101 in 1001: 6 Month Update

     A week ago marked six months since I started my first 101 in 1001 bucket list! If you missed my original post or are unfamiliar with the concept of 101 in 1001, they are categorized bucket lists with 101 items to complete in the next 1001 days (which is like 2.75 years). The concept was started by blogger Mackenzie of Design Darling, and I've seen tons of other bloggers do them over the years! I wanted to wait until I was in a place in life where I felt somewhat "settled" to do my first one, and my 25th birthday seemed like the perfect time to finally share a 101 in 1001.

     The past six months have gone by really quickly, and looking back now I'm amazed at how many items on this list I've already checked off! Some of them are also items that are in progress, and might be completed by the one year update in September. Time to share what I've done so far!

My 25th Birthday Gift to Myself: My {First-Ever} 101 in 1001!

    What better day to start my first-ever 101 in 1001 bucket list than my 25th birthday?! 😊

10 Things I Need To Do For My Blog (+ Things I'm Glad I Have Done!)

     I can't believe that come September, I will have been blogging for seven years! (I also can't believe I'll be halfway through my 20s in September, but that's another discussion.) My strategy and goals with blogging have definitely changed a lot since I published my first outfit post as a college freshman- which is good! But as I'm starting to reflect on the years so far in preparation for year seven, I'm starting to make a list of things that I really should be doing for my blog or as a blogger. I'm writing all of these publicly on my blog to 1) hold myself accountable to actually do them this spring and summer (if I publish goals on the blog I'm a lot more likely to do them!), 2) to give you an inside look at all the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into running a successful blog if you're not a blogger yourself, and 3) if you are a fellow blogger, I'd love to hear in the comments if you've done any of these things and they worked for your blog.

2018 Resolutions + Summer Bucket List Check-In.

     Forget how fast summer is moving... can you believe we are this far into 2018?! I sure can't- this year has flown by. Sometimes it can be easy to hit the ground running with New Year's resolutions or bucket list goals in the winter, and then we forget about them and neglect them later in the year. I don't want that to be me this year, so I thought today's post would be the perfect time for a resolution check-in, and also looking at my summer bucket list again! I challenge you to do the same soon too. 

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Swimsuit c/o {under $20!} // Donut pool float 

    2018 New Year's Resolutions: 

     *Complete 52 Week Savings Plan again (previously completed as 2016 resolution): Haven't technically kept up with this, but also have? I haven't been following the same savings plan I used in 2016 for putting away money, but instead I now have a larger set amount from my paycheck that gets automatically put into savings every two weeks (both a general savings account and my new 401k). So technically I'm saving away more money than I would be with the 52 week plan? So I guess- yes, I have been doing this, and more than intended!


    *Do a minimum of two workouts a week, with goal of running a 5k in 2018: Yes on the workouts... running.... ehh haha. I was doing so well with building up my stamina for running when I still had a gym membership in Vermont. Around the time that I moved, I was running 2.5 miles on the treadmill! Then I moved to Virginia, and it look me about a good month of just adjusting to my new apartment and job to even think about finding the time to work out. Now I work out in  my apartment gym, and for the last several weeks I've gone to workout there 2-3 times a week. However- I've had to start over with running. Right now just running a mile is a struggle! This weekend while working on this blog post I got re-motivated with running, and I downloaded a 5k training plan- hopefully I can finally do it!


     *Spend quiet time each morning in uninterrupted prayer: Similar to the previous one... I did great at this while in Vermont, but haven't kept up since moving to Virginia. NEED to get back to this- a healthy prayer life and quiet time spent with God is so important!


     *Read 30 books this year: This resolution somehow missed being included in my blog post about the ones I had for 2018, but it was a goal of mine nonetheless! This is the one that I've done the best at! As of this weekend, I have read 24/30 books for 2018. Kind of hoping to way exceed and maybe read 50 books this year?! 

      Charlottesville VA Summer 2018 Bucket List:

     
     *Plan an overnight trip to see one of Virginia's beaches: Not yet! Still maybe crossing my fingers for this to happen in August, but it might not happen until Summer 2019 due to a lot of unexpected car expenses that have thrown my budget for a loop.

     *Visit one new-to-me hiking trail somewhere in the mountains. Yep! Hiked in Sugar Hollow Reservoir (in between Charlottesville and Crozet) on the 4th of July with some of my girlfriends. 

     *Find a local nature walking trail in Charlottesville for weekly walks. Yes! Have checked out the part of the Charlottesville Rivanna Trail that runs through Darden Towe Park, which is near where I work. I've also visited the Monticello Trail this summer, another great option for weekday walks.

     *Drive more of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Nope- not yet. Hopefully soon!

     *Visit 12 wineries (by the time summer is over) on the Monticello Wine Trail! So far this summer I've visited two new-to-me vineyards, bringing my total of vineyards visited so far to seven.

     *Go to a polo match at King Family Vineyards. Yes! It was almost 100 degrees out on the Sunday that I went with friends, but hey I can still check this off! 

     *Go to Sunset Series at Carter's Mountain Orchard (Thursday night concert series). Yes! And I also went to Carter's Mountain for viewing the 4th of July fireworks. 

     *Shop at Short Pump in Richmond (the nicer shopping district, similar to Charlotte's SouthPark). Not yet! I did spend some time in Richmond in June but didn't get to do this yet.

     *Go tubing on the James River. Yes to tubing, but I did it on a local river instead of the James! This weekend a lot of friends from my church did a tubing afternoon on Charlottesville's Rivanna River. It was my first time tubing and it was so much fun!! Hopefully next summer I can tube on the James (bigger river). 

     *Continue meeting weekly with my women's Community Group at my new church. Yes! We met during Tuesdays in the school year (I joined the group in April shortly after moving), and throughout the summer we've managed to hang out at least a few Tuesday evenings out of each month. 

     *Continue participating in monthly service projects with my new church. Yes- for June! The monthly weekend projects are on break in July and August. I'm currently praying about finding a ministry that I can get involved with volunteering more regularly for in the fall- either through my church or separately. 

     I'm planning to share another summer bucket list check-in at the end of the season- probably around or after Labor Day! If you made resolutions for the year or a summer bucket list, I definitely suggest taking a few minutes sometime soon to review everything and adjust your goals if needed. Let's make things happen in the rest of July and in August!


 
     I didn't want to overwhelm y'all this year with Nordstrom Sale content, so that's why I scheduled this more personal post for today to get the week started on the blog! This morning I am shooting my Nordstrom sale purchases with Kate, and I'm looking forward to sharing those looks later in the week.



     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese 

Ultimate Vermont Bucket List.

     I've mentioned having a "Vermont Bucket List" a few times on the blog since I moved last April- but I've never actually shared it.... that's changing today! I've always been a big bucket list maker- I love the idea of setting goals, both professional ones and fun ones, and working towards accomplishing them. (I wrote a big bucket list blog post in my first year of blogging, and since then I've accomplished many of the things on that list, which is so cool to me!)


     I decided to make a specific one for life in Vermont, as a way to try and get excited about my time here in my new home state. It's probably not a surprise to you if you've read my blog for awhile that transitioning to life in North Carolina for college was much easier for me than re-adjusting to New England life here in Vermont. Even though my current location isn't what I see as my forever home, I'm all about keeping a positive attitude, and the best way to do that is by celebrating the cool things around you. Every place has something to offer- I truly believe that! (Trust me... if I can find cool things here in Vermont, you can definitely find them wherever you live!) Without further ado, here's my list of things to accomplish, try, and experience while living in Vermont. Some of these are seasonal, and some things can be done at any time of the year. The items crossed off are things I've already done in the past 10 months!

     *Go apple picking



     *Visit one of the Burlington area breweries (Goodwater Brewery in Williston and Citizen Cider in Burlington, both June 2017)



     *Find a new church home in Vermont (June 2017)



     *Learn my way around Plattsburgh, NY (biggest town in Upstate NY across Lake Champlain) (First visited in May 2017, learned my way around in September 2017)



     *Drive all of Route 2 through Champlain Islands in Lake Champlain (July 2017, when my friend Ciera from Charlotte was visiting Vermont)



     *Ride the Gondola up Mt. Mansfield in Stowe (September 2017, with my mom on Labor Day)



     *Go downhill skiing  (January 2018)



     *Go cross-country skiing



     *Visit this library/opera house in Derby, VT that is half in the US, half in Canada



     *Visit The Vermont Country Store (October 2017)



     *Attend an event to celebrate maple sugaring season (between March-April)



     *Tour the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory (April 2017)



     *Tour the Cabot Cheese factory 



     *Visit a Vermont winery 



     *Shop at the Manchester, VT outlets 



     *Day trip to Middlebury, VT



     *Do the sunset cruise on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III boat on Lake Champlain (August 2017 with my dad)



     *Walk the entire Colchester Causeway path along Lake Champlain (June 2017)



     *Visit the Champlain Valley Fair for fun/not for work (All employees at my radio station have to work a few shifts at the fair)



     *Day trip to Lake Willoughby



     *Day trip to Greensboro, VT in the Northeast Kingdom region to visit the bed and breakfast I grew up vacationing at with my parents (June 2017, with my dad for Father's Day)



     *Go on a solo drive to enjoy the foliage during "peak week" in the fall (October 2017)



    *Watch a movie at the drive-in theatre in Colchester (preferably on a date)



    *Go sledding



    *Visit the Burlington Farmers' Market



    *Have a full night out in downtown Burlington with new Vermont friends (I went to karaoke in November with a few new friends but it was only for a couple hours so I'm not counting this one just yet!)



     *Go kayaking on Lake Champlain (August 2017, with my dad)



     *Discover a state park (July 2017, Sand Bar State Park)



     If I'm adding all of this up correctly, that's 13 items checked off out of 28! Not bad for just 10 months here in Vermont. I definitely have some more things that I can work towards this winter, especially the seasonally appropriate things like cross-country skiing, sledding, and the local maple sugaring season events which will be coming up soon!


     I don't think I ever shared my bucket list for my years living in Charlotte- although I did have a virtual one for my time there as well. I'd be happy to still share that if y'all are interested! I'd love to know as well if you have a bucket list for life in your city or state. Let me know in the comments!




     God Bless,



     xoxo Annaliese

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Best Casual Sweater Under $40 + 2018 Resolutions Check-In.

     One of my resolutions for 2018 is to actually stick to most of my resolutions for this year! I haven't formally shared all of my goals for the new year yet, so I thought as January comes to a close, today would be the perfect time to share some of my resolutions, and have I've been working towards them in the first few weeks of this year. I'm also sharing one of my new favorite casual sweaters for today's outfit. Pull up a chai latte with me, and let's have a virtual coffee or tea date and get to it!

Photography by Melissa Lynn Studios. Thanks to Black Cap Coffee in Stowe, VT for letting us shoot these pictures inside! 

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Sweater // Jeans // Boots // Earrings {on sale!} // Lipstick c/o 

     I picked up this sweater on my trip to Indiana for New Year's (the mall I visited there had much better store options than anywhere in Vermont!). As soon as I felt this sweater, I was amazed at how warm and thick it was for the price point. I knew it was a must-have with the bitter cold temperatures that Vermont has been having this winter. Anything to stay cozy while fashionable gets an enthusiastic "YES!" from me right now! These pink Hunter boots (my first pair!) finally made it to me via my parents over Christmas. I ordered them as this year's big Black Friday splurge to myself when they were on sale... but silly me sent them to my home address in Maine instead of Vermont. Hey- at least I didn't send them to one of my former addresses in Charlotte! My parents brought them to me at Christmas and now that I have them I'm kind of obsessed! You'll be seeing more of them soon. 

     So let's talk resolutions! I'll be sharing some of my 2018 ones below, and a check-in for each as to how it's been going so far in January:

     1. Complete 52 Week Savings Plan again (previously completed as 2016 resolution): So far so good! I recently wrote a blog post explaining this financial resolution and breaking it down for anyone who wants to join me in building their savings account this year. I have set phone alert reminders for every Friday to remind myself to make the deposits for that week's amount from my checking account to savings, and so far that's helping! 

     2. Do a minimum of two workouts a week, with goal of running a 5k in 2018: So far so good with this one too! It's been a goal of mine for years to run a 5K. I am not a runner, and have always struggled with running (running the mile in high school gym class was a nightmare). I want to stop making excuses and finally overcome that in 2018, and develop a hopeful love for running by working my way up to a 5k! I'm hoping to be hitting the gym or doing other types of exercise 3-4 times a week, by my minimum is twice a week. There's little to no physical activity in my job, so I really have to push myself to workout and make those healthy decisions. I have worked out or done some sort of physical activity at least twice a week since the start of the year. Hoping in February to really increase that to more times a week, but for now I'm happy to meet my minimum goal! 

     3. Spend quiet time each weekday morning in uninterrupted prayer: YES! Probably most proud of myself for doing so well at this one so far. I've always been very good at communicating with God throughout my day, both verbally and silently, but I've known for awhile I've needed to get better about "quiet time." Time where I can just focus on deep prayer and my relationship with the Lord. I've started doing this every weekday morning, before I eat breakfast. I set a timer on my phone to make sure that I actually have quiet time for enough time, and that's been working well and helping me from getting distracted! I haven't done this every weekend morning since my weekend schedules vary, but I've been able to get into a great weekday morning routine and it's already helping my faith! 

     I'm really quite happy with my progress on these three resolutions so far. I have a few other resolutions for 2018 as well (I'm telling y'all- this was MY YEAR for goals!) that were more personal, but I'm not quite ready to share all of those on the blog right now. Hopefully the time will come to share all of them with y'all later this year! 

      How are your New Year's resolutions coming so far? Have you stuck with them, or are you adjusting them going in February? 

     I'm really excited for two lifestyle blog posts that I have coming this week- I hope y'all will enjoy! It'll be a great week here on Southern Belle in Training.

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese

Athletic Goals for the New Year.

Photography by Deeana Kourtney Photography

Grey Hoodie // Grey Sports Bra // Colorful Leggings // Purple Sports Bra // Black and Multicolored Leggings // Pink Tank // (All items linked c/o Marks & Spencer)

     Ah- New Year's resolutions. Now that we're a few weeks into 2017, let's take a minute and re-visit this idea. As I shared with y'all in December, I impressed myself by following through very well with my resolution for 2016.  I genuinely hoped that I could go into this new year tackling my new resolution with the same type of determination and enthusiasm that I had for last year's.

     As you could probably guess from what I am wearing in these photos, my 2017 New Year's resolution involves prioritizing fitness. To give a little backstory, despite growing up as an athlete (I'm a former competitive figure skater from childhood, and I also played two team sports in high school), I fell out of the routine of making fitness a priority during my first few years in college. By senior year, I had finally found some workout classes offered by my campus gym that I really enjoyed attending, and had also figured out my own gym routine that I loved. Working out was finally a big part of my life, and it was great! But after having a serious concussion this past spring and not being able to do much physical activity for about 6-8 weeks, I completely fell out of my routine. And I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that I never got it back. Part of it might have been that because around the time this summer that I was finally feeling 100% physically myself again, I was also into the thick of my broadcasting school program, was working in retail, and was also beginning my social media job. Plus blogging! I had a lot on my plate in an ever-changing schedule, and I didn't know how fitness could play a part. 

     But it's a new year now, and I'm ready to stop making excuses. I finished my retail job in December, and for the first time in a long time, I finally have a set weekday schedule. It might be an insane one since I'm interning for a morning radio show, but it is a schedule! And that's huge for me. Now that I can plan out my weeks more in advance, I'm ready to make fitness a priority again, which is how it became my 2017 resolution.

     I looked into joining ClassPass or my local Y so that I could do fitness classes, but I am on a pretty tight budget until finishing broadcasting school in the spring. My plan is to make the most of the fitness center at my apartment complex, and utilize it as much as I can for my workouts. Since I'm just getting back into a regular fitness routine, I don't have any huge goals as of now. But here are the two things that I am holding myself accountable to for this year:

• Going to gym or doing some sort of physical activity twice a week
• Working my way up to running a 5k distance by the end of 2017

     On workout days in my apartment gym so far, I am enjoying running on the treadmill, and using the elliptical and bikes. As the year progresses, I'm hoping to find some Youtube videos or shorter workouts to do as well that will help with buildings abs or upper body strength (send any suggestions for these my way!). I'm also hoping this year to make physical activity that isn't just going to the gym a priority. I do love being outside, so I hope to do more nature walks and hikes, or maybe even get into running outside! And I love playing tennis, so I'm hoping that's a sport that I can rediscover this year.

      Of course my New Year's resolution means that I needed to invest in some new workout clothes. I was so excited to learn about all of the amazing workout options from Marks & Spencer. Where making fitness a priority again is still a newer part of my routine (and I'm also definitely on a budget right now!), I'm not quite ready to invest in super expensive workout clothing. But- I definitely did still want some new things to wear! Marks & Spencer came to my rescue. Almost all of their workout clothes are under $50, and many are under $25. Everything can be mixed and match to make lots of cute athletic outfits. The leggings that I'm wearing in both of these outfits are both very lightweight and breathable (but not see-through at all). I especially love the performance graphite print leggings - how fun are the colors in those?! Wearing a  supportive sports bra is also so crucial in helping to have a good workout, and both this one and this one that I'm wearing are supportive, and also super cute! 

     Do any of your New Year's resolutions involve fitness? How are you planning to meet your fitness goals in 2017? 

     xoxo Annaliese

      This blog post was written in collaboration with Shopping Links and Marks & Spencer. All opinions are honest and my own. Thank-you for supporting the brands that support Southern Belle in Training! 

     

I GRADUATED!

     Goodbye college and hello adulthood! As of Saturday, May 7th, 2016, I am a proud graduate of the Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. 

     Up until now, I have never publicly shared the name of my college on my blog for privacy reasons- but you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat then you probably already knew where I went to school, haha! UNC Charlotte is a large public university that is also located in Charlotte (although in a different part of the city), and I have had blog readers before who assumed that I went to school there, and I just left the assumptions at that while I was still a college student. But now that I am all finished with school, I figured that it was time to finally share where I spent the last three years!

     I have lots of photos from graduation weekend to share on the blog at some point soon, and next weekend I am having professional senior photos taken, so those will be fun to post as well! This will be a big week of playing "catch-up" for the blog, as my blog had to go on the back burner of my life for the past couple of weeks as I dealt with a very unexpected concussion during the end of school. I am so thankful to be feeling a lot better now! My energy levels still are not what they were before, but other then than I feel pretty much my normal self again. The fact that I was able to take all of my exams without incompletes and receive my diploma on time after dealing with something like that is still unbelievable to me- God is good! 

     Anyways, as this week I tackle returning to work, unpacking in my apartment, and beginning to make the transition from college student life to adulthood, please help me out by letting me know what types of posts YOU would like to see on Southern Belle in Training soon! Now that the unexpected craziness in my life has settled down a bit, I will have much more time soon to devote to the blog, and I want my content to be as good as it can be, and posts that y'all enjoy reading! I would love suggestions for both fashion and lifestyle content. :-) It has been my plan for many months to finally work on a hair tutorial post for y'all once I graduate college, and that's on the agenda for June! As well as a tour of my new bedroom in my apartment. But please let me know anything else that you would like to see! 

     I'll be back tomorrow with an outfit post!

     xoxo Miss ALK

November Goals.

      One thing that I just love about the South is that my favorite season comes early, and my least favorite season comes much later! But I suppose fall cannot be all bad when the beautiful trees on my college campus look like this... :-) (Although secretly I am still counting down the days until spring!)


     Let's take a look back at what my goals were for the month of October, and how I did on them:


      1. Start trying more new beauty products again. Check! Read my October Beauty Favorites blog post here. And I'm already excited for November's favorites post!
      2. Actually celebrate Halloween this year. Fail...ish. When I wrote this as I goal, I meant buy a costume and go out with college friends on Halloween night. That didn't happen! I had a quiet night of going to Ulta, buying groceries, and then working on crafts for my Little since Big/Little crafts were due for ADPi the week after Halloween. But the afternoon of Halloween at my internship we hosted a Halloween carnival, and I did dress up for that! I was a crazy bunny lady (instead of the traditional crazy cat lady). And I ended up wearing that costume to Ulta and the grocery store... so if that counts for celebrating...
      3. Do a good job on my Little's crafts. Check! I think. ;-) Crafting is something that doesn't come easily to me, and it takes me a really long time to work on a craft project, so being honest I didn't get as much done for Julie as I hoped because I spent a ton of time working on the items that I did give her! But I am really pleased at how what I did make turned out! I will do a couple blog posts on this soon! (Including a tutorial for one of my crafts!)
      4. Make a LinkedIn profile. Check! Although I am still very much figuring out how to use it... I will probably finish filling it in over Christmas break. I have already connected with some blogging friends on there too which is great!


      And my goals for this second to last month in 2014:


      1. Have my biggest and best Black Friday experience yet! I am spending Thankgiving Break this year on campus. This year I only have a few final exams, and instead I have a lot of final projects and papers, many of which are due directly after Thanksgiving, instead of during actual exams week. I knew that if I went home to Maine (or even to a friend's house here in NC) I wouldn't get enough work done, so it just made sense for me to sadly stay on campus during break. But the good part about this is that I get to spend my second favorite day of the year, BLACK FRIDAY, in Charlotte!! Charlotte has four malls and a brand new outlet mall that just opened, and I would like to hit at least two of the malls and the outlets! I have been Black Friday shopping every year since I was 13 and I am obsessed to say the least. I will post more about this as it gets closer, but this will be the highlight of my busy Thanksgiving Break for sure!
      2.  Get my oil changed before Christmas Break begins. Technically I could do this in early December as well... but it would be great to do it in November! I haven't had an oil change in my car since summer and this is just something that I keep forgetting to do. I was supposed to get one in October but haven't really been outside of Charlotte in awhile (or had time to go on any long drives) so I keep forgetting to.
      3. Try to get A's or A-'s on both of my presentations that are next week. Next week I have oral projects to present in two of my communications classes. My goal is to get an A or A- (my college doesn't allow for A+'s on our grading scale) on both of them!
      4. Figure out affordable (but meaningful) Christmas presents for my college friends. I am a big Christmas gift-giver. I have a general idea of what I want to get for my girlfriends back home in Maine, and I also know what I am getting for my Little and for my roommate. But I am completely boggled as to what to get for the rest of my college friends! I don't have the type of finances to get everyone big gifts, but I still want to get everyone a little something. Normally I would try and craft everyone something, but I am a little bit "crafted out" since I was a Big in my sorority this semester, and also with my demanding class schedule that I have have currently I don't have much extra time to be crafting for everyone that I know. So it will probably have to be something purchased. I will keep y'all posted on what I end up doing! I like to get Christmas gifts in advance (usually Black Friday at the latest!).


     Do you have an goals for this month? Are you a Black Friday shopper?


     Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a $50 gift certificate to Mimi's The Look For Less! Click here to enter!


     xoxo Miss ALK

(Much belated) October Goals!

   

     

     This blog post is coming to you from at home in Maine! I apologize for my unplanned blogging break over the past week- my midterm exams ended up being a lot tougher then I expected, and I left to go home to Maine the day after exams ended. I have been having a great weekend at home so far! This is the first year that I've been in college that I've finally made it home in the Fall early enough to see the beautiful foliage, and that has been the biggest blessing! The above picture is the view that I had at dinner at a restaurant in Portland (Maine's biggest city) a couple of nights ago with my favorite girls Shara and Katie. 

     The month of September felt absolutely overwhelming for me, but let's see how I did with my September goals:

     1. Stay on top of my homework with sorority recruitment. The Formal Recruitment season (which ran during the first month of school) was definitely stressful, and it provided a few really late nights of homework and cramming for tests, but overall I think I did a decent job of staying on top of things.

     2. Look into getting a Charlotte library card. This didn't happen this past month- most of my free time in September was on weekend nights and the local libraries aren't open then! I'm hoping to do this sometime before the end of the semester though. 

     3. Have a memorable and fun start to my 20s. Check....ish. I had an interesting birthday this year! The whole morning was spent in a mandatory three hour sorority recruitment practice, and I ended up babysitting the whole night of my birthday. But some sorority sisters of mine baked surprise cupakes for me and brought them to our morning practice that day, and that afternoon two of my friends from my former college came to Charlotte to have lunch with me (and my roommate came too)! So that was fun. :-) I did feel a little stressed the whole weekend from recruitment and homework, but I am still happy that I got to do a few fun things. I have big expectations for the Big 2-1 next year though!

     4. Get better again with reading the Bible/daily devotions. Sadly I didn't do very well at this! My church attendance also wasn't great for the month of September because of everything happening at school, but it is getting better again. I attend an amazing church in Charlotte (Forest Hill Church) and I seriously feel like I learn so many new things about God and His word after every sermon! 

     And here are my October 2014 goals!

     1. Start trying more new beauty products again. My "beauty favorites" posts each month have been absent for the past couple of months... not because I have been forgetting about them, but because I have really been stuck in a beauty routine!! Over this summer I tried not to buy new beauty products to save any extra money that I could for this school year, and since school started I have been so busy that I have barely that the time to go shopping! Each day when I get ready I find myself gravitating towards the same few products that instead of experimenting my own make-up collection. I absolutely love buying and trying new make-up though, so I'm hoping to break out of the routine that I have been in soon! While home this weekend I picked up some goodies from the Too Faced Holiday 2014 collection that I can't wait to review here on the blog! 

     2. Actually celebrate Halloween this year. Halloween is one of the holidays that college kids go crazy over. And I have sadly missed out on that for my first two years of school! My freshman year (when I went to a Christian college) I had a HUGE test in my Old Testament class the day after, so I spent the whole night in a study room with my classmates cramming for the exam. Last year I wasn't into going out at all so my friend Perrin took me to Hobby Lobby for some craft shopping (it was my first time there and I loved it!) and then we got Mexican food with her family. Both years I didn't dress up or celebrate at all and I was okay with that. But this year I'm hoping to change things... I'm not really sure what I will be or what I will do but I know I want to celebrate somehow!

     3. Do a good job on my Little's crafts. I posted recently that a couple weeks ago I got my Little Diamond Sister (ADPi's version of Bigs/Littles)! It is Alpha Delta Pi tradition for the Bigs to shower their Littles with crafts and gifts before initiation. Our chapter's initiation is in November but I want to get a head start on some of my Little's gifts this month so that it will be less stressful as the deadline gets closer (and so that I do a good job!). For me to do a good job at crafting it takes me a long time, so I will need the extra time. ;-) 

     4. Make a LinkedIn profile. This is something that my boss at my internship encouraged me to do, and I think that I am at the point now in college where I am starting to network with different professionals, faculty and other students and this would be useful! It would be great to already have a LinkedIn profile up and running well before I graduate college (especially if I want to pursue other internships during my college years). 

     Here's to a productive rest of the month! Although the foliage has been beautiful here at home, the temperatures have been chilly- ranging from the 40s to the low 60s. I am hoping that weather this cool will stay away from Charlotte for a little bit longer!! 

     Stay tuned for some fun OOTD posts from my trip home coming to the blog soon!

     xoxo Miss ALK 

     

September Goals!

     I started classes for my junior year of college a week ago today! What a stressful first week back it was! There were definitely some great moments- like getting to finally return (after a long summer away!) to my internship with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, and starting sorority recruitment practices with my sisters (which I am actually enjoying so far!), but as far as classes go I think that school is going to kick my butt this semester. At the same time though I am excited to get to dive more into my major and my two minors! It is exciting to be an upperclassman (even if the work load that comes with it isn't as exciting!).

      Let's take a look at my goals for August 2014:


     1. Successfully pack for school. I am going to say check! This came with an almost all-nighter the night before I left, and still leaving for the road trip about 6 hours later then we were supposed to because of all of the last minute packing... BUT almost all of my boxes, bins and suitcases were well organized and labeled this time around, and I brought less stuff to school! We even had a little bit of visibility in my car. :-)
     2. Make fun Labor Day weekend plans. Uh so this one was kind of a fail. This past Saturday I did go visit a few friends at my former college and we had a relaxing afternoon of catching up after a summer apart! But other then that I haven't done anything for the rest of this weekend! I've done some homework (still have more to do), watched a lot of The Big Bang Theory, gone to Target, done laundry.... wild weekend huh? Hopefully next year's will be better! I think actually Labor Day weekend falls during my 21st birthday next year... ;-)
     3. Make cute binder covers for my classes. Also kind of a fail. I had planned to follow an online tutorial to make monogrammed Lilly Pulitzer binder covers, but right after I made them at home and was ready to print them my mom told me our home printer was really low on colored ink. I never made it to printing place since at that point I had to start on my school packing... so I just hand-wrote out binder covers for this semester! I'd still like to try the online tutorial for a different semester if I can!
     4. Have a social media free vacation. CHECK!! When my mom and I took our little vacation to New Brunswick, Canada earlier in August I successfully did a social media fast for the duration of the trip. It was wonderful and I will get around to blogging about it at some point!


       And here are my goals for September 2014:


     1. Stay on top of my homework with sorority recruitment. My school's formal recruitment for our panhellenic sororities isn't until closer to the end of September. That means that I still have a lot of recruitment practices and events to get through!! These are a great bonding time for the sisters of my chapter, and I'm already learning so much about my sorority, but they are time consuming. I want to make sure to be really good about time management in the next few weeks and stay on top of all of my homework while participating in all of the exciting sorority recruitment events!
     2. Look into getting a Charlotte library card. This is something that I meant to do last year and never got around to- so it is on the goals list for this month! I have heard that college students at my school can open up library cards through the Charlotte public library system. This seems like such a great rescource to have! Sometimes during weeks in the semester when I have less homework I like to read non-school books for fun, so I would love to have a public library card. I used my library card in my hometown so much this past summer!
     3. Have a memorable and fun start to my 20s. I turn 20 next Saturday! Between sorority recruitment (I have a mandatory practice on the morning of my birthday) and this crazy homework load, I won't have time to dedicate a whole weekend to birthday fun, but I definitely want to do a few fun things during the weekend! Hopefully it will be more eventful then my Labor Day weekend was... ;-)
     4. Get better again with reading the Bible daily/devotions. During the past few weeks with the stress of packing, road tripping to NC and then starting school I have really fallen behind with daily quiet time. Even though the next few weeks will be crazy busy, I want to continue to make time for the Lord each day!


     So those are my goals for September! Lastly, here is a shameless selfie that I took yesterday in one of my favorite spots in Charlotte that overlooks the whole city. Even though it's been a busy first week, I am still so happy to be back!

    xoxo Miss ALK

July Goals!

     Since I got June's Goals up halfway through last month, I decided to be a productive blogger in July and get this month's goals up on the first of the month, which I think is actually a first for me! ;-) Whooo!! Now let's take a look at how I did with those very belated June goals:

1. Have a blast at the Boston HCBN Blogger meet-up! CHECK! Read all about it in this post! 
2. Practice French. This was half a fail and half not. I never actually took out my French textbooks from school to review... oops. BUT- in the store that I work at we get a ton of customers from Quebec, and sometimes I attempt to speak French with the Canadian customers! But I'm determined this month to actually open my books and practice some grammar... see one of this month's goals for more on that. :-)
3. Spend any free time (on nice days) at the beach! I would sadly still have to say this goal wasn't a total success. The beginning of June in Maine had only a few nice days, and sadly I worked on most of them. Towards the end of the month though I got to the beach a few times! Last Saturday morning I spent a couple hours there with my high school friends Jules and Tim before I headed to work, and we had a wonderful time. Hopefully there will be many more beach days to come in July and August that work around my work schedule! ;-)

     And here are my goals for July 2014:

     1. Do study abroad research for next summer. The college that I transferred to has some of the best study abroad programs in the country! I think the statistics show that about 90% or higher of students at my school study abroad at some point during undergrad college years there. While a fair amount of students do choose to do a semester abroad (including my Big and my roommate for this coming year!),  a lot opt to do shorter summer programs instead, which is what I'm looking into. (Since I already go to school quite far from home AND transferred once, I think that a full semester abroad wouldn't be the best move for me.)  But anyways- one of my minors at school is in French, so I'm looking into some four week French language immersion programs for next summer! I have a high enough GPA and have taken enough of the French pre-reqs that I was accepted to the program... now I just have to figure out where I want to go! My school offers the program that I was accepted to at several language academies in France and a few in Quebec. I just need to really look at the costs of each program (some cities in France are WAY cheaper then others for example, and obviously Quebec is cheapest of all), and also figure out what type of city or town I'd really like to be in! I also renewed my passport in June and my new one arrived in record speed, so I'm good to go in that regard! 

     2. Work on a craft project. Crafting is something that I wish I could do more of at school, but I can never find the time for it! I want to try making at least one craft project this month. Plus it's an excuse to actually make things off of my Pinterest boards, which is something that I always love to do! ;-)

     3. Get back on a regular blog posting schedule. Summer is technically when I should have the most time to blog, since I don't have homework or classes to worry about. But in June I seemed to fall a bit behind on blogging, so I want to step that up in July! I would love to get back on a 5x a week posting schedule by next week. 

      Do you have any goals for this month? How is your summer treating you so far?

     xoxo Miss ALK

June Goals.

     This is officially the latest that I've ever gotten my monthly goals up... oops! I don't really have any good excuses except that my work schedule has finally started to pick up, but I've still been writing other blog posts, so I guess this is just been on that I've been procrastinating on. ;-) Let's take a look back at my May goals and see how I did!


     1. Set up at least one job shadowing opportunity. CHECK! I got to job shadow last month for a morning radio show at a local Christian radio station. It was so much fun- such a great experience!! I also got be the emcee for a dance recital during the month of May (you can read more about that in this post). I'm so glad that I got to do both of these things before my work schedule got crazy!
     2. Set up some blog collaborations. Check! Stay tuned tomorrow for a fun OOTD post where I get to review a beautiful dress, and I'm also doing reviews soon for books and accessories.
     3. Cook and bake more. Check! I made a couple of Thai curry dishes in May, and I found a delicous banana spice muffin recipe on Pinterest that I made twice! I'm hoping to continue to be active in the kitchen more throughout the summer.
    4. Finish unpacking from college. Sadly I still have a fairly large pile of stuff in our TV room downstairs... but I did a good job with getting everything that I will need to use this summer unpacked. That's progress right?


     And since I'm getting this post up so late this month, I only have three goals for June 2014:


     1. Have a blast at the Boston HCBN Blogger meet-up! Next week my real life and blogging bestie Katie and I are headed to Boston for the day for a fun meet-up with several other bloggers from the Her Campus Blogging Network! I've been apart of the HCBN now for over a year, and it's been very beneficial to my blog. I've met so many wonderful ladies through it, and I can't wait to finally meet some of them in person (especially Ashliegh of The Darling Daily!).
     2. Practice French. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this much on here before, but I'm a French minor in college! I did really well in my most recent French course this semester... but I haven't picked up my textbooks since my final exam. ;-) A foreign language is something that you constantly have to review to retain, so I should be practicing and reviewing that that I will be all set in August when I return to the classroom! (I'm also the only employee at work that has any knowledge of French which often comes in handy since we get lots of tourists from Quebec, so sometimes I get the chance to practice speaking at my summer job!)
     3. Spend any free time (on nice days) at the beach! This past weekend was the first time this summer that I had a day off on a day that it was actual beach weather, and it was perfection! It reminded me how much I absolutely adore the beach- it is truly one of the things that I miss the most when I'm in Charlotte. Once Maine starts getting steady warm weather I seriously want to be spending as much of my free time as possible outdoors and at the beach! I know that I won't regret it. :-)


     Do you have any goals for this month?


     Stay tuned tomorrow for what might be one of my favorite outfit posts yet- the photographs were taken by my friend Shara of Shara Lynn Photography and she absolutely outdid herself this time!


     xoxo Miss ALK

May Goals!

     I am about a week behind on getting this post up- I have finals and moving home for the summer to blame for that. But I actually really enjoy writing out my monthly goals posts, so I didn't want to skip a month just because it was a little bit late!

     I have been at home in Maine for about a week now, and so far I have spent a lot of time with my parents, eaten at three of my favorite Maine restaurants, seen a couple close friends from high school and a friend from my church, had lunch with my grandma, gone walking at one of the local beaches, made it through season one of The Big Bang Theory (new favorite show!), and procrastinated on unpacking. ;-) But more on that in my goals for this month!!

     Here is a look back at my April goals:

     1. Do well on my final exams. CHECK! I did well on all of my finals, and found out that I got A's in all of my classes this semester! I feel very blessed that my hard work paid off and that I got such such good grades- hopefully I can do the same in the Fall as well!
     2. Start running. Check.... sorta. I went to the gym at school a few times in April and attempted running on the treadmill. I hadn't run in so long that it was more like walk/run combos with me sweating profusely and being extremely out of breath but I still made the effort to get out there and try running! While I'm home this summer, my exercise routine will be dance based. My mom and I are taking a weekly dance class together, which will be my first dance class since my freshman year of high school! (I danced for seven years growing up.) I'm also hoping to go to some zumba classes this summer in between my work schedule.
     3. Have fun at my formal events. CHECK! Both my sorority's Black Diamond formal, and the spring formal that I attended at my formal college were great successes! I danced the night away at both and had such a fun time getting all dolled up.
     4. Continue working on my freshman year scrapbook. Fail. This poor goal I feel like has appeared in every month's goals post so far in 2014! Lol. I'm taking a break from it and leaving it off of May's list. I was just too busy in April between my normal schedule and all the extra stuff that I had going on to even think about crafting. I'll see if I can get to it in June at all!


     And here are my goals for May 2014:


     1. Set up at least one job shadowing opportunity. Because I will be going back to work almost full time at my retail job this summer, I won't be able to have a radio or broadcasting internship along with that. (I will be continuing to intern at the Ryan Seacrest Foundation in Charlotte again in the Fall and I can't wait!) But one thing that my boss from RSF encouraged me to do while I was home was to try and job shadow at some Maine radio stations. This would be a way for me to start building connections in the Maine media markets, and also great experience for me!! I'm hoping to visit at least one station before the end of the month.

     2. Set up some blog collaborations. Over the past few months I have been on a roll with product reviews, giveaways and sponsored blog posts!! But I currently don't have anything lined up for the next month or two. I need to set aside some time soon to contact more companies about working with my blog- that is the best way to set up partnerships!! I often did this during study breaks when I was at school. Now I just need to find time to do this since I'm on summer vacation!

     3. Cook and bake more. One of the things that I dislike the most about going to college out of state is the fact that I have no access to a kitchen! My college requires that you live on campus until you're a senior, and most of the dorms don't have kitchens, like the one that I lived in this year. I love to cook and bake, and I want to take advantage of the fact that I have a kitchen to use this summer!

     4. FINISH UNPACKING. This is the most dire out of all my goals. ;-) I haven't done a very good job with unpacking my boxes from college. So far I have unpacked all of the suitcases and a couple small boxes, but several large bags and boxes still remain in our TV room and on my bedroom floor! I know I need to do this sooner then later- preferably before the end of May?!


   
     What are some of your goals for this month?


     xoxo Miss ALK