Happy weekend! I hope your Saturday is off to a great start. I love the weekend because it’s the best time for running errands and self care! Does anyone else LOVE running errands or is it just me?
While running errands, I always end up finding some great products that I have to try out! Recently, I’ve picked up six products that I know you also NEED!
I cannot believe it, but the summer is sadly winding down. I recently invited a few friends of mine over and we had a whole day of what summer is really about: sunshine, being outside (of course in a pool) and making memories!
In 10 days I head back to my second home, Kent State, for the next four months, which is why I have decided to make the most of my time while still at home.
Most of my plans for the rest of the summer consist of spending a lot of time in my pool, but I also have plans to see as many of my friends from home as possible because I don’t get to see them often.
I am also planning on going up to Baltimore this weekend with one of my best friends, Jake, my sister, Payton and my mom to a peach festival! I do not really know what this peach festival entails… but I am hoping there will be some awesome peach cobblers and homemade ice cream!
It is so important for college students to have some relaxation time during the summer because we know as soon as we get back to school, it is time to hit the books again. I cannot even begin to think about the group projects that are ahead me this semester!
Annapolis, Baltimore and D.C. have so much to offer in the sweet summer time. I live so close to Annapolis, and go everyday, so I have decided in my final week at home, there is one thing in D.C. I want to do and one thing in Baltimore I want to do before I head back to Kent.
In D.C. I want to head down to Georgetown to shop and then grab dinner in Dupont Circle at my favorite restaurant called Mission. And in Baltimore I want to go with my mom to this awesome place my mom showed me on Instagram, Graffiti Alley.
Although I definitely enjoyed the majority of my summer in NYC , I could not ask for more for the end of my summer in Annapolis.
Now I am going to go jump into the pool in this heat wave!
I cannot believe it, but my NYC summer experience has come to an end. Unbelievable, right?
New York City became my home this summer and I feel like I legitimately left a piece of my heart there. When I first arrived in the city, I kept saying “I think I am going to have a great summer but I definitely do not see myself here after graduation.” WELL, I WAS WRONG. This summer my heart grew fonder as the days went on.
From learning the subway to mastering the different areas of Manhattan, to becoming closer with girls in the classes and internship to discovering so many amazing restaurants, my summer in NYC is one I will never forget.
I lived in the Upper West Side, which I always compared to the suburbs of the city. My internship was in the Flatiron District and my classes were in Midtown. I loved my classes and I definitely learned a lot of about myself and what I want out of my future at my internship.
I interned at a fashion PR firm, which was definitely an experience I always dreamed about. For the past three years I have said my dream was to work in fashion PR, but after interning in a fashion PR firm, I learned that I LIKE fashion PR, but I don’t LOVE it. I am so grateful for the experience I had at the agency I interned for. I was able to work at both New York Men’s Day (the opening event for NYFW) and at New York Men’s Fashion Week.
This summer was amazing, and I think one of my absolute favorite things was getting to try all the different trendy foods that were all over Facebook and the internet this summer. For example, Frosé, the roll-up ice cream and I went to the bakery , Union Fare, which sells the rainbow croissants, but they were sold out by the time I got there so I tried their cookies and cream croissant, which was just as fabulous!
Exploring was also amazing. You would think in the eight weeks I was there, I would have been able to do everything I wanted to, but I didn’t. If I did not have class or my internship, I probably could have, but I know that I will definitely have to do the things I wanted to do this summer first as soon as I am back in the city!
Another thing I loved about being in NYC, everyone wants to come and visit! My sister, Payton and best friend, Amanda came twice, my friend Mary came with Payton and Amanda on their second trip and my friend Erin came up for a weekend trip. The FUNNIEST thing was Erin and I sleeping in my twin sized bed in my dorm room, haha!
During my friend’s visits we explored all around Manhattan and went to Brooklyn! In Brooklyn, we adventured in Williamsburg and DUMBO, which is in the picture below.
DUMBO: Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass
Dumbo was gorgeous! The architecture, the view of the Manhattan Skyline and the view of the Brooklyn bridge are out of this world. The area is located right in the middle of the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge.
This summer also included going to Her Conference. Her Conference is a conference hosted by Her Campus, an online magazine for women in college. I am a writer for Her Campus Kent State and I am also in their blogging network! They hosted a kick-off event, hosted by Rebecca Minkoff. I attended the event and had the chance to meet her. I fan-girled so hard! She was so sweet and even signed the inside of the bag I purchased that evening.
I cannot believe all of the things I did within these past eight weeks. These were just a few highlights from my summer. I truly cannot believe this summer is almost over. Summer 2016 is definitely my favorite summer yet!
Do you dream of visiting the home of country music? The home of the Ryman? Don’t know what the Ryman is… well that’s the reason you definitely need to go!
Nashville has a young vibe with a certain charm that cannot be compared to any other city I’ve been to. My sister, dad and I went to Nashville for four days, which was just the right amount to see Nashville and a couple of surrounding cities around it!
Broadway Street
Broadway Street is the main tourist street. It has all of the Honky Tonk bars, where people are performing live music all day. You can walk into any of these bars and there will be a great performance! Along with the Honky Tonk bars are pieces of history, amazing restaurants and many stores that sell cowboy boots.
You will not miss this on your trip to Nashville! It is in the heart of downtown.
Broadway at night time! The purple building is the infamous Tootsies Orchid Lounge.
Nashville is definitely a Yuppie/Yopro City
Yuppie/Yopro: Young Professional
In every area, Nashville had some sort of building going on. Whether is was a new apartment complex or a new bar, there were many new things coming there, which is always a good sight to see! A lot of the city was renovated, which is what many millennials love to see but it had a southern charm.
I never thought I could see myself in a southern city before. I have always dreamt of living in Washington D.C. or NYC, but now Nashville has been added to this list!
Something that I loved was an area called “12 South,” which is where Reese Witherspoon’s store, Draper James is. Reese Witherspoon’s hometown is Nashville, so of course she had to have her store in one of Nashville’s hottest neighborhoods!
Right next door to Draper James is Sprinkles cupcakes, which included their Cupcake ATM (I was in heaven!). If you haven’t experienced the Cupcake ATM, then you must get to your closest Sprinkles Cupcakes pronto!
On every corner there was another cool store to go into including White’s Mercantile. While walking past White’s Mercantile my sister and I weren’t sure what the store was going to be so it made it even more exciting. We walked into a young adult’s heaven. It was a clothing store and a gift store stocked with unnecessary things. They had adorable clothing, real leather purses, jewelry, Hudson Bay blankets… you can basically see that my sister and I were in heaven while this was not my dad’s ideal spot, haha!
12 South is also home of the “I believe in Nashville” wall! This wall was painted in 2012 by an artist named DCXV to create a unifying symbol for Nashville, for native and newcomer alike.
Some of the History
We did two touristy tours to learn more about the rich history that Nashville holds. My family and I toured the Ryman and we visited Hatch Printing.
Visiting the home of Hatch Printing was my favorite out of the two. Hatch Printing is the company who makes the iconic posters for advertising for many artists who came to Nashville. Hatch printing still currently makes posters for artists to sell at their shows! They have made posters for anyone from Elvis to Kanye.
It was so neat to be able to see the old machinery they use to hand-make all of these posters. They all become individuals, which is so great!
Me being the public relations major that I am, I loved getting to see the early advertising that these artists used to promote their shows. My family and I even got to make our prints at the end of the tour.
Food
I had some of the best food while visiting! Whether it was at one their local coffee shops, Frothy Monkey, Merchant’s, a southern bistro (that is on Broadway!) or it was at Pancake Pantry, a legendary breakfast spot.
Definitely add Nashville to your bucket list!
Even if it’s only for two days, you will not regret getting to this great city!
Can you all believe it is already Halloween? I can’t! At Kent State, Halloween is HUGE. Kent, Ohio goes crazy for Halloween…but this year I am not feeling great so I have decided that tonight I will definitely be staying in and watching Halloween movies (Disney Channel ones, of course!).
I decided that this year I wanted to attempt a fun Halloween makeup look!
I have always loved when I see people do their makeup as a baby deer, or also known as a fawn!
What do you all think? I had so much fun doing this makeup look. I have some other things to do today, or I honestly would have left this look on all day!
Now time for the GIVEAWAY!
As a part of this look, I used one of my favorite bronzers, Hoola by Benefit!
I am giving away this ‘Do the Hoola’ kit! Now that it is slowly becoming colder, we are all loosing that bronzed-glow that we all love to have so much!
Want to know what’s inside of the box? I know you do…
So as you can see there is a lipgloss, mascara, lip tint, the Hoola Bronzer in a liquid and a Hoola Bronzer in powder!
I cannot even express how much I love these items. When I purchased this kit, I also purchased myself one and I have been obsessed with it since then. The mascara is crazy! Any time I wear it, people ask me if I am wearing false eye lashes.
Want to win this giveaway?
You have to follow me social media and share this post with all of your friends and make sure to tag me in your post so I know that you shared it! 🙂
Instagram: @Danieminor13
Twitter: @Danieminor13
You have until November November 5th to follow me and share this post because on November 6th, I am sharing who the winner is!
Happy Halloween!
If you’re in a time crunch for a cute festive 4th of July outfit, make sure you go check out your local thrift stores! Be creative with your outfits, because you never know what you can put together!
I am so excited that my first Thirfty Thursday in a while is my 4th of July look! While thrifting at the Goodwill in Crofton, Md. I was looking for simple pieces that would look spectacular together, and here is the outfit that I put together!
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