Happy Thanksgiving

1

Hey y'all! I'm sure by this time I have gotten seconds and am sitting on the couch getting ready for the LSU vs. Arkansas game with my family. I just want to wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that y'all are having such a great day! Today, I'm thankful for family and friends who I get to share everyday with and so thankful to go to a great college and am getting a wonderful education. What are you thankful for?

In Preparation: Turkey Day

pic

This year for Thanksgiving my little sister and I are going to my moms house. (My parents are divorced, so every year is different!) Hopefully, we shall see my older brother there as well, he's a chef and works a lot...BUT regardless, I'm so excited to spend tomorrow with my mom and family there. It'll be a little dinner with delicious sides and turkey. 

Today, however, we're spending time preparing all of the food for tomorrow; the sides at least. This is the first year that I'm going to actually help her and I cannot wait to learn the recipes like she cooks them.  Although the cooking won't be as extravagant as the picture above, it will be so delicious. I hope y'all have just as much fun and good eating as I will tonight!

Exam Help!

So, I don't know about you, but the most awful/greatest time of the year is quickly approaching for me finals week. It's awful because it's finals week, it's wonderful because it means a close to a new semester and my favorite time of all Christmas. Now finals usually sneak up on me, but this year I'm planning ahead. For me, finals count for a pretty considerable amount of my grade so it's good for me to get as much studying done as soon as possible, even if it does mean starting this week. 

Tips for preparing and acing the finals that are fast approaching: 

1. Start preparing now. Luckily enough I'm so insanely OCD that I begin preparing for tests as soon as I have them down on my calendar, which sometimes may mean as soon as I get my syllabus. I was lucky enough to go to a private catholic school that taught me how to study and prepare well for tests. So I start by making myself a schedule of when I'm going to study at least two weeks before I have finals. On top of that I print out all my notes, reviews, lectures, etc. 

2. Stay healthy! Oh dear, just don't get sick. I would rather be sick all of Christmas break than the week before finals week or the week of finals week. So, stay as healthy as you can! Get a full nights rest, especially before your finals, make sure you're eating right and exercising and if you need to take vitamins!

3. Stay organized. The more organized you feel, the better you'll do (at least it goes for me anyways). Print out a schedule, get a desk calendar, or even a hanging wall calendar. Make sure you have all appointments, classes, work schedules and other fun things all planned out ahead of time. Make sure that your closet, desk, room and bathroom are organized. This way you'll be able to find everything you need quite easily!

4. Take a break! This is possibly the most importnat one of them all. Take a 30 minute break every now and then. You don't want to overwork yourself. Make sure you go outside, do yoga or even just watch an episode of your favorite show! 

Music of the Moment: Wagon Wheel

And this week, I give you Old Crow Medicine Show's rendition of Wagon Wheel. 

Why? Because this song has been stuck in my head for the past three weeks. 

Nicki Minaj & Opi

You may be thinking, now what in the world do these two things possibly have in common? Well Nicki Minaj recently teamed up with OPI to release her own line of colors and I must admit I kind of like them. Now I love nail polish, but can not exactly afford to spend $7 a bottle every time I want to buy one, so buying a new nail polish is really like a treat for me. Take a look at the colors below!

Vera Bradley: Wish List

I have several frivolous loves, one of them just happens to be online shopping/lusting. Recently, I signed up for Vera Bradley emails. Probably one of the worst decisions of my life. I'm slightly obsessed with a lot of their things. Things included on my wish list this winter season: 

This Large Duffle Bag: 

This Small Duffle Bag: 

This Hanging Organizer: 

You may/may not be able to see that I adore all kinds of luggage/overnight bags, maybe even to the point where it is a little bit excessive. 

Music of the Moment: Florence + The Machine

Recently Florence + the Machine released their second album. It is absolutely amazing. It's a little bit darker than the past album and can really make you think. Here is one of my favorite songs, so far. 

11/11/11

Today should be simple, peaceful and wishful. Why, you might ask? Because it is Friday. Not only is it Friday but it's 11/11/11. So take everything in today and smile. 

I leave you with one of my favorite pictures, ever. [It is from a friends wedding I was a bridesmaid in]. 

Hadley

I am a member of the website Just Fabulous, which is a website that you can sign up for and they send you a pair of shoes each month for $39.95. Now, being a broke college student, although I have signed up for this website I have never actually bought any of the shoes. I have not even really considered buying any of them, until they sent me the picture of the Hadley. I fell in love with these shoes. I do not know if it is the pink or the little girly bow, but for some reason I lusted over them. I am still toying with the idea of buying them, but considering the fact that I am going to Atlanta in December I really need to save up. 

Keep Calm and Carry On

Am I the only one who loves that phrase? Even if so, it's compeltely true. I find that whenever I get stressed out, especially during midterms or finals week (or those weeks where all professors give me three thousand things to do) that there are at least two things that help me stay calm: a clean desk and yoga. Let me explain:

Keeping a clean desk: In order to stay calm, having a clean desk and clean surroundings always helps. Try and keep a calendar with all of the deadlines you have, any to-do list and organize your desk every night. This helps to make sure you won't miss an assignment, or lose a paper (trust me, I've done it before. Not fun). Keeping a clean space will help you stay relaxed and not stress out.

Yoga: Try it. Trust me. It is SO relaxing. Just take a 10-15 minute break from homework and do a few yoga poses. It will help you feel so much more invigorated and so much more relaxed. It's been shown that inverting your body so that you pelvis is higher than your heart is very tranquilizing.  Don't forget to breathe deeply!

The American Adulterer

picture

On our trip to Disney World I took it upon myself, when I wasn't driving, to being reading again. I love to read but taking 19 hours at school at working 23 doesn't allow me much free time as I would like. Even when I do have free time it is mostly spent quickly grabbing a bite to eat, studying or sleeping. Anywho, back to the point. This book is a fictional book about JFK's time in the White House. Personally, I adored this book. I am in love with the time period and the Kennedy's in general, so this was perfect for me. 

The book describes the way in which Kennedy dealt with his medical conditions while in the White House and the various relationships that are formed because of it. If you don't know too much about the Kennedy's before you read it I would suggest doing a little bit of research before hand. Overall I really enjoyed the book, and I got it on sale at Barnes and Nobles one day for very cheap. All in all it's a very good read.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Once upon a time I drank coffee like it was nobody's business. Then the unthinkable happened. I gave up all forms of caffeine, especially coffee (reason being I was way too dependent on it to keep me awake/not grumpy). So after about six weeks of caffeine headaches, I did it! I was home free. Now, don't get me wrong. I still love coffee, and drink it sparingly but now I drink tea more often. Obsessed, just slighty. But a slight obsession is good every now and then, right? After spending more money than I would like to admit on tea and coffee from random places such as PJs, Starbucks and CC's I have finally invested in random teas from different stores. Now that I have a plethera of tea, it will actually be the new challenge to wake up in the morning and make it myself, rather than to buy it at school.

picture

Annnnd I'm back!

Slowly but surely I'll be back, updating regularly, back to reading my favorite blogs, etc. This semester has been kicking my butt, to say the least. I'm taking 19 hours, working 23, just got a second job (for the weekends), in a sorority and trying to fit in family time and boyfriend time. Needless to say I've been great at organizing everything in my life (hello OCD), but my poor little blog fell on the back burner. Soon I'll be updating on my life and every little thought that comes to mind. 

In the mean time I'll leave you with this: