Recycle More, Shop Vintage Denim

Fashion: Approximate time reading this post: 2 minutes

Happy Monday my fashion forward friends!

Today’s fashion post is highlighting these stellar Calvin Klein vintage boyfriend overalls I scored while at this year’s Phoenix Flea Market. First, I recommend that anyone who obsesses over clothing, anything vintage, and food trucks to attend the Phoenix Flea at least once in their lives when the market is in town every March. My sister and I stumbled upon the “Coast to Coast Mobile Vintage Shop” which is the quintessential “traveling vintage shop” of bright and beautiful clothes all for quite a steal packed into a white and blue 1976 trailer. Shopping doesn’t get much cooler than that, folks! So long story short, I fell in love with these oversized CK overalls, which for some reason, I think fit me like a glove.

Once again, my sister, Claire, braved her designated role as the “Instagram Sister” (via “Instagram Husband,” it’s an awful but hilarious concept) and snapped these semi-quick photos of me and my CK jeans while we nabbed the best tacos in town at Joyride Taco House; which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone who has tastebuds.

Also, everything I am wearing was found in a sale section of some sort and under $50. I attached links of most of the items, if not similar ones, in my “outfit details” so don’t be alarmed if the items are no longer selling at the sale price.

Outfit details: vintage Calvin Klein boyfriend overalls (Coast to Coast Mobile @ Phoenix Flea Market), cactus print crop top (Forever 21), short gladiator sandals (Target), small crossbody bag (H&M), puff keychain (gift), XL screw split gold bangle (Wanderlust + Co.)

I hope that you are all braving our annual “spring” heat, but in style of course. And best of luck to all the college students out there trying to finish off this very short semester strong!

Here is some Monday motivation tunes to get you through the day and into your upcoming finals:

 

21 Things I Learned in 21 Years

Insight/Lifestyle: Approximate time reading this post: 2 minutes

After turning 21 years old this past week, I started to feel a little nostalgic about how I have come to be me. This list of lessons will not consist of warnings like “don’t drink the mysterious blue alcohol at your first high school party” just because I did not have those crazy experiences when I was younger. Which this I am completely OK with. So I compiled a list recognizing many knowledgeable and defining memories in my short life to explain what I have learned until today.

  1. Write more thank you cards. It’s just as important to show gratitude than to receive it.

  2. Your friends in elementary school will not define the rest of your life.

  3. Take care of yourself when you are sick: Your mom will find all of your hidden pills behind the family room couch.

  4. You can change your mind without a reason or excuse but accept the confused backlash.

  5. Make friends with those who accept your busy schedule and be sure to accept theirs too.

  6. No one knows what they are doing in middle school, it’s not just you.

  7. Spend your free time as a teenager wisely: travel, save money, take online classes, read, learn about the world. You will wish you had done more of this as you grow older and time grows shorter.

  8. Try something new every day: This list doesn’t have to mount to skydiving or eating unrecognizable foods but it’s important to grow culturally too.

  9. Do as much as you can to be successful, but if you are unhappy because of this—do less.

  10. Reach out to your friends when you need them. They may have needed you even more in that moment.

  11. Networking can help you far more than what you would have accomplished by yourself.

  12. Join the high school marching band: it will exceed your expectations in comparison to any other route you could have taken during those four years.

  13. Passive aggression will get you nowhere.

  14. Stop chasing him.

  15. You will learn how to make $20 stretch for a week or more. The “broke college student” stigma is not a joke.

  16. Get interested in politics: You don’t have to live and breathe it. But understand your rights and country well enough to cast your opinion and vote.

  17. Treat yourself but learn the difference between that and procrastination.

  18. Look at both sides of the argument and practice neutrality, you will make a better journalist.

  19. Invest in clothes that fit well and last awhile.

  20. Don’t wait until you are 20 years old to get your driver’s license. Just don’t.

  21. Your comfort zone will always be there. With this 50/50 chance of satisfaction, build the strength to venture outside every once in awhile.

  22.  And one more for good luck! Move on from mediocrity, life is too short.

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As always, thank you for taking the time to read my many lists and for being a part of this 21 year-long learning process. I hope to add even more to these thoughts, good and bad, as I continue growing (hopefully in height *fingers crossed*) and mind for many more years to come. Happy Monday friends!

 

Be Fulfilled

Insight/Lifestyle: Approximate time reading this post: 2 minutes

First off, I would like to thank all of my wonderful friends and a few acquaintances I have met in the past few weeks that have been so encouraging, inspiring, and throwing me numerous ideas during my minor blog hiatus. My appreciation for knowing such genuine beings continues to grow more and more everyday.

Now, I would like to kick off your Monday with a little insight I received over the Valentine’s Day weekend (And no, this is not relationship advice. I won’t torture you this time.) while I attended the National Collegiate Leadership Conference with my community college and other colleges from all over the country. I attended a workshop called “Ripple of Positivity, Wave of Revolution” where the speaker, a student from Sam Houston State University, analyzed the world of positive psychology. If anything, this workshop was a great reminder on how to create lasting positive change for myself in order to reach my version of happiness.

He discussed the following five simple to take action and improve your growth of positivity (which some of these may sound familiar from my own blog, but they are a great daily reminder):

  1. 3 Gratitudes: Write down three people, places, or things that you felt gratitude towards in the past 24 hours. No explanation needed, just three nouns that put a smile on your face.
  2. Journaling: Think of one meaningful experience in the past 24 hours and jot down everything you remember about it. I have come to realize that blogging has been a pleasant outlet in reminding myself of positive experiences that occurred most recently. Once you are reliving this memory by journaling, your brain actually cannot tell the difference between the actual moment your memory happened and the memory itself. In turn, you are receiving just about equal gratification and a boost of positive neurotransmitters that you originally experienced when this memory occurred.
  3. Exercise: Yoga, running, weight lifting, flag football, pole vaulting, you name it, just do it.
  4. Meditation: During the workshop, we were asked to close our eyes for two minutes and just meditate. Actual meditation can take years to master, but it is very rejuvenating to take a simple two minutes out of your day to close your eyes and empty your mind. I found my mind attempting to wander into any loud and anxious corner I could get my hands on in these two minutes, but by repeating the phrase “breathe in, breathe out” I found my meditation much more effective.
  5. Intentional Acts of Kindness: Give a compliment to a stranger at your job, your barista, or someone close to you; tip the extra buck; support your favorite artist and buy their music off of iTunes instead of pirating it (I really need to work on that one); or like, subscribe, and comment on this blog. I just had to throw that one in there ;)


If you can complete just one of these actions for eight minutes a day, 21 days in a row, you will find yourself in a state of lasting positive change. Afterall, it only takes 21 days to break habits. When someone asks you how you are doing don’t just respond with “I’m hanging in there.” You don’t want to just hang in there. By thinking that you can get away with “hanging” through life, your brain never reaches desired cognitive happiness. I hope that you find a way to reach your cognitive happiness or even just a small portion of it today. Happy Monday, readers, make the most of it.

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A few things that improved my cognitive happiness recently: