see ya later northeast

I GOT A JOB. 

stop re-reading and rubbing your eyes, it's true! I can't believe it, I am so blessed beyond belief. I got a real grown-up job. 

Oh and one other thing.. 

It's in Nashville, Tennessee!

I know that in my core I am so excited about this, but as soon as I accepted the job dozens of fears started creeping into my head. I'm fearful about being inadequate in my job, about not making friends, about getting lost every time I leave my apartment... oh and there's that whole 'moving to a new city in a different part of the country by myself' thing. The fears exist, but I know that this job is exactly where God wants me, and I can't wait to get started and make Nashville 'my city.' A city I can take pride in, a city where I call home.

My heart will always beat in Philly, and it's weird to think that I'm moving to a place where people could care less about the Phillies, don't regularly eat cheesesteaks, and don't get hyped up when the fresh prince says 'innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn west philadelphia, born and raised.'

But as I leave my western philadelphia suburb, I know that this will be good. I know that I can and will be happy there. I know that is a life-changing opportunity.

And one other thing.. I leave in 2 weeks. 

In the next 2 weeks I have to 1. buy a car 2. move out of my penn state apartment 3. go to my roommates wedding 4. go to nashville and find a place to live 5. come back from nashville to pack up (see three posts ago... I JUST made my room look perfect and finished unpacking, go figure) 6. attend my sister's graduation 7. have our dual graduation party 8. go back to nashville 9. start a real-person job.

Yikes.

But, it'll get done. If I want this job, I'll get it done..... with extreme help from and dependence on my wonderful parents of course.

But for now, I'm at the beach for the long, beautiful memorial day weekend (eating all the seafood I can and staring at the ocean... nashville is an appalling distance from the coast) and enjoying this time with my family. We're relaxing and taking it slow until tuesday morning.

and occasionally jumping up and down yelling

"I'M MOVING TO NASHVILLE!"

 

so.... which building does taylor swift live in?

a smile, a kiss a sip of wine

It's the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend tomorrow! This is quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year because it's always nice out, always spent at the beach and always marks the official beginning of summer. We're heading down to Bethany tonight to soak in the rays ocean side for a nice long weekend at the shore.

There's only one song I want to hear on the ride down -- cause it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine, it's summertime (.... and maybe because I've had a huge crush on kenny since seeing him put on one of the best concerts I've ever been to 2 summers ago.. maybe).

Cheers to summer my friends

I like the term (f)unemployment

Please check out this entry in one of my favorite blogs ever (because grilled cheese is one -- if not the -- greatest food invention of all time). She not only describes exactly how I'm feeling right now [1. loving the free time but eager to work 2. waiting on a decision from a second interview 3. craving bre and poundcake] but the sammie she makes looks outrageously good. Enjoy.

Click here yo

21 photo frames.

Yes, I have 21 photo frames, about 15 of them haven't had the picture changed since 8th grade. Who knew that down-sizing photo frames would be the most daunting task of moving back into my room permanently?

Look at this mess, come on, you're jealous.

 

Even though I'm moving back into a room for potentially a long time, I can't help but dread packing and un-packing. For the last 4 years, I have packed up and un-packed my life. I've moved plastic bins filled with clothes, books, dvds, picture frames and anything else you can imagine in and out of 2 dorm rooms, in and out of a summer beach house, in and out of 2 apartments, in and out of my parents home time and time again. Any college student reading this feels my pain. 

It's not the act of packing that frustrates me, it's the fact that it brings out the worst in me. I never procrastinate more than when I need to pack and un-pack. I'm not talking vacation suitcases and weekend bag packing, but the moving to a new place  kind of packing. I look over old journals, read old notes and really do anything from keeping me to do the dreaded task.

Actually, I just realized that while this huge mess is in front of me, I'm sitting in front of it blogging about it instead of actually doing it. Case and point.

But maybe it's not the physical act of packing that makes this necessary chore such a difficult thing for me, and many others, to complete. Maybe it's that little piece inside everyone that resists change with everything in them.

I can't say this as 'matter of fact,' because I've never moved out of any place that I was desperately looking forward to moving out of. Every time I've moved, I've been happy, I've been content, I didn't need things to change. I've been forced to move because of school starting and ending, but if Penn State didn't make me move out of my dorm freshman year, I'd say there's a chance I'd still be living in Tener Hall with Pam. I loved freshman year of college, I didn't want it to end so I remember packing to go home was a two-week (i'm not kidding) process.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I can see now that moving in and out each year was necessary and good, as each year of college was better than the one before it.

And isn't that how change usually is? We hate it when it's happening, but are so thankful for it when we look back.

So, as I sit in my messy, un-organized and unpacked room, it's possible that I don't want to move back here because it means that college is over; it's possible that part of me hates the idea of getting a far away job in a few months and doing this again; it's possible that I'm overly sentimental and should never be left alone with 21 photo frames, a box of high school notes and Ingrid Michaelson on loop in an emotional post-grade state (ooops).

Whatever the reason is why I hate moving so much, I can rest in the fact that every move I've made so far has been a good one. Every year, every new dorm and every apartment brought with it new people, new memories, new joys, new ideas and new understandings of who I am.

So even though I legitimately believe that packing is of the devil, moving on is a good thing. Change keeps the world turning, and even though I don't always like it, I'm happy to be moving along with it.

Obvious song choice for today: The Travel Song

rain, rain, go away.

Rain, rain, rain! The entire Northeast has been covered in it for a week now, I want to enjoy this last week or so of spring, so here's hoping the sun will poke through soon.

But, I will say, if I had this umbrella from Urban Outfitters, then it could rain for the rest of the summer. How cute is it?

I also love a cute pair of rain boots. I generally like the solid colored ones, but I have these anchored ones that I adore. Not only are they useful for rain, but also for - as my mom discovered - walking the dog through dewy grass on summer mornings.

word to the wise: leaving them out in the rain prohibits you from actually using them while it's raining

And, to keep it rained themed, I've been listening to my favorite Adele song all day, 'Set Fire to the Rain' give yourself some time, you'll want to repeat this over and over.  Enjoy and stay dry!

post-grad life begins

The fun moments of graduation are wearing off and I'm settling in and adjusting to life back at home with my parents and sisters. I really do love being home, we haven't all lived together for 4 years, so it feels good to be together again. I'm lucky that my mom works from home, so I have a buddy around the house with me during the day.

Today I started re-painting my room, I'm really excited about this! It's been hot pink since high school, so I was more than ready for a more sophisticated adjustment. I'm doing grey walls and hopefully gathering fun and adorable color accents and decorations as time goes on. I can't wait to move all of my stuff in and transform the room from "my obnoxiously colored high school bedroom that I sleep in over Christmas break," to simply "my room." Here are a few of my inspirations

grey walls are so soothing and dreamy, I may never get out of bed.. maybe this was a bad idea?

I'm OBESSED with this bedspread, obviously from my favorite store of all time, tarjey (aka target.)

I need to figure out how to do a photo frame collage like this, they are so cute and I love displaying photos!

In between looking for a job, my summer 'to keep busy' goals are to 1. re-paint and decorate my bedroom 2. start a vegetable garden 3. blog more frequently 4. re-paint my bathroom 5. cook something new every week.

The hardest part? Of all of those, finding a job will undoubtedly be the hardest and least likely to happen this summer. But, I'm at home with a great family who I've missed more than I let myself realize over the past four years, a new bedroom on the way and potentially my OWN veggie garden soon (fresh basil on my food every night --- can you imagine my bliss!?)

So as far as I see, life isn't just good, it's SO good.

Goodnight dear friends!

I'm a graduate!

It finally happened, on Saturday I joined the world of college graduates, and I couldn't be happier! I thought I was going to leave feeling sad about leaving my friends, my roommates and the cutest apartment I may ever live in, but for now, the only thing I feel is excited. I'm ready to start the next chapter of my life and see where my career takes me!

It was the perfect ceremony; not too long, not too short and Wolf Blitzer (yes, the Wolf Blizter) gave a lovely commencement address to the College of Communications graduates. I walked across the stage, shook a few hands of people I didn't know, got my diploma and joined the largest alumni network in the world of proud Penn State grads. 

I am so happy to be finished with school, home with my family and figuring out my future. 

Now, I just have to find a job.

 

 

leave it to Sang to have the most creative cap of everyone, the 'wow' fingers were most definitely necessary

"You're too young to settle. Don't give up on your dream" -Wolf Blitzer

 

Cheers to the future