personal style

Over the course of the past 4 years, my personal style has evolved and stayed the same. I would describe it best as incredibly confused.

Part of me pulls towards color. I love summer dresses with prints, bright colors, fun shoes... that part of me crave these:

jcrew

madewell

Another part just wants to be homey. Chunky sweaters, flannel, leggings and tights.

Those two sides of my wardrobe definitely adapt with the seasons, and maybe once I leave dreary Maine winters, my homey, warm, winter style will disappear.

However, a completely different part of me wants to explore a more minimalist style. I love the idea of having a few versatile staples that I can interchange daily. The more I explore everlane the more I just want that to fill my whole wardrobe with some A.P.C. jeans and my desert boots.

everlane

Comfort Foods

One of my favorite comfort foods I definitely can't go without is grilled cheese and tomato soup. A couple weeks ago one of my favorite bloggers, Joanna Goddard, wrote about a Barefoot Contessa recipe for tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons. Yum!

This recipe from New York Times sparked my interest this weekend. Hopefully I can make some soon!

Photo Credit: Andrew Scrivani

Saturday To-Do

Tomorrow being the end of spring break, I have some last minute to-dos before heading back to school. Most of these are for a certain Middle Eastern politics class I'd rather not discuss...


+ Catch up on newspaper readings
+ Start reviewing CSET geometry terms again
+ Catch up on all the readings for that Middle Eastern politics course that would rather not be brought up...
+ Go for a walk... enjoy the last few hours before heading back to Maine

I've really enjoyed this break a lot. I feel like I've actually rested which is almost a problem in itself.

Senior year has been such an overload of work. Getting a job, taking courses out of my comfort zone, senior seminars, and trying to enjoy my last year with my friends has been a struggle that has probably been more stressful than it should have been. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy my last few weeks at school without everything getting to me. Yikes!

home inspiration (part 1)

I am so excited to be moving to the Bay Area next year. However the idea of moving to a completely new place where I know so few people is just a little more than daunting.

One of the many things I've been doing to calm my nerves is to endlessly search on padmapper just to see what my potential homes next year could look like and try to envision the type of style I want to bring to my new living space. Here are some of my ideas:

photo credit: door sixteen

One of the things I think of as essential in my home for next year is a sturdy wooden table for the kitchen. This is one of the things I loved growing up in my house. We had an old solid oak table that was given to us with the purchase of a home because the owner didn't want to move it... now it's the favored piece of furniture of all my siblings.

The kitchen is also my main gathering room anywhere I go, and a great kitchen table, I think, is what can really pull a kitchen together.

photo credit: reading my tea leaves

Recently, I've been wanting to put flowers everywhere. Although an expensive hobby in my mind California is able to grow flowers all year long and so therefore they'll be a little cheaper...?

photo credit: manhattan nest

Manhattan Nest is probably one of my favorite blogs. One of the things that I envy about the author, Daniel, is that he's right around my age, also a senior in college, but he's been able to do so much in terms of home renovations and creating a space that is really his. Reading his blog makes me so excited to live in my own apartment and be able to have a space that I can call home (as opposed to dorm life--which I am definitely ready to be done with). The DIY design and striking black and white contrast throughout his apartment are two things I'd really like to try next year!


To be continued...

Spring Cleaning

As the end of my college career is coming to a close, I wanted to set some goals for myself as I head into a new chapter of my life. One of these goals is to put life into this blog.

The more I think about where I'll be next year and what I'll be doing, the more I realize that I'll need an outlet, to help myself vent about the struggles, discover more about myself, and also try to remain positive.

One of things I've been thinking about lately is how negative I've become. Almost half of the words coming out of my mouth are complaints. I complain about my school work, friends, tasks... lately I've been feeling like I can't do anything without complaining about it first. I think in order to change that, I need to change my mindset. Working with middle schoolers or high schoolers next year is going to be such a challenge, and in order to face that, I need to be the most positive I can be. I can't sink into my complaints like I have been lately. I have to look at every task, every lesson plan, every venture with an open mind.

So I am going to push myself to be positive, use this space in particular to be positive.

My read for next week, once I get back from school is this book:

the happiness project

I'll let you know how it goes!