5 happy things

Life's been a roller coaster lately, so here is a list of 5 things that have made me happy recently!

1. The gym

I know, weird right? I've realized that I actually enjoy the gym. Of course there are times when I don't feel like going, but if I'm there doing things I like, I leave feeling amazing.

2. Substitute teaching

I have like 4 jobs right now, and subbing is one of them. It's been so fun! Last week I was in a high school art class and it was my perfect day because I love working with teenagers and being around art.

3. Oatmeal

I've been so obsessed with oatmeal lately LOL every morning I eat oats cooked with cinnamon and flax seed, and then topped with granola, a banana, almond butter, and more cinnamon. SO GOOD.

4. Slime

Another random one... but I babysit 2 girls every Monday and the younger one loves slime. She's been bugging me to get supplies to make slime for so long, so last week I surprised her with everything and she was stoked! We made slime together and it's been oddly relaxing to play with.

5. Call Me By Your Name

The movie! Sadly I haven't read the book. The movie makes me so happy though - Timothee Chalamet, Italy, art. Love.

Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

5 happy things

1. Snail mail

What's better than getting a handwritten letter in the mail? I know... writing a letter to someone else. There's something about the personalization that goes into writing a letter and mailing it, as well as the excitement you have when you see a letter waiting for you in the mailbox.

2. Changing leaves

This doesn't need too much explanation. I love Fall and I'm so happy the leaves are finally starting to change here in Boston!

3. New York City

It's been too long since I've been in this beautiful city and I need to go back ASAP. Usually during this time of year I go there with my college friends, but since I transferred it's different this year. It's the first Fall I haven't taken a trip to the Met and Soho and it's so weird!

4. Cozy nights in

The weather is getting chillier and life is getting busier and I think one the best feelings is coming home, kicking off my shoes, turning on Full House, and cozying up in bed. After a long day, we deserve an early bedtime!

5. Flower tattoos

I've been thinking about my next tattoo and I really want black and white flowers. They're so pretty and I've been looking up pictures non stop. I think next Summer would be a good time to move forward with these plans? Yes!

It was really hard to narrow this list down to only 5! I should do these posts more often. All the pictures are from my Tumblr and the idea was from Cat from What Cat Says!

I hope you're all having a lovely Friday. I woke up early but laid in bed for a while before getting up, put on some comfy clothes, ate lunch and fixed myself dinner, and now I'm getting some homework and reading done before I head off to work from 3-9!

5 happy things

1. Reading in a warm bath

I love self care (if you can't tell) and I love taking baths. Recently, I've been trying to put my phone down for a bit and every few nights a week, I'll take a bath, read a book, and wear a nice face mask. It's the most relaxing, simplest thing you can do for yourself.

2. Reading a book and watching the movie right away

Do you sense a theme here? I would never have called myself a reader, but lately I've been reading all the time. My friend, Alexandra, and I have been reading books at the same time and then watching the movies that we've never seen before. The most recent was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - we both had never seen the movie or read the book, so we read it at the same time, then watched the movie, and discussed our thoughts.

3. Alone time

The other night my parents went out to dinner with friends and my sister was at camp, so it was just my dog and me. It was SO great. My parents rarely leave the house, so it was a nice change of pace. The house was quiet, it was a cozy, rainy night, I got Chipotle and watched Degrassi. It was perfection!

4. Old friends

For some reason, this Summer I've been bumping into and hanging out with so many old friends. It's awesome! Last Summer I didn't hang out with anyone from high school, so I kind of thought it was just over with those friends. Everyone moves on! It's nice getting back together with them all, though.

5. Open windows

The second floor of my house gets really hot, so when we open the windows it's almost cooler. I just love the fresh air, the openness, and everything. I can't really explain it, but the feeling of having the windows open just makes me feel better.

5 happy things

1. Healthy Living

I've being trying to drink more water, eat more veggies, and go to the gym more. I actually love going to the gym while I'm here because the one I go to is small and always empty. It's basically a personal gym! I'm struggling a little bit with eating better, but with the help of being home and my positivity Instagram, I feel like I'm doing an alright job!

2. Best friends

I love being back because, while of course I have friends at school, my best friends of 10+ years live here and it's so fun getting together, hanging out, and doing what we love. Card games, movies, adventures. So fun!

3. No stress

With the school year being over, I don't have to worry about homework and balancing school with work. While I definitely do need a job this Summer, I'm not stressing about it. I really needed to just take some time to myself - pamper, bake cookies, see old friends. Once I feel ready to take on a responsibility, I'll head out to the job!

4. Expressing myself

This one is so random, but the other day I went to a dinner party with family and my nose piercing and tattoo because a huge part of the conversation that evening. Who knew! I honestly forget I have half this stuff because I don't feel it, you know? I never really thought about how I'm the only one in the family with piercings and tattoos. They weren't dissing me, but it was just a lot of "why would you want that?" and "why go through such pain for that?" Stuff like that. I encouraged my little cousins to express themselves! Maybe not in the same way, but I love my piercings and tattoos!

5. Nice weather / no allergies

The weather has been super iffy lately - rainy and chilly. Every now and then it gets really nice, though! AND this is the first year in MANY years I haven't had terrible allergies! I still had them, but they barely bothered me. It was so crazy! Hopefully this happens every year ;)

5 happy things

As I'm about to write this post, I'm thinking of the line in Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging: "There are 5 very right things with my life" :) Here they are:

1. Life in Boston
You knew this was coming, didn't you? Of course I had to put it on here because living here makes me so happy! I can't believe all the change I've been through in the past 6 months, but it has all been for the best and I can't think of a better place to be living for school. It's great here!

2. Full House on DVD
And Fuller House! My roommate has all of Full House on DVD so we've been watching that. Fuller House is a nice dose of nostalgia, but it's more fun to just go back and watch the original episodes.

3. Warmer weather
I think everyone can agree on this one. Yay Spring weather! Hopefully it stays like this and doesn't get freezing this month. Fingers crossed!

4. Fun visits from friends
My friends from PA are visiting me this weekend! I'm so excited! I've been planning things to do with them and places to bring them. I think they'll really love it and I'm so surprised they're driving all the way just to see me and the city! (I'm also happy about understanding roommates - i have 2 girls staying in our tiny dorm for 3 nights and she's ok with it!)

5. Spring break
I haven't really been dying to go home over the past couple months because I'm having so much fun here, but I can't wait to see my dog and drive my car! Plus I'll be home during my birthday week so it'll be a lot of visits from family, dinners out, and gifts! This time next week I'll be ready to board the plane!

Thanks to Cat, from What Cat Says, for this post idea! What are 5 things you're happy about at the moment? Send me your links, I'd love to read some happy posts!

5 happy things

I was reading though some blogs and I got to one that I follow, Catarina! She did a post about a list of happy things and said she's going to make it a series every month. What a good idea! I kind of want to do the same. Just like I do a monthly 'currently' post, I think I'll start a monthly 'happy' post!

So here we go... here are 5 things I'm happy for right now!

14 days left of the semester

Words cannot describe how ready I am for this semester to be over. I won't go on about it again since I think I've brought it up 1000 times on this blog, but let's just say I'm ready.

Exercise classes

At this school there are free exercise classes everyday and it's awesome! I love classes because they tell me what to do and motivate me to go. There are so many options too - usually on Mondays I do ab lab, Tuesdays are yoga, and Wednesdays are cycling and restorative yoga. It's great!

New adventures

I've also said this a lot, so I'll try to keep it short. I feel like a broken record, sorry! My parents are officially moved into the new house and that's so scary to me! Crazy that Christmas won't be spent in our home. My friends and I are trying to plan our 'girl's night' Christmas and it's tough now that I won't get home until the 23rd and have to also drive to get to them! However, I'm thankful that next semester I'm going to move to Boston and live up there. I'm so so ready to move on from Springfield.

Christmas!

Duh! This should have been #1, honestly. I'm done Christmas shopping and now all that's left is to wrap them all! I'm so excited! It's so fun seeing Christmas lights and trees and hearing Christmas music all the time. I just love it. I wish, so badly, that I was going back to PA sooner, but I guess we can't have it all!

Best friends

I'm so thankful for the friends in my life. I love that we've all been friends since elementary school and we continue to get together as if we were never apart. I'm so glad that we will always be there for each other and spend all major occasions together. I miss them so much while at school, but at least we talk all the time and sill be back together soon!

What are you happy about lately? Send me links - I'd love to read! Thanks again to What Cat Says for this post idea!

5 Happy Things

1. Fresh, clean sheets

Right?! I really hate making my bed, but I do love fresh sheets. Something about them just makes me sleep better at night. I washed my sheets today and I also threw in my comforter, so it's going to be a double good night.

2. Journals

I have a new found love for journals. I started a journal in August and I'm almost done filling it out! I just love having a place to write down thoughts and quotes. On a day when nothing is going right for me, I turn to my journal and feel better. And there's no better feeling than finishing a journal!

3. Survivor

I love this show! Not just because it's a great show, though. I love it because it's the show that my dad and I would watch together every week. Now since I'm at college, we'll text each other while we watch it. It's a great time to wind down and talk to my dad!

4. Sleeping

I'm calmer than most people at my school, and while I'm a night owl, I also love going to bed early most nights. Curling up in my bed and scrolling through Tumblr or watching The Office is pretty much my happy place.

5. 1 more month of school!

I mean, duh. Who wouldn't be happy about that?! I can't wait for the warm weather and the free mind with nothing to think about. So soon!

Pictures from: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

5 Happy Things

So as I mentioned before, college isn't really my cup of tea and my days have kind of been getting worse and worse... so I definitely need a boost of something happy. Here are a list of 5 things that can put a smile on my face no matter what the day!

1. Knowing that I will live in NYC one day. That's pretty much the only thing keeping me in the art therapy program here and the only thing keeping me motivated to pursue college. I know living there is hard and expensive and the only way to do it is to be successful.

2. Ansel Elgort. His smile is just so cute and contagious! I just love him so much. (Plus he lives in New York... sooooo)

3. Home in PA, especially in the Fall. I probably shouldn't put this one on here if I'm trying to feel better, but it's true. I love my house and in the Fall it's definitely at it's best, as is the city that I'm from. Just looking at this picture that I took from last October is making me smile and I wish so badly that I could be there to see it like this. I've definitely had most of my best memories at this house in the Fall.

4. Netflix or TV on DVD. At least this one I can do pretty much anywhere! I think one of the best feelings in the world is at night after you take a shower or bath, get a cup of tea and some snacks, turn the lights down, and binge watch a show you've never seen before or a show you've seen a million times but can't get enough of. Agree?

5. My puppy dog, Charlie. My mom snapchats me pictures of him all the time and it just makes me so sad. Charlie doesn't really like me that much and he's usually with my mom back at home so I never really see him anyway, but I still miss him walking around and being all cute. I also would take him on long walks in the evenings when the sun was setting and the temperature was perfect and I miss that quite a bit.

What makes you happy? Or what makes you feel better when you're homesick?

things that make me happy:

1) this video. it teaches you french in such a cute way! even though the words below the french word are in another language, it's pretty easy to figure out :)

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

2) this website -- SO FUN. i could play with it forever.

3) this list. i HAVE to do #6 ASAP!

4) this painting -- so pretty!

5) I Love Lucy marathons! alllll day ;)

hope you're all having a nice weekend!