There's Strength in Friendships

Anyone else ever see this quote on Pinterest? If you haven't, I may or may not be mostly convinced you live under a rock. EVERY time I see this quote on Pinterest one part of me cringes, another part of me wants to punch something (mostly myself), and the other part of me is like "Yea! Let's do this!" The latter part is often overruled by the comfort of my bed or couch, and therefore I'm afraid I'll never be quite as good as Queen B. Maybe Taylor Swift though, she seems to like to relax just as much as the next girl. Hehe.

Anyway, if you haven't picked up on it yet, my motivation has seriously been lacking.

I may have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyonce...

But I also thoroughly enjoy sleeping in. And spending time making a yummy breakfast. Writing blog posts, reading my favorite blogs, Pinterest-ing, Tumblr-ing, stalking people catching up on Facebook, tweeting celebs in hopes that maybe (just maybe!) they'll tweet me back. Note: The closest thing to a celebrity that's ever tweeted at me/favorited a tweet/retweeted a tweet include The College Prepster and KJP/Sarah KJP. And yes, I do squeal and jump up and down every time it happens. Whatever.

I look at weekends (like I think most normal people do...) as a time to relax, sit on the couch, watch some Netflix, maybe read a bit. Sure,  to some it kinda comes off as slacking, laziness, and so on, but I enjoy my lazy slacker Saturdays and Sundays! Sue me. I've found this past year I've just been so busy that I need the weekends to decompress. It's the very reason I don't like to go out! Some people love to go crazy with their friends to unwind after a long week; I like to go to bed, sleep in, watch TV, and not have a pounding headache the entire time!

I've been taking the entire school year to kind of try and come to terms with the fact that I'm not the crazy child I was for my first two years of college. I'm really mellowing out, kinda turning into a grandma. Don't really care about it. To be honest, I'm really quite content by myself most of the time! My family and my friends don't really get it. Sometimes I don't even get it! Why am I so content to hang out by my lonesome when all everybody else wants to do is be with their friends every second of the day?

I guess it's time to stop asking that question.

You've gotta do what makes YOU happy. The way I'm starting to look at it is like this. If your friends are really your friends, they'll understand. I do make my friends a priority; I think the older you get, the busier you get, and you need friends to get by... So you have to make them a priority. Yes, you've gotta do what makes you happy, but you've got to make choices with the people you care about in mind. 

Like relationships, friendships are hard work. You have to invest in them in order for them to become any good. I often find myself getting so wrapped up in my life that I forget to check in with people I care about. It's something I really need to work on. I mean, what's the point of being happy if you can't share that happiness with the people you love?

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."

Don't focus so much on yourself that you forget the people who have helped to make you you in the first place. Self-love and acceptance are important, but the people who've stood by you through your triumphs and failures, the people who've taught you lesson after lesson, are the people who are going to continue to help you on your journey to discovering who you really are. Life can be lonely, but it doesn't have to be. And that's all up to you.

1/2/3

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Life is About Moments

Some of my favorite moments in my life have been captured on camera. But I have a LOT of favorite moments, so the ones I did happen to get on camera tend to be the ones that aren't necessarily at the top of my list of "favorites." Although, the picture at the very bottom of this post of me and my best friends is definitely in my top three favorite photos (even though I'm still not over how horrible my roots were...).

I hope I'm not alone in this, but I find myself reflecting upon my favorite moments of each day right before I go to sleep. And it's nothing that I do on purpose, it's just where my mind wanders. I find great solace in that every night before I fall asleep I have something to smile about, even on my worst days. The tricky thing about moments though, is making sure that you see them. And appreciate them. And make sure they don't pass you by.

A Good Life is a Collection of Happy Moments

I don't know if I would necessarily want to capture every moment that I appreciate on camera. I love photos and I love the amazing ability they have at telling stories without the use of words. The mark of an extremely good photo is one that could move you to tears, it's so full of emotion--whether it be sadness, happiness, loss, or love. Emotions are what make a moment a moment, and it's absolutely amazing when that can be captured and held onto forever.

That being said, memories are also one of the most sacred things in the world to me. Some memories are meant to be shared, and some meant to be kept private. There's a luxury in that. My favorite moments have been spent alone, with my family, my best friends... and so on. 

The moment you realize you might actually have the guts to chase after your dreams. The moment you realize you actually didn't bomb that exam, and all your hard work paid off. The moment someone you love gets some amazing news. The moment you beat your best mile time, or your team wins the state championship. The moment you come to find the person you like may actually like you back.

But moments aren't just good, and I'm thankful for that too. If we never experienced bad things, the gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, heart-dropping (or stopping) moments that literally make you feel like your world is ending. The moment you lose a loved one. The moment someone breaks your heart. The moment someone beats you out for the job that was everything you could have ever hoped for. The moment you realize that one of the friendships you've held so dear for so long is falling apart.

So here's to moments. To the bad ones that make the good ones so great, and the absolutely out of this world exciting moments that remind you just how wonderful life is. I think we all get extremely caught up in the drama that comes when life keeps throwing things at you day to day. I do wish my eyes could take photos. Sometimes I even wish they could take videos, so I could replay the moments that made my friends and I drop on the floor laughing so hard we almost cried. Mostly though, I'm just happy for all the moments I'm lucky enough to have; after all, they're the things that keep me going when it feels like the entire world is working against me. And we've all been there, right?

Some of My "Favorites"

Penelope <3

Switzerland with some amazing ladies!

#throwback

My cousin and I in Rhode Island

Senior prom with my best!

One of the last pictures I took with my Nana

The moment I realized my brother might actually like me...

Being dysfunctional with the closest thing I have to a sister. In Paris of all places... #typical

High school graduation with the goons I call my best friends

Yeah, I'm a lucky one.

xoxo

Girl's Night In: Valentine's Day Edition

So I've never exactly been one for Valentine's Day. Maybe it's because I've never been completely and totally in love with someone, but even then it seems a little bit overrated. I try to avoid hating on things here, but in all honesty to me it's kind of just an over-commercialized holiday. Call me a scrooge, I don't care!

You know how in high school and middle school everyone used to refer to Valentine's Day as Singles-Awareness Day? I start to laugh when I think back on it. I think I've received one Valentine's Day gift from a boy in my life, and it was my sixth grade boyfriend. I treasured that cute little teddy bear for the whole time we "dated". Gotta love middle school, right?

My friends and I are a bit older now, we have a bit more experience, and some of us are in love. So there's hope! Others of us are a bit jaded. Blame it on our twenties. I like to think of Valentine's Day as a day to be thankful for all the love surrounding me.

This year, my best friend and I are having our own little Valentine's Day celebration. Valentine's Day also just happens to fall on a Friday, so count on wine, cute movies, and cookies being involved. It's not like we have anyone to impress! If you're spending Valentine's Day with your closest girlfriends this year, take a few of these ideas to make it one fun night! (Note: Avoid focusing on the whole "you're single" aspect of everything.)

Single's Awareness Day? No Way!

Some girls may have boyfriends, but we have these cookies... So who's the real winner here?

Take a cue from Lauren Conrad and set up a cute plate set, complete with DIY sequin heart hair clips!

Strawberries on a stick paired with chocolate fondue? Again, who's the real winner here?

Hot chocolate tends to be a staple for me and my best friend in the winter time, so why not give this pink velvet hot chocolate recipe a try?

Or if you're looking for a little something stronger... this wine cocktail is sure to do the trick!

All that's left is to pop in a corny 80s movie and chat away the night! Didn't Carrie Bradshaw say our girlfriends are our real soul mates anyway?

xoxo

Monday Inspiration: A Friend is Like a Good Bra

I've been pondering something lately. When you're little, your family is your everything. They're your built-in support system, the people you can always turn to, the ones who are always going to love you no matter what. In light of some things that have happened recently in my life and in my friends' lives, my eyes have been so completely opened to just how important friendships are in life.

The thing about strangers is that they don't have to choose to get to know you. They don't have to like you, pretend to like you, care about you; they don't have to do anything. I'm a big believer in the idea that nothing really happens by chance, and that people stumble upon certain people for certain reasons. Friends are the family you choose, but they're also the people who choose you as their family. And I never really thought about it that way.

As the years pass us by, it becomes more clear to me and my friends just who'll be sticking around. I can list a handful of girls right off the bat that I'd call the instant someone broke my heart, and I know they'd show up at my door, bottle of wine in hand (or two), within an hour. Your best friends are the ones who know almost every single thing you've ever worried about. Whether it be a boy or what skirt you're going to wear out. They just know.

 They know how you'll react to specific information, what situations make you nervous, what people they need to keep you away from, and they know the things that make you smile (cupcakes), laugh (yoga cats), cry (The Notebook), and so on and so forth. When you're happy, they're happy for you; when you're hurting, they're hurting for you.

When we all went to college, I remember being worried that our being separated was going to be the end of it all. Years worth of friendship all gone out the window, and I don't really know why I felt that way. Because so quickly I figured out that growing apart wasn't even an option. Some of my closest friends and I are miles and miles apart, and yet when we're home and together again for the holidays it's like nothing has changed. If you ask me, distance is the test of true friendship. Earlier this week I was going through something, and one of my friends in New York texted me just to say "Hey, I'm thinking of you and I'm so lucky to have you in my life!" Didn't even know what was going on with me, honestly we probably hadn't talked in the past two weeks before that either. But that was the amazing thing about it. I swear there's something in the universe that keeps us all connected somehow. And thank God for whatever it is!

They say, "A friend is like a good bra. Hard to find, supportive, comfortable, always lifts you up, makes you feel better, and is always close to your heart." It's a funny line, right? But it's also so true. It's taken me twenty years to find my real, going to be around forever friends. I suspect a few more are to come along the way, but if they don't that's fine too. I've kind of got my hands full already... (kidding, but not really.) The thing that gets hard about friendships when you're older is that they're work. Real work. You'll fight with them, laugh with them, and do some of the dumbest things with them.

For those of us without sisters, your girlfriends are your sisters. Especially nowadays, I'm so thankful for that. They keep me sane, and they tell the truth... even if it hurts. That's the measure of true friends, they'll help to make you the best you you can be. Keep them close, always.

xoxo