Cheers to the New Year!

Wow. So another year has came and went. It's hard to believe that time passes by as quickly as it does. It's finally time to say goodbye to 2013 and welcome in a brand new year filled with hopes, wishes, and dreams coming true.

This year was a pretty big one for me, one of my best so far, I think. I had a lot of new experiences and milestones that I'll always remember. I graduated college, left the country for the first time, travelled abroad and experienced three completely different cultures, made new friends, went swimming and tubing in the Mediterranean Sea, took roadtrips with my friends, started a new job, visited a place I've always dreamed of seeing, travelled to the west coast, dyed my hair for the first time, swam dipped my feet in the Pacific Ocean, spent time with distant relatives, got a new puppy, saw the Transiberan Orchestra, took a roadtrip with my Grandparents, went on my first cruise, planted a garden and had an internship in a field I discovered I love.

Despite the minor setbacks and mildly poor experiences that I experienced in 2013, it was overall pretty fantastic. As for 2014, I'm making steps towards my career goals, bettering my quality of life and maintaining positive relationships with the ones I love.  Here's to another great year with tons more memories and great things to share.

Feeling 22!

Happy birthday to me! It wouldn't be right if I didn't dance around to Taylor Swift at least once today so...

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Monday Mantra: Love Your Imperfections

I had some time to kill before work yesterday so I stopped into Barnes & Noble and found myself wandering towards the self help section.  Among the many "how to quit smoking" and "why you are the way you are" books, I noticed one called "Beautiful You".  I didn't read any of it but it did catch my attention, as I never would have even thought that people would consult a book to cope with self-esteem issues.

It's really disheartening how so many people have such a negative self image these days.  It reminds me of a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that my friend Michelle once told me and has always stuck:

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent".  

Why should anyone's perception of you be any reason to feel pity on yourself?  It shouldn't.  Everyone  has something about themselves they wish they could change.  But the truth is, these little imperfections are what make you different.  From the big ears that your mom promised you'd grow into, to the freckles on your cheeks that your grandma proclaimed "give you character". I know it's cliché and it's not what you want to hear, but I'm not going to tell you that you can somehow magically change the way you look.  The only thing to do is to love your imperfections & embrace your flaws. Because what may seem like the worst quality to you, just might be what will make somebody fall head over heels. Happy Monday :)

Photos: 1

What Should FIT Call Me?

You know when you come across funny things that relate to your life, but nobody else will understand them unless it affects them too?  Well I stumbled upon one of those things last week: this tumblr.  Of course you won't understand many of them unless you're a student at FIT yourself, but it might be fun to check it out anyway.  Here are a few of my favorites:

WHEN YOU MEET A STRAIGHT BOY ON CAMPUS WHO ISNT A BURNOUT 

WHEN GIRLS TAKE THE A ELEVATOR TO THE THIRD FLOOR

WHEN THAT BOY IN HEELS LOOKS BETTER THAN ME

I'm like

WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY PROJECTS DUE THAT YOU CAN'T DEAL

WHEN EVERY OTHER GIRL IS WEARING 7 INCH HEELS DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM

HOW YOU THINK YOU LOOK WALKING DOWN 27TH STREET

You’re all,

But you’re really like,

Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Spring Forward

Has anyone noticed that this past week it started getting darker later?  It's the best feeling to look out the window around dinnertime and see the sun just beginning to set rather than staring at pitch darkness outside.  So tonight's the night we get to change our clocks!  Even though we lose an hour of sleep, it's totally worth it in the longrun—longer days, which of course means Spring is on its way!  Not sure what time it is right now, but I'm beyond tired and that means bed.  Don't forget to push your clock an hour forward tonight!