2016: in blog posts

I thought I'd round up most of my favorite posts from 2016, similarly to what I did last year. I love having my blog to journal my life and look back at it years later!

Moved to Cambridge, MA

Thoughts on soul mates

"A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave."

Polyvore: Outfits around the world

Monday momentum

Day vs night

We Are Your Friends, 2015

Forms of self care you may not think about

Clean your room, drink water...

Portroids

Rio 2016

Nerve, 2016

Don't Breathe, 2016

Shopping day haul

Transferring thoughts

My piercings

Accordion

Roma

A Memoir about Food, Wine, and Love

Frances Stark

(And) the winner is

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

Hawaii

I wish you a wonderful 2017! This year was probably one of my best ones yet and I feel really good about the coming year.

Happy New Year!

Share a snapshot

Remember when I would do these posts? They're always so wordy, but I love them!

Photo by me, taken December 2016, with a Nikon D3100.

So this photo means a lot to me, not really because of how it was taken or because anything special was happening this particular night. Just because I associate this room with my home. Sadly, I'll never see this room again, as I've moved out to go to Rome next month and will be living somewhere else come September.

This year I was lucky enough to get a triple, with me getting my own room and my roommates sharing one just a few steps away. This was easily my best year yet and just looking at this photo makes me think a lot. I know going to Italy is the right choice, but I would constantly look around my room and think, "am I really going to leave this place that I love right now?? I finally have a school, room, and friends that I love and I'm going to move out and leave it all??"

I'm really grateful that I liked this past semester so much that all those questions came up. In past years, I would literally count down the days until I cold move out, and now I had a place that I loved so much I didn't want to leave.  I really hope my roommates don't get stuck with a rude person in there next semester! This room will forever hold a special place in my heart and I've thought about it everyday since I left... 7 days ago.

Christmas in the new house

So, we moved back in August and I haven't really been here that much because of school and everything. All the times that I have been here, I've mostly been setting up and decorating my room! It's nice to finally have more than 5 days to get this room as 'me' as possible. I definitely miss my room in Cambridge though... it almost feels like that was more my home than this once since I've spent more time there.

Anyway, this was our first Christmas in the new home and it was also the first time our extended family got to see the house since we had dinner here! It was definitely a success. So different than past years, as we have a gas fireplace rather than a real one and also my grandparents didn't stay the night with us like they normally do. It was a big change, but it was nice. I thought I'd post a few person pictures since I haven't done that in a while!

How was your holiday? I'm excited to take the next few weeks to think about nothing but rest, relaxation, and ITALY!

Merry Christmas!

Today's the day! Wow, I can't believe how fast this year went by. It seems like Christmas always gets here so quickly every year. I had a pretty chill morning with family and now we're getting ready to have the whole family over for dinner!

We're hardcore Ravens fans and there's a game on at 4:30, so that's what we'll be doing all night! What are you doing today?

Happy holidays!

Christmas baking

I thought I'd post some of the desserts I've made over the past few days and how they came out! Pictures are from the websites, NOT mine!

Pinwheel cookies

I was really excited to make these! However, something must have gone very wrong. The dough was very gooey and even after it chilled in the fridge for a while, it was still not the right consistency I needed. So, I balled them up and they came out looking like tye-dye. They were also a little dry tasting. Still cool though!

Layer cake

This was pretty simple! I only made mine 2 layers, so it wasn't AS extravagant, and I also didn't do the icing as amazingly as this. I just took white icing all around. It was tasty!

Apple pie

(I don't have a picture or link for this one!) My friend, Alexandra, and I baked a really good apple pie over Thanksgiving using a recipe from an old book. It was SO simple and really tasty. It literally takes 15 minutes to make and about 40 minutes to bake. It's crazy good - if you want the recipe, message me!

What have you been baking?
Merry Christmas Eve!

Tis the season

1, 2, 3, 4

Hawaii

For some reason, Hawaii's been on my mind a lot lately. I always get really obsessed with places and it's always super random. I've never really given Hawaii much thought, but one day it came into my mind. So I went on Zillow, and surprisingly apartments are pretty cheap in Honolulu! So... maybe that's in my future...

Lovely photos I stumbled upon by Nicole Franzen. Would you ever live in Hawaii? I feel like the only downside is that it's on an island that's pretty far away everything, so that can feel kind of isolating. It's pretty nice, though!

Rachel Bilson

I've been re-watching Hart of Dixie lately, since the last time I watched the first season was in 2011. It's such a great show! But also, I'm super obsessed with Rachel Bilson. I always have been. Her style is amazing!

Here are some street style pictures I found. I wish I could pull off booties the way she does...

Have a good Sunday! Mine is spent watching Christmas movies, packing, and studying.

Currently

It occurred to me that I haven't done a currently post in quite some time! I've been kind of at a creativity fault when it comes to blog posts lately, so this is perfect!

Loving: Christmastime! I mean, who isn't though? This time of year is so great! I've ordered everyones gifts and I've gotten all my wrapping supplies, so I'm just excited to sit down, put on a Christmas movie, and wrap each one up.

Watching: Hmm... nothing new honestly. I just finished watching The Office for the 900th time and sometimes I watch Parks and Rec before bed. I'm also watching season 2 of Fuller house! I like season 2 SO much better than season 1. Have you seen it?

Reading: So I haven't read anything in a long time, which I'm pretty sad about. I was doing so well with reading this semester too! I started Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler over Thanksgiving break, but I just couldn't get into it. Since then I've just had no time to hit the library! I'm excited to read over Christmas break though. I got a list of reads to prepare for Italy and I want to get through as many as I can!

Anticipating: Good segway from the last one... Italy! I leave in 41 days! Crazy! This morning I booked by flight from Rome to Krakow, Poland and it felt so weird. Everyday I'm asking myself if I'm ready to do this. Am I really stepping out of my comfort zone this much? Who am I?? I'm excited, though.

Listening: You know what song I've had on repeat ever since Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life? Reflecting Light by Sam Phillips! Ugh, so good. That whole scene was just so good. Also, believe it or not, I've been liking Broccoli by D.R.A.M. Haha! Quite the variety.

Working on: Getting myself together before the end of the semester... which is exactly a week away. I need to study, pack, hang out with all my friends, enjoy Boston, and work all before I leave this amazing city for 9 whole months. There is a lot of uncertainty about what senior year holds and I'm really anxious about it all! I want to make the most of each second these next 7 days bring.

'Currently' post idea from Sometimes Sweet and photo from my Tumblr.

What have you been up to lately? I'd love to read about it!!

Rome

Photo by Alison Chino

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I can't believe I'll be walking these streets in less than 2 months!

Peyto Lake

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Banff National Park

Alberta, Canada

Lovely Photos by Pascal - it reminds me of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland!

2016 gift guide

Here are some things I've been loving lately on Etsy! They're all super affordable, so I hope they inspire you a bit for your Christmas shopping since you only have a few weeks left!

For someone who likes simplicity.

Annasee

For someone that likes the classics.

Love to Define

For someone that likes pretty and useful things.

Fab Story

For a Parks and Rec fan

Quotes of Note

For a writer.

Cover Cafe

For someone who likes a laugh.

The Altar Egos

For someone who loves Channing.

Cliche Zero

I finished my shopping a while ago - I like to start early. How about you??

Happy Wednesday!