Instagram-lately

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd give a little update via my Instagram!

{Lunch with my dad in Harrisburg and 3 pictures of pretty PA skies before I left for school)

 {Boston: ICA, Boston Public Garden, Beacon Hill, sunset on the Charles}

{Cambridge: Graffiti Alley, my school, Anthropologie (4 minute walk from me), church at Harvard)

Follow me on Instagram: katiescherpf

Roma

So! I just completed my application to study abroad in Rome next semester. Paid the fee, signed all the electronic signatures, clicked all the buttons. The deed is done. While there have been a lot of emails back and forth, meetings with people all over campus, and phone calls with the study abroad people, it still felt kind of impulsive. Like, who am I? I've never left the East Coast and here I am applying to live in another country for 4 months? Yeah?

I'll keep the blog updated with information and details I get. I have a feeling that this blog is going to become somewhat of a comfort zone for me and a place to spill all my thoughts and emotions throughout the process.

Yikes!!

Need a laugh?

I love The Office so much. It's right up there with I Love Lucy and my comfort shows. Here's a blooper video, as if the show isn't funny enough!

**

New beauty products

The past few weeks, I've gotten some new products and I thought I'd show them and give my thoughts!

My nana treated me to an Estee Lauder package and I love it! I was telling her that I've been looking for a good facial moisturizer and we found one, and for $5 more, you could get a whole kit, so we said why not!

It came with facial cleanser, which I actually just tried for the first time a couple days ago. Fantastic! It's for combination skin and it made my face feel so fresh.

Now, the moisturizer. This stuff is amazing! I use it before I put my makeup on and I love doing that because it makes my foundation less cakey after it's applied. It has cucumber in it, so my face feels super fresh. I can see a visible difference in my face with this on. It's pricey, but you use the smallest bit everyday so it should last me quite a while.

Tea tree oil. I got this at CVS the other day for about $11 and it's great. I got it because I got my tragus pierced about a month ago and it started to form a keloid, so this is to help it out. I love the way it smells and feels! Works great.

I thought I'd throw this in here as well. Its the shampoo I use. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's called OGX. I love it, it makes my hair so soft! I was using cheap shampoo for a while, but I remembered using this stuff freshman year and how great my hair felt, so I thought why not. And at Target you can get a bottle double the size for the same price as the small one! How can you not?

Have any of you tried these products? Let me know! What are you using now a days?

Boston details

{Public Garden}

{Public Garden}

{Beacon Hill}

Taken by me, with a Nikon D3100.

Currently

Loving: Fall! It's finally upon us and I'm so excited to see how beautiful Cambridge looks during this wonderful season.

Watching: I've been trying to get into American Horror Story. I kind of skipped around since the Asylum season really intrigued me... so I've watched a few episodes. It's good, so we'll see how far I go! I love creepy shows like that. I've heard the new season isn't that good so far though...

Reading: The Things we Wish Were True by Marybeth Whalen. I got this e-book for free since my dad is an Amazon Prime member and doesn't read at all. So I'm about halfway done at this point and I like it! I actually had a dream the other night and all the characters from the book were in it, so I thought that was weird.

Anticipating: Starting my year... even though it's started. I'm still getting everything organized, but I started working yesterday, I start my internship on Thursday, and I have many meetings with people about my credits, classes, and next semester. Things are coming together! Finally!

Listening: I haven't been listening to any new songs really... just the accordion Pandora radio I was talking about before. I've also been listening to a lot of Bon Iver lately. 

Working on: Staying calm and self care. Like I said, I've been trying to get my life together, and while it's slowly starting to get pieced together, I still have a lot to do. And let me tell you, how annoying is it when people don't get back to you?? I have really important questions and meetings I need to set up and these people aren't responding to me! So I've had to make many phone calls and do a lot of research in order to find alternate people to talk to. I'm frustrated and trying not to stress myself out more than I need to be at this point.

What have you all been up to lately? Send me the link to your post! As usual, I got this post idea from Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet and the photo is from my Tumblr.

Have an awesome day!

Public Gardens

"If you could take the subway from the suburbs in Boston, where I live, to downtown in 10 minutes, that improves your life over sitting in a traffic jam. People should see that."

Noam Chomsky

Photo by me, taken with a Nikon D3100.

New place of residence

I thought I'd share some pictures of where I'm living right now! I really like it. I live in a triple, with my own room and my roommates have a double. It's almost like apartment living because we have a coat closet in the entrance, a bathroom a foot away, and a kitchen right next door. I'm glad I had the room to myself so I could decorate it completely how I wanted it. It's great being able to have friends in the other room, and then closing the door when I want quiet.

I showed some at night and some during the day. It's so cozy at night - it's great. One of my ultimate guilty pleasures is having a lamp in the window. I'm not sure why, but I've always loved when homes have a lamp in the window. And I finally got to do that myself! Now if it would just cool down a smidgen...

Link love

^Yay, Fall!

I love this Tumblr post a guy made, detailing his first 5 days working at Target.

46 reasons people kept living, world suicide prevention day - so beautiful.

College is not an excuse to lose your self-respect, great article!

I really want to order these shoes, but I also want to save money.

This picture is the definition of Fall... so excited.

This tweet made me laugh for a good long while and I can't even explain why. Haha!

Gordon Donovan did a photography project, 9/11 15 years later now and then. It's simply amazing how far the city has come!

Honestly my 3 biggest wishes in the world.

This story about studying abroad really speaks to me.

I lovelovelove this song.

SO amazing.

Hope you have a great and restful Thursday!

To clear your mind

Like I said, I've been going on walks a lot lately and I've found that it really helps to clear my mind. Some walks are short, just to the store or to get something to eat, but others are 9 or 10 miles. Yesterday I walked through Cambridge and into Boston and there and back it was about a 9.25 mile walk. It felt GOOD.

I put in my headphones, took in all the sights, and just walked. It was so lovely. I could stop and go in a store if one caught my eye, I could take pictures of pretty streets, I could help tourists figure out where they were. I loved it so much. I did it last year too, but for some reason these walks are just better this year. I think it's because I've been thinking more lately and a walk is the perfect place to think about life.

SO, that brings me to what this post is about. Self care and ways to clear your head. I talk about self care quite a bit. I think it's SO important and there are so many ways to partake in it that we don't even realize. Here are some ideas for you that I personally do and view as excellent ways to improve your mindset and make for a better day.

1. Exercise (i.e. walking)

I won't go on about this too much, as I just did for quite a while. Even during the Summer, I found going to the gym and running on the treadmill, sweating out all my stress, was wonderful. It works!

2. Art

So, I'm an art therapy major and this almost sounds like a bit of an advertisement, but it's not! Art is a great way to clear your head. I take a lot of art classes and all, but I find that the best thing ever is to just sit down, put on Gilmore Girls and paint with watercolors or draw with pastels. You'll find it so calming and so rewarding, trust me.

3. Cleaning

If cleaning doesn't clear your headspace, I don't know what will. I'm a pretty messy person, but I love to just take a night, usually once a week, and clean. Put all my clothes away, vacuum the floors, clear off my desk, and make my bed, all while watching a movie. Once it's all done, it's such a good feeling and you immediately think straighter with a clean room. It's science, I think.

4. Baking

I do this when I'm home ALL the time. I Pinterest recipes and bake them, trying something new every time. It's so fun! Most cakes and pies are fairly easy to make too, so it shouldn't be stressful or anything. Which sometimes it is! If there are a million steps, it can get frustrating. But take a day, find a recipe, put on some music or an old show, and take your time making the perfect dessert. It'll feel (and taste) so good!

5. Read

Reading is awesome because, unlike watching a movie, you can't be on your phone the whole time and it can't just be on in the background while you do something else (unless it's an audio book). If it's a good book, you;ll be so intrigued and you'll totally block out the world around you. I've been reading a lot more than I used to and it feels awesome. I love having a stack of books beside me that I've finished and spending hours in the bookstore is how I prefer to spend a lot of my time.

What do you do to clear your mind or practice self care? Let me know!

Accordion

The other day, I was walking through Cambridge and there was a man on a street corner playing the accordion and it was SO beautiful. I stood and listened to him for a good amount of time and put a little money in his hat. If I closed my eyes, I could have sworn I was on a street corner in Rome or Paris!

I made an accordion Pandora radio and now it's my favorite thing to listen to. Check out a few of the groups I've found:

So pretty, right?

9/11

Last night I watched the documentary The Falling man and it was really intense, but also interesting. Maybe it's because I've been watching documentaries or maybe it's because I'm older, but I this year in particular I've been feeling really somber about 9/11. I'm always sad about it, but this year I also read and watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and maybe that's why? I'm not sure.

It's just so sad. It's so crazy. I've been thinking about what all those people must have felt at various times of the morning and it's incredible. The nervousness they must have felt and the decisions they had to make. That's why this picture really does mean so much.

This man had such an eventful life and such great people surrounding him all that time. He went through so much, had so many great experiences and firsts, and a few seconds before this picture was taken he had to make the decision of how he wanted it all to end.

So, so sad. It makes you think a lot, right? Hug someone today.

Life/comfort zone

**

So, my walk from each campus is longer now, giving me more time to think. I remember freshman year at my old college I went to a football game and I had a terrible time, so I spent the whole time thinking. I thought my whole life over. In those couple hours, I managed to think myself into a completely different mind. It was the weirdest thing. Another day, we had a snow day and I did do much thinking that day. I made so many decisions about my life, just with having the time to sit and think.

On these walks, I've been thinking about life. Am I playing life too safe? I do the same things everyday, I talk to the same people, I never go anywhere except for where I am, I've never done anything spectacular. Am I doing it right?? Should I feel this comfortable with my life?

I made another appointment with the study abroad office because I need to make a choice about going to Italy next semester. I'm running out of time and need to make a decision! My best friend decided to drop out of school, so I'm left with really nobody here that I talk to. I feel like that's a sign, you know? Maybe it is time to do something different. Leave the country for 4 months, enjoy Summer, and come back with a fresh mind, ready for senior year. Yes? No? I don't know.

I need to make my choice though. My ultimate choice is yes, but money is the problem. I'm going to ask more questions during my meeting, but I feel like I shouldn't pass this up. YOLO, right?

Photo of Rome, by Joe Boyle.

Travel

"For one you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

-Leonardo da Vinci

Photo by Paulina Szpulak.

My piercings

I don't know why I haven't thought about doing this post before! I thought I would go through and tell you about all my piercings. Here we go!

On the left side:

Lobe:

Age - 12

Pain - 1/10

These were my first piercing! They was a birthday gift and I was super excited. This one didn't hurt AT ALL. I wish they all felt as good as that one did.

Doubles:

Age - 13

Pain - 2/10

These were also for a birthday! This was my second piercing and I was super excited for this one as well because I thought I was the cat's pajamas with my double piercings ;) 

Cartilage:

Age - 16

Pain - 5/10

This was also for a birthday (clearly the only way to get a piercing that my parents approved of was to get it for a special occasion!). This was more painful than the others, but not terrible. I got it at Claire's, though. I wish that I would have done it with a needle rather than a gun. The most painful part was the week after/sleeping on it and stuff.

Nose:

Age - 19

Pain - 6/10

I just got this one last year (not for a birthday)! I'm really happy with it. I got this one done at a tattoo shop in York because on the weekends they will do any piercing for $10 (so that's probably why I keep getting them)! The pain wasn't that bad, maybe because I got it done with a needle, I'm not sure. I think the friend that came with me almost passed out though! They stick the long needle in and leave it there while they get the earring. She was so freaked out by that! I closed my eyes though ;)

Now for the right side:

High lobe/low cartilage:

Age - 18

Pain - 5/10

It's super tiny, you might not even be able to see it. I got this one on a whim because my friend went to Piercing Pagoda to get her doubles done and I was like why not! It was so last minute. It's so small, it'll never really matter though. This was similar to the cartilage in that I got it done with a gun and the most painful part was sleeping on it for a week.

Tragus:

Age - 20

Pain - 8/10

This one was definitely the most painful for me. Not unbearable by any means, but it hurt AND since it's right in your ear, you can hear everything that's happening. Yep - I could hear the crunch when they put the needle in. So gross! I got this one about a month ago at the $10 place and I was hoping they would use a stud rather than a hoop, so I was kind of bummed about that. It's growing on me, though. I was really excited for this one and I was growing impatient so I texted my friend and was just like "I'm picking you up in 5 and we're going!"

And those are all of them (for now)! What do you have? What was your most painful one?

Another year...

Photo by whatsaheart.

Well I moved back to school yesterday, so I've just been decorating, walking around the square and getting some things done for the start of classes tomorrow. It's been a weird 2 days... I've done a lot of thinking (which is probably not good). I won't bore you with all my thoughts right now, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking later. Hopefully this year will go well, whoever I'm with and whatever I'm doing.

Be well!

Recent music

Soap // Melanie Martinez

Kamikaze // Mo

Electric Love // Borns

Hymn for the Weekend // Coldplay

Sorry // Beyonce

(Most of these are from the NERVE soundtrack... sorry not sorry!)

Transferring: thoughts (wordy post)

Schools are starting back up again and I just wanted to write a little something to all the incoming freshman about college. This reminds me of one of those Odyssey articles haha! I'm hoping it'll help someone out there.

Here is my college background: I chose a school in Massachusetts to do art therapy. It was fun, but my freshman year was hard. Within the first month, my roommate and only friend had asked to room with someone else, leaving me with a double room with only myself living there. My floor mates were rude, my RA was never around, and I still didn't really have any friends except for the ones in my ATPY classes. I started looking up schools to transfer to, most back in PA. Just anything to get away honestly. I even visited a few when I went home for breaks, but none really called out to me.

In November of that year, I started getting more involved in hopes of finding new friends and giving myself something to do. I found student activities and really liked it. I went to conferences in different states, I met my then-bestfriend through the club. It was great! Things started looking up during the second semester and I thought I had everything figured out for sophomore year.

When my second year rolled around, I moved in with my friend and we had fun for about a week and then she started partying and having boys over. Around the same time, they took away my student activities club and my ATPY friends were busy with other things. I felt like I was in the same boat as I was that first week of freshman year. I had one friend and she told me she as transferring a school in Cambridge, MA. I started looking it up and I even went with her to visit the school. I instantly fell in love! I talked to my dad, telling him I wanted to transfer again. He wasn't too happy, but I knew I needed to go. There was no way I could even finish the year at the school I had originally chosen. I hated it.

At the end of December, I picked up my things, moved out, said kiss my ass to all the people at my school and got out of there. In January I moved into my new school and since then I've never been happier. I kept it a secret from friends and family, so as not to get questions from people that I didn't feel like answering - "Aw, I thought you loved your school!" "Why are you transferring?"

SO! Here's what I'm saying: NOTHING IS PERMANENT. Don't be afraid to transfer! I wanted to transfer since my first week of freshman year. I always knew I was going to transfer at some point, I just didn't know where or when. I tried my best to get through it, and I did well with finding a club that I loved and a good friend, but things change and I definitely was not going to stay there.

It's all good! Don't be scared to talk to people about it. I ended up transferring farther away from home rather than closer and I will never regret it! Do what's best for you. You can't be unhappy for 4 years of your life. I wish I had found my new school sooner, but it worked out the way it did for a reason.

I just wanted to write this out because sometimes I wish that someone had told me all of this! Do what makes you happy.

Quote photos from Pinterest.

September!

It's here! 1 more month until my all time favorite month. Ugh, I just love Fall. Everything about it. Seeing Halloween stuff in all the stores gives me the best feeling. I can't wait! I'm sad Summer's over, but there's honestly nothing better than Fall.

So enough with the heat - bring on the pumpkins, cold weather, cozy blankets, warm apple cider, and beautiful changing leaves!

Photo by Jam, on VSCO.