Happy Friday! We made it through the first week of April. I hope you had a smooth and successful week and are ready for the first weekend of the month. The month of March was a mixed bag of weird weather, we had some really nice and sunny days in the 60s, and other days in the 30s and snow. Here’s hoping this next month brings more consistent temperatures-especially spring-like weather.
As always, I am linking up with Erika and Andrea for another roundup of Friday Favorites. I’ve been doing some spring shopping, so I’ll be spreading out my favorite finds over the next few weeks, so you aren’t bombarded with them in one post. Let’s jump into some of my favorite things today!
Red pants– I finally made a trip to Old Navy to see if they had any fun spring finds. After lots of trying on clothes, I only left with a few items. But I did manage to snag these red pants that were on clearance. WIN! I tend to lean more towards a straight pant leg as opposed to a full or tight pant leg, especially in the office, but I really loved how these looked. These would be great for work or a business-casual setting. Even though they are a bold color, you can go with a simple color for a the top (like a black, blue, or cream) or with a busier top to balance them out. I’m looking forward to adding these to my rotation over the next few months.
Everything Bagel Seasoning– I don’t have a Trader Joe’s near me, but whenever I am close to one, I always like to pop in to see what they have and try some unique foods and snacks. I always stock up on Everything Bagel seasoning. It is one of my favorite blends of seasonings and flavors. I add it to my chicken, pasta, toast, and eggs, etc. it adds just enough flavoring to spice up a meal without overpowering the dish. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a new bottle.
Bridgerton and Bath and Body Works– Did you see the new collaboration between Bath and Body Works and Bridgerton? These are two of my favorite things and I couldn’t be more happier to see a collaboration between them. I love all the scents that come with Bath and Body Works and now knowing candles, lotions, wall flowers and soaps were inspired by Bridgerton’s characters, places, and themes. I may have to buy some and put them away for when I need re-stock.
Cabrini– My family and I went to see Cabrini right before Easter and really enjoyed it. It tells the story of Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini and the work she did here in America with the poor and orphans. The movie talks about the challenges she faced, the obstacles she overcame and the lives she touched. I had learned about her growing up, but it was fascinating to see her ministry depicted in a full-length film. It was a long movie, so if you plan on seeing it, budget in time to watch. Definitely worth the watch, but you don’t have to go to the theaters to enjoy it.
The Sweeney Sisters–The Sweeney Sisters was the second book that I’ve read by Lian Dolan. I read Lost and Found in Paris and really loved how she told the story, so I was eager to read another one of her books. This story follows three sisters as they cope with the death of their father only to learn they have a sister who was their neighbor growing up. The book is all about how they work through this new information and how the revelation brings them together. I really loved the themes of sisterhood, forgiveness and maturity that were found in the book. But my favorite part was the fact that one of the characters was named Elspeth. I have a unique name, so I am always surprised when I read or see my name out in the wild. There’s a new show on CBS called Elsbeth which always makes me smile even though it’s pronounced and spelled differently. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and will be reading more of Dolan’s books.
That’s a look into what I’m loving this week, some recent buys, foods, and entertainment. If you are still recovering from Easter or Spring Break, what’s been on your radar?
Happy Friday! I hope you had a successful and fulfilling first full week of March. My brothers are home for Spring Break and some of their time off overlapped. We have a full house over the next few weeks with siblings and significant others home, needless to say, I am one happy camper. It’s been fun to catch up and have some bonus family time together.
These next few weeks are looking busy with some activities, events, and travel plans, so I am taking the slower and calmer weeks as a win. As we get ready for the weekend, here’s been a look at what I’m loving this week as I link up with Erika and Andrea.
One Day– Have you seen the mini-series One Day on Netflix? It’s based on a book and a movie that came out a handful of years ago starring Anne Hathaway. The story follows a guy and girl who meet in college in 1988 and the viewer gets to see where life takes them by checking in with them every year. Each year you see how their lives and their relationship changes and evolves. Some years they meet up on the day, other years, it’s just a check in. You get to see these characters grow into adults, in their careers and with the different people in their lives. It was a very sweet series and I loved seeing the character development throughout. I do have to warn you, there are so emotional storylines told through the series.
Non-Meat Recipes– Asking the internet for some help! We are in the season of Lent and I’m on the hunt for some non-meat recipes to enjoy on Fridays. I am always looking to try new things and Pinterest is always a huge help, but I have found myself in a bit of a rut looking for new recipes. I am looking for any seafood or high protein recipes that don’t involve meat. If you have a favorite recipe or suggestion, share it below!
Big Note Pad- This big notepad has been saving my life recently. I got it from Simplified and I use it to write out my to-do lists for the weekend. I mentioned earlier this year that I use a mini notebook from Simplified to write any weekly to-do’s or goals. However, on days-off, I like to create a massive daily to do. Everything goes on there, from getting in a workout, to meal prepping, even scheduling appointments. I love having a big notepad to jot everything down in one spot. It’s so big that I can use it for multiple days. It’s been a huge lifesaver and it saves me from having a million post-it notes with things to do.
Apple Watch Charger– Another favorite from this week has been a new lifehack I have been using to make my life a little easier. It’s super silly, but also practical. I have a two-in-one charger at home for my iPhone and Apple Watch that I use daily. I have a car charger for my phone in my car, but nothing for my Apple Watch to charge when it’s low on battery and I’m not home to charge it. I took an Apple Watch charger that I wasn’t using and threw it in my purse, so I always have it in case my watch is low, and I need some juice when I am out and about. I know it may seem so silly and a “duh, that’s such an easy solution”, but it was one of those problems that I kept having and was causing my stress about my watch dying and not having a charger on me. A simple solution took away a lot of unnecessary stress. Just an example at how one small change can make all the difference.
Jerry and Marge Go Large-Wrapping up this week with a fun movie for the family! My boyfriend and I watched Jerry and Marge Go Large and loved it. The movie follows a recently retired man who is looking for a new hobby. His interest is piqued when he starts to play the lottery and finds a workaround to consistently win it. This leads to him and his wife getting closer and finding a new hobby together by playing the lottery. Many people in the town find out and want in on it too. It really brings the whole town together. Overall, the movie was funny, wholesome and great for the whole family.
That’s a look into some of my favorite things from this week. Some things to watch, some life hacks and some questions too. As we make our way through March, tell me, what’s been some things that have been saving your life? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Wednesday! I hope you have been having a wonderful week. I’m really excited about today’s post. A few weeks back, I did a post about the importance of keeping friendships alive even when you are doing the long-distance trek.
This week would have been my college spring break, even though I didn’t get a full week off like I used to in college, I still wanted to do something fun on my day off work, so I decided to have a “spring break day” in Pittsburgh, I met up with friends for breakfast, lunch and dinner, It was so good to see some of my close college friends, catch up, just relax and not worry about work. It was the perfect day escape. Plus, it was so nice to see my friend’s hometowns.
I got some shopping in, was able to have some face to face conversations with friends, and have a fun day.
As I started working full time I realized that it’s important to take time for yourself on your days off, whether it’s catch up with friends, relaxing at home, seeing family, or taking up a new hobby. It was so good to have a very mini spring break in my favorite city with my favorite people.
After this fun day and little getaway, I know that I will be making more trips to visit friends and do something for myself too. Facetime, phone calls, and texting is great but there is something special about seeing friends in person. Your friends are important, make sure you keep them close.
Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a great start. This past weekend was so nice to catch up on school work and sleep from coming back from my time in Rome! Today, I’m recapping part 2 of my trip to Rome, Italy during Spring Break! To read my recap of the first half of the week, you can find it here.
We are picking up on Wednesday morning. It was Ash Wednesday so we were up bright and early for mass. During our time in Rome, we had mass in English, Italian, and Latin. It was interesting to hear all the variations. We went to mass at San Clemente. The church was a 20 minute walk from our hotel so it was a great way to start the day. After mass we were able to tour the Church, San Clemente is unique because it is three churches built on top of one another, the first a secret Church, the next one from several hundreds years later and the last one is the one still used today. It was so cool to be in a Church with so much history. Due to the history of the Church, we couldn’t take any photos. After we left San Clemente, we headed to St. Mary’s Major, one of the four major basilicas in the world, all of which in Rome. They include Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St Peter’s Basilica, St Paul Outside the Walls, and Papal Basilica of St Mary Major. This one was by far my favorite, from the details, to the artwork, and all the history. Something else that was special about this Church, because myself along with others had the opportunity to go to Reconciliation in Rome on Ash Wednesday to start off Lent. How cool is that?! It was a highlight of my trip. I felt so connected to my faith even more on this day.
St. Mary’s
The manager at St. Mary’s
Gorgeous ceiling
Amazing ceiling, stunning
After we finished at St. Mary’s, myself along with a few friends went to do some shopping and see some other sites. We first went to the Trevi fountain to make a wish, three years ago, I made a wish to return to Rome and it came true, so let’s hope this next wish comes true.
The Trevi Fountain
Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain
Making wishes at the fountain
We then got lunch at a small Italian restaurant, after eating pasta for the past few days, we all opted for something lighter. I got a Caprese salad, which was perfect to snack on. I also got the most divine chocolate mousse.
We opted for lunch
And a sweet dessert-surprising not Tiramisu
After we had a nice lunch we went to see the Spanish steps and do some shopping. We then headed back to our hotel. The Pope was supposed to be saying mass at the Church right next to our hotel, we waiting outside to see if we could see him. We saw him arrive but didn’t get a look at him saying mass. We then went to discussion for the night and then went to dinner.
We had a delicious dinner with pasta and fish. Yum! We then called it a night to get some sleep before a day trip the next day.
Lots of delicious appetizers
Seafood pasta
Tiramisu
On Thursday morning we were up early and ate a quick breakfast before getting on a bus to head to Monte Cassino for the day. It was an hour and a half bus ride away. We had been going non-stop for the week so everyone slept on the ride down. We were all pretty tired. When we arrived in Monte Cassino, the view was incredible. It sits on top of a mountain so the drive up was beautiful. Monte Cassino is one of the places were St. Benedict lived and died and where he is buried. Since, I come from a Benedictine college, this was simply incredible to be here. The whole time we were in Rome, the weather was warm and in the 60’s, but being so high up in the mountains, the temperature dropped to the 40’s, it was such a drastic change. We were able to celebrate mass with a few monks and seminaries that travelled with us from school to Rome, which was incredible. We were also given a tour and then able to spend some time taking it all in. After spending the morning there, we boarded the bus back to Rome.
The view from Monte Cassino
The view of Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino
In Monte Cassino, there are plaques of all the schools associated with St. Benedict and my school was up there
The original floor at Monte Cassino from when St. Benedict lived there
St. Benedict’s tomb at Monte Cassino
We stopped for lunch on the way back and had a delicious lunch of light appetizers, pasta, and a light fruit cake.
Unique appetizers of lunch meat and cheese
Pasta with a mushroom sauce
Fruit cake for dessert
Once we came back to Rome we made a stop to see a third major bascilica, St. John’s. It was more simple compared to St. Peter’s and St. Mary’s, but still beautiful.
The outside of St. John’s
St. John’s
We made our way back to the hotel where we were able to have some downtime to relax before we had an earlier dinner at 7:30 instead of 8:00. For dinner we had appetizers of different pizzas, a simple cheese pizza and an everything pizza. We then had a stuffed ravoili and pasta for our main dishes. For dessert we had a lemon sorbet shake. It was so light and perfect to finish off a big meal. We made it back to our hotels to get some rest for out last full day in Rome.
Pizza for an Appetizer
Stuffed Ravioli
Cheese Pasta
A Lemon Sorbet for dessert
Roof top views from our hotel at night
On Friday, we woke up and ate breakfast before making our way to the fourth and final major bascilica, St. Paul’s outside the Walls. I loved the gorgeous ceiling and how they have all the Popes in history’s displayed. I loved how this Church was quieter since it was outside the downtown of Rome.
St. Paul’s Outside the Walls
St. Paul’s…stunning
After we spent some time here, we boarded a bus to drive to Ostia Antica, about 45 minutes outside of Rome. Ostia Antica used to be a major port thousands of years ago. Ostia Antica was also the place that St. Augustine spent some of his time and it is where his mother, Monica died. This brought back lots of memories from reading Augustine’s Confessions in my First Philosophy class. We had about two hours to walk around and take it all in, it was huge and amazing to see all the ruins and how most are still standing.
Ostia Antica
Another view of Osta Antica
We LOVED Ostia Antica
After out morning there, we headed back to Rome. We stopped for lunch and shopping at Eataly. I had been to Eataly when I traveled to Chicago last spring, but it was so cool to be in the original one in Italy. For those you don’t know or haven’t been to Eataly, it is basically a four-story grocery store/market/shopping center with many small places to get a bite to eat or get drinks. It was incredible. We were able to get, shop, and hang out for the afternoon on our own just as long as we were back for discussion. It was so nice to have free time on our last day. My friend Olivia and I got some gelato and browsed before getting pizza for lunch, yes we both ordered full pizzas and ate the whole thing…when in Rome, right?! After we picked up some gifts and food to bring home we made our way back to our hotel. Now, comes story time, Eataly is located outside of the Roman ruins, so we were a little out of our element. Olivia and I had a GPS to make sure we got back to the hotel, we knew that once we were inside the walls of Rome, we would be good.
EATALY
I may or may not have eaten the whole pizza
These desserts were to die for
Look at all the foods covered in chocolate
After a slow and steady walk, we made it back inside the walls and did some window shopping and one last stop for gelato before we went back to our hotel room to freshen up before our last discussion and dinner. It was bittersweet knowing this would be our last time together in Rome. After a great last discussion and a few toasts we made our way to dinner. We had a large fish dinner about 30 minutes from our hotel. We had great appetizers, pasta with seafood, salmon and vegetables and a delicious cake for dessert. It was so fun to be all together and celebrate our last night in Rome. After a fun dinner we made our way back to our hotel to pack since we had an early flight the next day.
Bruschetta
Seafood Pasta
Salmon and Potatoes
Cream Pie
On Saturday we woke up bright and early, grabbed breakfast and headed to the airport. It was a bit stressful getting everyone from the hotel, to the airport, through TSA and security and ironically we weren’t all together until we were at the gate boarding our plane back to Newark. We took off at 10:00 am and had a 10 hour flight home. I kept myself occupied by journaling about my fantastic trip, getting some work done for school, and watching lots of movies, my friends and I sat near each other so we kept each other company and watched the same movies together. I watched A Star is Born, Book Club, Mamma Mia 2, and some episodes of Friends. The flight was long but we made it through.
A view of the Alps from the plane
Once we landed in Newark, we had to go through Customs, TSA, recheck our bags and security. It took a while but we made it. When all was said and done, our group knew we needed to eat, we all were craving some super unhealthy American food, so Wendy’s it was. Haha! Nothing says welcome back to America than fried food. Haha! We then boarded our plane from Newark to Pittsburgh, an hour and 10 minute flight was nothing compared to our last one. We grabbed our luggage drove back to campus, we got back around 9:30 and I was exhausted, I guess that’s what happens when you have been traveling for 22 hours! I went straight to bed when I got back to school.
My favorite ladies
My favorite travel buddy Olivia
Reflecting on the whole trip
A few of my favorite memories from Rome
My roomie and “exit buddy” Marion
Wow, that was a lot. For those of you who stuck with me, congratulations. I wish I could have taken you all with me to explore Rome and see all the sights, sounds, and tastes of the beautiful Italian lifestyle. This was by far one of the best trips I have ever been on, it was the perfect balance of academics, religion, leisure, fun and fellowship. I am forever connected to the people I travelled with. No matter where life takes us, “All Roads Lead to Rome”. Ciao Roma! You will always hold a special place in my heart!
I have something new and special planned for the blog today. Although, I spent Spring Break at home and relaxing, many of my friends traveled to places near and far. Some for school, others for pleasure.
Shay and I
My best friend Shalyn (who I may have mentioned once or twice) traveled to Chile over Spring Break for a class and she agreed to share a bit about her trip on my blog. Take it away Shay!
“Hey everyone! Guest blogger Shalyn Vukich here! I’m a Communication and Spanish major, so Chile was the perfect opportunity for some practice!
When college students hear the phrase: SPRING BREAK, they rejoice because of everything commonly associated with spring break like warm weather, beaches, or if you’re like me, vegging out on the couch with Netflix. 😜
Spring break is supposed to be a glorious time of no stress and no responsibilities, so why on Earth did I spend mine doing schoolwork?
Okay, before you start judging me, let me explain. I have never been a fan of science, but lucky me, I chose a liberal arts college that requires 8 science credits. Yippee. Thankfully, I discovered an option that would let me fulfill 4 credits through an online environmental sustainability class and a trip over spring break. Sign me up!
Although I was not very enthusiastic about giving up my beloved Netflix time to spend a week with a professor and a couple strangers, I was beyond thrilled for a new adventure. I spent my spring break soaking up the sunny skies of Chile. Yes, that’s right – Chile – as in South America!
I visited both the capital city of Santiago and the popular tourist destination Valparaiso and Viña del Mar (popular because of AMAZING beaches!).
My favorite part of the trip was the last night. We had dinner at an Easter Island themed restaurant (fun fact: Easter Island is Chilean property), and we were treated not only to dinner but also to a cultural show. At the end of the night, I got pulled on stage to bring out my inner Shakira and prove that hips really don’t lie! After dinner and the show ended, we took the stage and danced alongside native Chileans to a mixture of Spanish and American music. It was a blast!
Aside from a quick vacation to Mexico, this was really my first time being immersed in a Spanish-speaking country. Next spring I’ll be studying abroad in Spain to really put my skills to the test. I can’t wait!
I could go on and on about this trip, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Why tell you about Chile, when I can show you?!
An empanada, a popular Chilean dish.
Check out these views!!
Fun Fact: Chile is actually the birthplace of the llamas.
I see, You see, we all see sea lions!
Bienvenidos a Vina del Mar!
The colorful coast side town of Valparaiso
Santiago
I hope these pictures have shown that:
1) Chile is a beautiful country and a must see.
2) Try to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way like I did. Why sit inside a classroom listening to a professor drone on and on about something when you can get out there and discover that experience firsthand?
I promise you won’t regret taking chances like these!
Adventure is out there. You just need to find it.”
