Category: Life outside work

Snowboarding Trip 2017

by Olivia

To start 2017 on a good note my family and I took a trip two hours north to JackFrost for a Skiing/Snowboarding trip. Typically we spend a week up north but due to the chaos of life, we decided just to take a day out of winter break to take a mini trip. I have been a skier a majority of my life but I recently switched to snowboarding which has been more than aggravating to pick up. Each trip I get better and better but I am definitely no Shaun White. With that being said, a lot of the trip I spent on my bum. My brother, on the other hand, picked snowboarding up with ease and I’ll  never understand how he did it. Below I captured pictures on and off the ski lift!

13 Years of Friendship: Mother Daughter 2016

by Olivia

As odd as it may sound, kindergarten doesn’t seem that long ago. It feels like just last year I was facing, what I thought to be major milestones in my life. Moving on from elementary school to middle school felt life changing. Going through relationships and break-ups felt melancholy and sour. Losing friends and making new ones felt eye opening and bittersweet. Growing up every little thing was a milestone. Although now I know minor things in life aren’t milestones, I am so fortunate to have my Mom and friends to face even the smallest of milestones with. That’s why our 13-year long annual Mother Daughter is a special event for me.

Mother Daughter is a celebratory event for my friends and I. We get to not only enjoy our day with our Mom’s but with each other. I remember how it started, tea at American Girl Doll. The ultimate 5-year-olds dream. We all dressed up in our “fancy coats” and attended the tea party not only with each other but with our look-alike dolls (and yes they recieved their own chairs). From then we matured slightly each year seeing the Nutcracker, The Rockettes, or other shows. We always either started or ended our Mother- Daughter with a meal altogether, my favorite time to spend time with my friends, my Mom, and my second Moms.

Our final year before we all part ways was something different and special. Through the course of a 13-year friendship, there were rough patches. A once large friendship split up into smaller groups and I knew this was part of growing up. At the end of the day, we were always there for each other and loved each other. This past summer began our senior year journey, we all picked up right where we left off leaving any bitterness behind. Today, I couldn’t be happier to be finishing high school with the same girls I started elementary school with.

For the past 13 year’s Mother-Daughter has allowed me to strengthen my love and friendships with my best friends, their Mom’s and my own Mom. My friends have traveled through my biggest and smallest “milestones” with me for the past 13 years. Each year we celebrate Mother-Daughter to highlight the bonds we have created with each other and enjoy a piece of the holidays altogether. If you think this was sappy just wait for my graduation post. Have a Merry Christmas!

xx Liv

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Apple of my Eye

by Olivia

In between all the chaos of applying to colleges there has to be moments of sweet serenity. A trip 10 minutes from home to a pumpkin patch and orchard can be just that calming vibe we all need sometimes. To some fall is the most exciting season of them all, leaves transform to vibrant colors as then they soon fade to shades of brown. The season of an almost otherworldly beauty, superior to all other seasons. It truly doesn’t get better than New Jersey fall weather. It was like a turn of a light switch, suddenly it went from summer to fall. I’m not one to complain, no more chemical smelling sunscreen and a not so cute glow of sunburn across my face.

Today was filled with only smiles and laughs, the best way to know you had a good day. I wish I highlighted the funniest moment in a video but unfortunately our camera’s were late to capturing the moment. My friend Jess flew back in one of those wagons you put pumpkins in, Jessie got a wet bum and attacked by apples when the wagon flipped. A moment we all exploded with immense laughter. Later on we all looked like we took part in a circus act trying to balance on pumpkins for just that perfect shot. Luckily no broken bones have been reported.

Drizzles of rain cut our trip short so we headed over to Delicious Orchards a little family owned farm and country food market to warm up with apple cider. A successful day.

P.S- I applied to college today! Time to play the waiting game…

What’s your favorite college memory?

The Subway Ride…

by Olivia

It’s finally fall and although many people are trying to hold onto summer as long as they can, I cannot wait for the crisp air to finally kick in. My weekend consisted of confusion, laughs and tears. It was definitely a memorable occasion. My friend and I traveled to New York City which is just a train ride away, once there we took the E subway to Spring Street, walked around and shopped. At around 5:15 we were planning on taking the C subway uptown to w. 72nd street but of course the C subway wasn’t working. So our plan of action changed and unfortunately what we thought would get us to w. 72nd street actually brought us to 68th street in Queens. With panic in our chests and confusion in our heads we quickly talked to our parents and they directed us uptown on the R subway to 34th Street (Times Square) there we took the red line to our final destination. It felt good to take a deep breath and get out of Queens.

We went on this mini trip to meet Amber Fillerup, one of the most popular bloggers on the internet. If you keep up with fashion & lifestyle blogs you’ve probably heard of her. She’s the most adorable, sweet blondie with the cutest family. Meeting her was so important for me, she inspired me to take the plunge in making a website.

Fortunately through out the entire trip laughter filled the air. I mean c’mon you can’t go to city and something not happen! Ambers meet and greet was held at the end of the pier right near Pier 1 Cafe. Pier 1 Cafe is the cutest outside restaurant located right next to the water. The skyline is directly in front and behind you, the food was definitely a 10 too! Overall the day was a success, through each hurdle we settled with laugher and the thought of kinda sorta almost being where we wanted to be. A day started and ended with laughter is a good day.

Amber Fillerup// http://www.barefootblonde.com

Pier 1 Cafe// http://piericafe.com 

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How to plan the right way!

by Olivia

 

My personal tips for planning, the right way!

1. Try and keep your planner in your bag, car or anywhere else you can find most your items. This way it’s right at your finger tips and you don’t have to worry about loosing it!

2. As soon as something comes up, right it down asap! This way it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other! 

3. Color code! If you color code and have one color for one thing and another for another you can quickly distinguish what type of events are going on in that particular day! 

4. Don’t forget to not only add an event under the date but to add the time. You don’t want to be late! 

5. Leave room in each space, you never know what last minute plans could come up! 

6. Is something happening 6 months from now? Write it down before you forget! 

7. Prioritize! No matter what each week I like to have one day of rest with a blank space under the date. 

8.  Give yourself enough time between things so you’re not running around and stressing! 

9. Don’t over plan!

10. Be organized but not crazy! One of my biggest issues is trying to plan out every second of my life so with that being said, I need to take my own advice and live a little bit more in the moment. 

****** I used August to show a full month of planning, September is not over therefore it’s not completed.****

My planner is from Target from the brand “Sugar Paper.” (click the pink to be brought to the website)