A B i t G r a c e f u l.

Hello everyone!  So I saw this idea on Pinterest to start the new year off with an interesting project: Starting January 1st, take an empty jar and fill it with notes of good things that happen throughout the year. These can be anything from accomplishing goals, memories worth saving, funny moments with friends, surprise gifts, etc. Then, next New Year's Eve, empty it and see all the awesome things that happened that year.  I am going to give this a whirl and hopefully have the jar over-flowing by next New Year's Eve :) Do you think you will try this too?  xx

Hello everybody! Happy Blogmas Day 25 :)  I am pretty sure that I am in heaven right now! I got my dream camera - the Rebel EOS TSi (600D) - from my parents this morning and I couldn't be happier.  I just thought I would show you some of my gifts. I hope that you had an amazing day as well! Merry Christmas  ♥

Happy Blogmas Day 24! I am so excited because technically it is Christmas as I write this at a bit past midnight. I have had a wonderful Christmas Eve and I cannot wait for more good times in the morning. Here are just a few pics to show you what my day has been like: I watched Veronica Mars for several hours this morning... it was very stressful but amazing as usual. For any V Mars fans out there, I watched Season 3 Episode 9 - OH MY GOD.... enough said.  Then I got ready with all of this makeup... I used my new Sephora Baked palette and I am already in love with it! My little sister, my mom, and I took a few cute photos.  We then went to my uncle's for my mom's side of the family party! This photo is of my little sister, my dad, my older brother, and me :) After the party we went to Christmas mass at my church. Then home and watched several home videos we made as kids and then all split off to our rooms for bed! I better go to sleep soon because when...

Happy Blogmas Day 23! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve :) Here are a few photos highlighting my day. Hope you enjoy! My Aunt Cathy, my mom (sitting), and Mary posing as we show off some of the cookies - today we made over 250! Sephora Collection MicroSmooth Baked Winter Wonderland - an early X-mas gift from my Aunt!  (Left to Right) Connor my younger brother, Mary my younger sister, me looking sickly pale, and Patrick my older brother

Happy Blogmas Day 22! Only three more days till Christmas :)  Here are some of the most festive spots around my house. We already have so many presents under the tree and I am so excited for Christmas morning! I think my family members are really going to like what I got them all.  Our Christmas tree  Our fireplace with stocking hung Our dining room table with mason jars that my sister and I made, as well as some goodies! This is only about half of the gifts...

Here is a list of my favorite things of this season: 1. Being with my happy & healthy family. 2. Listening to Christmas carols in the car. 3. Putting up the Christmas tree. 4. Baking and coloring cookies with my family. 5. Wrapping presents. 6. Watching Christmas movies. 7. SNOW! 8. Being able to wear festive sweaters, cute mittens, and warm scarves.  9. Decorating our home to make it feel very Christmasy and warm. 10. Christmas scents (candles, wax warmers, sprays, etc.) What are your favorite aspects of this wintry season? I celebrate Christmas so most of mine surround that but whether you do or not, I would love to know your favorites!  xx

Happy Blogmas Day 20! These past two days have been so good. I went to my little sister's Christmas concert at school and afterwards we went out to dinner as a family. I am definitely cherishing all the moments I get to be with my family this winter break. Here are some photos: My little sister and her best friend Christine (and other classmates) Some of my little sister's class - they are in 8th grade. Me and Mary My three siblings - Mary, Connor, and Patrick My dad, me, and my mom! Hope you enjoyed! Christmas is only 4 days away :) xx

Happy Blogmas Day 19!  Tartan is such a winter essential. I got inspired by this skirt on Polyvore and now I want all of this. Would you wear this outfit or something like this? What is your favorite element to this set?  xx

My older brother decided that it would be a marvelous idea if he wrote my blog post for today. I just got home about an hour ago and have been sitting on this futon next to him, going about my own business, and this is what he wrote: Today, I came home to Cleveland!  It was an exhausting and long flight.  I sat next to two men from Guam who were going to Cleveland on a “special” business trip.  My bestie Gabby got a 100% on the paper that I edited for her.  She is so silly.  I have to proofread all of my friends’ homework. #englishminor Now for the topic of the day: this pizza I’m chowing down on.   It is muy delicioso.   I don’t normally speak in Spanish because I’m an Anglophile, but when I do, I’m flawlesso.   The pizza was made by mi mamá and she instructed mi hermano to put the leftovers away after I was finito. It is so nice to have Market Day food and not dorm food. Mi favorito. Next topic of today is my slight fangirl death obsessi...

Hey so tonight is my last night of this semester and of being in New Jersey until January 27th. I go home for three weeks, NYC for a theatre workshop for two weeks, and then Vermont/Canada for a week of debauchery with all my friends.  I finished my last final and was feeling pretty weird. I mean, my final went well but I had been studying for a full five hours before and then took my two hour final. My brain was pretty fried I guess. I headed back to my room, overstuffed my luggage for about an hour whilst blasting my girl Ellie, went out with my friends for dinner to a local bar, and now I am sitting here about to watch Veronica Mars and then Catching Fire as I sip a Halloween Magic Hat I have had since October.  Not too exciting... but here are a few pictures: Anyway, moral of this post is to check out Laura Marling . She is amazing and her voice is so raw and addictive. GIve her a listen and let me know what you think.

Happy Blogmas Day 16! So Polaroid cameras are probably the coolest thing right now. My roommate Michelle has one and we have only taken a few so far but it is so fun and exciting waiting to see how the photo comes out. Here are the ones we have taken so far!  The top left one is of me sitting at my desk having just gotten ready to go for the day :)  The top right is of my friend Gabby and me chilling in my room at midnight or so. We posed for this picture, yelling at Michelle to get in it but when Michelle refused, we put on a smile and cuddled up next to each other.  The middle is a selfie of Michelle and I. The light literally blinded me for a couple minutes but it turned out really good.  The bottom two are of Michelle the day before her birthday and the day after her birthday :)  I am hoping to get a camera for Christmas (a real techy nice one instead of a super cool polaroid which would be amazing to have but not my priority). I have com...

The countdown has begun! Christmas is only 10 days away :) I have made a list of ten things you should do before Christmas Day! 1) Wear an ugly Christmas sweater, whilst making it look adorable of course 2) Go Christmas shopping for others 3) Blast Christmas music, belting out your favorite songs 4) Decorate your room with cut-out snowflakes, fairy lights, and garland 5) Make DIY Christmas cards and give them to your friends and family 6) Take a Christmasy picture with friends (or siblings) 7) Paint your nails    8) Bundle up (looking super cute), go out into the snow and embrace the cold & beauty of winter 9) Make a New Year's Resolutions list 10) Remind someone that you love that you are thankful for them 

Hello! I thought I would share with you the gifts that I gave and received for my group of friends Secret Santa!  My friend Meredith had me and got me a metal wall art plaque with a beautiful quote and a Mr. Tea. Basically, you fill Mr. Tea's silicone pants with loose tea, place him in your tea cup, and watch him relax as he steeps your tea. I AM SO EXCITED TO USE THIS. It is not only adorable but also so convenient. I actually had my roommate as my assigned person so I was quite excited to get creative, knowing all her obsessions. I got her a dress from Forever 21 (which she definitely needs because she has surprisingly a low amount of dresses [compared to my 50] in her wardrobe). It is a cute retro dots skater dress in black and white. I also got her this Josh Hutcherson as Peeta from Catching Fire poster for her wall in our dorm. I also got her some Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark, which is her favorite Christmas sweet :) Michelle loved her gifts so I was so ha...

Hey everybody! So, this week and this coming week are my finals for this semester. It has been absolutely crazy and a lot of work, but surprisingly manageable and not too stressful. I did just have one of my finals that was probably the most stressful today and I feel so relieved that it is over :) I basically had to design every aspect of a show ( Miss Julie ), including a light design, costumes design, set design, and basically all the other main aspects of design within a production.  However, I have been taking releases from my work and studying and I have been finding that these finals have been the most relaxed and prepared I have ever felt.  Here are some quick tips for finals that have been working for me and I hope they prove to be useful to you! 1) Stay positive. Negativity is never a good thing but especially when it comes to finals, staying positive that you know your stuff will automatically make you feel more confident and happy! 2) Take brea...

Hello everybody!  So there is this amazing post for  50 Creative Uses for Mason Jars  on the  Personal Creations Website .  I absolutely love these ideas and I cannot wait to try some. I loved going through and seeing some that I have tried, such as making mason jars into Pencil Holders (#43) and as a Bathroom Organizer (#49).  Besides wanting to eat every single one of the food mason jars because they look delicious, here are some of my favorites and the ones I am definitely going to try: S'mores Cake (#12) Cake Batter Milkshakes (#19) Stylish Sock Jars (#30)  Room Scents in a Jar (#31)  Photo Frames (#35) Advent Calendar (#37) You all should check out this post on their website and let me know which ones you love! Also, if you try some, let me know and share pictures! I will show you the ones I make :) I recently made these with my little sister and mom as centerpieces for our dining room table. They...

When Brave Bird Saved Tom & Issy Karaoke Hello everybody! So about a month ago I watched the short film Tom & Issy and it began this obsession with finding cool short films.  I recommend watching any of these if you have a spare 10-20 minutes at some point. They are just really satisfying to watch and I definitely feel calmer if I am stressed out after finishing one. It is a small sense of accomplishment.  So, I hope you watch one or two or all three of them! Let me know what you think :) xx

So hello everybody! It has become that time of the semester where I want to crawl into my bed, all cozied up, and NEVER LEAVE. I woke up at 10 am, stayed in bed till 12 pm, went to a review session for my Classical Antiquity final, and then haven't left my bedroom since getting back at 2:30 pm. My roommate and I decided to avoid studying for our finals and instead watched Disney's Frozen ! It was so adorable and I really enjoyed it. I really needed this day to be lazy, whilst also working on my course work and studying. Michelle made us dinner so we wouldn't have to leave our room (rice, squid, and seaweed which was absolutely delicious)! It has been really relaxing, which is such a change from the fast pace, non-stop stress these past few months have been every day. I have several pretty exciting posts coming up so keep checking back everyday :) I hope your day has been a good one!  xx

Hello everybody! I have been wanting to do a post about this subject matter for a while now and I think that I am ready to share with you my best advice. The past several months I have been having panic attacks and I want to share with you how I am dealing with them to hopefully help any of you if you experience them.  I have a very emphatic nervous system and I let a lot of what others are feeling affect me deeply. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. I read a medical article that explained different types of empathy and I think I can identify with a certain kind called Personal Distress. It is where someone literally feel another's emotions. It is like when you are watching a scary movie and you feel the character's fear coursing through you and you are afraid. Through Personal Distress, you feel the other's emotions through a process called "emotional contagion". The article explained that some people are prone to other...

Happy Blogmas Day 8 :)  Today has been just as hectic as yesterday so this is a bit of a quick post again. I absolutely love this dress and want to try and find a dupe (because it is hella expensive haha). I love this color scheme for Christmas and I can't wait to figure out my outfits for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day inspired by this! My family goes to two parties (one on my mom's side of the family and one on my dad's side). I also need an outfit for the New Year's Party my friends and I have.  So that's it. I promise more exciting posts in the next few days! Have a great night! xx

H a p p y B l o g m a s D a y 7 e v e r y b o d y ! This post is a super quick one because today is super busy! We have our Holiday Ball tonight which I am super excited about.  My friend Ron and I baked cupcakes for our Christmas party tomorrow. We kind of were a hot mess but things worked out :) Here we are! And here are the cupcakes! Hope you enjoyed this post :) xx