Post-Christmas Blues

After a wonderful few days of Christmas I woke up this morning with a massive headache/migraine and this sensation in my belly that I couldn't tell if it was hunger or nausea. So I took some mess, went back to bed for a while and have been catching up on some YouTube videos for a while. I'm going to use this sick day as an opportunity to catch up on some posts I've been ruminating on and to just relax and take it easy.  

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

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A Few of My Favorite Things

Today I will be posting DIY videos, tutorials, and all kinds of goodies I've found on the Internet lately that have inspired me. Basically there are going to be a lot of YouTube videos and Lauren Conrad/The Beauty Department tutorials.

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Book Trailer for "Zoe Thanatos"

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On her 25th birthday Zoe Thanatos is ready to end her short and unhappy life by jumping off a cliff into the Pacific. But her plans irrevocably change when a stranger intervenes, preventing her death while seemingly cheating his own. She demands answers but unearths a whole new world of questions when her savior confesses his true identity, and leads her down a path of discovery that reveals truths about the life she was meant to live.
Available now on Amazon Kindle.

A Love For Jewel(Mint)

 I don't recall when I first heard of JewelMint but it has taken me a while to join the subscription box service trend. While I love finding great things to put in my apartment to make it look and feel more beautiful, I also love to do the same for myself on occasion. This is where JewelMint has been stylishly helpful.

My JewelMint collection. Click for bigger image.

My little collection is growing and while it looks like a lot, only two items were purchased at full price. The rest were purchased from private sellers at a discounted rate (and with birthday money, no less). In any event, I am loving each piece. There is something really special about wearing pretty jewelry and feeling pretty, even while doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping. Jeffrey doesn't seem to mind, either. In fact he is helpful and tells me if the Hayden necklace doesn't go with my blouse but the Love Spell does. His involvement makes it so much more worth it!
 As of now I don't have any plans to purchase more. I'm still waiting on the Madame Mystery earrings to arrive in the mail (along with some other birthday purchases).

Hello, 29

It's difficult for me to realize that as of today I am now 29 years old. The number just sounds so much more significant than I feel I am age-wise. Next year there will be a new number before my age and with it a new and different chapter of my life. It is a bit strange because when I was younger I could not see my life past the age of 21. Strangely enough my life improved vastly in my early- to mid-twenties and I began to make plans for everything I wanted to do before I reached 30. Now that I'm exactly one year away from 30 I realize some goals just aren't going to happen. And that's not really a bad thing.

When Jeff and I first became serious I told him the goals I had - things like having my first child or at least being pregnant by the time I'm 30. But at that time I never imagined I would be in graduate school and living almost completely independently with Jeff. I see now that some goals will have to be pushed back because other events that have only just begun have changed my immediate priorities.

The goals that I once had are still my goals, they just aren't as immediate. Right now my focus is on continuing in graduate school and identifying a potential career. In some ways life is slower but more busy and intense. If that makes any sense. The one important thing to keep in mind is that just because you set an ideal goal for yourself that doesn't mean that you can't push it back until later if other, more important things appear in the interim.

I don't know if I will ever feel my age. I was raised around adults and always got along better with people who were much older than me. I was a bit older than the other students in undergrad, especially in the dorms. Right now I feel as though I am in the company of similarly-aged students in my graduate program but I don't really know them all. What I suppose I'm trying to say is that my age has always been different from the age I feel I am. I feel much younger than I perceive 29 to be. I certainly look younger than 29 (when I compare myself to others who are my age). I'm sure in a few years I will be absolutely delighted to look younger than my current age. In the meantime I should just enjoy feeling the way I do and not worry about what a number means.

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Apartment 54

I'm really excited to begin a great new project for the new year. My life took a radical shift four months ago and it was all for the better. I moved away from my family and began a new life in a new city... accompanied by the love of my life, Jeff. Things have been going great and we have adjusted well to being detached from our families. New challenges have appeared and one of the biggest is living in my own (rented) space (with Jeff). We both have a lot of dreams for how we want to make our home reflect the blending of our lives. However, living off of our financial aid (we are both grad students) is challenging and doesn't leave a lot of room for a decorating budget. We are both trying to find creative ways to make our home look great and feel wonderful. That is what this blog is all about. Welcome to our home, Apartment 54.