Come one, come all & celebrate the fact that we have survived yet another week!  I for one am thrilled - it was a week full of running, coffee dates, quizzes and new life experiences...that is, while being supervised in class.  It was also a week full of Gilmore Girls episodes over dinner, Sex & the City on Valentine's Day and discovering a ton of brand new recipes for meal prep.  You see, one of my [unmentioned] new year's resolutions this year was to cook more and/or rely less on prepared foods...despite being 100% reliant on Trader Joe's frozen dinners all throughout the last semester and my last two years of college.  This weekend shall be nothing special on my end - just the usual long run & cupcake breakfast Saturday, a wonderfully exciting trip to Target for some household necessities, and mountains on mountains of homework.  In light of that, I've had ample time to procrastinate by poking around on the internet this week when I should have been studying...don't worry, mom, all my work got done :) Check it out check it out:

Love, Actually fans - have you heard this news?

I can't possibly be the only person excited for this movie (in exactly ONE MONTH).

Valentine's Day get you down this year? These little loves will warm your heart.

There's a debate over these cookies...thoughts?  (For the record, I'm PRO).

Two of my pop culture idols. One picture. WORLDS COLLIDE.

Is this not the cutest thing ever? Happy (historic) Valentine's Week.

Anyone ever made this brunch staple? It's next on my list & I'm looking for tips :)

Probably the one person I wouldn't mind getting insulted by...is this not hilarious?

Did you happen to catch SNL last week? Catch the recap here - you won't regret it!

And FINALLY, my favorite graphic designer ever released new downloads!

(she's been designing my desktop for almost 2 years now)

Happy Weekending!

Be Mine.

If you're relatively new to this blog or haven't read in a while, you may not know that last year I had the opportunity to live with two of (who became) my best friends in an apartment appropriately nicknamed "The Love Shack."  We started our days together, ended our days together, and spent most weekend hours together, consuming any and all brunch food & ice cream available.  It was a dream.  To commemorate the wonderful year we spent together, we took our senior graduation photos together, and the photographer got some great candids...I mean, look:

To those of you familiar with this blog and on the verge of rolling your eyes or thinking "why on earth is this woman talking about college graduation again," just keep reading.  No, this is not a post about college graduation-though the pictures are from it-rather, it is a reminder of all of the things & people we hold dear to us on this special day that comes but once a year.

You've probably seen this one a million times, and for good reason - it is the best picture we took all year.

Homegirl to my left was really into this TV show called Parks and Recreation, while homegirl on the right and I were more into Amy Poehler's old work on a show I still regularly watch called Saturday Night Live.  While despite her brilliant efforts to try to get us to watch P & R, I could never really come around to watching it because I have commitment issues with TV shows that I don't otherwise already know about or are super long in terms of seasons & episode count.  Despite THAT, I do know a thing or two about P & R, one of them being the glorious (faux) holiday we ladies know as Galentine's Day.  I'll spare you the details, all of which are covered in this blog post that I read.  It didn't take me long to realize that despite being a (faux) holiday, our apartment lived every day like it was Galentine's Day - we often ordered waffles during weekend brunch dates, exchanged the occasional gift here & there (usually in the form of ice cream or M&M's), threw parties (for Halloween, Thanksgiving, & sorority formals), took trips (to Disney, on a spring break cruise & the once a semester visit to Fort Lauderdale for good ice cream), and volunteered (surprisingly, the weekend of Valentine's Day) with our sorority's reading partnership at a local after school program.

Yesterday was Galentine's Day & today is Valentine's Day, the more-commercial-and-socially-acceptable of the two holidays.  In doing some research, I learned that ~190 MILLION Valentine's Day cards are sent each year (not including ones given to and from kids at elementary schools) and the average spending has gone up $23 per person over the past three years.  Not to be technical, but that's pretty (statistically) significant.  Despite it being a line from a Christmas movie, nothing fully captures (what I feel is) the essence of the holiday quite like Hugh Grant in Love, Actually:

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.  General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that.  It seems to me that love is everywhere.  Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.  When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love.  If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.

Pretty powerful for a rom-com, am I right?  Despite being single on this commercial holiday, I cannot help but think of how perfect its timing is right here & right now.  If Galentine's Day is a celebration for the ladies, then Valentine's Day is a celebration of all the beautiful components that make up love; whether that's a bouquet of roses and a bottle of champagne, a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a sappy rom-com, or anything & everything chocolate (& I mean everything - I got a chocolate man this year and it was delicious!).  It's a celebration of the fact that we are here and we have gotten this far; a celebration of & for each other in a world that never seems to stop.  I mean, if there's a million things we all disagree on right now, can we at least agree on love?  The magic, the power, the glory of love?

So, to all of you out there, I ask of you to spread the love.  Spread it as best you can, to everyone you can.  Tell someone you love them; tell someone you miss them; tell someone you want to get to know them or reconnect with them.  Smile.  Eat a donut.  Or two.  Eat a bad box of candy hearts & go buy the 75% off discount candy at CVS tomorrow.  Remember that no matter where you are, who you are, or what you do, you are loved. So. Very. Much.

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.

FriYAY || Can you feel the love this week?

Happy (belated) FriYAY!  Sorry for the slight delay - this week was hectic with an exam & a quiz (both of which I survived!), then some awful weather (we got the rain end of the massive snowstorm) & a job interview this afternoon...all of which on top of the typical week of reading, running, sleeping & consuming large amounts of Valentine's Day candy.  I foresee a 10-mile run in my future tomorrow, followed by some Valentine's cookie decorating and a little shopping trip to Georgetown...oh yeah, and then some homework :) All of THAT aside, I am FINALLY not sick anymore (yay!) and have come to learn the young female adult definition of the word "snow day" - fuzzy sweater, soft socks, warm blanket, Trader Joe's mac & cheese, eggless cookie dough and a Gilmore Girls marathon.

As I write this from the middle seat of my couch engaging in typical young-adult-female-snow-day activities, I present you with all of the wonderful (& delicious) items that made it on my radar this week:

Where my fellow SNL groupies at?  You watching this weekend?

I'm thinking of starting a business on the side...100% calling it Georgetown Pupcake.

Basically the greatest delicacy known to man...and no salmonella involved :)

Thoughts on this (awesome) halftime performance from last week?  I LOVED IT!

Or did you happen to catch this wonderful Super Bowl opener?  Hamilton fanatics, unite!

Did the snow affect you this week?  This sure made me laugh about it!

The happiest Facebook page I've ever followed...sure to make you smile or cry.

Because I have a crush on cute little children...roar, lion roar!

Turn off the volume for this & just let your taste buds roar.

& finally, if you like being caught up with the news, and really really really like me, subscribe to theSkimm today and get a great little summary of the day's/week's events to your email inbox at 6:30 each morning!

Happy Weekending!

Day in the Life || Semester 2 (cont'd)

HOORAY!!!  You (& I) made it through Monday - now the rest of the week should be smooth sailing, right (I certainly hope so)?!?!  Yesterday I gave you a peek at what a typical class day looks like for me - I know it was super thrilling - so much so that here's a peek at what I do on days that I DON'T have class; okay, so more specifically on Mondays & Wednesdays.  You see, this semester I am #blessed to only have class on Tuesdays & Thursdays but that also means that a lot can get squeezed into those two days, especially come midterms and finals.  But, at the same time, it does allow for maximum productivity during the week, because having three free workdays means being able to take advantage of time not otherwise used.  It also means that I can get other things done, too, like running errands or making dinners, etc.  Typically Monday and Wednesday are my two most productive days workwise, sometimes Friday depending on the week, with some work also getting done over the weekend if I am particularly busy with an upcoming exam/assignment.  With that, here is a peek at a typical Wednesday "hump day" for me:

7:15/7:30 - Wake Up & read theSkimm.

8:00/8:15 - Do a "double run" on the treadmill (aka a long run split into 2 short runs).

9:15/9:30 - Go upstairs, shower, have light breakfast.

10:30 - Do 1 class's worth of reading/homework/studying.

11:30 - Early lunch & make myself look presentable.

12:15 - Walk to my favorite study spot, Compass Coffee.

12:30 - Drink a NF Iced Butterscotch Latte & read/study/do whatever work has to get done.

5:00 - Pack up & walk home.

5:15 - Take a break from studying & relax for a bit.

6:00 - Reheat & eat leftovers for dinner.

7:00 - Continue whatever reading/studying needs to get done for the next day.

10:00 - Get school stuff together, put together lunch, prep for breakfast & pack backpack.

10:30 - Lights Out!

See?  Not so super exciting after all haha.  Oh well.  And considering I have my first big exam today & a quiz on Thursday (which have I started studying for yet...TBD), and because I am #addicted to these, here is an eCard which perfectly sums up my feelings about this day:

Day in the Life || Semester 2

Greetings, friends, and Happy Monday!  Idk about you but I am 100% on Team "make-the-day-after-the-super-bowl-a-national-holiday."  Did you have fun watching?  Did your team win?  Did you overload on food, and chicken wings, and beer?  Did you watch the commercials?  Preemptively I am writing this before said game so I actually have no clue who won or if the game was good (I'm assuming it was but you never know).  Besides the Super Bowl, did you have a good weekend?  Mine was a pretty typical no-frills event for me.  You see, I started off the semester with a nagging cold that probably came from going 0 MPH over 4 weeks of winter break to 100 MPH in a matter of 2-3 days.  I thought I was getting better and took all of the necessary remedies - chicken soup, hot liquids (s/o to Apple Cider for being da real MVP), lots of rest, etc. etc. but sure enough Thursday night I started feeling icky again and went to the doctor Friday morning only to find out that my cold had either turned into ANOTHER one or became a sinus infection...great, right?  So, besides going to spend some time with my DC family on Friday and Sunday afternoons and doing my annual weekly long run (while medicated of course), the weekend was basically spent either in bed or studying for an exam that I have tomorrow...the first of the semester...Neuroscience (insert reaction here).  Despite that, I wanted to give you a glimpse into a typical "day in the life" for me this semester, both a school day and weekday work day, because my, how schedules have changed and time been rearranged.  With that said, here goes a typical Tuesday for yours truly:

6:00 Wake Up - yep, usually the sun isn't even up yet & theSkimm hasn't arrived either.

6:10 - wash face, make bed, turn on hair straightener.

6:15 - make breakfast (usually oatmeal & iced coffee) & put together my pre-made lunch.

6:25 - do hair & makeup while drinking said coffee.

6:45 - eat oatmeal once cooled, check weather & read theSkimm.

7:10 - out the door, fully dressed, lunch packed & water bottle filled.

7:20/7:25 - board train at Metro Center Station.

7:40 - arrive at first class building, catch up with classmates in building lobby.

8:00 - Clinical Methods w/ Dr. C.

9:35 - Intro to Audiology w/ Dr. LJC.

10:50 - BREAK; usually I go to observe in the Speech Clinic or do work in the library.

12:30 - lunch either in library 1st floor or student center; catch up on reading/studying.

2:20 - Language Acquisition w/ Dr. T.

3:45 - Neuroanatomy w/ Dr. S.

5:00 - Class Over; call mom or listen to music as I walk home.

5:35 - arrive home, check mail, have a light snack.

6:00 - run on treadmill in workout room.

7:00 - shower & make dinner or reheat leftovers while watching Netflix.

8:00 - start readings due for Thursday or study for an upcoming quiz/exam.

11:15 Bedtime!

And in honor of it being Monday, enjoy 2 free memes for some additional motivation:

First February FriYAY

Happy FriYAY, y'all!  Since this week began & I finally got back to blogging, I figured it was time for some updated graphics :)  I LOVE February; not because I am currently single and it's nearing Valentine's Day, but because I have always loved the color pink, I love all of the hearts & candies & flowers that are out in the stores right now, and it means I am one month closer to my half marathon (come on, you know you were expecting that)!  Special shoutout this week goes to my parents, who sent me a massive Valentine's Day care package filled to the brim with chocolates on chocolates and tons of holiday decorations to get me in the holiday spirit.  Now that I think about it-being single isn't all that bad on Valentine's Day, especially when you have a chocolate man to devour (yes, you read that right...pics to come later), but in reality because it is something positive to get through another winter month.  Sometimes I feel like December is a huge letdown because the Christmas music gets you all hyped up for cold weather and trees go up and you hope for snow but then it comes and goes, and all of a sudden it's just cold and drab with no uplifting music or spirit to get you through.  That, for me, is what Valentine's Day is for...that and the fact that DC gets most of its snow in February & March so fingers crossed that actually happens.  We've had some cold weather dips and flurries and the like, but nothing like the real hardcore SNOW I got to watch & play in while we spent some time up in North Carolina...all 9 inches of it.

As for me this weekend, I have my first big exam of the semester on Tuesday and a quiz Thursday, so this weekend will be primarily dedicated to my main priorities: studying, running, eating & sleeping.  Throw in a Super Bowl event of some kind & maybe some baking, but that's it for me.  In the meantime, check out a few things that popped up on my radar over the past few weeks...you could say I've had some time on my hands:

For anyone who needs some more push inspiration to run a half marathon, this will do the trick.

The movie trailer that has completely stolen my heart and that I have watched 500 times in 3 days.

A new DC restaurant that I'm for sure adding to my list.

Accurate article w/ an accurate title...considering I've been doing a lot more cooking lately.

Have your (Valentine's Day) cake & eat it, too...either with someone or by yourself #NoShame

A little bit of cuteness to get you through the last work day of the week.

Without fail, my new favorite Twitter account...you won't be pupset ;)

Hate candy hearts...love cookies & hearts...these will do the trick.

Probably spent a good hour laughing at this video...can you relate?

Found a new favorite website this week. It's life changing. You're welcome in advance.

My comic relief last weekend because there was no SNL.

If you're like me & need a way to celebrate football/mourn the end of the 2016-2017 season...

Go Pats! Go Falcons! Go Commercials!  Whoever you're cheering for, I hope that they win - I say as I have zero stake in this game at all and will probably cut it off at halftime or spend the whole time eating/laughing at commercials/having my annual football season-only beer.

Happy Weekending!

#ThrowbackThursday Inauguration Festivities!

As I mentioned yesterday, a flurry of activity has taken up the bulk of my free time since getting back to DC just a little over two weeks ago...one of those being the excitement of being in DC for an Inauguration!  For good reasons I do not talk about politics on this blog, with the exception of my reaction to the 2016 election, but regardless of which candidate you wanted to win, there is no denying that being at the city center of international attention for an entire weekend is pretty cool.

Inauguration morning started out like any other; I woke up, did my morning run, showered, had breakfast, yep - the whole nine yards.  But, instead of veg out and watch TV I hopped on the red line metro to DuPont Circle to visit Thomas Shelton Hair Design, where I got my hair professionally styled for the ball I would be attending that night!  Huge shoutout to Roque, who took my shoulder length hair, flat ironed it, and turned it into a stunning Audrey Hepburn bun.  Check out how it looked when it was all finished:

That afternoon, my roommate and I got ready for the ball while watching the Inaugural Parade, which we (think we) could hear from our apartment!  Despite there being a snafu with my dress and ending up having to wear my backup rental, I think it's safe to say I successfully pulled off the Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's look - minus the cigarette, sunglasses and magic wand of course.

Dress // Shoes (hidden) // Bracelets // Earrings

The ball itself was spectacular.  It was held at a hotel in the upper NW quadrant of DC, away from much of the downtown traffic, and was attended by thousands of students, professors and alumni alike (oh, did I mention it was GW hosted?).  There were nearly ten rooms accommodating the masses with all different types of music from Latin to Club to Acapella.  Each room had a huge selection of international appetizers and snacks, as well as full bars with drink service.  Come 10:30-ish, they brought out (what I think to be) classic DC desserts - assorted cake pops dipped in red, white & blue melted chocolate and dozens on dozens of cupcakes.  One of the most fun parts for me had to be meeting up with one of my college friends, who was at the event with a friend who had been her sorority sister and is now in law school here in DC.  We hung out for most of the night and joined the brigade of short women in long dresses who had no desire to wear shoes...lol.

Despite the facts that nearly nobody in attendance was in favor of the new president and you had to walk two blocks from the hotel to call for a decent price Uber, the night itself was something I will never forget in a million years.  After all, I have about 50 new bobby & hairpins in my bag of hair supplies...and a lifetime's worth of memories made from one of the most unique and #OnlyatGW experiences I will ever have.