Tag: livepulchritudinously

100 books in 2022

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I posted my Top 10 Books of 2022 the other day and went down a rabbit hole of book bloggers and got a lot of inspo. Rosie, who I’ve followed for years, posted her post, GoodReads Goal and it made me want to do the same thing.  I read 100 books last year and while sharing my top 10 is great, I want to share my rating for all my books. My friends say I’m pretty harsh with my GoodReads stars so keep that in mind 😉

Five stars

  • Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
  • It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  • The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
  • The Stranger by Albert Camus
  • The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
  • For the Love of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino
  • Coraline by Neil Gaiman
  • The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
  • Book Lovers by Emily Henry
  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
  • Before the Coffee Gets Gold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
  • Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
  • Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas
  • Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas
  • The Assassins Blade by Sarah J Maas
  • House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
  • A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
  • A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
  • I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
  • We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
  • The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor
  • The Bee and the Fly: The Improbable Correspondence of Louisa May Alcott and Emily Dickinson by Lorraine Tosiello and Jane Cavolina
  • You, Me, and the Colors of Life by Noa C. Walker
  • Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
  • The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
  • Night by Elie Wiesel

Four stars

  • The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
  • Persuasion by Jane Austen
  • Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  • Black Coffee by Agatha Christie
  • Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
  • Campos de Fresas by Jordi Sierra I Fabri
  • This Time Around by Tawna Fenske
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken
  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  • The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
  • The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
  • Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas
  • Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas
  • Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  • Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
  • Crazy to Leave You by Marilyn Simon Rothstein
  • The Fifth Agreement by Miguel Ruiz
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  • When We let Go by Rochelle B. Weinstein
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Three Stars

  • Emma by Jane Austen
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  • Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
  • Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irvine
  • The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
  • Meet Me in Madrid by verity Lowell
  • A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
  • Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas
  • House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas
  • People I want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann
  • Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
  • Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
  • Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
  • Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
  • Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Canoeing in the Wilderness by Henry David Thoreau

Two stars

  • Love Yourself First by Krystle Laughter
  • The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

One star

  • Life is Short and So is This Book by Peter Atkins
  • Como Agua Para Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
  • Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis [DNF at 25% also my first ever DNF ever aka it was awful]
  • Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

After looking at my ratings like this, I am the opposite of harsh with my stars. But here are my 100 books for 2022. My goal for 2023 is 50 books. Ideally, I’d love another year of 100 but I’m starting small and then I can make changes as I hit smaller goals J

How many books did you read in 2022? What’s your goal for 2023?

Alicia 🙂

21 in 2021

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As part of my Happiness Project [more to come on that soon], part of the first task was to make a list of 21 things to do in the year 2021. I’ve done these before but normally they were huge goals. This year, I’m making a list of 21 things that I would like to accomplish [big or small]. I’ll check back on this list at the end of 2021 or earlier if I happen to finish them before then. Here goes my 21 things to accomplish in 2021.

Physical Health

  1. Complete a workout program [any length, any kind, just complete it. Start to finish]
  2. Figure out what is wrong with my stomach and get It fixed [remove a food, try a new diet, etc.]
  3. Find a Workout class I enjoy
  4. Cook one new recipe a month
  5. Get the COVID vaccine
  6. Eat less ‘added’ sugar
  7. Stay sober
  8. Complete Yoga with Adriene’s 30 day Breathe Yoga Journey

Mental Health

  1. Read 20 books
  2. Practice self-care daily [workout, reading, face mask, cooking, etc.]
  3. Keep my social media hiatus until June [or longer]

Spiritual Health

  1. Meditate or do yoga for one hour per week

Work

  1. Figure out my next move- Grad school, Peace Corps, teaching in America, teaching abroad – who knows?
  2. If I choose working… Get a job for the 2021-2022 school year.
  3. Blog 50 times
  4. Write 20,000 words in my novel

Play

  1. Take a week-long vacation with my sister
  2. Visit one new country [COVID pending]
  3. Learn something new – Calligraphy, Crochet, How to Play piano – who knows?

Other

  1. Pick my one-word theme for the year
  2. Replace an item with something that makes more ‘sense’ at the time

I like the last one the most. My goals might change over the year and that’s okay!!! So, if that happens, I get a freebie change to use however I see most fit. I’m also hoping to blog about each of these as they are completed and I will add a new tab on my blog called “Happiness Project” soon for all posts related to my happiness project.

❤ Alicia

2020 year in review

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Hi all. While 2020 wasn’t anything like we’d expected [myself the least I think], I do think 2020 overall was a good year. While a lot of crap happened this year, a lot of good things happened as well. Of course, most of these from the comfort of my 8ft x 10ft bedroom, but good things, nonetheless.

I started off the year with a few of my best friends from high school, my first-time celebrating NYE at a bar… oh how I took that evening for granted. I also went on my first ever real date [sorry for ghosting you Adam but you only ever communicated over snapchat… big red flag for me] just before heading off to another country for another semester.

I spent my last semester of college completing my student teaching in Greece. Visiting other countries like Bulgaria, The Netherlands, and Belgium. I met some amazing people, Greek, American, Spanish, etc. while I was there. It was one of the best [and most eye-opening] experiences of my life. That of course got cut to an abrupt stop on a Thursday in March and I was then shipped back home after sobbing in the Thessaloniki airport when I thought there were no more flights back to America.  Nonetheless, I made it back home, in one piece, and subsequently, I spent the next 9 months quarantining…

March, April, and May were spent by moping around, walking my dog, beating every video game I own, cleaning my room, graduating college [oh ou, oh yeah I forgot about this], and spending far too many hours scrolling through tik tok.

June and July were the first time I’ve seen real people since March [outside of my immediate family]. I celebrated my 23rd birthday with my parents and my sister at my favorite restaurant [thank god for it being on a corner and having outdoor seating] and then in July I visited some friends in Ohio and spent a week in Wisconsin at my cousin’s new home. July is also the last time I’ve had alcohol [and hopefully ever will].

August and September were a whirlwind of shipping my sister off to college, waiting for my visa for Spain to get approved, it finally getting approved, packing my life into a suitcase, duffle bag and my backpack until I finally left for Spain.

As we all know, October left me returning home from Spain for a multitude of personal reasons, which as much as I hate to admit, it was the best decision I could have made. October also consisted of me starting therapy and getting my first ever big girl job [Spanish Teacher at a K-12 school in Chicago]. I also deleted my social media which I still don’t use [and TikTok got the boot too].

November and December have been about getting into a routine of a 40 hour a week job while still taking time for myself and my growth. And now, here I am, sitting on my bed during my first vacation as a working adult, writing my first blog post in months.

2020 has been a year of personal growth, setting boundaries [for myself and others], and enjoying all of the little things.

I am hoping that 2021 is full of life, love, happiness, and goal achieving, no matter how big or small any of these are for me and for you.

See you all in 2021.

❤ Alicia

Orgain Protein Review

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Disclosure: some of  the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no  additional cost to you, 
I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to treat my body as best as I can because I’m trying to love myself and part of loving yourself comes from treating your body right. I’ve been trying to eat a balanced amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. However, as a vegan, it can be a little harder to get in all of my protein daily, so, I usually have a protein shake or smoothie after my workout each day. I’m also trying to eat less processed foods which, unfortunately, a lot of vegan meats are high in chemicals and words I don’t know so, I was stuck in a rut with my diet for quite a bit.

I’ve used quite a few vegan proteins in my day however, there were none that I ever loved [either the price or the flavor] until this summer. While scrolling through vegan protein recommendations on a blog I was reading in April, I discovered Orgain Protein. Orgain protein is very plant-heavy and doesn’t have the chemicals that other proteins I’ve had have.

I’ve been using this protein for about five months and have loved every product I’ve tried. From their protein shakes, powders, and bars, everything is good!

My biggest thing when it comes to protein is taste. A lot of proteins don’t taste good and it can still be tasted when added to food. I’ve put the powders in smoothies and oatmeal and to my surprise, it tastes good!!! Depending on what flavor I use [PB or chocolate fudge are the powders I’ve tried and keep coming back to] it adds to the food I put it in and you can taste the chocolate or peanut butter in the food I’m eating. I also enjoy drinking their protein shakes plain or in a fruit smoothie with granola after a workout.

My favorite thing about Orgain protein is that there are tons of flavors and options for products. I love their creamy chocolate protein shake and their peanut butter chocolate vegan protein powder. The biggest thing I love about these is that they are soy-free [my stomach does not tolerate soy which is why I’m opting to eat less soy in my diet].

Overall, if you’re looking for a protein, in whatever form, I would recommend Orgain.

I loved them enough to become an ambassador. If you decide to give Orgain a shot, you can use my code: LIVINGOFFLEESH30 for 30% off your first order [they even had nonvegan protein and collagen]

Much love,
Alicia

Why mental and spiritual health are just as important as physical health

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I’ve become an absolute podcast fiend. I love having background noise in my life when doing mundane tasks like the dishes, cleaning, walking my dog, etc. and normally I would just play the TV. However, before I went to Spain, I started listening to podcasts regularly. I’ve learned so much from every episode and they’re so fun to listen to because it literally feels like you’re having a chat with the people on the podcast.

I’m a huge fan of The Health Code [Sarah’s Day and Kurt Tilse], A Whole Lotta BS [Brittney Saunders] and Let’s Do Life [Autumn Calabrese]. I also listened to part of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone [read aloud by some of the cast including Tom Felton and Daniel Radcliffe!] but that’s not what this post is about.

In one of the podcast episodes [I can’t remember which because this was a BS-before Spain- podcast I listened to] they discussed that people often focus too much on physical health, or too much on spiritual health or emotional health and neglect the other two. You can’t have one without the others. This is why people who go really hard in the gym but have terrible mental health [me] aren’t quite content with the results they get. However, when you focus equal time and energy to all three, they all work together and you yourself come together in a more wholesome form than when you just focused on one. I have always advocated for all three [to my friends not to myself] and I realized that I mostly only focus on one, which always differs depending on what season of life I’m in.

My goal for the rest of the year is to pour an equal amount of time, effort, and energy into my physical, mental, and emotional health so that I can be more whole.

  • In terms of physical health: filling my body with whole foods that make my body feel good [which unfortunately might mean cutting out soy partially because it doesn’t agree with my stomach], taking vitamins, and moving my body every day.
  • As for mental health: my social media detox, therapy, reading, writing, and getting a job [to have something occupying my time] top this list.
  • Finally, my spiritual health. I will be meditating, doing yoga, and journaling [manifesting]. I will also be more active in learning about my spiritual health. I recently have discovered that I’m more of a spiritual person. I always knew I wasn’t religious, but I think the universe plays a big role in everyone’s lives and I want to learn how to work with the universe not against it [something I’ve been doing for a while I think].

Please send me any and all podcast recommendations! I have a long way to go with the TBB podcast [there are over 200 episodes with each being roughly one hour long] but once I finish, I’m looking for some! I like more health and wellness focused podcasts but would be down for lifestyle, vegan, etc. As long as I learn at least one fun thing per episode that’s all I’m asking for.

Much love,

Alicia ❤

Making oat milk

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Happy Monday, as most of you know, I’ve been very much into sustainable living and all that jazz. One of the things that can help you be more sustainable is by making household products yourself. I’ve made soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. but I wanted to take a more foody approach this time so I made oat milk! You can make milk from anything these days but one of the most sustainable kinds of milk to drink is oat milk [it uses the least amount of water to make] and I had yet to find a brand or type I’ve enjoyed, so instead, I made my own. I scoured the internet for recipes and didn’t find one I particularly liked so in true Alicia fashion, I wung It and made my own recipe.

I wanted to share that this experience was far from the many photos I see on Instagram of people holding one of those antique milk jugs filled with oat milk and sipping away.

First and foremost, I would like to say that I would not recommend using a food processor. You HAVE to use a blender. I swear by my food processor and use it to make ice cream, smoothies, protein bars, etc. However, when it comes to blending liquid, do NOT use the food processor. I turned that bad boy on and there was oaty water all over the place. While my food processor is bigger than my blender, I should have just made multiple small batches in the blender rather than one big batch in my food processor because I wasted over half of it as it spewed all around my kitchen [and onto me].

Nevertheless, it did taste good and I’d make it again just in my blender because then hopefully the oats would grind up and mix in with the water a bit more than they did as well to make thicker and creamier oat milk [I want to put it in my coffee] which is what I was going for.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of oats [use more if you want it thick and creamy]
  • 4 cups of water
  • 2-3 pitted dates [depending on desired sweetness]
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla [I prefer my dairy-free milk to be vanilla flavored. If you don’t, you can omit this or add another flavor]
  • Shirt or cheesecloth [I used a both in my process and found an old -but clean- shirt can be much more useful because no oats get through the shirt whereas when I used the cheesecloth, a little did get through]
  • Jar [I used a quart ball jar]

Directions:

  1. Place all food ingredients in the blender and blend until white.
  2. Add more oats or more water until you reach your desired consistency
  3. Place shirt or cheesecloth over the jar and slowly add milk onto the cheesecloth/shirt until there is no more liquid in your blender.
  4. Enjoy!

It’s quite simple [when you know what you’re doing] so I went through the troubles of being an idiot so you all don’t have to!

Have you ever made dairy-free milk? How did it go?
❤ Alicia

Why I’m taking a social media break

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I’m officially back in America and readjusting to everything I just left. I’m unpacking, spending much needed time with my dog [I always forget how much of a de-stressor she is until I am so stressed out that I’m in tears] and I’m slowly getting into a routine.

Something that I think is so toxic to me at this point in my life is social media. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again and I’m a very black and white person so I’m either on social media for 1912912 hours a day or none at all. While I do enjoy Instagram for keeping up with my friends’ lives and Twitter is great for the news and a good laugh, I really can’t take it right now. I spend hours upon hours scrolling through social media and I really can’t stand it because it’s the biggest waste of time [I’m looking at you TikTok].

I’ve decided to take a bit of a social media hiatus [I’m keeping Snapchat for the time being because I don’t look at stories, I just send a picture or two to the same seven people every day and get on with my life but that might change… who knows? I’ll also keep TikTok because to me that’s not social media and I just watch Draco Malfoy, Harry Styles, and Robert Pattinson compilations so how bad is that? Both of these apps will be getting a screen time limit and the password will be chosen by my sister because it is far too easy to enter that screen time password and keep watching TikToks for hours upon hours not that I’m speaking from personal knowledge 😉 ]

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will be gone for a while. I did it almost four years ago for a whole summer and I think it was beneficial for my mental health. I also read and wrote a lot more, worked out more, was present, etc. I don’t think social media is the worst thing in the world by any means BUT I do think a hiatus can be an amazing thing every so often.

And of course, I’ll still be blogging as much as I can. I’m hoping therapy can spark a bit more motivation in me than what I’ve had.

Have you ever done a social media detox/hiatus? How’d it go?
❤ Alicia

Beginnings and Endings

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Hi all. If you remember me talking about my BIG move to Spain to teach at a university here, well… it happened. I’m currently sitting in my Airbnb in Ciudad Real, Spain as I type this. I’ve been here for one week, and I’ve fallen in love with this city.

I’m not typing this post as means of a WOOHOO I’m in Spain… quite the latter. Unfortunately, I will be heading home. I don’t really want to get into why because I’ve been stressing for the past few days about it. I’m heading home and my life in Spain will have gone just as quickly as it came.

Although I’m very disheartened that this journey of mine is coming to a rather abrupt halt, I’m seeing the good in this whole situation and there are actually a lot of upsides to this situation I’ve found out.

  • I get to see my dog on WEDNESDAY. She is going to be so confused as to why I cried about leaving her for over an hour [I spent almost every waking minute with her since I started quarantining on March 18th… give me a break] and now I’m home so quick.
  • I get to see my aunt’s dog on Wednesday as well. My aunt got surgery and is going to be in rehab for about a month so until then, TWO dogs.
  • I get to make more money than I would have while in Spain. No matter what I do, I’ll be making more money in America per paycheck than per month in Spain [not that I cared about that, I wanted this experience more than any amount of money].
  • ~Hopefully~, I get to take a trip to Europe with my sister next summer. She’s always wanted to go to Paris, and I have a hankering to go to London and all of the UK, so hopefully, we’ll be able to head over there for a few weeks. We can take the HARRY POTTER tour, go to Harry Styles’ bakery, and see the Louvre. Also, she’s my personal photographer so the Instagram content from that trip would be AMAZING.
  • I get to VOTE. I left for Spain before early voting started in my county and I was unsure if my mail-in ballot would make it to Spain and back to America in time once I got my address. However, when I get home, I’ll head straight to the early voting polls and get to ~hopefully~ vote out 45.
  • I am going to be able to focus on me. I probably won’t be able to get a full-time teaching job [since the semester is halfway over] nor do I want one in the condition America is in right now as to not risk getting COVID in a room with 25 germ spreaders. I’ll probably find something part-time [retail, babysitting /e-learning help, substitute teaching, etc.] and I will have plenty of time to take care of myself. I will be going to therapy [probably twice per week to start], exercising, eating right, reading, writing, and doing everything that I love.
  • I might write a novel! I have always wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo and because COVID will most likely still be terrorizing America next month, I should have enough time to do it. I also have a great idea [or at least I think I do] so once I create some characters, figure out the rest of the plot, etc. NaNoWriMo here I come.


Finally, while talking to my sister last night [amidst my mental breakdown from this hectic week I’ve had] and she said I looked sad and emotionally drained. Honestly, I am. I don’t think it’s just from this week but from everything built up that I’m finally starting to recognize. It’s very easy to put your mental health off in college because it’s “cute and quirky” to be depressed and to be anxious and to be so stressed you cry. When you’ve graduated… girl, go to therapy. Also, this past week I’ve been alone most of the time. COVID is preventing me from going out and meeting people and every ‘tourist’ activity I want to do is also closed so I’ve been spending a lot of time in my hotel room, pent up with just my thoughts. And let me tell you, my brain needs a lot of help at the moment. I love traveling but my sister told me that I use traveling to put off getting mental help. It’s true [I hate it when little siblings are correct]. I live off that travel high long after I return and when I get back into my head aging, away I go on a new trip. So, while I wish I could have been living in Spain and working on me, I think for myself [present and future] I’m going to benefit the most from being home for the foreseeable future.

I think I’m meant to live in Spain for an extended period… I do. However, this year just isn’t it. I will return one day to Spain but it might not be this year or even next year. Whether I return to Spain as a tourist or to teach again, I know I’ll be back one day. J

España, te quiero mucho y regresaré un día.
❤ Alicia

My flight essentials

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Happy Tuesday. Now I know most of us aren’t doing much [if any] travel these days, so keep this bad boy saved for when you’re flying next. I, however, will be making another trip to Spain in the coming weeks. I was originally supposed to leave in six days, however, my visa has still yet to be approved so I’ll be heading there before the end of the month if plan B goes smoothly.

Something I’ve become quite good at is flying. I’ve loved flying ever since I was little, however, when I first started solo traveling [flying to and from San Diego when this blog was just a baby] I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I would bring so much stuff in my carry on “just in case” that I never ended up using // needing. After 20 or more [ I have no idea if I’m being honest] solo flights around the US, South America, and Europe, I’ve come to know what things are essential for your flight and what can stay at home or in your checked baggage. Here are my top 5 carry on flight essentials.

  1. Snacks – This will forever and always be my #1 flight essential. I’m going to count gum in this category too because I cannot and will not fly without a pack of gum for take-off and landing. For super long overseas flights or for flights with layovers, bringing snacks from home is always the better and cheaper option. Food and drinks in airports are EXPENSIVE and depending on the country’s exchange rate, just not even worth it. Because of this, I always bring an empty water bottle [to fill up after security] and a few snacks [some sweet, some savory] such as dried fruit, nuts, crackers, etc. anything to fill me up and get me to where I’m going. I find that when you have dietary restrictions such as myself, it’s even more important that you bring these on flight snacks. Just because they offer a vegan or gluten free or whatever meal option, does, BY NO MEANS, mean it will be a good one.
  2. Chargers – My favorite thing about longer flights is that they normally have a charging port on the seat back in front of you. My flight to Greece was 11 hours and I’m stupid and forgot to check in 24 hours in advance which meant a middle seat for me. It was miserable and I couldn’t get comfortable enough to take a nap. Therefore, I spent the 11 hours watching 6 movies, playing games on my phone, listening to music etc. When I switched my time to watching movies, I plugged in my phone so that it wouldn’t die during my layover or before I got to my new apartment.
  3. A book // E-reader – Not everyone loves reading on airplanes, but I personally do. I try to grab my computer and write on flights normally but not all planes have enough room to have a laptop out and elbows jabbing when you’re typing. I always carry a book in my bag for those tight spaces on airplanes and when you can’t get Wi-Fi at your layover airport [or if you have a 4-hour layover and only are allowed 1 hour of Wi-Fi … thanks Istanbul]
  4. Headphones – A lot of longer flights will gives you headphones to watch movies, listen to music, etc. They almost always suck. I always bring two pairs of headphones [my AirPods for my phone and a pair that works for the traditional headphone jack] so that I can enjoy movies on the plane and have headphones that I can actually hear out of both sides.
  5. A ‘just in case’ bag – this is 100% the most important in my opinion. The last thing you want to happen is for your luggage to get lost and you’re without a toothbrush, underwear, or deodorant. In my carry on, I always carry a bag of miscellaneous items I might need on the flight or after if my luggage is lost. This usually consists of: a hairbrush, bobby pins, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, travel shampoo + conditioner, tissues, soap, lotion, hair ties, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, etc. I then have an extra outfit [usually just bra, underwear, socks, t shirt and leggings] in case something happens to the clothes I’m wearing, or my luggage gets misplaced.

Obviously, each person’s carry on will depend on you and your interests, but I have to think that these items are pretty much universal, and anyone can and will need one or all of these at some point while travelling.

❤ Alicia

If we were having coffee

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Long time no write – my favorite phrase. It’s been about two and a half months since I’ve sat at my computer and written. My laptop crapped out on me in February amidst my hardest assignment I’ve ever had to complete in order to graduate college and get my teaching license. The keyboard stopped working [I realized right after purchasing my new one that I needed a new battery] and I had to connect a mouse and keyboard to get the computer to work so basically it was just a desktop computer. Nothing wrong with a desktop, however, my favorite blogging spot is at the corner of the couch with a cup of coffee on the table next to me and a movie on the TV for background noise. That was difficult with my previous set up. Now, I’ve got my brand new computer and I’m ready to get back into writing. So, grab your cup of coffee and let’s chat about my summer.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about how I’m still [hopefully] headed to Spain. I’ve submitted everything necessary for my visa application and now it’s just a waiting game. As long as everything goes as planned and my visa gets approved, I’ll be heading to Ciudad Real, Spain on September 14th to teach !!!!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how my sister went away to college! We moved her in about two and a half weeks ago at Southern Illinois University and then I got to visit her this past Friday! She’s doing so well there and college was just what she needed.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’ve still been quarantining for the most part. I’ve seen a few friends but I’m keeping my circle small and not risking a thing because I know [and no one else seems to] that there is still a pandemic going on.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I visited my friends in Ohio for my friend Grace’s 21st birthday. We went back to my college town and kept to ourselves, spending much of our time in our hotel rooms, playing cards, and just enjoying everyone’s company. It was great to see them all but that drive wasn’t fun.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my family and I spent a week in northern Wisconsin at my cousin’s home. Every year we used to go to Kentucky for a week of fishing, swimming, card playing, sun burning, and just to spend time with each other. Because of COVID, we had to adjust and spent the week at my cousin’s home. We got to celebrate the graduation of my sister from high school, me and my cousin from college, and my cousin’s husband from his surgical residency! It was tons of fun to get some sun, read, check out a new little town, and get in some much-needed baby and dog time!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I’ve been consistently working out and eating right pretty much all summer. I’m feeling really great and this little bit of consistency in my life has made these uncertainties of quarantine and COVID a little easier. I also recently downloaded Nike Run Club and I’m going to try and get into running! If any of you runners have any tips for beginners, please let me know!

What has happened during your summer?

Much love

❤ Alicia