life update.

Hellooooo internet!

Long time no blog. I’m sure my mom is the only one who has noticed, but I haven’t posted on here since December. I think that’s mostly due to the fact that today at 1:34, is the first time since Christmas break that I’ve even been able to think about writing something longer than an instagram caption to share with the world.

But alas, here I am. And it is summer. A time I never thought would come. And life is GOOD.

I’ve seen a lot of people posting life updates, and since I love reading about other people’s lives so much, I thought I’d do a little life update myself. Where to begin?!

A lot has happened since December, so I guess I’ll start around there. In January, I started my second semester of junior year (so I thought). I had signed up for four classes (12 hours) and thought I was about to coast through the rest of my college career. That is until, I met with my advisor and she informed that I was only 7 hours away from graduating.

My response: “OH….. Cool. Great. Awesome! But what does that mean?”

So we then formulated a plan to where I would increase my course load by one more class this spring, take 2 summer courses, and then finish up strong this December (2018 like as in this year… omg).

So I’m thinking, “Okay, one more class. Won’t be bad. Easy right?”

Ha. Not. I ended up starting my senior capstone course a week late and a semester unprepared. It’s fine!

I was feeling good about school and pretty motivated.

At this point, I also still work at Chandler Real Estate for those who don’t know! Me and my roommate, Kate, are both receptionists there. I’ve worked there for about 2 years now. Everyone there is super flexible with me and Kate and I’ve never had any stress with working around my class schedule. Kate and I split the week so we both have some time off.

With this in mind, I think to myself, it might be a good idea to apply for some summer internships now that I have to enter the real world and get a big girl job in less than a year. So, I began applying to various summer internships and sending my resume just about anywhere and everywhere.

Right before spring break, I interviewed to be the community relations and marketing intern for the Bowling Green Hot Rods. I was so excited and I ended up being offered the job at the end of my interview. There was only one hiccup, they wanted me to start in March. At the time, it was no big deal because I still had a few days off from my other job and my job responsibilities mostly included working games at night so I thought it was doable. I said “I’ll take it!”

Side note: I’m the most unathletic/unknowledgable sports person in the world so you can imagine the irony of me working for a professional baseball team.

However, the very next day, I got the news that my sidekick was leaving her duties as CRE receptionist to become a leasing agent at Chandler Park Apartments. The dynamic duo was splitting up. It was a very sad time, but I was also super excited for Kate! (She graduates from WKU TOMORROW!!! And I’m so excited and proud of her).

So, Kate moved desks down the hall and all of a sudden I was the only receptionist and also an intern and the moral of the story is somehow I made it through 3 months of working 2 part time jobs (40 hrs/week) and being a full-time student and trying to maintain a social life (but kind of failing at the last part, which is a-ok).

Oh and also I turned 21 somewhere in there which was super fun. Cheers to being legal amirite.

So that’s my life update. And I also want to add that I really love both of my jobs, it is very exhausting at times, but I have such wonderful people around me that make work so great that it’s worth not sleeping or having a social life 🙂

Now that it’s summer I’m excited to have a little more free time and enjoy my last summer before entering the real “real world.” Tbt to last summer when I was about to go to Italy 😦 Miss that place

Like I said earlier, Kate graduates tomorrow which is really sad but also really exciting! I’m glad she has to enter big girl land first because I’m really not ready.

Also need to give a big shout out to Cooper (best boyfriend/bestie) for listening to me whine and putting up with me for this long in general. This semester has been my hardest by far but he has been so supportive and encouraging, and I definitely wouldn’t have made it out alive without him.

Also shoutout to my family for being the greatest, but what else is new there.

Justin graduates in June which is terrifying but we will have one semester on the hill together so I’m hype for that.

Me and Dad are in depression mode because the Preds lost last night, BUT we will graduate together in December so that’s gonna be awesome.

AND that concludes my life update. Sorry it was a novel. Hope everyone has a great summer! Maybe you’ll hear from me again in 6 months hahah

 

NYC TRIP

Hello internet!!

It’s been a little over a month since I last posted anything on here, so I figured now is the time. I made it out of another finals week alive- barely. It’s crazy to think that I only have three more finals weeks ahead of me. Thank goodness!

Now that I finally have some time to breathe, I thought why not write a little something? This blog isn’t the most consistent or organized, but I love looking back on old posts and remembering things I may have forgotten or seeing how my life has changed in such a short time.

I love that this is a place where I can combine two of my favorite things: travel + writing, which brings me to today’s topic! This past week I was able to experience the magic that is New York City at Christmastime!

This was actually my second time getting to see NYC during the Christmas season. The first time was three years ago. My DREAM was to live the Eloise Christmas lifestyle, so off we went for my senior year graduation present. We had such an amazing time that Justin, who is now a senior, decided he wanted to do the same thing. In a sense this was more of “his” trip, and I just luckily got to come along for the ride– no complaints!

My senior year

Justin’s senior year

This was both mine and my mom’s fourth time visiting the Big Apple, and all four of us have done the main touristy things already (Statue of Liberty, Good Morning America, the 9/11 memorial, etc.) This time we changed it up and did some new things!

1. The Radio City Rockettes: This performance was incredible! The dancers were so talented and the Radio City Music Hall was an experience in itself. The style of it was so cool and the Christmas decorations immediately put us in the Christmas spirit.
   

   

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2. The New York Stock Exchange: Justin wants to major in Finance, so my Dad was able to arrange a tour of the trading floor of the NYSE. I didn’t think I’d be that interested, but it was actually so neat! The man who showed us around was named Billy and had been working on the trading floor since he was 19. He told us all about how technology has changed the game over the last decade and all of the transitions he’s seen over the last 30 years he has worked there.

1. School of Rock on Broadway: Justin and I literally grew up watching Jack Black in School of Rock the movie. We could quote every single line, and that’s no joke. We were able to see the Broadway version and it did not disappoint. If you’re a fan of the movie and find yourself in NYC, you HAVE TO GO.

1. Megyn Kelly: My Mom and her broadcasting ways figured out how to get us free tickets to be in the studio audience of Megyn Kelly’s morning show. We got to go to 30 Rock and watch her whole show be recorded. It also just so happened that she was doing a giveaway for Christmas, so all four of us got three prizes (a J.Jill wrap, a bark box- Mom was super excited to give it to Phoebe, and a coffee maker!). We had to buy an extra bag to get it all home.
2. One World Trade Center: This was the first time I’d been in NYC since the new world trade center had been completed. We visited the observatory, which had a panoramic view of the entire city. It was breathtaking and probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip!

Other highlights:

• I found one of my ADPi sistas/besties Haley “Nooga” Lord 🙂 It’s always fun to run into a sis in a big city. OBIC girly

• Grand Central Station: I got to live out my inner Serena Van der Woodsen fantasy and it was awesome. Such a pretty place to stop in!
  

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• Central Park Carriage Ride: We took a night time carriage ride through Central Park! I’ll admit, I wasn’t that excited for it since it was 35 degrees and at 9:30 pm, but it ended up being super fun and we were a lot warmer than I thought we would be. Punch (the horse) was a sweetie too.

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• The Rockefeller Tree/Ice skaters: This is just a must at Christmastime. Nuf said.

If you ever get the chance to go to NYC at Christmastime, GO!!! It is a bucket list item for sure. Also, if you read this far, thank you!!!! You’re my favorite.

I hope everyone has a VERY Merry Christmas spent with loved ones!

Til next time (hopefully soon)

BD

girls trip to asheville

Hey! Remember me? Long time, no blog. But alas, I’m back.

It’s getting to that point in the semester. If you’re a college/high school student you know exactly what I’m referring to. That point in the semester when you just want to be excited about the holidays but you can’t because you have 4 tests, 6 papers, 328045 blackboard notifications, greek obligations, and probably an illness from the lack of sleep you’ve been getting. Been there, done it, and experiencing it currently.

SO, with all that said, this past weekend I did what any ~smart~ student does, and put all of that on the back burner because this weekend we took a girl’s trip to Asheville, NC to celebrate my mom’s 50^th birthday!!! (Her birthday is actually on Thanksgiving day this year but we decided to celebrate early)

On Friday afternoon, my mom, my aunt Angie and I hopped in the car and headed to Asheville! We met my mom’s friend Alecia (who lives near Raleigh, NC) there, so of course her and my mom had a giddy squealy reunion when we rolled in. She had our hotel room decked out in “50 décor” complete with flowers, balloons, confetti and CAKE. After getting settled in really quick, we went to eat at a really good restaurant nearby called Stone Ridge Tavern.

We had to get a pretty early start the next morning because we were heading to the BILTMORE! I had never been here before, but y’all… I’m OBSESSED. Every room, ceiling, doorway and detail was beautiful and the whole estate was decorated for Christmas, which made it 10x more magical. We spent probably 4 hours there just soaking it all in. Needless to say I can’t wait to go back, especially when its warmer and all the gardens are in full bloom.

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**Sidenote: if you read my Paris blog, you know how furious I was and still am at the people who run the Palace of Versailles, but my successful Biltmore visit eased the pain**

After leaving the Biltmore, we had a late lunch at a Texas Roadhouse down the road. We couldn’t understand why the parking lot was PACKED at 2:30 in the afternoon but we later found out that they were serving veterans for free that day in honor of Veteran’s Day! I thought that was really cool and worth sharing.

Our last excursion of the day was what we were all most excited for, the Shogi Spa. This was a Japanese style Spa located up a windy mountain road in Asheville. Mom was driving so it was a pretty smooth ride (sarcasm). But she got us there safely so that’s all that matters (hehe love ya Amy).

For our first hour at Shogi, we got to sit in a private outdoor hot tub with a view of the woods and mountains. It was such a cool experience! They gave us treats and drinks to have while we soaked. I couldn’t actually get all the way in because of a dermatology procedure on my back last week, so Amy let me be the bartender instead. Just a little sparkling orange juice of course! 😉

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After that we got all got a massage which was so nice! We loved getting to just relax at this spa and literally feel like we were away from everything.

By the time we were done at the spa, we headed back towards our hotel. They dropped me off while they went to the outlet mall for an hour until it closed. Apparently they almost got in a fight with a man who “supposedly” dinged mom’s door (I didn’t see anything).

Once they got back to the hotel, we ordered pizza and watched SNL. Taylor Swift was on and she’s basically my hero so naturally we had to watch. I swear these women think they’re 15 instead of 50..Which is fun for me too because they make for great snapchat story material- HA

This morning was our last adventure before parting ways. My aunt Angie has been to Asheville before and went on a Segway tour of downtown, so she thought it’d be fun for us to do. I don’t know if y’all have ever seen Paul Blart Mall Cop but just imagine that movie but instead three moms (plus me, a 20-year-old Arthritic girl with a squad of middle-aged women) on those things trying to ride around the city for an hour and a half … all I can say is COMEDY. Our tour guide had no sympathy and made sure we saw all the hotspots of downtown.

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This actually ended up being so fun. I’m so glad we did it and we all actually did get the hang of it eventually. It was cold but it was well worth it!

Our 48-hour trip was a whirlwind but we made the absolute most of our time. I may have underestimated Mom, Angie and Alecia but they planned a pretty sweet girl’s weekend! I may have to hire them to plan my 21^st coming up here in 5 short months (who’s counting???) I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Now it’s back to reality and I guess I need to get back to the million school things due this week… but let’s be honest, that’ll probably wait til tomorrow.

TIL NEXT TIME,

BD

people pleasing.

Hello people of the internet!

Today I come to you with the topic of people pleasing. This post was inspired after reading another blog post called “20 Uncomfortable Things you Need To Do If You Don’t Want To Regret Your 20s”

I’m new to the ‘twenties’ life, so obviously I read this article thinking, “okay if I read this now, I have 10 years to do all these things and make sure I don’t regret anything” – Brooke logic (highly debatable).

But while reading this article, two points really stuck out to me:

1. “Decide what doesn’t matter, so you can invest your time and money into what does”
2. “Cut yourself some slack. One of the biggest regrets most people have about their 20s is that they didn’t enjoy them more. And I’m not talking about “buy more expensive dinners, take another trip to Thailand” type of enjoyment. I mean having the ability to take a deep breath and sip coffee in the morning knowing that you have done, and are doing, your best.”

The art of being a people pleaser is something I am very familiar with and have struggled with basically my entire life.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been worried about saying and doing the right thing and making sure that everyone likes me and trying to be involved in everything and making good grades and trying to have a cool social life and never saying no and the list goes on and on and on.  

I remember especially being this way in high school. I wanted to be in every club and have an officer position in every club. I took the ACT six times, yes SIX. TIMES. Just so I could get the score to get in the Honors College at WKU (which I ended up quitting after one semester–HA, that’s a different post). I stressed about my resume and trying to look perfect so that I could get into the best sorority. Then I did, so I wanted to be super involved in that. Ohhh how things have changed.

Looking back now (and I know it wasn’t even long ago at all) I realize that I was spreading myself way too thin and at the end of the day, was I even happy? People pleasing and trying to DO everything will only take you so far, but I learned the hard way that it will catch up to you eventually.

Here I am now, a junior in college and I’m involved in two things- ADPi and Student Alumni Ambassadors, which are two things I genuinely love. I’ve learned that being truly committed to two things I really enjoy is getting me much further than being sorta kinda sometimes involved in 25 different things that are mostly just another bullet on my resume.

I am a strong supporter of “investing in yourself” and I encourage everyone else to support this mantra as well. Do the things you love and invest in the people you care about. I read another article the other day (FB articles are my guilty pleasure if you can’t tell), but basically it said that having good relationships is the key to living longer. Here’s the link if you don’t believe me.

So yeah, this ended up being another rambling post- shocker! But I guess my message here is that it’s okay to not do everything. Do what you love and love what you do. Another cliche, so typical, but still true so it’s fine.

Ok I’m done now.

TIL NEXT TIME,

BD

3 years.

September 14, 2014 was the day everything changed for me. My entire foundation was ripped out from underneath me and it seemed like my whole world had been shaken.

The night before, I had gone to an Ed Sheeran concert. I distinctly remember just having a bad feeling in my stomach. I completely lost it during the song “One” and to this day I can’t listen to it all the way through. I had known Ossie’s days were numbered, and they had told us that she would be moved into Hospice the following week.

(Background: Ossie is what we called my grandmother, Hilda. She was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2012.)

I had planned on visiting her first thing the following morning at St. Thomas. I had felt guilty all night at the concert and had debated even going, but Mom insisted that I go and try to get my mind off things for the night.

Looking back, I am glad I went. It was an amazing show and it probably was the last time that I was going to enjoy myself for quite a bit.

After my little breakdown, I pulled myself together and enjoyed the rest of the show and then we headed home. I went to sleep that night and prayed for a miracle. Instead, I woke up the next morning to my Dad sitting on my bed. I knew what was coming wasn’t going to be good, but nothing could have prepared me for the news I was about to get.

Ossie had passed at 10 am that morning with my Mom and her two siblings by her side. I didn’t really know how to react, so I resorted to absolute hysterics. It was a complete out-of-body experience and pretty much a blur to me now.

It’s wild to think she’s already been gone almost three years. I hate it because I feel like the more time that goes by, the further away I am from her and her memory.

Obviously I will always hold her memories at the very center of my heart, but it’s been weird…growing up without her. It blows my mind that she didn’t see me turn 18, or graduate high school, or move into my college dorm or my first apartment, and she won’t see me graduate college. She won’t attend my wedding or meet my future babies. Same for my brother! It’s not fair. She would be so proud of how grown he is and how handsome he’s become. He’s actually becoming the mature one and that’s something she’d definitely have to see to believe!

She would be so proud of all my cousins and the amazing things they’ve done. She would be so proud of her own three kids and the way that they act more like her and my Papa with every passing day.

Thank God that someday I’ll get to see her again. Thank God she knows just how to send me messages loud and clear. She speaks to me through breathtaking sunsets, and strong cups of coffee. She’s in the back of my mind saying “buy it!” when I’m debating breaking the bank in a store. She’s my role model, for everything I want to be in life. She’s the reason I have high standards… because Lord knows that if I wouldn’t introduce a boy to her, he’s definitely not good enough for me. She’s the reason I have an old soul and the reason I say things like “dagummit” when my Todd County roots shine through. She’s my “twin”, my voice of reason, my “life goals”, and most importantly my guardian angel.  

I didn’t write this post for sympathy or pity, so please don’t think that! As I read back over it, I realize how pitiful I sound– haha. I just wanted to write something to remember her and this day. I’ll end this post on a much lighter note! Below is a memoir I wrote about Ossie’s house in 8th grade and it’s pretty humorous in my opinion.

Enjoy and give your grandparents a big hug today!

Til next time,

BD

Brooke DeCesare–8th Grade Memoir

I  walk through the garage up the steps and into the house, greeted by a huge hug. “Do you want something to eat or drink?” she says. I usually say yes and walk to the fridge to get a soda or something. I come back into the living room and sit on the large maroon couch and we talk. “Do you want to run to town and rent a movie?” She will ask. “Maybe in a little while” I say and we just sit and chat. Then I look out the window at the corn field behind the house and the old church behind it, where we store old memories. This is my favorite place in the world I think to myself.

If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m talking about my grandma’s house. The white brick house with dark red shudders, a white fence, and 2 faded red barns. Aka my favorite place in the entire world. But it would be nothing without the woman behind it, Ossie. The name Ossie came from my oldest cousin, so if you want the whole story ask him about it. Hilda is her real name, and she is a petite lady with white/grayish hair. Her eyes are blue, with years of wisdom behind them and everyone says I look just like her. She’s probably one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She’s a widow, my grandfather died 11 years ago December 6th, but we do a pretty good job of keeping her busy.  I could go on all day about Ossie but I’ll share some memories of her and her house first.

During the Summer, I’m at Ossie’s atleast 2 days a week with some of my cousins. In Elkton, there is a country club called Elk Fork. It has a pool, a bunk house with snacks, and my grandpa’s old golfcart. What else do we need? Ossie will take us there to spend the entire day swimming in the pool, tanning during breaks, and gunning it in the old golf cart until the golfers start yelling at us to get off the course. And finally once we are so exhausted and at last ready to go home, we stop by the Dairy Mart for icecream and head back to Ossie’s, where we all usually fall asleep.

I have Juvenille Rhematoid Arthritis so me and Ossie relate a lot. We always walk slow together and keep each other company when the other is hurting. One time about 2 years ago I had to get nine cortazone shots in nine joints. I was put on bedrest after the procedure and I stayed at her house. I’m pretty sure it was the most spoiled I have ever been. I mean I was getting the Royal Treatment. I watched movies and played video games all day, while Ossie brought me food or sat and talked with me. Me and her have a lot in common and she is pretty much my bestfriend, that I can tell anything too.

My final memory takes place on Christmas. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. Not just because of the presents, but because of everything else about it too. Every Christmas after we open our presents at home, we get in the car and go to Ossie’s. The whole family goes and the kids are usually bouncing off the walls showing each other their new things. We all have lasagna together for lunch (our Christmas meal tradition) and then it’s time to open presents. I’m “Santa” every year so I distribute all the gifts and we sit and have a great time unwrapping them. But if you pay attention to everyone’s faces this is what you see, lots of kids with thrilled looks on their faces, happy parents that are ready for a nap, and then you see Ossie, enjoying herself, laughing and smiling and being happy that we are all together.

   That’s what I really love about her house, not just the food, the movies, or the games. But the love, joy, happiness, and everlasting memories that seems to never run out. My grandma’s house will always be a place I know I can go when I’m feeling down. But like I said before, it wouldn’t have half the meaning it does without the face behind it, Ossie.

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GROWING UP

GREETINGS!!!

Long time no blog 😦 So sorry, I know you all have just been dying to hear something from me (ha ha- kidding). But I have missed writing tremendously and now that I’m back in school, I want to get into the swing of posting more regularly again!

I really don’t have any inspiration as to what I want this post to be about. It’s really just a life update/me rambling (what else is new?).

Getting back into the routine of school is always so hard after a break, especially when WKU’s breaks are basically the length of a full semester.

This Summer was a lot different than past Summers. A lot of big things happened:

• This was the first Summer I’ve ever not lived at home with my parents
• BOYS moved into the other side of the gnome home (let me know if you want a post on how that’s going) 
• I went to Europe by myself for a month (you can check out my other posts about that if you want 🙂

Overall, I just feel like I grew up a lot this Summer… or rather I just feel really old all of a sudden.

Like I’m a junior in college now…what the heck? Last week was my third sorority recruitment at WKU which is so crazy because I literally feel like I just rushed last week.. ADPi got to welcome home some super awesomely cool young ladies, and I’m going to be a GRANDBIG this year !?!??!  (sorority speak) I got to play the role as Bid Day Chair along with my Old Navy partner-in-crime (we used to work at Old Navy together) Syd Marzzz. I think it turned out pretty dang cute.

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You can see the video of our tropical bid day HERE.

This is also my second year as a Student Alumni Ambassador! We had our retreat on Sunday and I can’t wait to see the impact our organization makes this year.

Another sort of big thing is that I just found out that I’m not graduating in December 2018 like I had originally thought. This came as a sort of bummer because I had thought I was going to get to graduate with my Dad (S/O TO MY DAD FOR GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AND BEING A ROCKSTAR) but it’s okay because now I’ll get to be on campus with my baby bro for an extra semester. And let’s be real, I have no idea what I want to do with my life so prolonging my entrance to the real world is probably a good thing.

Other than that, life is just breezyyy. I’m super excited for this semester and I really, really want to start posting on the blog more, I’ve just got to find some juicy stuff to write about!

As always, thank you so much if you actually read this!!!

TIL NEXT TIME,

BD

reflection

There’s a Pinterest saying about travel that goes, “Get lost and find yourself.” As cliché as it may be (I’m a big fan of cliches BTW), it’s 100% true.

Over the past 4 weeks, I have gotten lost a lot. Every day and multiple times a day on some occasions… but I found more than I could have ever hoped for.

See, I originally wanted to do the infamous semester in Harlaxton that WKU is so well known for. That was a dream I had before even starting at WKU and one of the main reasons I chose to go to school here. However, things didn’t quite go as well as I had planned freshman year and life got in the way and it simply just didn’t work out. Fast forward to this Spring when I could have gone, but I was already into my upper level PR classes and a semester away would have been a waste at this point.

I had been kind of (more like extremely) bummed about this for a while, until I randomly ventured into the study abroad office one day in February. That same day, I got online and applied to do a Summer program in Italy- a place that has always been a dream of mine to visit.

That was pretty irrelevant to what this post was supposed to be about, but basically I just want to say that God has an interesting sense of humor and everything really does happen for a reason (again with the cliches!!!)

I left for Florence genuinely without a clue as to what I was getting myself into. I remember sitting at the airport when I first got there thinking to myself “This was a mistake this was a mistake I want my mom” but thinking to myself “I never want to leave” the very next day.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you already know that I am completely obsessed with all of the people I met. My biggest fear going into this was that I wasn’t going to make any friends and now my only concern is when I can see them again!

During the month I was abroad, I visited:

• Rome
• Florence (obvi)
• Viareggio
• Chianti
• Milan
• Paris
• Volterra
• Bolgheri
• Cinque Terre
• Pisa

I also did four wine tours, rode a vespa through the Tuscan countryside, learned to navigate the trains, fought off a pickpocketer in Paris, walked approximately six miles a day, and survived four weeks without my mom… All things I never thought I could do- ha!

This entire experience is something I am so so grateful for and will never ever forget. This was the perfect way for me to get out of my comfort zone and broaden my horizons beyond the BG bubble.

To anyone wondering if you should study abroad, just DO IT!!! And do it in Florence, hehe. I am absolutely obsessed with that place and of all the cities I visited, it was definitely my favorite. It is small and pretty easy to navigate, almost everyone is super friendly, there’s tons of stuff to do, the food is incredible, and everything is beautiful.

If you ever get the chance to visit, here are some of my favorite places/things I did:

• Gusta Panino – We ate here almost every night and that’s no exaggeration. It was right under my apartment and it was pretty inexpensive…not to mention delicious. The lasagna=10/10. Make sure you ask for Carlo as your waiter.
• Tuscan Cycle – The vespa tour was one of my favorite things I did during my entire trip. It was SO fun and something I will probably never have the opportunity to do again (unless I decide to get a motorcycle which is unlikely ) This company was super accommodating!

• Santa Trinita Gelateria – Lemme tell ya, I ate a lot of gelato on this trip. HOWEVER, this place was by far my favorite. I always got raspberry and cheesecake together and it was heavenly.
• La Menagere – Ugh. I didn’t discover this place until like my last week in Florence and I’m so sad because it was SO GOOD. They have everything from iced lattes to desserts to salads to cheeseburgers and they also sell flowers and little souvenirs. This place was a blogger’s paradise.

Those are just a few of my favorite places in Florence that I highly recommend to anybody if you’re ever in that area. I already miss everything about it and it all went by so fast that it sort of feels like a dream. On the other hand, I’m so glad to be home! It may have only been a month but man I missed everyone here (and chick fil a) a lot. I’ve only been back for 48 hours but I’ve already been to the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert in Nashville, unpacked everything, and am ready to go back to work tomorrow. Later this week, spirit week starts for sorority recruitment and then it’s back to school~ sigh. #GrindDontStop

Thank you to everyone who’s followed my posts over the past few weeks! I’m not sure what I’ll write about now that it’s back to reality, but I’m open to any suggestions and I’m not ending the blog here! 🙂

TIL NEXT TIME,

BD

Trouble in PAR{ad}IS{e}

BONJOUR!

If you had told me last Saturday that this Saturday I would have been to Paris and back, I would’ve said “LOL.”

BUT, here we are, and I have been to Paris and back! This was probably the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done in my life. My roommate Olivia asked me on Monday if I would want to go since this is our last weekend here. I had my mandatory field learning today (Saturday) but I told her I wanted to go and if we could find a way to get back in time, I’d go.

Wellp…if there’s a will there’s a way and we ended up booking our flight and a hotel room on Monday for the following Wednesday (yes, less than 48 hours in advance).

DAY 1:
After class Wednesday, me, Olivia, and our other friend Niamh headed to the Florence airport and the next thing we knew we were on our way to Paris. I was seriously pinching myself. Paris has been a dream of mine (like any girl I’m pretty sure) forever and I never would’ve imagined I’d have the opportunity to go during this trip.

We arrived at the Paris ORY airport around 10:30 Wednesday night and found a taxi driver to take us to our hotel. We stayed in a cute little hotel called La Sanguine

We were exhausted when we got there, so we hit the sheets before our big day ahead.

DAY 2:
On Thursday morning, we woke up around 7:30 and got ready. We started out our day with a 40 minute walk to the Saint Michelangelo fountain where our free walking tour would begin.

Our journey automatically started off with some drama. As we were walking through this park to get to the fountain, two girls probably around our age were running to us with clipboards trying to get us to sign a “petition”. We were trying to tell them no thank you and get past them when I looked over and saw that one of the girls was basically on top of Olivia and had her clipboard covering Olivia’s purse with her other hand INSIDE Olivia’s purse (sorry parents–I didn’t tell you this story yet). My jaw literally hit the ground. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. I am not assertive at all but in this moment instinct took over and I just screamed “HEY!!!! NO!!!!” (my friends said it sounded like I was yelling at a dog LOL) and the girl immediately ran away. Thank goodness she didn’t get away with anything, but this was an immediate wake up call that we needed to keep our guard up in this city. Like who’s trying to pickpocket at 8 am on a Thursday? Smh.

After this little incident, we calmed our nerves by stopping at a cafe for a traditional French breakfast: bread with a side of bread and coffee. Not complaining.

Next, we finally got going on our tour! We had a nice three hour walking tour of the city that hit all the hotspots: The Lourve, Cathedral of Notre Dam, Pont Neuf, the old Love Lock Bridge, etc. It was a little rainy and much chillier than we had anticipated, so after our tour we found a Zara (naturally) and I bought some jeans.

We spent the rest of our day just exploring the city and eating macarons. Eventually we went back to our hotel to get ready for night time and to FINALLY go see the Eiffel Tower (heart eyes).

First we ate dinner at this little restaurant by the tower and we all got bacon cheeseburgers. Ahhh-mazing. Then we went to the infamous Laduree and got more macarons (very overpriced) but the little box was worth it.

Alas, what we’ve all been waiting for, the Eiffel Tower. It was honestly just how I imagined it. Beautiful and enormous and magical and gave me the same feeling I get at Disney World. It was incredible and definitely a bucket list item checked off. We just sat and marveled at it for a while (and took pictures). The tower sparkles for the first 5 minutes of every hour after sunset, so at around 10:05 we headed back to our hotel. We were exhausted by this point.

Liv & Niamh!!! ILY guys

UGH ❤

DAY 3:
Friday was our last day in Paris, so we got up around 8 and checked out of our hotel so we could get our day started. We ate breakfast at a little cafe nearby and then got an Uber to the Luxembourg Gardens. The weather on this day was much better than Thursday, so we strolled around the gardens and hung out for a while there. It was so clean and well kept in comparison to other parts of Paris.

After that we went back to Paul Bakery that we had gone to the day before and got more macarons (of course).

Our plan all along had been to spend the day at Palace of Versailles since our flight wasn’t until 9:50, so we called an Uber and were driven 40 minutes to the estate.

We couldn’t decide if we should buy passes for the palace, the gardens, or both, so we got in line and asked for assistance. We found out that since we were students in Europe, we could get in for free. We were super hype so we headed to the everlasting line to get in. After waiting around 30 minutes, we got to the door. We showed them our passports and were immediately questioned. We tried to explain that we were taking Summer classes at Florence University of the Arts and even showed them our student ID’s. They told us that to get free admission, you must be a full time student and have a Visa, but they would let us in this time since there had been a misunderstanding. #BlessUp

So we followed the massive crowds inside and were immediately confused. There were signs everywhere but none of them said “Palace.” We decided we would just do the gardens first and then maybe we’d find our way. BAD IDEA. After following the garden sign, we realized that we had accidentally exited instead. I’m not sure how this happened but it was so crowded, no one was helpful AT ALL, and the signs were extremely misleading. We turned around and tried to go back inside to which we were told we would need to go back out front, wait in the long line again, and “explain our mistake.”

The only pictures I took at Versailles

I don’t want this post to turn into a rant, but this was a huge disappointment. I was so looking forward to seeing the Palace after taking two semesters of French at WKU and learning so much about it. Keep in mind we also had all of our belongings on our backs, so at this point we were so extremely frustrated, sore, and exhausted that we ended up just going ahead and calling an Uber to the airport.

Our flight also ended up getting delayed ( 🙂 ) so we didn’t get back to our apartments until about 1 am… not to mention I had a field trip at 6:30 this morning… #RALLY

This wasn’t the perfect ending to our Paris trip, but things happen so it’s not a big deal. Other than the Palace fiasco and the pickpocketer, we had an amazing trip. I don’t regret going at all and it was definitely a character building experience… but it made me appreciate how safe and hospitable both Italy and the United States are (knock on wood).

Overall, Paris was beautiful and I got to make so many memories with Niamh and Olivia that I will never forget. Still so crazy that three weeks ago these people were strangers and now they’re my besties.

This is my last week in Florence, so I want to live it up as much as possible! I’m excited to get home to my people, but not excited to say goodbye to my people here and this city that has begun to feel like home!

Til next time,
AU REVOIR
BD

1st Assignment

Good morning!!!

Today my first assignment was due for my Travel Photography class. Our task was to take pictures everyday around the area we’re staying in and choose 10 to submit for our assignment. We had to take all of these photos on manual (a lot harder for me than I expected) and edit them in Lightroom. These are super amateur, but I thought it’d be fun to share them anyway 🙂

The outside of my piazza

Santo Spirito

One of my 5 roomies, Belle 🙂

My favorite coffee shop right below my apartment

Morning necessities

Street art I pass every day. I call her Quin

My walk to class. Pretty ugly

Locks on the Ponte alle Grazie

Like I said, I’m definitely new to the manual shooting/editing, but ya gotta start somewhere!

Til next time,

BD

7 hours in Milan

Hey remember that time I said a post about my Venice trip would be up soon?! Yeah, it still will be, but not today.

This morning I got up at 6:30 am (#teamnosleep) and headed to the train station. A bunch of our friends had warned us that we should probably buy our Venice train tickets online because they were selling out fast, but of course we figured that if we got there early enough there would still be some left.

Wrong 🙂

A one way ticket was going to be €115 and that wasn't including our way back. We decided to wait until next weekend so we could save money (ohhhh the irony). So, we spontaneously booked tickets to Milan instead. Next thing I knew we were getting off at the Milan Central station with not a clue as to what we were about to do.

We ended up getting an Uber to the center of this city and woooowwwwww. Like so much wow. This place is like 5th Ave in NYC on steroids. So many stores, so many designers, so much pretty, so much $$$.

Milan is a lot different than Florence and Rome in that it is much more modern. It reminds me more of big cities in the States with it's wider roads, taller buildings, and more cars.

We decided to eat first and ended up finding a burger place. This was actually so clutch because I've been getting hardly any protein with my new Pizza/Pasta/Gelato diet 🙂 #FitFam #NOT

Next we decided to take a stroll through the designer stores. Gucci, Louis, Prada. The holy trinity of designers if you will.

It was honestly overwhelming because there were just SO many pretty things. My new bestie Niamh was the first to make a purchase at the Gucci store while Abigail and I cheered her on. I was feeling the second hand excitement for her.

After a few more stores and a FaceTime call to my mom, we ended up back at the Gucci store and don't ask me how this happened but SOMEHOW I came out with a Gucci belt. It just happened so fast… but I mean how many times will I be in the Milan Gucci store in my life?

Next we decided to break the bank a little more and headed to our favorite store that we go to literally every single day: Zara. {Starting a petition to bring Zara to Nashville} Comment on this if you'd sign it 🙂

Last but not least, we ended our day with a huge bowl of ice cream and got an Uber back to the train station.

We're en route back to good ole Firenze now but I just thought I'd share about our little whirlwind trip to the most glam city I've ever been to! 10/10 day for sure.

TIL NEXT TIME!!! (Hopefully it will actually be a Venice post)

BD