Quite the historical weekend

I cried a lot this weekend, let me tell you.

Never have I been prouder to say that I cast my first vote for President of the United States for Barack Hussein Obama. God bless America, and let this serve as a testament to the courage and dedication of our armed forces. May you all return home safely and quickly.

I am also so inspired to have witnessed true love made official at the royal wedding. Perhaps I'm just a naive little twenty-year-old, but it made me so happy to witness the love and grace of William and Kate. They both deserve all the happiness in the world, and I cannot wait to see the beautiful children they produce!

Of course these events have nothing in common, and are of very different historical significance depending on which country you hail from, but the history made this weekend is still inspiring.

I remember the day Princess Diana died. My mom came into my room crying and said that she had been killed. I didn't understand. And I remember 9/11 vividly. I could tell you everything I did for every minute of that day. But again, I didn't really understand.

Now that I'm a grown up, I know that early Friday morning and Sunday evening were filled with moments I will vividly remember forever. I understand the significance of each event, and I am so excited to tell my children about them someday.

God bless America, and God bless true love!

Royal Wedding

via

Did you watch?? Did you watch??

The Royal Wedding started at 3 AM west coast time. Staying up was so worth it to see a couple so genuinely in love commit to each other for the rest of forever. I bawled my eyes out, of course.

I cannot begin to describe just how much I admire Kate Middleton. She is not only gorgeous, but she handles herself with such grace and poise. I want to grow up to be a woman like her (and maybe score a prince, too). :) Not to mention the fact that her dress is FLAWLESS.

What did you all think? Anyone cry as much as me?

A night in

Last night I decided I needed to celebrate turning in my 15-page hellacious research paper. So I popped in a Mad Men DVD (this deserves its own post entirely. obSESSED.), got myself some Dove chocolate, and enjoyed a mini bottle of white zin. It made me feel so grown up (because of the wine, of course) and also really relaxed me after all my work lately.

I love Dove chocolate because of the cute little sayings inside the foil wrapping. They always make me feel good.

In other news, I can't believe my last day of classes was today! This semester was certainly one of the hardest times of my life, but the love and support I've received from friends, family, and the blogging community have kept me going (most of the time). I'm grateful and eternally indebted to the people around me.

Time to start studying for finals. I've got exactly two weeks until I'm home free (literally).

be well!

want some cute jewelry for a good cause?

Hello blog friends!

My sorority is doing an online jewelry fundraiser to benefit the Alzheimer's Association of America. Over the course of our history, Sigma Kappa has raised over $1 million for this worthy cause.

If you'd like to help us out, please visit http://www.stelladot.com/sites/shainahaller and choose something fabulous :) Any of their pieces would be the perfect Mother's Day gift or go splendidly with a summery floral dress. Plus, you're helping out people across the nation who are battling such an awful disease.

Here's how the fundraiser works:

• Visit the link above
• In the top right of the home page, you'll see "find your hostess." Click it.
• Type in first name Berkeley and click search
• Select Berkeley SK as your hostess
• Shop til you drop!

100% of the proceeds from our online store go to our foundation. Every little bit helps!

Thanks everyone :)

be a best friend,

tell the truth,

and overuse i love you.

go to work,

and do your best.

don’t outsmart your common sense.

never let your prayin’ knees get lazy

and love like crazy.

---

sometimes all i need is a little country music to make a bad day better. without fail, it always cheers me up. maybe because all country songs talk about real life. things that are great and things that really suck. i like the realism. listen to love like crazy by lee brice. always brings a tear to my eye. i've also been blasting kenny chesney's summertime in anticipation of my amazing summer vacation that is just two short finals/studying/awful/long weeks away!

do you all like country music?

Scenes from Easter Weekend

This weekend was wonderful (aside from the still-going-strong sugar coma). Sometimes all I need is a little family time to get myself back on track. It was the perfect time to get some rest, refocus, and remember what's important. And it gave me a little time to work on my 15 page research paper with peace and quiet. This weekend, I...

...ate my favorite breakfast every day. Oatmeal with bananas and whole almonds and almond milk, and a cup of coffee with almond milk instead of cream. Perfection, and healthy too.

...played around with Cujo, aka my dog Riley. Doesn't she look insane in this picture?! I promise she's not! This picture is currently the background on my phone, and it makes me laugh literally every time I see it.

...went out to dinner with my cute parents. (Seriously, isn't my mom a knock out?) We went to Kristina's, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Hollister. I had a cheese enchilada, which I've been ordering there since I was probably about 7 years old. Old habits die hard, my friends.

Used Sally Hansen's awesome nail stickers. I cannot stop raving about them. They're so great that they deserve their own post. Watch for that later this week :)

I just got back to Berkeley about a half hour ago, so that means it's about time to get back to work on my paper (though I'm almost done!!!!). I'm glad I just had this time at home to keep me happy and optimistic through the next two weeks of finals madness.

Hope you all had wonderful Easter Sundays (if you celebrate) and were able to soak up some sun this weekend. :)

be well!

Forever the Sickest

Friends, I am sick. I felt a little tickle in my throat on Monday but I was able to keep the sickness at bay for the week. I somehow convinced myself that I could sweat it out (because that's sound logic, right?!), so I went hard at the gym this week. Maybe not my best idea in retrospect.

Woke up this morning barely alive. Every time I swallow it feels like there are knives sliding down my throat. Not pleasant. My nose is running like a faucet (TMI?) and my body feels weak. I'm a hot mess of a person right now. Not a pretty sight.

I always always always always always always without fail get deathly ill right before or right after finals, so I suppose I should have seen this coming. It's just my semesterly sickness. This knowledge does not make me feel any better though.

But, on the bright side (because there always is one), I'm home for the Easter weekend! Which means unlimited access to tea, toast, and cold meds. And the comfort of my own bed. And a Mommy to take care of me :)

Happy Easter! Hope you're all feeling splendid today.