Saturday, June 29, 2013

Forget Not...


This week has been busy, busy as I've been helping a friend move from Traverse City, Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia. Between traveling, shopping, constructing furniture, and overall just running around, I often lose track of the little things that I'm grateful for. The simple things in life like best friends, new adventures and having time to help out the people I care about.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Adulting Review

I recently finished the book Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown. I heard about this book, which is actually based off a blog with the same name, through my friend Sam.

I should start off by saying I was a little self conscious about reading this book in public. The title definitely makes it come across as a "self help" type of thing that people could easily judge you for. I envisioned lots of, "Look at that girl, who needs to read about how to be an adult? Is she really failing at life that much?" Then I realized it didn't matter, in fact there's a part in the book that talks about how no one actually pays that much attention to you or as Kelly so greatly put it, "You are not a special snowflake."


The book has a lot to say, but is a quick and easy way to help you with the struggles that everyone faces when you're on your own and have to do things for yourself. Some of the stuff is basic and maybe a little unnecessary for most people, but there's also lots of great points you may find useful. The book is broken up into sections such as Cooking, Money, Family, Friends and Neighbors, Love, Jobs, Housing, Maintenance, and a Fake It Till You Make It part (I hope I'm not forgetting anything). I think this book is a must read for anyone who is graduated college, has graduated, living on their own, in their mid twenties, or just wants to get advice on how to better organize or view their life. Even though I've already read the book, I plan on buying a copy for myself. I really felt the urge to highlight or bookmark different steps throughout the book that could be useful to remember as well as steps I could use at a future date, like when I move out.

Having adult responsibilities and making adult decisions can be difficult and no one is going to get it right all the time. It's nice to have a book remind you that you should clean your house once a week, check the oil in your car, and to always send Thank You notes.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

June 2013 Playlist

Some music I've been listening to and loving this month.


  1. High Society by Betty Who
  2. Chocolate by The 1975
  3. Bad Blood by Bastille
  4. Bottom Of The River by Delta Rae
  5. The Lonely Life by City and Colour
  6. When I Was Younger by Liz Lawrence
  7. Snowship by Benjamin Francis Leftwich
  8. You Can Be All Kinds Of Emotional by The Lone Bellow
  9. Clouds by A Firm Handshake
  10. If I Loved You by Delta Rae
  11. Things We Lost In The Fire by Bastille
  12. We Are 1980 by Said The Whale
  13. Gone by Olivia Broadfield
  14. Tree To Grow by The Lone Bellow
  15. Of Space And Time by City and Colour
  16. Belong by Carter Brothers
  17. Sex by The 1975
  18. Pompeii by Bastille
  19. Somebody Loves You by Betty Who
  20. Dance In The Graveyard by Delta Rae
*And as a special mention because I didn't think it really fit in with the other songs Top Rated by Icona Pop.


I found a lot of these songs through The Vampire Diaries (yes, I shamelessly watch this), so whoever runs the music for that show has excellent taste. That and some stuff my friend has sent me. I hope you all enjoy these songs as much as I have.

-S

Monday, June 17, 2013

Books, Books, and More Books

I know I've mentioned books before on here and given some reviews but I have really gotten back into reading and buying books lately with all my free time. I recently finished Looking for Alaska by John Green...


 and listening to the audiobook of Divergent by Veronica Roth.


I knew from how many good things I've heard about both of these books that they wouldn't let me down and they really didn't. First of all, if you haven't heard of either of these books (where have you been?) look them up. (PS. There might be some spoilers in the next review section)

Looking for Alaska is about a boy named Miles Halter who decides to go to boarding school in seek of "a great perhaps" and ends up having his life turned upside down after becoming best friends with his roommate and a girl named Alaska. The book really took me by surprise because the whole time I was reading the first "Before" part I kept thinking the event that it was before would be something else. And then the thing that happens, (so vague lol) happened and I just couldn't stop crying. I just sat there clearly emotionally compromised by this story and characters I had started loving so much. I know there are adult books that conquer life's big questions and delve into the depth of our purpose as humans, but I swear nothing answers or addresses these questions in quite the same way as Young Adult books do. John Green does an excellent job at making you think about your life and your perspectives, and it made me want to keep reading and learning in a way I haven't been motivated to for a long time. Much like The Fault in Our Stars, this book is definitely worth all the praise it has gotten and I would recommend it to anyone at any age.

Divergent follows the life of Beatrice "Tris" Prior who is forced to choose between the life she has known and the life she is better suited for. Set in a dystopian society where people are separated by the values they hold but can no longer function as a way of keeping the peace, Tris has a dangerous secret that could be the key to her survival and that of those she loves. I think what really stood out to me about Divergent was that it didn't center around a love triangle. Having a love story that exists only between two people was a nice breathe of fresh air. Now I can't wait to read Insurgent, the not yet released Allegiant, and to see the movie when it eventual comes out. Hopefully the story continues to be good. The only thing I would say was an advantage to listening to this on audiobook was that I think it would have taken me longer to get into the story. The beginning seemed like it was kind of slow, but it definitely made up for it at the end.

Much more book geekyness to come in the future. I've put myself on a book buying ban recently because I currently own way too many books that I have not yet read. If you want to know more about the books I want to read or the books I'm reading you can check out my Goodreads account and friend me on there.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

I need to remind myself...

to smile,

to breathe,

that I have time,

not to worry,

that eventually something will work out,

that things won't always be this way,

that storms pass and the sun will shine.

-S

Friday, June 7, 2013

Trying to Keep Myself Busy

Unfortunately, I am still not working so I have had lots of time on my hands lately. Even though I don't particularly like my current situation, I often try to remind myself to look at all the positives. I don't have to wake up early (even though I typically try to), I don't have to be indoors on nice days, I can go hang out in coffee shops all day, I can workout whenever I want, I can catch up on all the TV shows I'm behind on, and lastly I can read all the books I want. Sure, there's lots of good things about not having a job but it also gets boring and stressful, and I'm definitely sick of feeling like I'm doing nothing with my life.

Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about with this post was how I went for another run today! I just keep reminding myself of the Disney Princess Half Marathon (well that and my friend won't let me forget about it). Going to Disney World and running in a tutu is definitely a good way to get me off my ass and out on the trails. I'm very lucky to live extremely close to some of the major trails in Traverse City, so I never have to worry about driving to a good running or biking location.

Today I decided to switch it up and run away from the water and downtown. It ended up being a great decision because I didn't have to worry about crossing many busy roads or maneuvering around the construction by the Marina. I did another interval workout using the RunKeeper app. The warmup was 5 minutes of walking and then 1 minute of running followed by 2 minutes of walking and finishing up with another 5 minutes of cool down walking. Running didn't feel completely awful, although I still feel like I'm not as relaxed as I used to be during my running intervals (maybe that's a good thing?) I am getting faster though, which is exciting. I just hope that I'm not increasing my pace too much too soon. I definitely don't want to exacerbate any old injuries.

Overall I managed to do 2.8 miles (minus walking to the start of the trail and back) in 43 minutes. I would like to at least start finishing 3 miles by the time I finish the 40 minute interval session (which I'm sure will be easier to do when I increase the length of the running intervals).

Now I'm off to try and be a little productive today, then later I'm going to a cookout for my friend's birthday. Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

-S