Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases (on a Thursday!).

{Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat @miss_alk!} 

Ramblings:

• Blogger meet-up fun: In tomorrow's post I'm excited to share my outfit details and a recap of the latest meet-up for the North Carolina region of the InfluenceHer blogger network! As I have shared before, I am the regional chair for NC, so I get to plan fun meet-ups for other local bloggers. As always, this month's meet-up was a total blast! The above picture was taken with Cara from Caralina Style at the event. 
• The BEST Crock Pot recipe EVER: With moving into my new apartment, I am so excited to finally have my own kitchen to cook in! I absolutely love cooking and baking, but I never had a place to do it while in college. Something that I realized very quickly though after the move is that kitchens are built over time! All of the necessary appliances and utensils necessary to make complicated recipes add up to being a lot of money, so my kitchen tools will grow with time. In the meantime, I have been adoring the Crock Pot that my roommate bought for us! (This is the one that we have for those interested!) I have already made a few Crock Pot recipes since it is such a simple method for cooking meals with, but y'all, this recipe right here... LIFE CHANGING. Possibly one of the best soups that I have ever tasted! I can't wait to make it again soon.
• Post-grad friendships: Something that I have learned very quickly in the weeks since graduation is that your college friendships change quickly after the diplomas are received. I don't remember their being such a big transition with my high school friends immediately after graduation (things started to change more once I moved to NC for school). It has definitely been an adjustment for me not to be living on campus anymore and to be immersed in college life. As an extrovert, I loved having people around me 24/7, even if they weren't all my close friends! While I love my new apartment, life is much quieter here, and I have to go out of my way to find time to meet up with friends. Can anyone else relate to the weird friendship transition after college? 
• Citizenship!!! Something very exciting that happened for me last week was finally becoming a citizen of North Carolina! I passed the (modified) version of the NC drivers' exam, and finally have a new license to call my own. Y'all- my Maine license was rough. I'm honestly not sure what was worse, the large moose decoration on the license, or my horrific picture! But luckily I have a beautiful new license on its way to me, and I'm finally a resident of the city and state that I adore so much. Next on the post-grad to-do list: get a library card!

Purchases:

• One of my newfound fashion obsessions is the clothing brand Cece by Cynthia Steffe. Their pieces are always colorful and feminine, and they make the most unique styles! A couple of the department stores in Charlotte's SouthPark Mall carry Cece, and I always enjoy browsing at the latest styles. I picked up this beautiful dress  this past week, which I can't wait to style on the blog soon! 
• I have been suffering from a lot of break-outs this week, which is unusual for me. I'm not really sure what it's due to, but I know that I want them gone ASAP! I picked up this new acne spot treatment yesterday and am currently testing it out- hoping for great results! 
• These adorable shorts are on their way to me in the mail right now and I just can't wait for them to get here!! 

     xoxo Miss ALK