NYE 2017

Seeing this Best Nine actually made me really happy in the spread of moments. I like to take the time between Christmas and the New Year to reflect on all of the memorable events, the relationships I have grown and cultivated, and how I think I have changed as a person. This year was a rough one, but it was filled with so many adventures and memories that it was more than worth it. 

I believe that one can never be too grateful, so one of my resolutions every single year is simply that: Be grateful. My last semester of undergraduate is creeping up quickly, and I am nervous but excited for what it has in store. May your last few days and hours in this year be filled with reflection, hope, and love. I'll see you in the New Year!

xx

Catch you next time.

Hello, Twenty Fun

Celebrated my birthday with some of my closest friends - and they surprised me with a birthday wall! How awesome are they?! It was fun getting to play Tour Guide in what is (basically) my town and show them around, it has been a while since I have been able to be back and enjoy the amazingness that is Vegas. My friends even got to meet some of my family for brunch! And I got them to try some Filipino food. Short post, I know, but y'all get the idea.

xx

Catch you next time.

Big Announcement: Heading to Canada!

Hi y'all! I am so excited to announce that I will be heading to Canada in just a few days! I am honored to have been selected as one of 10 American students to participate in the Fulbright Canada Youth Institute on Canada in the World. It's going to be a week packed with visits to historical locations around Ottawa and Québec City, workshops with American and Canadian foreign service officials, and meeting other amazing young people from across the United States and Canada. I will be live updating everything on my Instagram story, so be sure to follow along to see everything before the belated blog updates.

xx

Catch you next time.

Intern Adventures: Constitution Yards

7 weeks down, 3 to go! I cannot believe that my internship (and this summer) is almost over - it feels like only yesterday I was getting on the plane to Philly with my family. I have learned quite a bit and I have been extremely lucky to receive opportunities to expand and explore my personal interests. To celebrate our progress so far, a group of interns decided that checking out a fairly popular family-friendly beer garden/outdoor restaurant would be a fun way to bond and continue getting to know each other.

Constitutional Yards made me feel a little less homesick because the aesthetic is really similar to other places back home in the Southwest, especially downtown Phoenix! I forgot to snap a picture but all of the staples were there (cornhole, giant Jenga, and twinkle lights galore) and even a bit more (parts of the area hosted sand and beach chairs!). The food was great and, according to my friends, the drinks were not too shabby either. If you ever find yourself wandering Wilmington or visit Philly and want to get out of the big city for a bit, I definitely recommend checking this place out.

xx

Catch you next time.

A Few Thoughts

Lately I have been thinking about the future. A lot. Do I try to go to grad school? Do I try to get a job? Do I try to get a fellowship and leave the country for 10 months? Quite a few of my posts on here show my excitement to grow older, take on new responsibilities and move forward but I am starting to finally hit that part in my movie life where I realize I am not the biggest fan of growing up. Now I know everyone says that, but no matter how many times people tell you, sometimes things don't sink in until you have more context to understand them.

My parents have always taught me to learn from the mistakes of others, to make my own and learn from them in a way unique to myself and for the world. For the longest time I have considered my worries as failures, failures to think optimistically and confidently. To a certain extent I still believe it, but I think I am finally starting to put pieces together in a different way.

This summer has opened my eyes to a few different things, some you may learn as I slowly come back to TSP. If anything, I hope this little post can serve as a reminder to y'all that IT'S OKAY TO BE WORRIED. It's OKAY to not know where your next step will lead you. For now, it's OKAY to steep in the moments of happiness you get when you consider the endless possibilities of the future.

xx

Catch you next time.

A Quick Trip to Villanova University

What's life without a spontaneous trip or two? I decided to explore more of the surrounding areas and ended up walking around Villanova! I had planned on taking so many more pictures of the campus, but honestly I was distracted by the feel of the campus that I kind of forgot!

xx

Catch you next time.

Touring Philly: A Photo Diary

 Heads up East Coasters! Spotted: a Southwestern girl touring Philly and it seems like she's here to stay. My sources say she's loving the city and is obsessed with trying new ice cream places. Well, if she's here for the summer, she's in for a real treat. Stay tuned for the latest details.

xx

Catch you next time.

Ghiradelli Chicago

Do you believe in coincidences? I have literally been DREAMING of chocolate lately and I recently found these photos from my first trip to Chicago last October (courtesy of a collab with Kraft Heinz!). I made some amazing blogger friends on that trip and I am hopeful I'll get to meet up with some of them in the future, but right now I'm wishing I could go back to this moment because I fell all over myself after trying this hot chocolate!

xx

Catch you next time.

Feeeebs

This past weekend I was very fortunate to celebrate the end of an era with one of my favorite people. Speech and Debate was extremely influential in shaping who I am today, largely because of this woman. She is strong, humble, intelligent, and hilarious. I am a strong believer of everything (and everyone) in your life having some sort of purpose, and I am so glad she came into my life as a teacher, stayed as a coach and mentor, and is now leaving as a friend/second mother. Good luck in Washington, Mama Feebs - they have no idea what a gift they're about to receive.

xx

Catch you next time.

Oh, I Have Bean Here Before!

If you have been following along on SnapChat, then you know that I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Chicago again two weeks ago (for more than 27 hours!). This time, however, it was not for TSP, but for school/life/work.

I am really interested in entering the Consulting industry and a group of students from my school decided to take a networking trip to Chicago, visiting firms and finding out what they look for in the people they recruit. It was great to finally learn what consulting is really like, but I really loved being able to bond with some of these amazing people a bit more.

Chicago is truly an amazing place where anything can happen. Let's hope a few things do - who knows, maybe I will find myself back in Chicago?

xx

Catch you next time.

Tech Necessity: The jimmyCASE

*This post and giveaway is sponsored by jimmyCASE. All opinions are my own.*

One of the things I have really noticed about being in college is that you are constantly busy. Busy with school, busy going to meetings, and really so busy that sometimes you do not pay attention to where you are walking or if you have everything you need from where you just left.

I cannot give you the secret to not forgetting things, but trying out this handy little wooden phone case actually helped me out quite a bit towards the end of last semester when I was freaking out about Finals. The number of times I walked out of a study room with neither money nor my phone is too high for me to count. You can kind of see where this is going, right? It was quite the coincidence when I was contacted to try out the jimmyCASE and boy, was it a good one.

When I was first looking at it, I was really impressed by the design choice of wood – I had seen cases like this before, but this is a step above the basic. Not only is the case classy, but the aspect that really sold me on the case is the elastic pocket attached on the back. If you shop around, there are a few iPhone wallet cases, but they are pretty bulky or clunky. This case is pretty slim, not super bulky, even with a few cards and cash inside. Even better, you can get the pocket with some customized colors (university colors, anyone?!).

Before this new Spring semester started, I was spending time with one of my best friends and his family. You see this awesome guy? One of my friend’s brothers, Tucker! Tucker was really impressed with the case and even helped me out by taking a few photos of me and letting me obnoxiously take a few photos of him. (Shameless plug: he does awesome graphic design if you are looking for some help!).

Want one of your own? If you are one of those people who cannot wait, your own iPhone 7 card holder case here. Or, if you want to try your luck, jimmyCASE and I are partnering up to give one of YOU lucky readers your own! Enter in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xx

Catch you next time.