Insta-September

Wow, this month was a blur. It's hard to believe I've been in New Orleans for almost two months! Time flies when you're having fun! Actually, September has been incredibly stressful with school, getting settled in a new city, making new friends, missing old ones, and not really having any time to reflect and adjust. 

law books / bourbon street

Beers and Georgia Football / Hurricanes at Pat O's

My life as a law student / care package from the lovely courtney

Abitas and trivia / interesting opinions about law school in the library

Constitution Day lectures / Begniets in Jackson Square

Lunch on the Law Quad / Relaxing with manis and some reading

coffee / again my life as a law student

As you can see, I've been spending an insane amount of time in the library, but I have been able to get out and watch football a bit. Yay for relaxing! How was your September? 

Thursday Randoms

Well hello there! Long time no see! I'm slowly getting settled here in New Orleans and have been wrapped up in a world of spending money, getting lost and seemingly endless boxes. But guess what? I'm absolutely loving it. I can't tell y'all how much I love having a walk in closet and my own bathroom. It's WONDERFUL after a few years of sharing bathrooms and living with clothing racks in my room.

I've been gone from DC for about two weeks, and to catch you up quickly here are the highlights of the last 10 days.

• Sprained my ankle the day before moving. The universe decided to beat up on me. 
• 2 yellow jacket stings. Again, I angered the universe. 
• 1 flat tire. Are you getting the drift?
• 2 wonderful nights in Athens catching up with old friends in my old college town. 
• 5 awesome days in Atlanta with my the dash of soul team.
• 1200+ miles in the car. 
• And about a million margaritas at Tin Lizzy's. #RoughLife

So now you're all caught up! But goodness knows I can't write a Thursday Random's post without pictures!

Can't wait to share more of what I've been up to in New Orleans! Orientation starts on Monday! 

Closing a Chapter

This post is a little heavy and personal, if you're here for the usual Friday's Fancies come back next week. Otherwise I commend you for indulging my need to document this major moment. 

I can't believe it, but the day is finally here. Today is my last day at work, tomorrow morning I pack the car and begin the trek to Louisiana. As I've been wrapping up my life in DC I can't help but feel a pang of sadness at the closing of another chapter of my life.

It has been a dream of mine to live in DC since I visited the first time with my Dad at 9 years old. Coming back for Obama's first inauguration in 2009 only solidified my hopes to one day make this city my home. A mere 6 months later I was back for an internship, and less than 6 months after that I made this city my home. Though I didn't arrive for good until age 21, I feel that this town is really where I "grew up" or rather, where I grew into an adult. I'm sure all of you know the feeling, those first few years out of college are pretty tough, but I've made it through and I'm so glad I did it in this city.

At one point DC almost broke me. I almost gave up. After a year of being verbally abused nine hours a day by our wonderful constituents, we lost our election and I was laid off.  Being laid off less than a year after starting my job was tough, but when the months of networking and endless hours writing cover letters weren't paying off it got tougher.  I was rejected from four different positions in 24 hours, I was going into debt, and babysitting odd jobs in attempts to support myself but it wasn't working, I was overwhelmed and then you kicked me in the ass with a parking ticket. Looking back now it seems silly that a $100 parking ticket send me spiraling like it did, but I let my self utterly fall apart that night. But somehow I got through the weekend. Monday morning I woke up bound and determined that I wasn't going down like that, my dreams were not going to be dashed so easily, and you know what? They weren't. Two weeks later I had a great job, I built myself back up and I took on new challenges like an old pro.

 While growing into an adult here has been hard, it's also been wonderful. In the world of politics DC often has negative connotations, but those of us who make this city our home know there is so much more to this city than our divisive politics. The diversity of this city pervades all aspects of the culture. The food, the people, the history, this city always has something new and exciting to offer. The beauty of the Capitol building often takes my breath away, and I'll always appreciate my time working in the halls of Congress.  Lazy weekend days spent at Eastern Market have been a favorite past time, as have the nights on H Street, and the weekends playing tourist. I met some amazing people who are going to accomplish some amazing things. I worked harder and learned more than I thought I could. Most importantly, I discovered a deep love for a good Gin and Tonic at happy hour.

Not only am I leaving this wonderful city behind, but I'm leaving some amazing friends. My two lovely roommates have been an amazing support system for me over the last few years, and I really couldn't ask for better friends. I'll miss you girls more than you know. KJ--- our morning rides to the hill have often been a high point in my day. I'll miss starting my day with our shared laughter at the inappropriateness of the Kane Show, the unpredictable DC traffic and your contagious good moods. BW--- I cannot really fathom life without you down the hall. You've always been there, every day, for the last 14 years. We've basically walked the same path since 6th grade, and for the first time ever our lives are going in different directions. While I can't help but be excited for this next stage, for both of us, it's bittersweet. I miss you both (and Oliver) already.

As I pack up and move on, I'm closing the chapter on this defining few years of my life. I came to DC with a naive dream to change the world and help people. Now I leave with the best memories, matured to what "real life" is like and a plan to change the world and help people.

DC. Thank you. I'll see you in 2016.  

Thursday Randoms

It's another Thursday and I'm loosing steam, so I'm writing another blog post in bullet form. Hope you enjoy.

• Did you see May Books on Groupon right now? 12.99 for 1, 24.99 for 2. I have one and LOVE it. Great deal. I'll be making my academic calendar with them for sure.

• Speaking of groupon, I finally bought a "learn your dslr" class. Hopefully that means y'all will be seeing more pictures around these parts. 
• I just bought a very bright neon pink blazer on crazy sale at gap last week. I have no idea what to wear it with. Thoughts? I'm thinking blues? tans? whites? 
• I got my eyebrows threaded for the first time last week at the newest Shobha salon just south of Dupont circle. It was quite the experience. Blog post to come. I got to catch up with some lovely bloggers though! So fun
• I cannot wait for the Southern Blog Society Meet up in Charlottesville this weekend. I so excited to finally meet some of my blogging favorites. 
• Did you hear? 50% off Frappuccinos through July 16th. This is happening. Today. If I can bare to head out into the heat.
• How cute is this skirt. Gray and Gold? Definitely on the top of my wishlist.  
• I finally got my new computer for school yesterday! I'm leaving the mac land for a lenovo. Honestly though, the one I got was comparable to a mac book pro (15 inch) and it was essentially half the price. I do have to learn windows 8 though... there's definitely a learning curve for this mac girl.
• I LOVED getting to catch up with a few of my favorite gals this weekend. 

• I cannot believe I'm leaving DC in 16 short days. Cannot BELIEVE IT. 
• Even more so, I cannot believe that I'll be back in a classroom one month from today! It's been three whole years... hope I remember how to take notes :)
• How absurd is this weather? It feels about 25 degrees cooler in New Orleans than in DC right now. Absolutely ridiculous. 

Five Things

Obviously this little game of tag has been floating all over the blog world for a few weeks now, but who doesn't like to learn more about the girl behind the blog?  Alissa and Shannon both tagged me last week, so here we go...

1. I'm a texture freak. I cannot stand something if it as a strange texture. It's mostly a food thing: grapes HAVE to be hard, peaches have to be super soft, tomatoes are terrifying (I've only been able to eat raw tomatoes in the last year). But then I also get the same way about fabric: sheets and bedding? Have to be super soft and smooth right out of the pack.

2. Mayonnaise grosses me out more than I can handle. I like both ingredients in Mayo, so one would think I'd like the stuff. But there's just something about that thick gloppy cream that just freaks me out. I made deviled eggs for Easter this weekend, and normally I would use Greek yogurt for creaminess (it's great I promise), but I was out. Literally the only thing in my fridge was mayo. So I used as little as humanly possible. Then I tasted one. They were great, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat them because I knew they were "packed" with mayo. eww... so gross.

3. I'm addicted to sleeping. I really am starting to think it's a problem. I really think I need 10 hours a night. But I just don't have that much time in my day. I've tried cutting down caffeine, upping my exercise, shutting down all electronics before bed. Nothing works. 8 hours is just not enough. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

4. I'm messy. Like my room is never clean. I've improved significantly in recent years, and am generally able to contain my mess to my own room (though my roommates may tell you otherwise). I've come to terms with the fact that my vanity will never ever be clean, but my bedroom also doubles as my closet (DC living) so clothes just seem to end up all over the place!

5. I'm terrified of law school. The scary amount of work-- like 12+ hour days every days for the next three years? eek.  Getting caught unprepared in class and looking like an idiot in front of my soon-to-be-peers? inevitable but still not fun. Oh and then there's the amount of debt this is going to put me in. I'm definitely not one to live beyond my means, so living more or less on loans for the next three years is making me sick.

I  tag Jessica (but she posted her 5 today already), Betsy, Nicole, Sara and Jenn.

Thursday Randoms

Well it's Thursday, that time during the week where writing a full blog post with pictures seems extorindarily difficult, because I'm tired and ready for the weekend. But I still have stuff to say, so blog post in bullet form it is!

• Y'all were awesome yesterday! I got some really thoughtful insight and emails which I'm still in the process of returning, so if I haven't already told you, thank you!

• Today is kind of my friday, because I'm taking tomorrow off to go look at a law school here in DC. What???? yes. Woot!

• I listened to the whole S Club 7 album last night, and it was awesome. Remember them?

• I also went to the gym last night for the first time in I don't even know, and it wasn't that terrible yay! Maybe I'll even go again tonight. 

• I have the WORST senioritis right now, and it's bleeding in to all aspects of my life. I'm just so checked out of everything. ie. I'm super lame and quiet on social media this week. sorry folks. 

• I plan on spending a ridiculous amount of time in my bed this weekend. I'm even debating about putting paper over the windows and sleeping in a masque and ear plugs to keep out distractions. I'm serious when it comes to sleep. 

• I really am feeling an intense need to go shopping for beauty products and I even need some refills... but I don't trust myself at target. What's a girl on a budget to do?

• How are you guys liking bloglovin a week post google reader? I loved it at first, but now I feel like it takes me SO much longer to get through my daily blog roll b/c I have to load every single page. Is it just me, and my slow internet connection?

• I made cheese burger mac hamburger helper for dinner on Tuesday, and realized how freaking gross that stuff is! WHY did I ever buy that crap? never again.

• I really loved this post from Betsy on Tuesday. I can't wait to see what she says in her response. 

• Is it normal that I'm really sad at the thought of leaving my DC blogger friends? I don't know where I'd be without you girls, and even though we don't hang out irl as much as we should, I don't want to leave you!

• Is it weirder that I'm considering how many blog friends I have in other potential cities as a factor in my law school decision? (ATL is looking pretty good, blog friends-wise. You know who you are).

Well that's all I've got for you today. No pictures. Just my witty randomness to keep you occupied. See you tomorrow for Friday's Fancies (everyone's favorite day of the week).

On my mind...

As most of you know, I'm in the throws of deciding where to go to law school. I am often indecisive person when it comes to big life choices, so I can tell y'all I'm absolutely terrified about this decision.

I'm very fortunate that I've been accepted to six pretty great schools, and many of them have given me a considerable amount of financial aid so that's great. But sometimes having options makes things harder. There are so many factors that accompany each school, and multiply that by six (plus five potential additional acceptances), it's becoming a bit overwhelming to say the least. Oh. And I have to decide by April 1.

I'm not quite ready to share what my specific school choices are, but I want to give y'all a few hints. I know that so much of law school will be spent studying, but I'm a city girl and I'm sure I'm going to need some entertainment. So of course I've been doing some research on life in my potential new homes. Some, I know well, others not at all.

Atlanta, Georgia

via

Columbia, South Carolina

via

Fairfax, Virginia

via

New Orleans, Louisiana

via

Washington, DC

via

Greensboro, North Carolina

via

So, have any of y'all lived in any of these places? I'd love to hear your perspective? Where should I stay/go for this next step? 

Don't worry, I promise to take y'all with me where ever this endeavor may lead.

Weekend Recap

Well that was a whirlwind of a weekend! I have a ridiculously busy week ahead, so I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Hope y'all had a fab one too!

Trying to convince friends to come out in their green dresses.

Best response ever. 

I'm also coming to realize that I need to upgrade the iphone to get better front camera quality.

Inaugural Recap

Well folks. It's over. While it was an overwhelmingly stressful few days, I will never forget the ride. I kept thinking what a difference four years and a lot of hard work makes. I spent the weekend juggling touring my parents around town, working to prep for a few big events my office hosted throughout the weekend, trying to attend the Obama Legacy conference, see all my campaign staff friends, sleep, dance the night away at a few balls, oh... and go to the inauguration.

Lashes and curls at the office. A normal day OBVIOUSLY.

All dressed up and ready to go to the Arkansas Ball. Again... I'm loving wearing the fake lashes. So glamorous. I just need to practice applying them. 

An INSANELY amazing cheesecake at the staff ball. 

The staff ball was quite the affair, POTUS, FLOTUS, The Bidens, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett all in one room. Doesn't get much better than that. 

Now that all of this silliness is over, I promise to be a better blogger and start writing posts again. See you ladies tomorrow for Friday Fancies!!!

Happy Thursday!

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It's over

Well. It's Monday and I'm still alive. The LSAT is over, thank goodness and I hopefully never have to look at those questions ever again. Yay! Thank you everyone who has been so supportive over the last few months! I truly appreciate all of the well wishes!

On an unhappier note, the Georgia Bulldogs missed the bus to columbia south carolina and we lost. Here's to hoping this off week will let us regroup and come back stronger for Georgia Florida.

Oh and the braves lost in the most ridiculous way ever.

So yah. That was my weekend. 7 hours of LSAT. 8 hours of epic athletic losses. and the rest was spent in bed.

But now I have a life again!!! Woohoo!!!

Now I need help y'all. I'm treating myself to a mini shopping spree at sephora... what should I get??? I need recommendations!!!

I got this in my birchbox a few months ago and I'm still loving it... should I invest???

Viva La Juicy La Fleur 

Beauty for a Cause

I know all of our lives have been touched by cancer. My grandmother and grandfather both passed away from lung cancer. One of my best friend's mother was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer and had been in and out of remission for the last two years. It's a brutal disease that can effect any of us, and while there is so much that we don't know about the causes, research makes major advances every year. One way we can help is support research foundations financially. I know we don't all have tons of disposable income to donate, but It's breast cancer awareness month and many of our favorite brands have come out with some great products supporting cancer research. 

"The causes of breast cancer are not fully understood. Although it is clear that age, gender and lifetime exposure to estrogen and other factors play an important role. Because no one knows exactly what cause breast cancer to develop in a certain person at a certain time, there are no sure ways to prevent it. However, there are steps that you can take that may reduce your risk. These include maintaing a healthy weight, adding exercise into your routine, limiting alcohol intake and postmenopausal hormones, and breast feeding if you can. Anyone can get breast cancer."  Susan G. Komen 

These are a few of my favorites... get to shopping ladies!

EOS balm and lotion

Clinique Chubby Stick

Nails Inc.

Sephora Brushes

It's a 10

Lip Stick

Woes and Wins

Lately I feel like my life has been flip flopping all over the place. I'm so hyper focused on studying for the lsat, I'm losing it in other aspects of my life. And the hits just keep on coming. So I need a vent day. Here are my recent woes, and some of my recent wins. And if you make it through, I'm linking up with Niki for Loving Lately with my latest obsession.

Woe-ing

Flat tire on a Monday morning. Great way to start the week.

Forgetting about soup simmering on the stove. For 2 hours. Can we say burnt soup? yum.

Sucking at sleeping. I just have too much on my mind, AND I am on an over caffeination cycle where I drink too much during the day, then can't get to sleep at night. Then I'm exhausted the next day, so I once again over caffeinate, oops and there goes the sleeping. How do I get off this ride?

Instagramming. I keep wanting to do an instagram drop post because lets be honest we all like picture heavy posts (and they are easy to pull together). But I've taken like 4 pictures since my last one. Oh well. I'll throw in a few

Parking. I got a $100 ticket For parking on the street in FRONT OF MY HOUSE in DC, in a two hour zone over night during the week, when the "supposedly" don't monitor this block between 8:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. Annoying.

My room is in a state of disarray. One that it has never seen (okay, that's a lie but it hasn't been this bad in a long time). There are just stacks of clothes everywhere. I forget what's clean and whats not... then it needs to get washed again because Oliver inevitably sits on it and leaves his black fur everywhere.

Yoga. I haven't been in TWO MONTHS. and I miss it so... I need to start going again for my sanity. Maybe I'll squeeze it in tonight.

My Job. I normally pride myself on being great at my job. I'm super on top of things. Work through lunches when we're busy, show up early and stay late. I'm work hard, try to be as thorough as possible, and take on new projects regularly. I'm a pretty good employee if I do say so myself.   Well, I haven't done anything major, but I keep making just stupid mistakes. Losing receipts. Forgetting to print things for meetings. Not returning phone calls. I just have been so focused on the LSAT lately, I can tell my work is suffering. Time to step it up.

Winning

LSAT studying seems to be finally coming together. Just in time might I add. 11 days.

Losing weight. I'm currently hovering near a three year low! Yay.

Officially being free of a lease requirements for the first time ever in my life (we just went month to month!!)

Blogging. I feel like I've been kind of phoning it in since I started the LSAT studying, but I continue to add new followers at an astonishing rate! Thanks y'all. All the support and comments really mean so much to me! Don't forget to enter my starbucks reader appreciation giveaway.

Saving money/sticking to my budget. Having to study for the LSAT has been an awesome excuse not to go to happy hours or out for late nights on a weekend. Granted I paid a stupid amount of money to Kaplan for my class. AND I have to pay an even stupider amount to apply to schools. Oh yah... then there's that little thing about paying for school. Goodbye savings. I'm still counting this as a win, for now.

The GEORGIA BULLDOGS. 4-0. 40+ points in each game so far. #5 in the country. We are off to a great start. I'm feeling UGA vs Alabama in the National Championship. Anyone else? Gosh the SEC is awesome (4 of the top 6 teams are SEC right now. #winning).

And Since you read this far (and I'm so loving this link up so why not join in again)

Oscar de la Renta flat / Madewell leopard print shoes / J.Crew ballet flat / Faith leopard print shoes, $55 / L' Autre Chose ballet flat / Steve Madden flat / ASOS ballet flat / Madewell ballet flat

 

Currently

Currently...

Reading  LSAT books

Practicing logical reasoning flaw questions

Listening to "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons on Spotify

Smelling triple chocolate brownie bites aka stress relief

Working at my real life job. In my big girl office.  

Writing this blog post.

Hoping that the LSAT goes well, and all this hard work is not for nothing

Thinking that I need to start thinking positively and have more faith in myself

Sipping a big old cup of Joe

Watching CNN. What else is new.

Gawking Governor Romney. Keep the gaffes coming sir. 47% of us would appreciate it. 

Wearing yoga pants and an over sized old navy tee. Top knot. No makeup.

Wishing that the LSAT would go ahead and be over so I can focus on blogging. Priorities.

Feeling Exhausted. Burned out. Drained. Defeated. Lazy. Frustrated.  

Loving that there are only 15 more days until the LSAT

Hating that there are only 15 more days until the LSAT

What are you doing.... Currently? 

All dressed up with no where to go

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good, but full gaffs. First, I drank entirely too much coffee on Saturday, then after getting home from babysitting I couldn't get to sleep until after 2 am. Fail. I was supposed to take a practice LSAT Sunday morning. Well. 2:45 am rolls around. I still wasn't quite asleep when heard the door open and close downstairs. My roommate KJ was out and about, nothing to be concerned about, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Then some time later I turned over and opened my eyes. 

There was an unknown man standing above me. Just staring at me. I swear to god. 

I initially thought it was a dream, but no. There was definitely a man there. I don't entirely remember what I said. I didn't scream or jump or any "normal" reaction. No. I was so taken a back I didn't know what to do. I kind of assumed that KJ may have brought home a gentleman friend and by the time I realized what happened I thought running out would have ruined "the mood," so I stayed put. 

Well I get a text about 90 seconds later from KJ apologizing. Apparently this guy was her drunk married  co-worker who also happens to live in our neighborhood so they were simply sharing a cab, until he invited himself in. At 3:00 am. Needless to say, he was asked to leave shortly there after. It made for quite the interesting morning. Let. Me. Tell. You. 

Sunday was once again filled with LSAT Studying. 18 days folks. But I was so excited to head over to the Dew Drop Swap as I mentioned to y'all on friday. KJ was tagging along so we got ready. Full hair and makeup because lord knows you have to look good when you run into the fashionable bloggerati of the District. Well. We were running late. Shocker. With 5 minutes to spare make it to the building to head upstairs. Once we arrive the place was not quite as hopping as we expected. Nope. Not a sole in sight actually. That's when we realized the swap was on SATURDAY. Another fail on my part. 

Thankfully we redeemed the outing with pumpkin spice lattes. (PS if you're counting calories check out this post from Samantha's Brewed Awakening) 

So. What is a girl to do when she's all dressed up with no fashionable venues to frequent? Take pictures of herself. Duh. 

Top: Forever 21 | Skirt: Macy's | Shoes: Nine West | Watch: Michael Kors

I saw this tutorial on pinterest the other night and had to try it. I over did it on the teasing a bit, but I'm kind of obsessed!

Pink and Gold Mani--- also inspired by pinterest here

That's it for today. Hopefully the rest of the week will be slightly less eventful. Though I did appreciate the comic relief. LSAT nightmares have been increasing in frequency of late, so it was a good change of pace.

Oh How Pinteresting

I'm a huge fan of reading everyone's "Oh How Pinteresting" posts on Wednesdays, but I've never actually joined the link up. I know. I'm pretty much the only one. So, today I'm joining Michelle and the rest of the universe and linking up for...

I've been on a hunt for motivation lately. Here are a few of my favorites.

This is my horoscope. 

After you make major life decisions, do you ever get confirmations from the universe? Things out of the ordinary go your way? Well that has been the story of my life for the last two days.  I have a HUGE project that ends in a constituent lobby day on August 1. crazy. And I'm making decisions about the next step...

So, I have an announcement. I have decided to take the LSAT. yes. I am actually pretty excited about it, and getting the ball rolling on heading back to school at some point in the next few years. Hopefully between still working full time, and now taking an LSAT class 12 hours a week plus 24 hours of homework and practice, I will still find time to keep up the blog. I promise y'all I will do my best, but the LSAT is October 4th, so I maybe a little MIA, or the posts may not be their usual awesomeness until then. But, I still love you, and I will be back. In the meantime, lets keep the pinteresting going. 

all photos are linked on my pinterest page.

Happy Hump Day Y'all