4 Simple Goals.

A few days ago when reading Lauren From Texas' blog,

I got inspired to make Four Simple Goals for myself.

These Four Simple Goals aren't supposed to be overly complicated or taxing.

They are just simple ways that will help to enrich your life.

Sounds good to me.

1. Make my health a priority. I usually try to watch what I eat and I was hoping to be a little more active this summer, but without the use of my school's gym (I couldn't afford the summer membership) it was a little more challenging than I was expecting. But come fall, I'll have a free membership again. A lot of times when I have a busy day or when I'm feeling lazy, working out and or eating healthy is the first thing I toss aside. So I'm making it a goal to treat working out like it's a priority, not an option. Really, I'd feel so much better.

2. Laundry. Y'all don't judge me. I'm awful at doing laundry on a consistent basis. 

I want to pick one day a week where I do laundry 

so that I don't have to spend my mornings getting dressed in a heap of frustration.

 Really, life would be so simple. 

3. Keep my home cozy and clean. I'm a pretty clean person, but sometimes when I let just a few things go, before I know it my room looks like a tornado has hit. So I'm making it a goal to clean as I go and maintain my organization from the start, so that it's less work and less frustrating in the long run. 

Really, life would be so simple.

4. Wash my face every night. Y'all dont judge me. This is one of those things that I too often blow off before bed because I'm too tired. But when I AM consistent about it, I notice such a difference. 

Really, I'd feel so much better.

What are your simple goals?

-C

Pardon.

Hi Everyone.

Pardon my lack of posting these past couple of days.

Life is chaos.

I'm gettin' it together.

I shall return tomorrow with news and lots of good stuff.

See you all then <3

-C

This weekend...

I wish I was headed to the beach...

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to relaxation right here in Cincinnati.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend <3

-C

I'm cheap, ok?

As the move in date for my new apartment gets closer and closer 

 my mind spins more and more as to what I will do with my bedroom.

I'll be living with other ladies in the house, so while I know we're all excited about the whole apartment,

I'm mostly focusing on how I will decorate my bedroom since the rest of the decisions are ones we'll have to be making together. So! Without further ado, allow me to tell you my thought process.

I love all kinds of rooms. 

The only kind of decor that I can't really get with is the kind that's gawdy or super traditional decor that makes you feel like you can't touch anything. 

I like my environment to feel the opposite of pretentious. 

Clean, relaxing and cozy. 

I like the juxtaposition of putting old with new. I don't like things to match too much, so I never really buy "sets" of any sort, but rather just look for items that complement each other. 

Also, I'm a cheapskate. I don't like to spend a ton of money on fancy furniture sites because I am a firm believer in doing things yourself and I love to bargain hunt! It's part of the thrill for me.

When I started brainstorming ideas for my bedroom, I was so overwhelmed by all of the things I wanted to do! In living rooms and other areas, I definitely feel more inclined to take some risks and be a little more bold. While I found plenty of inspiration for bedrooms that fit this criteria, I couldn't quite picture myself sleeping in a room with an electric blue wall or anything too jarring. 

I actually kept being attracted to a lot of white, simple, serene rooms, like the following:

I kind of love the idea of my bed being like a big cloud.

Forgive me, I have no idea where I got any of these pictures anymore because I've been compiling them into a folder on my computer. Wooops.

I've always preferred neutral palettes because I like to switch out pillows, throws, and other textiles depending on the season. I love the airy feeling of a big white duvet but if you throw on a few textured, cozy pillows and a warm blanket at the end of the bed, suddenly it feels like a little winter retreat.

I don't like commitment, so this sort of style works well with me, you see.

My other current obsession is upholstered headboards with nailhead trim.

These are both from Restoration Hardware. AKA wayyyy out of budget. 

LUCKILY, I've found a bunch of awesome tutorials for DIY headboards just like this one. 

Here's one DIY headboard from Casa Sugar:

The original inspiration for her headboard was one from Urban Outfitters. It was actually a pretty good deal ($328.00) compared to most of the other super pricy options from Restoration Hardware that I posted which run you from about $2000, but she made hers herself for a mere $63.00! 

Upholstering your own headboard is actually a super easy DIY project, so don't be intimidated :)

Anyway, those are the thoughts floundering in my head. 

I'll keep y'all updated as the days go on and as I gather more items. 

Hope y'all are all having a good day <3

-C

For Everyone.

"For what it's worth...it's never too late, or in my case too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best of it, or the worst of it...I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that stop you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

-Benjamin Button

"There's fear that keeps you alive. And there's fear that keeps you from living. Wisdom is knowing the difference."

The past couple of months, and most of all, the past couple of weeks,

have put a lot into perspective for me.

I used to think that I required a lot more to be satisfied,

but I'm learning that it's really just the bare minimum that matters.

Things that give me peace:

1. A happy, healthy family.

2. Trevor.

3. Being able to afford the basics of what my family and I need.

4. Earl Grey Tea.

5. Smiling kids.

6. Helping someone.

7. Learning something new.

That's pretty much the extent of what I want out of life.

I don't care about having a fancy house or fancy clothes.

Not that I've ever been very materialistic,

but I'm definitely feeling even less so these days.

Of course, being able to spoil myself occasionally feels awesome and I'm sure it always will.

But none of those things matter unless the basics are covered.

So, with this knowledge I've decided to make a little plan for myself.

1) Spend more time with my sister in Baltimore.

2) Spend more time in Texas with my family.

3) Volunteer at Women Helping Women in the fall, a social agency for women and men who are victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking.

4. Plan a trip for next summer (I have a lot of ideas based on my budget--I'll share that in another post)

It's sunk in to me recently that you only get one shot to live life right.

So while I can, I want to do what I can to help other people, and

I want to do what I can to help myself and maintain my own health and happiness.

I found this great article on The Lost Girls site (The Lost Girls are 3 girls in their 20s who left their jobs in NYC, their boyfriends, their apartments, and traveled the world for an entire year.

It's super inspiring and I'm flippin' dieing to read their book)

and it talks about all of the reasons NOT to travel, and why you should forget them.

I hope anyone out there who has the travel bug but is too afraid will let this give them a little nudge :)

Aiight, sorry for sounding terribly trite and sappy, but I is who I is.

Hope y'all have a great day :)

-C

Keep a clear mind.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life lately. These past couple of tumultuous weeks have really opened up my eyes to what's important and what I want to do with my time.

I was reviewing my 25 before 25 list today, and I decided that the one I'm going to focus on right now is volunteering and traveling. I think I know where I want to volunteer and travel to, 

so I'll be sure to write about that once I have more details. 

And now I leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books 

Eat. Pray. Love.

"[My guru] says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you are fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it..."

"Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be."  

— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

I am ridiculously excited for the movie to come out Friday. 
Hope you all see it and read the book!
I found it incredibly inspiring and hopeful.


lovelovelove.


-C

Favorites.

Aloha.

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

I'm only a few weeks away from moving in to my apartment so I've been visiting my favorite design sites for some decorating inspiration.

 Thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you!

 

All images from Apartment Therapy.

Which ones are your favorites? I just love apartment browsing.

Have a good weekend y'all!

-C

Real Simple.

I'm in the midst of preparing to move once again to my apartment for this next school year.

I'm really going to miss living with my current roomie, Jordan 

but I'm also super excited to move into a new apartment. 

Moving, while stressful, is always exciting to me because it means startin' fresh. 

I've purged a LOT of things over the years from moving, 

and I have no doubts that I'll be doing the same thing again in the next couple of weeks. 

Simply put, I love the opportunity to get to reorganize  and redecorate.

My environment is a major  contributing factor to how productive I am, my disposition, etc.

(In fact I'm convinced that once I have my room done up all nice and create a good workspace I'll be the best blogger/student this town has ever seen)

So today while I was at work, I decided to take a little trip to one of my recent obsessions, Real Simple.

Ohhhh my heart.

All of the organizing tips, the DIY decor tutorials, the CHECKLISTS!

Ohhh the checklists.

I was so inspired that I compiled a binder, y'all.

That's right, a binder to help me reorganize my life.

There have been so many changes this past year. 

They've all been great changes so far, but it's been a lot to adjust to 

and I think this new apartment and the new school year and will be a great way

 to get myself situated and accustomed to my new little life path.

Whatever that path may be. Thats a whole other blog entry though, y'all.

But I digress. Back to the binder!

The binder has been divided up into several sections.

Money.

Home.

Entertaining.

Checklists(!)

Holidays (!!!!!!!!)

Food/Recipes.

Yes, I am a college student and I have a life organizational binder with a section titled "Entertaining" and no, there is no mention of a keg anywhere in that section.

Have I mentioned that I'm actually 40 and stuck in a 20 year olds body?

Oy vey.

Anyways. 

To quote the critically acclaimed "High School Musical", this is the start of something new, y'all.

Now if only I could convince myself to start packing my room.

ASG is MIA?

Hey y'all,

I'm sorry to have been such a lost cause in the blogosphere this past week.

The truth is, I have had so much going on between family and money and regular life that by the time I got around to blogging about it, I just didn't feel like contemplating the subject anymore.

Anyways,  I have lots of lessons to share and tidbits to go over here on the blog, and I feel like my brain is clear enough to do so. So look out for regular posts again this week on ASG.

In addition, my little hiatus from the blog got me thinking about how I really want to be more organized with my posting. During the school year, I usually updated every other day, but since summer started I've been pretty sporadic because I don't have a very regimented schedule.

 So heres the lowdown: ASG will have new posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

That's the rule. And when a rule is posted in the blogosphere, that makes it a law, y'all.

So check back on Wednesday for an update on the past week.

For now, I'm going to go nurse my broken heart because once again I've fallen victim to The Bachelorette and it's cruel, cruel ways...

I will always love you Chris.

'Til next time...

-C