Its coming up on my second favorite time of the year...MY BIRTHDAY! (If you're curious, my first favorite time of the year is December, for obvious reasons.) I am turning the big 2-2 and I think I am excited about it? A lot of my friends who have turned 22 have groaned and griped about it because all the excitement of being 21 is gone. For some reason being 22 just sounds a heck of a lot older and a bit scarier because I will enter the "real world" as a 22 year old next January. However I have to say that the best thing about turning 22 is that I am eligible for a new driver's license so I no longer have to show my 16 year-old-excited-to-have-passed-her-drivers-test-but-sweaty-from-being-so-nervous-self around at bars anymore and have the servers/bartenders say "aww, you're just a baby!"

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But turning 21 last year was great because 21, duh. I didn't want a wild 21st birthday like some people do so John just took me out for nice dinner as my birthday is actually on Valentines Day! This year I am still concocting a plan of what to do to celebrate because my birthday falls on a Saturday. I was thinking since this is my first year living in an apartment, that I might have a party on the night before, and then a small dinner on my actual birthday? I have always been one to extend the birthday celebration as long I could...

Since my birthday is two weeks away from tomorrow, I thought I would share a few gifts I had my eye on! 

1. Love Tanya by Tanya Burr & Girl Online by Zoe Sugg // I love watching YouTube and especially Tanya and Zoe's videos because of their awesome beauty tips and product reviews so I want to check out their books!

2. Old Navy Cozy Socks // I got a pair of these for Christmas (with cats on them!) and they are the most comfortable socks! They are so fuzzy and warm...I would love a pair for every day of the week!

3. Tanya Burr Lip Glosses // I would love these colors the most, from left to right they are Chic, Let's Travel the World, and Afternoon Tea! I have read so many good review on these lip glosses and would love to be able to try them!

4. Sephora and Express Giftcards // I love gift cards because its like being handed an hour and someone saying "go shop". Its the gift of an afternoon to just relax and pick out some awesome clothes or beauty products!

5. Plaid Blanket Scarf from Target // I have been dying to get my hands on one of these before it becomes Spring and too late to wear one!

6. Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham & Bossypants by Tina Fey // Both of these ladies are so successful and creative with what they do. They are definitely women I look up to, so I would love to read these books.

Haircuts make me nervous.

I am extremely particular about my hair. I never let it air dry (*everyone rolls eyes*) because I can't stand the way it looks as it gets so frizzy and uneven. I am picky about the way I straighten it or curl it and you bet I am more than picky about how it is cut! 

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After seeking some inspiration on Pinterest, I finally decided that I would have it cut near my collarbone that way I could still manage to easily curl it, but not feel pressure to straighten all the time. I explained to the stylist how I typically wear my hair and the look I was going for, to which she seemed fairly confident that it would look good. I honestly got a little nervous (more than I already was) in the beginning of the appointment during the shampoo/conditioner because a lot of water was going down my back and she was so aggressive when massaging my scalp that her fingers brushed against my eye. I thought she was going to poke an eye out! Once I sat down in the cutting chair, I just crossed my fingers and hoped that her cutting skills were a little more precise than the washing...Fortunately she was awesome and I am happy with my hair (and I still have both eyes)! 

After the cut and guiltily (is that a word?) refusing her product suggestions, I ran home to brush out the blowout she had done. I can't wait to wash it and style it on my own (am I the only person that doesn't love salon blowouts?) I much prefer to blow dry my own hair! It feels so much lighter and healthier though. All in all, I have to say that I am so relieved...I let myself get so worked up about these things, and my mom has to remind me that its just hair and it'll always grow back! I feel like I have an actual style now, and a few people have said it makes me look older... Little do they know its really the stress wrinkles nursing school is giving me and my obsession with my crockpot that is making me look older...

Do haircuts make you nervous or do you have fun with them?

Update: I washed and dried my hair since publishing this post and I don't love it anymore. There a lot of weirdly short layers that are making my hair stick out oddly and even when I straighten it, it doesn't lay right. The more I think about my experience at that salon, the more frustrated I am because the stylist definitely rushed the cut, nearly jabbed me in the eye, got my face so wet while washing that my waterproof eyebrow makeup was cleaned off, gossiped about other workers in the salon while shampooing, repeatedly let out these long exasperated sighs that made me feel like she didn't want to be there/me to be there, and got so distracted while talking to another stylist while spraying heat protectant that she only sprayed one section of my hair and then sprayed me square in the face because she wasn't looking. I think I left the salon trying to be positive and thinking that I would love the cut more once I washed out her blowout, but I think I had a bad experience. I am sorry for these run on sentences, but my frustration is typing for me. Fingers crossed I can learn to hide these awkward layers!

Don't read this post because I talk about the Patriots AND Twilight.

Happy Monday!

Cloudy view from my window this snowy morning! 

I hope your weekend was filled with much needed rest and relaxation, as I know mine was. I know this is still a Monday in January, and for the past three Mondays I have talked about my resolutions, but I think I have my plate full of goals and resolutions for the year...As it is the beginning of a new week, there are many things on my mind and I thought I would share a few. 

Haircut // I woke up Sunday morning with one thought, "I need a haircut". My ends are split and I would love a new style, preferably something trendy and not just the long layers I usually go for. I spent the better part of the morning searching Pinterest for inspiration, which eventually led to YouTube for styling tips for short/medium hairstyles. The search on YouTube eventually led to DIY haircuts, and I had myself convinced I could cut my own hair...Fortunately, I snapped out of thinking I was a hair stylist and I plan to go Tuesday to someone who actually knows what they are doing. 

 Superbowl // If you didn't know, I am a huge Patriots fan and I am so looking forward to watch them kick Seattle's butt on Sunday. I will be sitting front and center on the couch to cheer on my boyfriend, Julian Edelman (I wish), with buffalo chicken dip and a crowd pleasing veggie platter (don't shake your head, everyone secretly loves the veggie platter). My roommates birthday is coming up, so the Superbowl party we are throwing is also her birthday party, and as she is a bigger Pats fan than me, she is more than okay with it! 

True Blood // Started the series this past weekend, and so far I love it. The first few episodes seem to remind me of Twilight, and I am totally not ashamed to say that it makes me like the show even more. I am attempting to minimize how much I watch it on week days though, and just watch it on the weekends so homework and blogging time will not be interrupted!

Workout Clothing // Since I have been exercising almost everyday, I have noticed that my workout gear is subpar. I actually have enough workout pants, but realized the hard way that most of my sports bras have lost their elasticity and my workout top collection is simply nonexistent. I was thinking of looking at Target and TJMaxx for workout gear, so I could keep things on the cheaper side!

What are you thinking about this week?

Winter Break Book List

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One of my biggest goals over winter break was to read. Not read textbooks or research articles or nutrition facts or notes, but actual novels. As I child, I was always reading, and its a hobby that I know I will cherish for the rest of my life. There is nothing like the feeling of being completely immersed into a story, where the characters start to feel familiar like friends and leave their mark on you permanently. I am completely one to be susceptible to a "book hangover", where you spend days or weeks completely enthralled with a book, and feel like your in a grumpy fog when you part ways with the story in the end. I feel almost guilty when I read here at school though because I might as well have a textbook in my hand if I am going to be reading something. 

Almost as much as I love reading, I love reading book reviews and getting book recommendations. Over break, I read a few books off of Jenn's book review page over on Going the Distance (Thanks Jenn!), as well as a few books that came recommended from my mom! Here is what I read and a few thoughts on them:

1. The Husband's Secret // Liane Moriarty

I loved the plot lines in this book, because you know all along that they will converge at some point, but can't quite put your finger on when/how. This book made me question "What would I do in that situation?" multiple times, and while it was sometimes frustrating, it ultimately makes for an interesting reading experience!

2. Big Little Lies // Liane Moriarty 

Out of the two books by Liane Moriarty that I read, this one was definitely better in my opinion. I absolutely love her style of writing, and while it may be classified at chick lit, I think it is fabulously written. The characters are so well developed that I felt like I was watching them speak in front of me. This book caused me major book hangover! 

3. The House Girl // Tara Conklin

 From the description of this book, I didn't think I would like it...Half of the book is told from the perspective of a driven, uptight lawyer, and I feel like I went through a phase of reading books with similar main characters so I was just feeling unenthused about it. I am glad that the back cover description of a book never stopped me from reading it, because I fell in love with this one! I loved the historical fiction side of it, and it is set only about 25 minutes from where I attend school so that's interesting!

4. The Silver Star // Jeannette Walls
I liked this book, but it was very similar to Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle (which is amazing if you haven't read it yet). While she is a great writer, I just felt like she was trying a bit too hard to recreate her success from her memoir, by writing such a similar story.

5. The Interestings // Meg Wolitzer
This book was LONG, but worth it if you aren't expecting something big to happen. If you go into it with the mindset that you are reading multiple characters' life stories, and its not leading up to a huge, explosive, jaw-dropping finish, then this is a good book. However, I saw online that people hated it because they felt that not enough happened. I was content with the story, but understand it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Another one that caused book hangover for me! 

6. Reconstructing Amelia // Kimberly McCreight
Immediately after reading this book, I would have said that it was great. However, now that I am sat down really thinking about it, I didn't love it. It seemed like it was written by someone who had bitterly watched too many episodes of Gossip Girl. After reading reviews online after I finished it, I saw that a lot of people loved the mystery plot line and were hooked by the turns of the book. So if you love mysteries and can deal with a really depressing Gossip Girl-type story, then this might a better read for you than it was for me! 

What books have you read lately? 

New Year's Resolution #3: Become Blog-tastic

Although I still think of my blog as new, it is four months shy of a year. In the beginning, I thought I would have my blog-stuff together by now, and be a writing whiz, along with having super cool picture-taking skills. It has not turned out quite like that, to say the least. Now don't get me wrong, I am pretty proud of the work I have done so far, because it took a lot of courage for me to put my thoughts and ideas out on to the internet, which is far from the safe and nonjudgmental place that is my mind. However, I am someone that believes that there can always be room for improvement and so this year I am setting a few goals for this blog! 

1. Learn how to make a blog button.

2. Reach 60 Bloglovin' followers by the one year anniversary of Me as Meghan.

3. Go on adventures/try new things in order to gain experiences that I can turn into interesting and thoughtful posts 

4. Post at least three times a week

5. Sponsor another blog

6. Host a giveaway

7. Tell my friends about this blog

8. Have a better blog schedule, where I plan out my posts a few weeks in advance

I hope these resolution posts aren't getting old to read, because I really love sharing my goals on here. Knowing that I have shared my goals with others is great motivation for pushing myself to work towards these resolutions. As an example, I wrote last week about how I wanted to get into better shape and feed myself well, among other things. This past week I have worked out 6 out of 7 days and I feel amazing (but sore)! I feel a whole new sense of inspiration growing in me and I am starting to feel like I can conquer anything this year. It is a feeling that I wish I could bottle up and share with you all, but we have yet to discover how to capture and send emotion in bottles, so I will just have to stick to sharing it with you through words! 

Happy Monday, and I hope you all have a great week! 

What are some of your blogging goals for 2015?

New Year's Resoution #2: Building a Better Me

Here is resolution #2 in my Monday series on what I am doing differently this year! If you missed last week's resolution, click here!

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Last semester really kicked my butt. I was burning the candle at both ends. I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted (hello, pumpkin muffins from Dunkin Donuts!). I was studying all the time so I was sedentary for what felt like 95% of my day. I was guilty of negative self-talk. I just wasn't focused on taking care of myself whatsoever. While I was really successful in school, I was limiting my own physical well-being. In my nursing classes, we are always talking about how major disease processes are brought on by poor diet, sedentary lifestyles, stress and other negative influences. I don't want to find myself falling into these diseases and I need to instill better lifestyle habits in my routine. Here are some additions to my routine that I will be working on this year: 

1. Eating better. Pizza for lunch and trips to the all you can eat dining hall will be minimized this year, for sure. More time and money will be spent on food that will make my body feel energized and healthy. I got a crock-pot last week and I have been obsessively looking up healthy recipes that I can make in it!

2. Drinking more water. More water = better skin, more energy, cleaner body!

3. Exercise. I want to be able to run with my mom this summer! She is an avid runner and I would like to work up to her speed. Right now, I am doing T25 to get back in a bit of shape all over before I start to run in the spring! I have heard a few good reviews about the Couch to 5K app...has anyone used it before, and if so, what did you think?

4. More sleep. Nothing good comes out of not getting a good nights rest. If I don't get much sleep, the next day I am exhausted, cranky, craving carbs, and unfocused. I would ideally like to get between 7.5 and 8 hours a night! 

5. Cleaner space. I have a tendency to be a bit messy, but I am hoping that if I follow the "organized space, organized mind" saying, I might be more successful in keeping my space tidy. I feel as though a disorganization space probably contributes to stress, so anything I can do to get rid of stress is a good thing!

6. Dedication to skin care routine. My skin is extremely temperamental...If I go one day without scrubbing/cleansing/moisturizing in the morning and at night, I break out all over my face for days. During the last few weeks of Fall semester, I found that my stress level and lack of adherence to my skin routine left me with horrible breakouts that took until the end of winter break to clear up. Must stuck to routine...no excuses!

7. Positive self-talk. I don't care if you are making resolutions or not, I think everyone needs to work on being self-encouraging! While scrolling through Twitter/Facebook throughout the day, I find that people can be so negative about themselves and their lives. I hate when I let myself fall into the traps of negative self-talk! This year I will encourage myself and say "I can"!

Did you have any resolutions similar to these? Let me know how they are going!

New Year's Resolution #1: Saying Yes

Happy New Year! 

To kick off blogging in 2015, I thought I would do a little Monday series on resolutions for the month of January. I know that making grand resolutions might be a typical blogger thing, but I haven't really made resolutions in the past for fear of letting myself down when I inevitably don't succeed. I know that sounds harsh and I hate that I never gave myself more credit before. However, 2014 really changed my perspective and my self-esteem. I accomplished a year of nursing school, I learned a ton at my summer job in a hospital, and I started this blog, just to name a few things that I didn't fail at. 2014 allowed a new confidence to blossom within me and taught me that failure is not always inevitable. I hadn't a single expectation for 2014, and I am surprised to have seen where I have been in the past year. I want to continue this path in 2015, but with expectations and goals so I can remain driven and focused. 

Along these lines, I want saying yes to be my first resolution shared. I have a bad tendency to shy away from new opportunities as I am worried about failing or even of what others might think of me. I don't know why this fear has always lived inside of me, but I think it is time for it to be squashed. I have realized that I don't like saying no all the time and I want to see/do more, and to do that, I need to say yes more. Now I am not planning on pulling a Jim Carrey in Yes Man by saying yes to every single thing that comes my way, but you get the picture.
Not only do I want to say yes to the opportunities that come my way, but I want to take it a step further and create those opportunities for myself. This is going to be a big year for me as I will graduate in December, and it will come with many massive life changes and transitions and I need to be well-prepared to handle those. I need to study hard and eventually job seek, while cherishing time with friends who I won't see all the time after graduation. I resolve to making more time to go on that coffee date with that friend and to enjoy the college time that I have left. I resolve to balance that time with preparing for the future and what ever it may bring to me.

I resolve to YES.

Are you making any resolutions this year?