I'm sharing a few tiny corners that I have finished in my new room to better show how the new color looks. I still need to hang a gallery wall above the bed, figure out the space above my desk, and get a new TV and desk chair before I feel ready to share the full effect. After living with the color for a few days, I've grown to love it even more. My room feels both lighter and calmer, and it's becoming a place I can see myself truly relaxing in after exams over Winter Break or after an 8 hour shift at my current summer job.

from the weekend.

This weekend, my dad helped me paint my old bedroom at home. The room looks so different without the orange walls, and I'm beyond happy with the result. I decided to go with Valspar's Channel Seal Gray, which is a warm purpleish tone of gray. My sister describes it as a "chic gray," which is exactly what I was going for. Today I'm sharing just a quick preview of the progress and will be back Wednesday with a look into the (mostly) finished result.

from the weekend.

I had the best time on Friday night seeing Jake Owen with an old friend from high school. Stephanie is seriously the sweetest, and the hour and a half drive to Greensboro and back was just enough time for us to catch up. The concert was awesome, and I was definitely impressed considering it was my first country music concert ever. To me, country music is just fun and carefree and that's exactly how I felt the whole time I was there. I have also always associated country music with summertime and seeing this song played live got me nothing but super pumped for the season ahead. The whole experience was a great way to kick off summer and remind myself that I'm working all the time so I can afford to do things like this more often and to soak up these days of gold.

pinterest favorites.

earrings | twisted bun | honeycomb cookies | effortless style | reminder | modern rocking chair

In less than an hour, I will be off to Greensboro to go see Jake Owen with an old friend from high school. I'm super pumped and evidently feeling both ready and nostalgic for a classic southern summer.

By the way, I'm so obsessed with those honeycomb sugar cookies. I pinned them to three different boards and I want my wedding cake made out of them. They just seem so simple and awesome.

I'm also really jealous of anyone who can manage to pull off the whole "oh this old thing?" boyfriend jeans, t-shirt, and killer heels look. "Effortless" is a new word that I definitely want to start incorporating into my closet once summer starts heating up.

my Pinterest.

my work: blooming.

In the spirit of the end of the semester and grades being posted, I thought there'd be no better time to actually share some of the work I did this past semester. The following video is my last project from my new Media class this semester. I was very hesitant to post it, because I don't feel comfortable with animation at ALL, but I've been thinking a lot about this blog and where I want it to go, and I want it to be a place where I can feel free to learn and grow and show my own progress. I had a professor once say to the class, "You are students. You have the luxury of being wrong; of not knowing." And I find that I have to constantly remind myself that it's okay to not be 100% perfect at everything I do right now. I'm a student. I'm learning. Here's my work. This is what I've learned so far.

(sidenote: I definitely prefer Vimeo, but I had to use Youtube because my file was too large. whoops.)

A little background: We had two other projects in the class: one in Flash and one in Toon Boom. This project was created using Illustrator and After Effects. I'm really into graphic, clean design. Nothing too organic or sketchy, so this project is an example of me pushing my comfort zone a little bit. I also tend to make my animations move way to fast, so I tried really hard to slow this one down and take my time with each scene. Watching how slow this short video progresses makes me pretty uncomfortable, if I'm being honest.

Our assignment was to create a project about life. We could explore stages of life, life itself, living things; whatever "life" meant to us. I came up with the idea for my project while thinking about the idea of self-love, which was a huge theme to my own life this past semester. I wanted to illustrate the feeling of self-love and self-growth. I am also very fascinated by morning rituals and how different people spend their mornings. I find that my morning routine is absolutely necessary for my day to be successful. I believe that the tasks I perform to get ready in the morning are a way that I improve my relationship with myself and allows me to “bloom” further. Taking that precious time each day to take care of myself is the way that I express self-love, and I tried to illustrate the importance of that expression through this project.

How appropriate is it that the first project I have the courage to share is about loving oneself and loving the process of one's growth? ;)
I hope you enjoy.

from the weekend.

Remember me saying a few days ago how crazy life has been lately? Well on top of all that chaos, my brother graduated college and was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant this weekend. Crazy, right?

His commissioning ceremony was so beautiful and it was awesome seeing so many of our(and his) loved ones gathered together. Michael, we love you and we are so proud of everything you've accomplished. Life may be moving at a million miles a minute but we are so excited to see what it has in store for you!

His beautiful girlfriend, Nicole(pictured second from top), also graduated this weekend from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Biology. We are insanely proud of her as well, as everything she's accomplished is no easy task to say the least.

Last but not least, the flowers pictured at the bottom are from Mother's Day. I'm feeling so thankful for such a strong mother who can handle the craziness like no other. This weekend definitely reinforced her unconditional love during the good times and the bad. Mom, you're the best and I love you. I feel like I say it every year, but you don't get thanked nearly enough for all that you do.

taking a breather.

Life has been so, so, so crazy these last few days. I went from exams to packing up my entire dorm room to moving all my things back home to a job interview and then finally to a working schedule in a matter of....about 3 days. My life is boxes and sore feet and tired eyes.

Back when I was still in Asheville finishing up exams(which feels like eons ago), I spent one of my last days walking around campus and shooting the blooms before they were all gone for good. I'm so glad I did. It was so nice to get out of the dorm room, breathe some fresh air, and take a minute out of my busy schedule to appreciate the fleeting springtime. Looking back on these photos lets me relive it all again and reminds me to take moments of peace for myself in the midst of all the craziness.

pinterest favorites: exam week.

this super easy way to manage your to-do list without getting overwhelmed. Also, my bestie recommended this app to me, and it's super simple, easy to use, and helpful.

these super cute sweatpants, for the library, gym, and lounging.

these ways to recharge without coffee. (as much as I love coffee, drinking 5+ cups a day during exam week may not be the healthiest option.)

these stretches that make for a deep sleep, because SLEEP IS IMPORTANT GUYS, REMEMBER? Also, that pin includes 10 yoga poses you can do in bed. If you can do them in bed, you can do them in a 4x4 dorm room. 

this list of 50 ways to take a break. (Binge-watching Netflix didn't make the list. Weird.)

And last but not least, these tips for how to clean everything.

What no one tells you before you come to college is how not only are you going to be filled to the eyeballs with stress from exams, but ALSO during the Spring Semester Exam Week, you'll have to pack up your entire dorm room and clean the damn thing from top to bottom. It's definitely the worst week of the year. You'll definitely call your mom with things like "How do I get Hi-Ci Fruit Punch out of carpet?" and "What do I use to clean the mirrors and windows when I forget to buy Windex?" It's not fun, guys. Hopefully this pin answers some of those questions for you.

It's that time of year again, y'all! 

Here is last year's compilation of Pinterest Favorites for Exam Week.

Also, stop what you're doing right now and check out this website:

http://www.calm.com/

I haven't done the guided calming practice yet, because I get caught up and just stare at the beautiful scenes. The wildflower one is my fave. I wish I could just live in it forever.

my Pinterest.