Stress

In college finals are the worst! Everything and everyone has the potential to stress you out at any given moment. Its important to take care of yourself during this time first so you do well on your finals and make good grades and second because its important to be aware of your health. Here are some signs that you might be maxed out and need to take a break so you can be health and ace your next test!

1. Hair Loss - I already gave this one away but when you’re body is in a stressed out state it’s common to experience hair loss. We’re more likely to lose significant amounts of hair when our cortisol levels are high.

2. Nap Dreaming - When you dream it means that you’ve made it to REM sleep which takes longer than a nap timeframe to get into. However, if you take a quick nap and wake up remembering your full dreams, it means your body is over exhausted and falling right into REM.

3. Back and Neck Pain - Stress causes your muscles to jam up. That ongoing, nagging back and neck pain isn’t from Monday’s workout, it’s because your body is screaming for relaxation.

4. Upset Tummy- If you’ve been eating like normal and all of a sudden you’re experiencing weird GI issues, take note. When the body goes into overload, the intestines are more sensitive. And you pay the price.

5. Twitching - That ridiculous eye twitch isn’t just a weird muscle spasm. It is your body asking for a yoga class. Take it from a girl whose eye starts to twitch at the very hint of stress… your freaked out muscles want you to pay attention.

I love this tunic!

This tunic is super adorable! I love reading Carly's blog The College Prepster and when she blogged about this tunic the other I fell in love immediately. Its perfect for all kinds of holiday parties and just the winter season in general. It is from Devon Baer  an online boutique with tons of great options just like this tunic! On a normal basis my outfits are really casual, I like to comfortable as I run from meetings, to class, and all the other things I'm involved in. However, when I home I like to step up my game! Maybe if I order today this tunic will be in my mailbox when I go home for winter break! 

Drunk Driving

  College parties can be fun! 

But more important than having fun is staying safe recently 10 students at a nearby college were involved in a drunk driving accident. Its scary to see the aftermath of poor decisions so close to home. I have never thought about getting behind the wheel if I chose to drink but it scary to think that others do. Its important especially if you are new to a school and drinking and driving may be a normal thing, but know that it is not! Its dangerous for you and everyone on the road. You don't want to be a statistic, be alive and present for all of your college years and life after college. 

This is the link to the story of the accident.

Being You

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be authentically YOU…authentically me…what that truth is…where it lies…and why.

My mother has always told me that I march to the beat of my own drum, and I always have. While I agree with her, and it’s one of the things I appreciate about myself for better or for worse, I think it is more of an interpretive dance than it is a march. And I just genuinely do not know any other way. I don’t know any other dance.

While I consider it both a blessing and a curse, I’ve had times where I’ve tuned into other people’s drums, and I let their beat drown out my own. The cost was high. It meant not keeping tempo with my own deeply-resonating drum beat. It meant my dance lost its originality. I was interpreting someone else’s music. And I know wholeheartedly that this is something some struggle with more than others.

I’ll drop the drum analogy for a moment to say exactly what I mean. I mean the time my hair was so platinum it was the color of my skin. The time I didn’t tell a story because I worried about how he would react. The moment I considered not chasing my dream role because it would mean disappointing someone I cared about. The time I made this blog live and almost froze in terror. In those moments I gave up my dance to the power of someone else’s drum.  I let them have the potential to squash what I knew to be my truth when all along the power was in mine.

No matter how strongly rooted you are in your own interpretive dance, I’m positive you’ve had those moments too. My hope is that they have been merely stanzas, instead of becoming your entire song. However, if you’re living an inauthentic life. Or having a day that just doesn’t resonate with your heart and you know it…get around people who are.

Something about watching people we love to dance their own dance and beat the shit out of their own drum…somewhere in that experience we feel the permission to do the same. And the beautiful part of their originality is that it exists within us, too.

Often, the best mirrors are those we deeply trust and love.  They are the ones who will help you dance your own dance. They’ll hear your drum louder, and more beautiful, than you do. The trick is to trust what they are listening to. Until you hear that for yourself.

This post is also from Maxie McCoy who write Ilo Inspired. Its a great post for people who being away from home are trying to figure out who they are and how to be who they are! 

Good or Great!

I found this list of good and great things and I found it really inspiring and wanted to share it with you all!

Good

Giving your time, talents or resource to those around you

Great

Giving without expectation

Good

Asking for what you want

Great

Knowing your worth

Good

Being a jack of all trades

Great

Being a master of some

Good

Bouncing back from obstacles

Great

Knowing life is all about riding the waves highs and low

Good

Being happy

Great

Fully leaning into joy

Good

Enjoying the present

Great

Fully participating in every moment of your life

Good

Appreciating the love in your life

Great

Measuring life by the love you have in it

Good

Communicating your feelings

Great

Embracing vulnerability

Nail Polish

Since I go to a Women's College, I've never seen a shortage nail polish in my years of schooling. I love painting my nails its a great way to take a break and hang out with friends. With so many girls I have endless options and I don't always have to have the latest color on me, I can always knock on a couple doors to see if my friends have any colors I like. Although I do love to stock on polish because really there are so many pretty colors. Here are a few of colors. 

SNL

I love love love Saturday Night Live! Its one of my favorite shows, and although I know my comedy skills aren't that sharp I've always want to be apart of the cast. I think it would have to be the best job in the world, laughing all day along every day. I'm not able to watch the show every Saturday Night as I am in college and sometimes I like to blow off some steam at parties. I usually watch on Monday afternoons on Hulu. Hulu Plus is by far one of my best investments in college, taking a break from all the stress to have a few laughs is a great break! 

Here is one of my favorite sketches: