Kicking Off Summer at Milly & Grace

For the very first time since my sister opened up her cute store, Milly & Grace, four summers ago, I am going to be in Nantucket for the kick off of the summer season! She opens the store back up every year on Nantucket’s Annual Daffodil Weekend, and high school has kept me from being there the past three years. Luckily, this year Pepperdine’s summer begins just in time! I took my last final yesterday, my room was packed up and I moved out last night, and my dad and I are on about to board the plane to Nantucket this morning!

Daffodil Weekend is always a pretty big deal on Nantucket, with costumes and parades, and of course lots of daffodils…so I can’t wait to experience it all and be a part of the festivities. I know it will be the perfect kick off to my summer!

Here are some pictures from the past three years of Milly & Grace’s Opening Days on Daffodil Weekend:

Daffy 5

Daffy 1

Daffy 2

Daffy 4

I can’t wait to get there! If you’re on Nantucket, be sure to stop my Milly & Grace!

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Freshman Year of College – Check!

553074_10151227362389135_1264075186_nI just finished my last final of the semester…and that means I am officially done with my freshman year of college! (WHAT?!) I can’t even believe I am writing these words right now. It seems like only yesterday I was moving everything into my dorm room, raising my bed, unpacking my suitcases, and meeting Hannah and Natalie for the first time. And here I am, today, packing up my suitcases, moving out of my dorm room, and saying goodbye to Hannah, Natalie, and my other friends I have made over the year.

My first year of college went better than I could have ever expected. I had some of the best professors (I’m convinced) in the world and I really have learned so much. I thought I wouldn’t like having to live with someone in such a small room, and now at the end of the year I am a bit sad I won’t have Hannah with me in my room for the next four months! And I changed in some ways a bit and in some ways quite big. I used to hate having cereal at home (just wasn’t my favorite), but now it’s surprisingly a meal of choice. I admit I didn’t used to make my bed every morning when I lived at home (sorry Mom!), but I have made my bed every morning in college. I used to be a maniac about studying and grades, and now while grades are still very important to me, I understand that there are more important things in life to cherish. And that is my family and friends and making memories. Because that is what I will look back on ten years down the road when I think of my freshman year of college – not the grade I got on a particular final exam. And I know without enrolling in Tom Shadyac’s class during this Freshman Year, I would still be acting as if my academics were more of a priority than my family and friends were, even though I believed the opposite. That one shift in how I live my life has totally changed me into a much happier and less-stressed-out person. I am so happy and grateful for that and everything else that I have experienced in my first year of college.

Even though leaving this gorgeous view and my sweet friends is tough, I am so ready for a few months without studying, without tests, and without papers. I am so ready to see my family. I am so ready to see Colin. I am so ready to see my friends from Georgia. I am so ready to get to work at Milly & Grace! I am so ready for non-caf food. I am so ready for my own shower. I am so ready for my bed. I am so ready to read books on my “to read” list. I am just so ready for summer! And it is here!!

The Little Things

I have been feeling a bit under the weather (right on time for finals week). So, I thought I would bring The Little Things to you early this week, mainly because I need to remind myself of the happy things when I just feel like staying under the covers all day.

It’s the little things in life like…

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(Photo Credit)

Eating a clementine and finding no seeds (I need every bit of vitamin C I can get!)

Putting on my cozy slippers

When I feel like I kicked a final’s butt

A quick meeting with my big and her sister…they always brighten up my day

When my mom texts me the number of sleeps we have left until we are together (Is it really only 2?!)

…that make me smile just a little bit brighter!