memories - Ohio River

This weekend was so much fun, I seriously had a blast! Friday I had no classes which was amazing! Clarion has a "fair" every year called Autumn Leaf Festival - aka ALF - so my roommates and I went down and it was PACKED. It was odd too, I didn't care for it though so I'm not going to go into detail.

On Saturday my cousin picked me up and we went to Pittsburgh where we spent the day walking and talking and eating and shopping... it was marvelous! I feel like we really bonded during that day trip. I very rarely spend time with just one cousin and even though we used to live in the same city I would normally only see this cousin once or twice a year. We got together to plan our road trip down to South Carolina this month...it's in 17 days! Eeep, I'm so excited!

Anyway, we started the day by going to the original Primanti Brothers on the strip. Let me just say, I've been to Primanti Brothers before, but this one was ten times better. I also hate coleslaw, but it came with it on and it really gives the sandwich that extra kick!

Pastrami & Cheese (favorite sandwich)

After lunch we walked around downtown Pittsburgh and finally found a Starbucks (the one we originally found was under renovation) and we got our PSF... so much better than a PSL on a hot day! After we walked around for a few hours just talking and reminiscing on our other cousin's June wedding we decided to go shopping and of course we went into L.L. Bean and although I left empty handed I did leave with a growing Christmas list.

We walked around inside the mall too and as part of my graduation gift she bought me the Kate Spade Bow earrings that I've been wanting for I don't even know how long..ahh I love her! We also found some cute black flats for her and $300 blanket at Pottery Barn that was oh-so-soft but waaaay out of our price range.

Naturally we ended our night at the cheesecake factory...with cheesecake!

Red Velvet - My favorite! :)

What did you do this weekend?

Favorite Bloggers

Okay, so I've been staring at my screen for don't even ask me how long. I have a post started, but words just aren't coming to me. So I'm taking the easy way out. I'm just going to talk about two of favorite bloggers, Carly and Mackenzie.

Carly and Mackenzie at KSNY Fashion Week

I won't be posting tomorrow because it's Saturday and just no. But actually, I'll be in Pittsburgh with one of my cousins so I'll tell you more about that on Sunday!

I'm actually in a funky mood where I just sit here and have like five million thoughts per minute and send snap chats to my friends and I'm convinced that they have enough screenshots of me to use as blackmail at any time they choose. So instead of telling you about them I'm just going to list them and give you like a sentence.

The girl that inspired this whole blogging thing for me is who I'm going to start with. Carly Heitlinger, she started The College Prepster back in 2008 and has been going strong since. She graduated from Georgetown last year and moved to New York City to work for Levo League, but has since left the company however she still resides in the city. I honestly love reading Carly's posts and seeing her Instagram pictures because she is pretty much living the life that I dream of.

Monogrammed Pen Cup from Design Darling

Mackenzie Horan is the woman behind Design Darling and I found her blog through Carly. Other than Mackenzie's interest in interior design (I honestly have so many apps for interior design - it's an addiction) I also absolutely adore Design Darling {The Boutique} and I have made a couple of purchases that I absolutely adore! If you haven't checked out the boutique I highly recommend it!

Definitely one of my favorite purchases.. sending loads of snail mail :)

Do you have a favorite blogger? Have you purchased or want to purchase anything from Design Darling?

Have a lovely weekend!

Anxiety... We all get it at some point (or it leaves us alone at some point)

I've been struggling with making friends at college and I'm really okay with admitting that. It's not a flaw, it's just who I am. I've struggled with my anxiety disorder for as long as I can remember, but I never put a name to it until my junior year of high school. I would dread going to school everyday just because of the sick feeling I would get in my stomach on the way there. Not for any reason, it just came naturally to me and so it's just a piece of who I am and that's fine. It's grown with me and I've learned how to work around it. My anxiety controlled my life for a small period of time (I quit rowing because of it), but I've worked really hard and now I'm starting to get back in control of my life. 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Do one thing everyday that scares you." I used to think that she was crazy. If it scares me and I do it everyday then I would just have a miserable life. NO. I was so wrong. For me that one thing everyday is talking to people. I force myself to talk to people or message someone. Of course other things scare me, but right now I need to put myself out there and make some friends. Well that and the only thing I can think of that scares me is spiders and death so I'm obviously not going to deal with those things right now. 

My English professor, whom I'm not a big fan of, may have helped me make a friend yesterday. For class we have to write a memoir (maybe I'll share it in October for Breast Cancer Awareness) and we do peer editing. Well yesterday I had to work with a couple of new people, two of them I really just do not mesh with, but the other one may be a new friend because of #AJO. You see, she had had a seizure a few years ago and I was about to ask her if she had epilepsy (anyone with a brain can have a seizure though) when she mentioned #AJO and showed me her wrist where she had written #AJO in purple sharpie. I wanted to hug her. Anyone that knows me knows that I hate hugs, but #AJO warms my heart so much. I told her that I was from Erie and we quickly found out that we had a few mutual friends (Jackie & Joanne). We started DMing on Twitter after class and I had to force myself to type a message to her and just send it - we're all in the same boat here just trying to survive. I was going to ask her to go to ALF with me, but decided to just say I was really happy I got to meet someone else from Erie that I didn't already know. 

Jackie, Joanne, Me, & Serena at Taylor Swift in Philly

To wrap this up I'm going to share one more story from this summer. I had had a weird "break up" with a friend (it's fixed now, there was never any bad blood) this past January. When I was reflecting on my life in June I realized that I had done to our mutual friends what I had believed she had done to me - left. I stopped talking to everyone and closed myself away with a couple of friends that I made this year. Well over the summer I decided to text one of those friends and I'm so glad I did. It was actually kind of a relief. I just thought I would share that. Because of my social anxiety I just assume people are done with me even when I'm the one that drops them. It's weird, maybe I'll explain someday. 

Do you do anything to step outside of your comfort zone? How do you deal with anxiety?

Sugar Coma

My roommate, T, has a birthday coming up (tomorrow, I believe) so since she'll be going home tomorrow my other roommates, S & B, decided to make a cake. I love baking, but it's so easy to make box cake so I was really of no assistance. I did homework instead of baking, but I still got to enjoy the delicious cake!

L to R: Me, B, T, & S

They made a four layer funfetti cake with both purple and blue icing and of course...SPRINKLES! The cake was amazing! We're all feeling the sugar rush though! I'm trying to get to bed before it all kicks in though (We all have class at 8 and 9:30/10 tomorrow morning...eek!)

4 layer purple cake! We all love purple - you should see our living room :)

Have you baked recently? What did you do? Have you made a cake better than this tower? I want to know!

Plain & Simple: Travel

I love to travel. If I could get paid to travel the world, even if it was just a small salary, I would do it. I've been travelling since I was very young and I'm convinced that I got my love of travel from my late mother. I found this scratch off map from Fred Flare on Wanelo and I've been dying to have it for almost a year. Sadly, I don't have $22 to blow.

I have been blessed with a father that encourages travel and finances it for me and usually comes too. I love travelling with family, but travelling with friends is a load of fun too. I got lucky and got to travel with both. I've gone to D.C. for the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2004 and to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in both 2003 with just family and 2011 with friends, family, and two add-ons. I also went to Philly to see Taylor Swift with some friends this past summer - I had a blast! I'm not going to share stories off all of the places I've been to, but I'll share some of my favorite stories.

Lilly Pulitzer - Madison Ave (April 2013)

My first "big" memory of the Big Apple is from November of 2003 when we went for the Macy's Parade. It was my dad, my mom, my two brothers, and myself and I was in the fourth grade. So we had decided to go to the Empire State Building in typical tourist fashion. Well my parents were still getting used to cell phones and we had gotten separated in the building. My mom and I were together and my dad and brothers were together. We thought that they went downstairs so that's where we went...they didn't. We waited for over half an hour before someone called the other. It was stressful then (yes, even little me was stressed by it), but it's funny looking back. 

Mom and I pointing to the sky line during my first NYC visit

The high school that I went to did a European trip (or any where, one year they went to Costa Rica) every spring. My freshman year they went to London, Paris, and Rome with stops at Versailles and Florence. My dad loved my mom so, so much and knew that if she were still alive she would have wanted me to go so he signed me up (I honestly didn't want to go, I'm so grateful that I did - don't tell him though). While we were in Florence a street vendor came up to me asking if I had a boyfriend. I said no and he asked if I had friends...I got a little offended and said yes. To shorten the story a bit: the girl that I was shopping with and I went off for a couple of hours and came back. The man came back up to me (I was in shock that he recognized me) and he says, "I want you." Now with his thick Italian accent I really couldn't understand him and had him repeat himself six times. The girl I was with left me (a newly minted 15 year old girl) alone on a street in Firenze, Italia with some man saying that he wanted her. I still love to tell this story.

Firenze

This is a long post so I'm not going to share any more stories, but here's a list of the places that I've been to:

• New York City (2003, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)
• Washington D.C. (too many dates to remember)
• Philadelphia, PA (Taylor Swift RED TOUR - 2013)
• Europe (2010)
• London
• Paris (I got to turn 15 under the Eiffel Tower! :))
• Versailles
• Florence
• Rome
• Charlotte, NC
• Seneca, SC (Clemson University)
• Indianapolis, IN
• Cleveland, OH
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Columbus, OH
• Canada (a lot of boat trips and regattas)

Issaqueena Falls, Oconee County, SC

I think you get the point, I love travelling even if it's just a day trip. I was looking forward to going to Ireland and England next summer with my cousins, but my bank account is saying "no"

What about you, where have you been? Do you have a dream vacation or are you planning one now? 

Weekend Recap

I decided that since I didn't post this weekend (I had a lot of people to visit in very little time) I'm going to do two posts. This is just a weekend recap which I'll do every weekend if it's a fun one and there are pictures to show for it.

Jack did some light reading

This weekend was a ton of fun, I left Clarion on Friday around two and got home a little after five. The ride was in silence because my dad is a no-nonsense type of guy so I try not to waste air by sharing little tidbits about school. The drive was nice though. I went home and took my brother, Mike, to football practice and went to go visit one of my friend's families at their pizza shop (if you ever find yourself in Erie and wanting pizza, go to Maria's) I had to leave and take him to my other brother, Billy's football game. He plays for Cathedral Preparatory School and he rushed like 57 yards or something like that and scored a touchdown...I'm still proud! I didn't go to the game though because of personal reasons, instead I went back to the pizza shop to visit another friend and we hung out there for a while before we went shopping (you have no idea how much candy I bought this weekend)!

So Saturday was a load of fun, my dad, brothers, and I took my two grandmothers out to lunch at the Erie Maennerchor Club and we went duck pin bowling. I must say, I am so much better at duck pin bowling than regular bowling. I got home and left again to go to Mercyhurst and grab a friend to go to Dairy Queen and visit yet another friend (I seriously don't know what I would do without my friends). We went back to MU and  I got to meet her roommate and her other friends...oh my gosh they're wonderful! One of them took me (I drove, but it was her idea) "thrifting" for the first time. I didn't find anything I wanted, but it was a fun trip! Serena and I did dinner and some more shopping and I picked up some Pumpkin Spice M&Ms...heaven!

Billy (L), Mike (R), Jack (Bottom)

Serena and I met up with Jackie later that night and we went back to Mercyhurst and hung out in her dorm and met up with a friend's brother and just walked around the campus laughing about stupid stuff that we did this summer (like the phone call from the police...)

I ended my weekend by doing one of my favorite things, coffee with my dad on a Sunday morning followed by shopping and flu shots and babysitting... and grape picking at the farm!

What did you do this weekend? Do you have a favorite weekend event?

So it's been a month... (COLLEGE)

I'm seriously shocked. It has been exactly a month today since I moved into college. It hasn't been easy. I've seriously gone home twice already and my dad and brothers came down for family day. I have had two weekends here and one of them was like an orientation weekend. Next weekend will be no different, I'll be in Pittsburgh with one of my cousins planning our Clemson, SC trip.

Clemson University football game

I love my roommates, they're honestly super great and I guess we're currently at the start of a scare war. We watch movies every single night and basically do everything except go to class together. Tip: when you start college do NOT stay in the suites. The suites are nice, but it's a lot harder to make friends so I just really don't recommend doing it.

I honestly love going home (the laundry is free) because I get to see my friends and my dad and brothers and grandma. My little brother, Jack, is going to be nine months on Wednesday and I feel like I'm missing out on his life and I really am struggling with that. I now call him "Bug" because his eyes get soooo wide when he sees me for the first time.

Jackson, 9 months

So, I'm planning on applying to Mercyhurst University over Thanksgiving break and hopefully transferring for the spring semester. I have been in tears since before my dad dropped me off back at school last night because I was dreading my return. Because I do have a history of depression/anxiety/self mutilation I have decided that it is the best decision. I have a ton of friends at Mercyhurst and I graduated from Mercyhurst Preparatory School so basically I am a Laker through and through (whatever that is), I really don't have an ounce of Golden Eagle in me.

Mercyhurst University - Old Main

I grew up camping in the Clarion area (we have a cabin in Cook Forest), but I'm really not meant to live in small towns. I was supposed to go to New York City for school this year (LIM College), but money made it impossible. I was praying that I wouldn't get into Clarion just so I wouldn't have to go. I've been dreading Clarion before I even applied (early May, not even kidding). Ultimately what I'm saying is that you need to LIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU. My dad is a Clarion alum and so I considered Clarion just for his benefit. I'm not cut out for small towns and now I'm trying to go home for college.


FUN FACT: I almost hit a bear on my way back to school last night. Three black bears (a momma bear and her two cubs) were crossing the road, luckily I was alert and have good reflexes.

Sweaters and Sandals?!

You read that right, everywhere I turn I'm seeing people pairing their cozy sweaters with sandals. It's crazy! Pennsylvania is seeing some great weather this season. I don't like it. I'm quite alright with my sweaters and Sperry's (praying that the winter weather will take as long as the fall weather to come in) and at some point I'm going to have to invest in new boots (I'm eyeing the 8" duck boot), but anyways...

It's supposed to get into the low 70's today and I'm having trouble grasping this because some days we never make it past the low 60's...ICK! I love cold weather, but only when it's consistently cold. How do I even dress myself for this weather? No but really. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love clothes, but I struggle with dressing myself during the awkward weather changes. I don't like to change ten million times in a day (I have to wash everything if I wore it for more than two hours, I don't know why) so when I get dressed in the morning I intend for it to be my outfit throughout the day and this weather makes it hard.

Clarion River, Clarion, PA

As a former rower the weather channel's website had become my best friend and I would visit it multiple times a day just to know if I should dread practice or not; is there water time or is there land time? Now as a college student that no longer has a uniform to lean on and has to walk to class in a place that I am convinced is the rainiest area in PA the weather channel is STILL my best friend. I highly recommend the app, it's straight to the point and I have multiple cities saved in my search.

With that being said, how are you dealing with the awkward weather change? Are you lucky enough to not have it?

Pay It Forward

Today I want to share the story of a family from my hometown who lost their beautiful daughter two weeks ago today and what they have done in those short two weeks to honor her memory.

#AJO maybe some of you have heard of this hashtag - which are the initials of Alyssa J. O'Neil - a lot of the people at my school have not, but I do know that it has become a worldwide thing. What started with 10 of Starbuck's PSLs being pre-paid for by Alyssa's parents, Jason and Sarah O'Neil, ended up in the fast spreading phenomenon of #AJO. This simple act of kindness that started in Erie, Pennsylvania has resulted in people participating in #AJO from all over the world. People are AJO'ing in Germany, Greece, Bermuda, and Alaska just to name a few. When I say "a few" I really do mean "a few". All over the world people are paying it forward. It's crazy that one family took their heartache and turned it into something positive.

Alyssa's passed away after a grand mal seizure on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. Her parents weren't sure how to express their heartbreak from the loss of their daughter so they decided to drive to their nearest Starbucks and pre-order 10 of Pumpkin Spice Lattes and gave the barista a few purple markers to write "#AJO" on the cups. Purple is the color of epilepsy so this was done not only to let people learn more about Alyssa, but also about epilepsy.

I got to pay it forward today (yes, even as a poor college student) with one PSL and it made my day so much better. So here's my question to you:

Have you AJOed today?

You should, I promise that not only will it make someone else's day, but it will also make your's.

Alyssa J. O'Neil

Learn more about Alyssa:
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Epilepsy Foundation

I Hate Clothes

Okay, that's a huge lie. I LOVE clothes. Actually "love" is a HUGE understatement when it comes to describing how I feel about clothes. Fashion is just orklkwlgk! I don't even know. How do I even start this? I'm not sure, just work with me here.

...Clothes... FASHION

...Clothes... FASHION

...Clothes... FASHION

They're perfect. They describe you and how you feel. You dress yourself based off of how you're feeling that day and you buy clothes based on your mood too. Never ever ever go shopping while unhappy! Not only will it probably make you even more unhappy (let's face it, we all have bad shopping days - things don't fit right, the colors don't work for you), but you won't have clothes that show off you, who you are when you're at you're happiest. Isn't that the you that you want people to see?

Your style is your first impression. Even the people that don't speak to you that day, the person that passes you on the street, EVERYONE sees your clothes. That's how they judge you right off the bat. I'm not going to lie, I've done it. We all do it. There is absolutely no way around it, unless you're a perfect person and perfect people just do not exist. I hate to break it to you, but if you don't care about your appearance then you should start. You need to be confident with how you look and that starts with how you look. Confidence is key, my lovelies, confidence is key. If you're confident then people will see that and they'll want to talk to you. Trust me. I'm straying though.

Yves Saint Laurent said it best when he said, "Fashion fades, but style is eternal." He got that spot on. Just look at the fashion world, look at how it has evolved. YES, YES, YES! Fashion is FUN! It's perfect, there is no better way to express yourself than through clothes. And you want to know the best part? STYLE. Your style isn't the current trends (if it is, that's okay though - it's YOUR style, embrace it!) So with that, I want to leave you with something to think about and take with you: take your amazing style and work with it, let your personality shine through with the clothes you choose to wear. Take your personal style and go crazy! Be you in everything that you do. 

As a Sex and the City addict, I had to add a picture of these amazing women

Why am I here?

I'm going to be completely honest, I don't know why I'm "here", both on this blog and on this Earth. I've had this post in "Draft mode" for over a week now and the idea of actually blogging was becoming quite daunting. So daunting, in fact, that I had considered deleting the blog all together. I have wanted to start this blog for too long to give up before I even started though. If not now, when? The time is now, so here goes...

I'm doing this whole blogging thing a bit backwards, but it's my blog - I can do what I please with it, right? Right! I actually started with a Tumblr and I have been doing that for over a year now (I deleted briefly, but I restarted the one I currently have) and I became obsessed with The College Prepster almost two years ago. Carly actually inspired me to start this blog. It's probably not going to be very good, but no one has to know it exists if I choose to "keep it on the DL."

Here's a little bit of a background on me: I am currently an 18 year old business major (undecided, but leaning towards marketing) who is originally from the ever so lovely, Erie, PA. However, I am currently studying at Clarion University of Pennsylvania in, you guessed it, Clarion, Pennsylvania. I'm not sure how long I will be here though. I was supposed to go to my dream school, LIM College, in New York City to study marketing, so it's kind of a huge difference - New York and Clarion. But for all of you high school seniors or younger (it's never too soon to start your college hunt) that love the city and fashion...LIM IS THE SCHOOL FOR YOU!

To wrap up this super long and boring post I'm just going to leave you with a little fun fact about me: I danced for 16 years and studied jazz, tap, hip-hop, Ballet, lyrical, Bollywood, and for a brief period of time, Latin.