My Favorite Things

One of my most favorite things is...CHOCOLATE! Obviously. If you ever meet a girl who doesn't like chocolate, I would be weary of her. I am telling you this because yesterday I went to Hershey Park for the very first time. To be honest, I'm not super in to amusement parks and rides and stuff, but my boyfriend wanted to go with his family, and I do love chocolate, so we went. It ended up being a really fun day and I am very glad that we went! My favorite chocolate candy is Reese's, and I couldn't believe all of the different kinds of Reese's products that are in existence. Did you know that there is such a thing as a Reese's bar? I bet you didn't.

From GoogleImages

Yeah, that's exactly what it looks like. A hershey's candy bar stuffed with peanut butter! Let me be the first to tell you that it's delicious and dare I say better than a peanut butter cup?

Ryan and me at Hershey Park!

Anyway. School has been going really well, for those of you who were wondering. I feel like I am actually learning things in my classes that I can use in my career - it only took 16 years of structured education... My favorite assignment so far has been what is called a "pre-course interview" for my foundations of counseling class. We had to interview someone we didn't know very well (easy for me, just moved here) for 15 whole minutes, as a mini-therapy session. I was so nervous before I conducted the interview, but as I was doing it and after it felt so good and made me feel like I could really do this as my profession. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait for my future!

In non-school related news, I don't know if any of you know how obsessed I am with Erin Condren. Erin Condren is a designer who has an online boutique of basically anything you can think of that can be personalized. Now I know what you're thinking, tacky silver items that can be engraved - WRONG! She has iPhone cases, planners, stationery, note pads, note books, etc. I normally think this items are kind of boring, but hers are just so fun! She is super good at having specials on her items, which is when I usually order them. I just can't get enough!

My iPhone Case

My Planner (I can't rotate it, weird)

And now, because of her lovely sale promotion a few days ago, I have ordered personalized stationery to my collection!

My Stationery (mine will have my name, obviously)

How cute, right! I'm so excited for it to come! I love sending hand written notes of all kinds, and I think my new stationery will definitely help me continue my habit.

Overall, this week has been pretty fantastic, including the fact that I finally got a part-time job! I can't wait to start working and hopefully get a real routine going on here in New York. Ok, this is all for now, have fun shopping on ErinCondren.com! 

Back to the Grind

Hi bloggers and joggers,

Today, I decided to go to the gym. I know, I know, I have been in the city for the month and this was my first time at the gym! (please don't give me this lecture). A wise friend has told me that when it comes to running, if you don't use it, you lose it. Today I learned first hand that this is, indeed, true. I haven't run in about four months, and today I could barely run at all. I was on the treadmill for 35 minutes, and I only went 2.25 miles. PATHETIC.

From GoogleImages

Yup - that's basically what I felt like, a turtle on a treadmill. Whatever, I will keep with it and get back in shape, I promise myself. In addition to running, I also want to get in to biking. For now that means just alternating between treadmill and bike in the gym, but hopefully it will eventually lead to biking outside on a real bike. I think biking gives you a great opportunity to do something on your own, safely, and gives you the opportunity to really see a city. Lets just say it's something I'm thinking about. I'm also planning on starting this ab workout routine, I'll let you know what I think.

In other news - my classes are now in full swing and I am a little overwhelmed with the amount of reading I have. Everyone always says "Graduate school is a lot of reading," but you don't really comprehend the amount of reading they're talking about until you actually get there, trust me.

I perpetually feel like I have a never ending stack of reading to get done. For example, on the average week I have 200 pages of reading along with reflection papers and other various assignments. The good news? I have been able to keep up with all of my reading and assignments thus far, which is encouraging.

More next time, 

B

Fall In To School

Well, as you could guess by my title, school has started yet again! I am starting a brand new school for only the fifth time in my life, which I guess is pretty normal. I started off my educational journey at the ripe age of 3(ish) at Sinai Akiba Academy. From the time of mommy-and-me classes to the sixth grade I spent the majority of my time learning hebrew and other aspects of the Jewish religion while basically learning nothing about english grammar, or math, or anything else that would help me in the real world.   I started Harvard-Westlake School in the seventh grade and graduated from high school there in 2008. It was at HW that I came to understand how learning something new could be awesome. It was also where I learned that some subjects were just never going to make sense to me (i.e. chemistry). When I graduated from high school I started college at The University of Massachusetts, and let me tell you it was the worst four months of my life. I only lasted there a semester before I transferred to The University of Maryland where I had the best three and a half years of my entire life, so far at least. At UMD I was able to join an amazing sorority, find a major that made me excited to learn, and had experiences I will never forget. I was finally able to be confident in my academic life as well as my social life, and decided to study abroad (as you know), and apply to graduate school (as you also know). 

Today I had my orientation at Teachers College and I cannot wait to start my classes on Thursday. You could say that I am a nerd, but I really love school. I love school so much that I want to spend my life working within a school, but to do that I need to spend at least two more years experiencing more school for myself. On Thursday I will tell you all about my first class, yay!