Curated / 3

This week, I've had three GREAT pieces of news. First off, last week I mentioned that I've decided to get a French minor + I took a placement test to see how much (if any!) French I remembered. Turns out, I scored well enough to skip 10 credits of French! Which, at least at my school, is two or three courses. So that's awesome. 

Second, I got a research position! I had to interview a professor for a class project + at the end we were chatting about the work that he does and he offered me a position! It's in the plant pathology department and I'll largely be working on a fungus called Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (I linked to a picture in case you're interested!). So that's a big deal for me! 

And last, I recently auditioned for a course in fitness instruction at my school, and was accepted! We auditioned in a practical doing different group fitness routines and an interview and they ended up accepting only about twenty out of ninety five applicants! Basically, this means I get to go through the training process and then work as a group fitness instructor at our gyms (think kickboxing, yoga, conditioning). 

So I've had a pretty lovely week. How about yours?

+ Make a statement wall with paint pens.

+ What to do when you feel overwhelmed by work.

+ Delicious natural home scents (citrus basil? yes please!).

+ A guide to Reykjavik (I've always wanted to go to Iceland!)

+ How to befriend anyone even if you're an introvert

+ How technology is sabotaging your sleep (even though you already know)

+ 5 tips for being positive even when you're exhausted

+ 10 online tools for better attention and focus

+ A new resource for learning a new language

+ 29 Tumblr posts that will make you laugh every time

I'm really just counting down the days until Christmas music is acceptable (seven days!!!) so this is the last bit of normal music. This Christmas I'm planning on expanding to different "genres" within Christmas music. I've always loved 50s Christmas music but I'm gonna look around for some other genres. If you know of any cool Christmas songs, let me know!!

But what have I been listening to in the meantime? The Frozen soundtrack. Freaking over and over. It's wonderful. And NO it is not Christmas music. Gosh. 

Anyways, you can listen to it on Spotify here. 

In case you ever doubted that food can be art, look around the @julieskitchen instagram!

This week, I'm repeating my goal from last week because it's a good habit I need to work on--being proactive about schoolwork. I'm fairly good about not procrastinating but I feel even better when I start thing early and am on top of things. Over Thanksgiving this week, I plan to squeeze in some time to get ready for finals. They'll be here before I know it! What are your goals for the week?

Curated Weekly / 2

Curated Weekly is a new series with installments posted every Friday where I share a variety of moments or interesting things (like links or photos or songs) that I've collected over the last week. I hope that this series gives you a snapshot into my world and my brain!

Once again, if you have not yet taken the reader survey for fall 2014, I would appreciate it so much if you would! It's just a few short questions about you and your goals and plans so I can get to know you better! 

These week was so uneventful...it was a nice little breather from last week, which was insane! Tuesday, I had the day off for Veteran's Day (THANK YOU veterans, and not just for the day off). My current roommate and I and another friend of ours spent a good bit of the day looking at apartments for next fall. It's actually impossible to find an apartment within walking distance (I like walking), with a balcony (I like plants) and that's pet-friendly, without paying over $2500 a month. Who knew apartments were so expensive?

I've recently decided to look into getting a minor in French, which no, has absolutely no practical application with my major (Plant Pathology). But I've always enjoyed French and wanted to live abroad so I'm really considering it. I'm on track to graduate a year early and I'm not in a rush to get out of college, so why not?! So last night, I took my placement test to see if I actually retained any of my five years of French (probably not). I'll get those results sometime today!

+ 3 simple ways to be (slightly) less obsessed with your phone.
+ crazy yummy lemon bars
+ 10 Bible verses for an anxious heart
+ make a diy iPad sleeve
+ a collection of top-notch skillshare classes
+ 5 easy lifestyle changes to make in a month
+ creating personal rules for blogging
+ An anthem of hope: four ways to recharge.
+ 5 ways to clean up your blogger template
+ The "I don't want to work out" workout

I'm trying out a couple new methods for linking to music. I asked about it in the survey (linked above) but if you have any additional comments as to which methods are better for you (i.e. grooveshark like last week or a link to 8tracks like this week), feel free to leave them below. But I'm trying to make sure I don't use any methods that require you to have an account or sign in. So for today, I'm using 8tracks, one of my favorite websites for playlists. LISTEN TO THE WHOLE PLAYLIST HERE. Here's the list:

Where Have All the Flowers Gone / Peter, Paul and Mary
Goodnight Irene / The Weavers
The Circle Game / Tom Rush
Lady Came from Baltimore / Tim Hardin
Always Something There To Remind Me / Naked Eyes
This Land is Your Land / Woody Guthrie
Make Your Own Kind of Music / The Mamas and the Papas
(Don't Fear) the Reaper / Blue Oyster Cult

 

These beautiful deconstructed embroideries by Sophia Narrett.

Last week, I felt like I did a pretty good job of managing my time. I focused specifically on not wasting time on dumb things, especially when I had tasks left to do. This week, my goal is to go above and beyond my tasks and start reviewing notes and material for my exams. I've learned the hard way that most exams cover too much information to review in just a few days so I'm planning on starting early!

What are your goals for the week? What's going on in your world?

Curated Weekly / 1

Curated Weekly is a new series with installments posted every Friday (even though today is Saturday!) where I share a variety of moments or interesting things (like links or photos or songs) that I've collected over the last week. I hope that this series gives you a snapshot into my world and my brain!

First off, I'd really appreciate if you'd take the reader survey! The questions are different than most surveys but I wrote them specifically because I really want to get to know you and what you love and what you need out of a blog. Thank you for taking two minutes to fill it out!

Naturally, this week I was very focused on getting all ready for the launch yesterday! If you've been around long, you know I like my life busy and busy I was. I signed up for some of my classes for next semester and I'm really excited about a few of them...along with chem 2 and a few other required classes, I'm pumped to be taking entomology (bugs) and fungal pathogens. If you're new, let me explain and say that I'm a college student studying plant pathology, which pretty much means I study bacteria, fungus, insects, and viruses that harm plants. It's fun stuff!

Yesterday was (you guessed it) pretty busy as well. I met with my wellness coach (more about that another time) and we discussed my goals for the semester as far as working towards better sleep habits, time and stress management, and overall health! If you're in college, I highly recommend looking into resources in your counseling and wellness center. My school has so many amazing, free resources and I'm so thankful for people that want to help me succeed!

And to wrap up a busy week, today is actually my sorority's semi-formal at Disney so I will not be responding to comments today! But for those of you who left them yesterday, thank you. I'm so glad you're here!

DIY morse code bracelets -- what a creative way to carry a message with you!

Cat Ipsum and kitty image placeholders -- in case you can't decide if you like design or kitties more.

Compliments that aren't about physical appearance.

How to diffuse conflict + make angry people calm down + be cool.

Tribal nail art -- just for fun!

6 top ways to improve your daily routine.

Sticky garlic chicken and broccoli -- holy yum.

7 style tips to trick people into thinking you made an effort

A day in the life of a college student

10 steps to uncover wisdom in your anxious thoughts

This beautiful marine-themed moodboard in honor of Rachel Carson

(images by Danielle Kroll)

For some reason, I'm really into Hawaiian folk these days. Seriously! If you're having a busy day and you want some thing calm and soothing but still thoroughly happy, this is the way to go! Plus, it always reminds me that I need to work harder so I can graduate and get a job that pays enough so I can get to Hawaii. Logic, right?!

This week, I intend to work really hard at prioritizing how I use my time. I've talked about this before and I'll talk about it again...I'm a big believer in wasting time intentionally. If you're going to procrastinate, do another important (but less unpleasant) task while you gear up to work. If you're going to rest and relax, do something you really enjoy like reading a book or blogging or watching your favorite movie instead of being a potato and watching that same episode of House Hunters for the third time because there's nothing else on. 

Something that I definitely don't prioritize enough is SLEEP. Whenever more tasks get loaded onto my ever-full plate, I always think to myself, "oh it'll be a late night." Because when something needs to get cut, I cut sleep. Instead, I'm going to work on cutting Facebook or other social media and Netflix before I cut my sleep.

What have you been up to this week? (And yes, I actually want you to answer that question!) What will you prioritize this week?