Weekend Links

Since I'm not posting on weekends (and struggling with the posting otherwise) I've decided to give you guys a post of what I've found looking around the internet during my 'free time', meaning while I'm sitting at work between clients, don't tell my boss. I hope you guys enjoy!

• Found this blog while looking through Bloglovin, and these look delicious!
• Also this bread sounds like a much better breakfast than my current cereal.
• Officially adding these countries to my travel list, several were already there, but now the rest are too!
• As some of you way know, I'm now registered on this site and just got my cookbook in the mail! I can't wait to start!
• Just because I'm mostly vegetarian doesn't mean I can't appreciate delicious looking chicken like this.
• If you're looking to travel to the Galapagos, Ecuador, or Peru this could be a great place to look.
• And you have to admit that a chair like this would be awesome!
• I have to end on this though, I think we all sometimes need the reminder...

It's amazing how much is really out there if you just take the time to look. What have you guys found recently?

Love,
Sara :)

Dreams: Ideas and Traveling

Sometimes I get ideas. Ok, I get lots of ideas and many of them float through my head and are stored way back in a distant, cobweb-filled corner of my brain to most likely never be seen again. However, some ideas stick with me and no matter what they don't ever seem to really leave. These are only emphasized by me finding people who share my ideas and who are equally as enthusiastic to try and someday put them into action. Now that's the key word: someday. I feel like half of my ideas get thrown out because of a lack of time or money or the drive (honestly I can get pretty lazy some days). However, I have been talking to people especially lately because I was suddenly put back in contact with friends I haven't talk to since I'm not sure when. What happened? Facebook and I had a birthday, and what happens? All those friends you used to talk to send you messages saying 'Happy Birthday! I miss you! We should get together! Where are you now?' I don't mean to sound mocking, but it seems to be what we all end up expecting when our birthdays come around and we go of Facebook. Well, this year I actually went through and answered all of the people that I never talked to and tried to catch up with the ones that I could. I had a lengthy discussion with a friend from Washington about going out and visiting her and another with a high school friend who is now in California (what?!) and moving to New York next year (sweet!). It was actually pretty fun!

Now I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to my ideas. I have these ideas and one big one that I've had for years was to travel to all 50 states and to as many countries around the world as possible. I currently have a severe case of wanderlust! As Matt and my relationship has progressed, we have learned quite a bit about each other and one thing that we both really want to do is travel. When I shared this idea with him, he was super supportive as long as he could come along, which I have absolutely no problem with! Anyways, this is where talking to long lost friends comes in. I talked to this friend in Washington, and I think Matt and I might be going out to Washington for a visit later this summer or this fall if possible! I am super excited to get this traveling started! I know we are still young, but there is just so much out there to see and do and we want to do so much that we better get started soon!

With our first few stops consisting of Chicago, Minneapolis, and possibly Washington (random, but hopefully it works!) I can't wait to see what other adventures the future holds!

What sorts of adventures do your lives have? Remember adventures don't have to be traveling to a foreign country or even to another state, an adventure is whatever you make it and it can really be anything! So, go forth, and be adventurers!

Love,

Sara :)

Afternoon in Chicago

A friend of mine from college is looking at grad schools and was looking at the SIAC, and since I haven't seen her in a month (well, since homecoming :P) I decided to go down and meet up with her and meet her new boyfriend. I really had a wonderful time hanging out with them and doing stuff. I just wanted to share a few of the pictures I took with my camera phone (yes, you heard right, an actual camera is definitely on my wish list for Christmas!) while down there.

You have to admit that Chicago really is a beautiful city! I always enjoy visiting there. These first six pictures are all taken from Millennium Park which is pretty close to Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. A great place to visit if you've never been there and are looking for somewhere to go while in this great city!

These next two pictures are taken at an art show that we went to at SAIC. The building itself was beautiful and there was so much interesting art that I wasn't sure where to start. I did not end up buying anything here but I do wish that I had since there were so many beautiful things here.

These next two are of dragon ornaments that I found that are absolutely freaking adorable! Please say no to those faces! I somehow managed to...

And being me, we found the Barnes & Nobles, along with an awesome book that I was tempted to get for Matt from Christmas :P Shockingly, I left the bookstore without any books!!! This is something that like never happens!

This is just a sweet sculpture near where we were walking downtown, I thought it was note worthy because it looked so cool :P

The last thing that we did tonight was going out for dinner. All I am willing to say about the place, Dick's Last Resort, is that if you haven't been there before you really should head over there and experience it! Just go do it now!

Love,
Sara :)

Musica Monday

Have you ever heard one of those songs that you aren't really sure that you liked but found yourself huming along to? Well, the musica that I have for this week is one of those songs! The first time I heard this song was while I was listening to a Pandora station for The Pierces, a band I have talked about a bit before. The Soho Dolls is an English band based in London that formed in 2003 and is still going strong today. This song is called "Pleasures of Soho" and is from an older album of theirs. For those of you who don't know, Soho is an area of the city of Westminister in England that up until the 1980s was known for it's sex shops and night life. However, since the 1980s, there has been a big switch and Soho is now mostly a fashion district with little remnants of the sex shops that used to populate its streets.
Westminister and Soho are places that I do plan on visiting when I get the chance to travel again to England. Maybe we will get to see Soho Dolls when we are there! :P

I hope that you enjoy it! Have a great week my dear friends!
Love,
Sara :)

Graduation!!!

So, for those of you who don't know, I am (more like WAS!) a college senior. Well, no longer!! Today was graduation!! I'm not exactly positive if it has fully hit me yet that I'm graduated and heading off into the real world in a few months. I've gotta get my feet on the ground first, this being literal and figurative. Literal because I still have a broken foot and am going to be having surgery, hopefully, at some point this week (update on that to be coming later), and figurative because I don't have enough to pay for an apartment, don't have a job and don't really have much of a plan at this point, so I'm going to figure that out before I make my move (most likely to Minnesota, which will also be part of a later update).
This leads to the question that I get asked all the time now: What are your plans for after graduation? Well, honestly, all I got right now is that I need to have surgery and get my body physically healed before starting off on the next great adventure of my life. I will say that I am hoping to be able to blog a lot more now since I won't have classes or homework or tests to worry about (at least for now...), so I'm hoping that my writing will be getting better, I mean I hope that even by now it's getting a bit better, but I know that it will take time and practice before I really figure out my plans for the future as well as my style. There are many things that I hope to do in the future including: traveling, moving out of my parents' house, getting a job (or a few), learning how to cook better, learning more about wine, and drinking more coffee just to name a few. Sounds fun right? That's what I think at least, and I look forward to each and every one of them in my quest to learn more about the world around me and enjoy what life has to offer and make the most of what I can! Life is full of choices and chances, so I plan on doing what I can and taking risks when necessary and dealing with whatever consequences and hurdles the world throws in my path, because one of the most important things I learned in colleges is that I can be confident in who I am because I can make a difference and I matter to the world, whether the world knows it or not yet, I matter and so does each and every person!
Ok, done with my little soapbox here, but honestly I am still trying to figure out my life and I know that there are going to be trials and tough times but they will be worked through with a little help from my friends and family :)
I leave you all with a lovely picture of the sunrise this morning (yes, I got up and watched it at 5:30am) and one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." (Oh, the Places You'll Go) :P thought it was appropriate. I hope you enjoy and don't mind my ranting too much :P

                                      

Love you all!

Happy Sunday, it's the start of a brand new week for us all, so let's make the most of it!

Sara :)

Musica Monday

Hey folks. So, things have been interesting lately in my life. I'm not really going to expand on that much because I'm still working it through myself. Sometimes things do take more than one period of thought in order to figure out. I will say that those who know are looking at me a bit different and are working just as hard as I am to try and figure out what to do now. 

To describe the mood I'm in right now would be impossible. There are so many emotions running through my head right now; music is really the only thing that I can come up with now that could even come close to fitting my mood, and even there I'm struggling a bit. The best that I can come up with for now is a few Avril Lavigne songs that come pretty close and do pretty well.

I hope that you guys enjoy these songs! I know that they are a few of my favorite of hers.

How are your weeks going? Finals are almost done! Then it's senior week, which should be a lot of fun, then home and surgery (finally)!

Maybe I'll move to London...that'd be fun!

Love,

Sara :)

Traveling Idea

So I've been thinking of new ways to document my travels other than just pictures and writing. I'm not saying that I'm going to stop doing that! Far from it! More like making sure that I have something to remind me of what I did that day or on that trip and see it tangibly. I started this a bit on my New York trip. For one, I'm gonna try and blog everyday I'm off traveling and go through my day, but that's kinda a given. The other thing is my new one: get a postcard for everyday while traveling to remember what happens and make a book out of them later. I haven't gotten many yet, but I'm working on it! :)

Here are a few links that I've found for traveling that I think all you should look at!

• Tips for exploring a new city you've never been to before.
• Packing problems? This should help!

Not just that, but I found a quote from Anthony Bourdain, which really stuck with me and I'm finding that I want to follow his advice.

If you're 22, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel - as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them- wherever you go.

So, I encourage everyone to do this! Even if you're not 22, go travel, it's good for the soul!

Love,

Sara :)

NYC Day 5

I am currently laying on my bed (with a new bedspread and now green walls!) back in my hometown/parents' house. After spending five days in New York, I have been reminded about how much I want to travel, not just the world, but also the USA, which I still have much of to explore. Needless to say, we got home safely.
Anywho, our last day in New York was a bit slower but still just as much fun. We got up a bit earlier than normal in order to get in line at the SONY Wonder Technology Lab. We ended up getting in without a problem, even though they do say that you are supposed to call over a week in advance, it seems like most people who lined up in the morning at least today. The pictures below are from the Lab, it was really neat and I do highly recommend it to anyone interested in computers, digital art/media, robots, even digital surgery! All of these and more were shown here at the SONY Wonder Technology Lab.

We spent a few hours at the Lab, and had a great time there! We had a video of a 'news broadcast' we did, but unfortunately my recording on my phone of a playback of our recording is less than stellar :(. So no videos here today, maybe when I better figure out my videos...
After the Lab, we headed back to Central Park, following a craving for those delicious Belgian Waffles before we left New York for home. We did, and they were delicious, and I took a picture of the stand so that I could pass on the goodness to those of you who have not had the wonderfulness of a Belgian Waffles from a Waffles&Dingys stand (this one located by Central Park). Anyone who goes to New York should seek out one of these stands, it's worth the calories I'm sure come with these.
Speaking of which, something interesting that I noticed in New York was that many restaurants and cafes put a helpful number next to their dishes indicating the number of calories. I do believe that I have seen this before in London, but never in the States to my recollection. Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to be a new thing that could really catch on!

Shoot! I'm forgetting my new timezone, so this is a bit late to have it on Friday, but that's when we had our last day in New York. I will get back into it in a bit. I have a fashion post coming up (an "If Only..." that is) and hopefully some food ones within the next few months!

I also want it to be known that I have been listening to music, in fact, I am currently listening to Ben Folds!

Love,

Sara :)

NYC Day 4

The fourth day of our New York trip was quite busy, and involved lots of pictures being taken and a bit of frustration, and a fair amount of walking (though not quite as much as yesterday I feel). We slept in a bit but then headed to the Rockefeller Center in order to catch a tour bus to take us to the 9/11 Memorial which was on the route. The trip itself was nice, the top four pictures are taken from our view on top of the tour bus. It was so high up that the taller people did have to duck when we came too close to stop lights or signs hanging above the roads.

The pictures below are from the 9/11 Memorial. The memorial itself is almost done, but I think that it will be even more moving when the museum itself is done, which should be 2014. It was a really neat place, although for any who plan on going there, the security is quick but extensive for a free ticket. I would suggest going there. The pictures below are of the pools that have the names around them of those who died and gave their lives on that historic day.

The big drama of the day happened when we tried to come back on the same bus, which was supposed to stop by every 30 minutes, and we waited for over an hour and by the time it got there, they didn't have any room left to take those of us left, so my mom, sister, and I just ended up walking the 50-ish blocks back to the hotel. It was actually a pretty nice walk and I'm glad that we did walk because we got our exercise in for the day that way as well. :)
For dinner, we went to Potbelly, where I got their loaded baked potato soup, and then we headed to the Rockefeller Tower which we climbed at 8:30 pm. The pictures below are of the Rockefeller Building and the view from the top, which was pretty incredible!

I've also come up with the idea of getting a group of friends together this summer and us heading to Chicago and doing some parkour/free running along with our touring, just for fun. Any suggestions for this?
Have a great night friends! It is our last night in NYC :( I will miss the city, but look forward to going home and getting ready for graduation in May.
Love,
Sara :)

Musica Monday

Hey guys,
So it's been crazy around here for the past week and I am feeling terrible about not posting, but that's what tomorrow after class is for :P I plan to get a good post up here tomorrow! You will have to excuse my poor writing skills right now, I'm working on compacting everything....thanks to a 2 page paper that is due tomorrow...that is 2 pages, doubles spaced about women in Ancient Rome. I normally don't complain too much about the length of my papers, however, for this one, I am wishing he had allowed us 3 pages because 2 pages just aren't enough!
Anyways, music this week is from Olly Murs, called 'Troublemaker'. I really enjoy both this song as well as the music video. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do, and yes, I might have pre-ordered his CD coming out later this month (?I believe?). Let me know what you think! And I also wanted to update that I'm thinking of taking a few years off after undergrad (I graduate in MAY!!!! WTF!!!???!) and saving up money before traveling Europe for a while then coming back and possibly grad school otherwise figuring out my life from there :P I'll keep you updated on that plan (may never happen, considering I don't want to travel alone...). Anyways, music!

Love,
Sara :)

If Only....Casually Feeling Cute

Alright, so I happened to stumble upon an online boutique called Mura, and instantly have fallen in love with several of their pieces!! They are at an affordable price...if you live in Australia, which I, sadly, do not :( So, these dresses serve as great examples on my "If Only" theme for these posts!
Mura is a trendy place to buy clothing that is beautiful and not too expensive. Granted, it is again only for women and the dresses tend to be shorter than my father would let me out of the house in, I do find that I like some of these pieces. As they say "make your fairytale come true", and I believe that is part of the fashion of dresses! Here are a few of my very favorite dresses that I would definitely buy if I 1- had the money and 2- was in the same country...damn international shipping!

This first dress is called the Bower Bird dress, and I love both the front and the back. The bright blue color of the dress paired with something simple like a pair of sunglasses, headband or a silver bracelet and light shoes makes for a simple outfit that can still make a statement at the same time. On the other hand, you could also add a brown belt, a hat and head out barefoot (or maybe it's only me who enjoys being barefoot more than wearing shoes :P). It also comes in black if you want a less bright, but still classy and fashionable look!

The second dress is called the Elly Ponti Dress. I prefer the red dress (I must have something with bright colors today!), but it also comes in a very pretty black. If I were to buy this dress I would get the black just because it would be used for more formal events. This dress is again one that would be easy to dress up, and it wouldn't take much if you didn't want it to; a simple necklace and/or bracelet and earrings would work just find, along with heels or flats.

This third dress is one that normally I wouldn't pick out, yet I'm not sure if it's because of the model or the name or what but I really like it here! It's called the Strawberry Milkshake Dress (gotta love that name, I got a dress from modcloth a while back that was called something about Chocolate Milk!), and I think it is adorable! The reason why I wouldn't normally go for it is because it has quite a bit of lace and I'm not normally a lacy-type girl. I still can't explain but this dress would be one that I would seriously consider purchasing! Adding a belt (like the photo...), and some brown shoes and this is a great summertime dress!

Alright, that's what I have time for today! What are some other places you guys have heard of that are over seas? Would you travel to another country for a dress you fell in love with? Solutions? Help? :P
I hope you have a wonderful week! I'm almost done with finals, so I know that after Tuesday my life will become a thousand times less stressful, at least for a few weeks!
Happy Sunday (at 2 am!)!
Love,
Sara :)

Climbing Update

Hey guys!
So I haven't had one of these climbing update in a while, so I figured I should even though I haven't been climbing nearly as much as I would have liked lately. I did finally get belay certified here at Olaf, which is pretty awesome!! Now, when my friend (who is also certified) and I want to climb we don't have to wait for a worker to belay us because we can now do it ourselves! :D This is super exciting because it means more climbing time for us as well as meaning that we don't have to worry about how busy the wall is at the time, as long as there is a rope open and we can try and climb.
Sadly, because I have not been climbing regularly for the past month because of school and break, I do feel I bit like a newbie because I find some of the routes that were much easier last semester and even last month to be really difficult right now. This makes me sad and as such I hope to start climbing more often, making it regular like once or twice a week!
I also have added something to my Bucket List that has to do with climbing. I was watching an old episode of the Amazing Race when one of the tasks that groups could do was either white-water rapids or rick climb 60 feet in Chile. I have now decided that I want to go rock climbing in Chile at some point after college. I looked on YouTube and I mean seriously, does this not look like fun?! Haha

Alright all, I hope that you are having a wonderful start to your weekend! You should really look at some of the things out there and try something new! I know that I repeat this over and over again, but trying something new can lead to wonderful consequences and you can learn a lot about yourself and the people around you! So, I leave you with the infamous words of a crazy but creative teacher I used to know from television:

"Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!" -Ms Frizzle

Thanks for reading all!

Love,

Sara :)