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.

from the weekend.

Saturday, I ran errands, went to the Farmer's Market, and bought fresh strawberries. I enjoyed the beautiful weather and ate the best homemade black raspberry ice cream.

Sunday, I slept in, ate a homemade brunch(strawberries included of course), sipped my coffee slowly, and caught up on the latest episode of Hart of Dixie. Then, I caught up on both homework and my workout routine. As a bonus, my friend Brandon planted a seedling of his mint plant for me to keep. I had painted a pot to put it in a few weeks earlier, but I just got around to picking up the finished product yesterday. It is definitely adding a cheery spot to my current stress-zone of a dorm room. Hopefully, I'll keep it alive and have fresh mint all summer to infuse in my water with lemon or cucumber!

I truly believe that one of the most important things I've learned as a college student is how crucial productive Sundays are to my well-being. I have recently made it a habit to spend Sundays all by myself and take the time to do the things I may have neglected the previous week to prepare for the week ahead. I always allow myself to wake up slow, then I make a to-do list for the week ahead. I usually manage to squeeze in a small workout to push my routine into action, and then I make a point to get ahead and start work on the most daunting project for the week ahead.

I've grown to love Sundays, instead of spending the entire day stressing about the week ahead.

This has definitely become my latest mantra.

from the weekend.

I actually went home this weekend for Easter, and it was just what I needed. I managed to squeeze in as much relaxation and family time as I could before exams. I now feel ready and refreshed to finish out strong during this final week of class. Plus, all the fun time I spent catching up with old friends made me so excited for the adventures to come this summer. I'll be counting down the days starting now. ;)

pinterest favorites.

earrings | colorblocked ensemble | east coasters(get it?? LOVE IT.) | mint car | type | risotto primavera

Feeling both classic and fresh this week.

I know the weather has been turned upside down these last couple of days; it's been FREEZING here. I'm definitely ready for the familiar warm spring days we should be having this time of year.

my Pinterest.

alive and well.

First of all, I know what this looks like, and I promise that I won't be only using pictures from Instagram from here on out. (Although I am, admittedly, a tad obsessed.) But please bare with me during these last few weeks of the semester. It is crunch time, and I haven't exactly been frolicking around campus with my DSLR in tow. (Although I should make time to do so this weekend. Spring in Asheville is too beautiful.)

I've been churning out projects and working out almost daily. (!!!)
I feel good. I feel inspired. I feel ready to clean out my body and my brain.

This came up on my Pinterest feed the other day, and I couldn't agree more.
I don't have much to show for anything right now, but I have high hopes to come back to this space with more plans and projects.

the biltmore. (part 3)

This last part includes pictures of the gardens farthest from the house. The grounds seemed to go on forever; I could've spent days wandering just the gardens themselves. It's pretty amazing how every single piece of land was planned and pruned to perfection. Everything seemed to be a part of this balancing act between undisturbed nature and perfected beauty. I've never really seen anything like it, and that alone was worth the trip.

The last picture is the view from the statue of Diana, where they host weddings and events. We walked up to the statue just as we were about to leave, and I'm so glad we did. This last view was the perfect ending note to our experience at the Biltmore. 

the biltmore. (part 2)

This part includes pictures from the main garden area of the house. My dad teased me for being in macro-flower-photography heaven. Har-har. 

But really, I was in color-inspiration heaven. Although I would really love to see the Biltmore around Christmastime someday, I'm so glad that my first visit was during this time of year instead. Spring seemed to be at its peak, and the beauty of all the different blooms made the house feel so alive. Despite overcast skies, the gardens were absolutely magical.

the biltmore. (part 1)

I took a lot of pictures, so I had to split this post up into 3 parts. This first part contains pictures of the main grounds/backyard. I had never been to the Biltmore before, so its first impression for me was pretty surreal/dramatic. My parents and I opted out of the audio tour that the house offers and instead used my dad's history geekiness knowledge and the pamphlet given to us as our guide. I think the experience was better this way, because we got to go at our own pace and explore the parts that we were the most interested in. 

I can't really describe the house itself without just calling it absolutely crazy. It's crazy big. It's crazy beautiful. It's crazy luxurious. It's crazy that anyone was able to wake up in this house every single day of his/her life.

Looking around the grounds made my love for Asheville deepen, as I realized that George Washington Vanderbilt could not have picked a better place for his masterpiece estate. The weather is perfect, the views are worth more than the house itself(okay, maybe that's a stretch, but c'mon, it's gorgeous out here!), and the opportunities for flowers to bloom, crops to flourish, and the house to be mostly self-sufficient are almost endless. It's perfect.

lazy sunday afternoons.

Sundays are tough. Sundays are the days when you know you have work to do because you've been putting it off all weekend, yet you don't want to do it because you just want to relax before the hectic week ahead. Maybe the sun is shining and beckoning you outside. Maybe it's rainy and you just want to crawl in bed with a big cup of coffee and watch Netflix. Maybe it's a beautiful spring day and you're too distracted and inspired by the beauty surrounding you to write a paper for Humanities or crunch numbers for Statistics.

Today was like that last one. At least I was inspired enough to blog. Productivity is productivity, right?

I spent some time in the Botanical Gardens again. Spring is in full bloom here and I love it. I tried to get some homework done while I was there, but I couldn't help but go off on a miniature photo walk.

I know macro flower pictures are so cliche, especially for me. But I will stop taking them when I stop finding them so pretty. Which will most likely be never.

Giving myself a break today was actually the best thing I could've done. This week is going to be the craziest of them all, and I could really use the relaxation in preparation for it. This week is the week before exams, and I have a billion things due. My desktop looks currently like this:

A giant list of things to get done (organized and broken down by day of the week, one thing at a time works best for me) and some serious motivation.