the past few days... [graduation/weekend]

These past few days were a blur. Graduation weekend went by so quickly. I felt like I was just going through the motions, with random bursts of emotion and then trying to "turn off" being sad at different points. But I'm very sad that college is over. College has been the best four years of my life (so far). 

Here is a photo one of the professional photographers took when I wasn't looking! Aw :(

[photo]

The ceremony was pretty long but not bad. Walking across the stage to get my diploma was really quick and came up fast in the ceremony since my name is close to the beginning alphabetically. I had lunch reservations with my family after the ceremony and because it was so crowded when we all got out, didn't get as much time after to take photos. That is one thing I really wished I had, was more photos. (And sunglasses!! I forgot to bring them, and it was a weird cloudy-but-bright day so I was squinting in a lot of the photos.)

The latest move-out date for my apartment was Monday at 1pm, so Sunday night and Monday was crazy with balancing time with friends but also time for packing. With the help of a few friends (thank goodness) I had everything cleaned and packed from my room right at 12:59. Locking my apartment door for the last time felt so surreal. I'm staying near campus for a few days with some friends in houses (so jealous their leases aren't up till June!) so I have a little time to breathe.

Saturday night instead of packing we just went to grad parties, told old stories, and played flip cup :)

Sunday night we went to Jack & Dan's to celebrate graduation, here's a pic:

Here's our apartment pre-packed! I miss it this way:

And my room after everything was moved out. So sad and empty :(

On another note, today we went to see The Great Gatsby. In my opinion, it was amazing. So incredible. I loved it. And the party scenes were so cool and over the top and just perfect. It feels like I've been waiting forever for it to come out in theaters so I was so excited and pleased with the result!

Tomorrow we'll have to figure out some things to keep us busy and not dwell on the fact that school is over forever and that we're all going separate ways soon. These past few days have definitely been "post grad depression" and there is just a certain gloomy mood over everything. Blahhh don't make me leave college. Ever.

xo-ally

PS - posting might not be as regular as usual for the next couple days since I moved out of my apartment and have little access to wifi for a few more days. I'll be back up to speed soon though!

graduation day

I cannot believe this day has come. My college graduation had always seemed so far away. In third grade, my teacher told the class that we would graduate from high school in 2009, and college in 2013. It seemed ages away back then, being only 8 years old in 1999. And now it's here. WOW!

Move-in day was in late August, on my 18th birthday. Little did I know that I would meet five of my best friends that day.

September 2009. We look like babies

A few weeks later, I tried out for the Gonzaga Dance Team. Four years on dance team was so much fun and I feel blessed to have gotten to know all of the girls throughout the years.

It hits me at random moments - when I look at the calendar and see what date it is and how close it is to graduation, when I write cover letters to employers saying "I will graduate this spring" and have to change it to "I will graduate next week," and packing up my room. My room! I've lived in the same apartment for two years and it definitely feels like my home. I'm not ready to leave my home or the amazing people here. At least I still get to hang out here till next week!

xo-ally

studying for my "final" final...

My view the other day studying on the grass

I've had a pretty easy week so far in terms of finals, which I didn't expect considering I took 18 credits (the max amount) this semester. On Sunday I had a speech final, but we just went out to a restaurant and gave short speeches. It was so much more fun than a test! 

Since I took some finals early, I just have one more test left tomorrow morning (8am....so early for me....) and I'm about to go to the library. My "study outfit" often consists of leggings or Nike shorts with a t-shirt, but since I was out and about running errands today, I wanted to wear regular clothes instead of gym clothes. (But really - sometimes I feel out of place wearing gym clothes off campus. One time I wore Nike shorts and shoes to the doctor's office and he asked me if I was on the cross country team....#awk have any other college girls experienced this? Haha) anyways, this is what I wore this afternoon and will wear to study. The whole outfit is SO comfortable, especially the denim shorts. 

I also finally found a graduation dress! I had been looking and looking, to the point where even buying online wouldn't work because it wouldn't ship soon enough. Finally I just went to a little boutique and found this mint and pink dress! Perfect for spring and just the right amount of daytime formal for graduation. And it was only $42 - you can't beat that steal.

Haha you can see my purple pillow pet in the photo :P

Have a wonderful Wednesday, lovelies!

xo-ally

dance team end of the year party & more senior ball [tons of photos!]

Yesterday was quite the day for end-of-the-year celebrations! First, I was at a Student Publications lunch, then a dinner for the communication honor society, which I left early to go to the Dance Team end-of-the-year party! What a day. My feet were so worn out from being in my giant 5.5 inch heels all day that by the end of the night I had to switch to my backup flip flops. :) Here are some pics!

With Lindsey wearing our honor chords! I cannot believe how close graduation is...

Tiramasu, so good. It took me back to Italy! 

Pink lemonade :) 

Then it was time for the dance team party.....with a surprise party bus! HAHA it was great.

 We were driven to an "undisclosed location" which turned out to be a dinner in Coeur d'Alene!

Those of us 21+ had drinks with dinner ;) 

Then we went back to campus and got little gifts! Love the shiny wrapping.... 

We exchanged our final "secret sister" gifts and revealed who we had all semester, watched a lovely end of the year video (oh the memories), and did fun awards. I got the "Miss Congeniality" award (YAY) and then for my fun award I got "Most likely to...own a fitness empire." Haha :)

In the shiny wrapping was a neon crop top from American Apparel! So fun. We also got mismatching socks and a DVD of the video. For my "Miss Congeniality" award I got nail polish, a mini loofah, and the quote wall decoration. Lauren, who was revealed as my secret sister, gave me the makeup bag, pink wine opener, coasters, floral earrings, a notepad, nail polish, and candy. It honestly felt like a birthday! (In fact it actually happened to be one of the girl's 22nd birthday).

One of the girls' secret sister gifts was a Guess Who board game made specifically with our dance team faces! It was so creative and hilarious and thoughtful that I had to take a pic!  

 I only have a few photos with us actually in them for now (forgot my camera and only had my phone), still waiting on Facebook and Instagram for the rest of the cute photos!

That being said, here are some more senior ball photos either from my phone or from what I've collected from a bunch of different people this past week:

With our friend Will

and again 

With Ellie (why we chose to take a photo in the bathroom of all places...) but love our sparkly dresses! 

With Alexa outside 

You can only kind of see in the photo, but I was all scratched up from the sequins from my dress! Haha 

Lauren and Patrick

Someone said something funny that made Lauren put her hand on her face, wish we could remember what it was.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoying the end of the year for those of you still in school!

xo-ally

sunny days in spokane

I just got back inside from a couple hours laying in the sun! A friend and I sat out on the grass by campus and enjoyed the beautiful weather. This is the time of year where everyone gets so excited because it's warm, and literally every spot with grass has people either relaxing, studying, or playing some kind of recreational sport on it. So fun!

Screenshot of the app on my phone - it changes the background to match the weather. It's refreshing seeing the blue sky/sun today, because it's usually dark and cloudy!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be 75, so I'm guessing it'll be a repeat of today :) and then it'll get cold again :( we'll enjoy it while it lasts!

xo-ally

my senior ball dress

Today I took a quick little trip to a local boutique in between classes. Little did I know that I would find the perfect dress for my senior ball! Every year Gonzaga has a formal dance called the Senior Ball for everyone to enjoy a nice dinner and night with the awesome class of 2013. I got a sleeved, black and gold dress. It is super sparkly (would I get anything less?) and it is pretty versatile year-round. It was on the cover of People Style Watch in November :)

[source]

This dress is formal but still young, and I feel like I will get a ton of use out of it in the future. Yay for sparkle!

I also got this necklace today. I had my mind on it a few weeks ago when I bought this necklace, but decided to wait. Luckily, they had one left today! When I got the dress I loved it right away, and with the necklace I had actually been thinking about it for a while - those moments are the ones where you know you will not experience buyer's remorse!

^Expect to see this in an outfit post soon ;)

xo-ally

PS - this is also my 100th post of the year! Which means it is the 100th day of 2013. WOW, does time fly! And, that's a lot of posts. Haha. Happy 100!

success & happiness

I gave another speech for class today (I feel like I write a lot about my class speeches on here, haha) about defining personal success. I cited this article and I definitely recommend reading it! It was very inspiring and has even helped guide me in my job search. Basically, the author simply asks,

How happy are you?

The author pretty much states that if you are happy, you are successful.

You may have to sacrifice some parts in life for others, but if you are happy, you are probably doing things right for yourself. It's a good thing to ask yourself if you're happy overall. For me, I'm pretty happy right now. I am so comfortable being at school, with great friends, doing fun things and learning a lot. I'm nervous for the upcoming change (graduation...) but have been reflecting on what I want out of the beginning of my post-college life, and how it will make me happy.

Anyways, like I said in my speech, you deserve happiness; you deserve success. And if you define success based on happiness, you'll be both. :)

I know everyone defines success differently. How do you define success? Do you agree with the article?

Have a happy night :)

xo-ally

happy first day of SPRING!

Eeek! I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I LOVE SPRING! Almost as much as I love summer.

Now, if it would only feel like spring in Spokane...we've woken up to snow the past couple of days. :(

The snow melts throughout the morning....but still. Wearing shorts and sandals during spring break was amazing. I love love love spring/summer weather, and you can't beat being around everyone in happy moods when the sun is out.

My favorite day of the spring semester is the first really warm day. It will be sunny and around 70 degrees, which feels like a heatwave after a freezing, snowy winter. Everyone on campus spends maximum time outside; I even had a professor cancel class one year on the first warm day. There are so many outdoor recreational activities going on - capture the flag, frisbee, badminton, volleyball - anything we can do outside. One of the dorms in the middle of campus plays music. It is the best day of spring semester! Everyone is so happy. I can't wait for that day to happen!

And I cannot not mention spring fashion. Unlike a lot of other girls, I get much more excited for spring/summer fashion than fall/winter. I am so ready for sundresses, sandals, chino shorts, swimsuits, sunglasses, and incorporating all the fun trends (like neon!)

Yay for spring! Who's with me?!

xo-ally

senior night

Our last men's basketball game in the kennel (the stadium on campus) was last night. Every year, the last game is called Senior Night, where the basketball seniors are honored. There are also mentions to the dance team, cheer team, and band. I can't believe it was my last traditional Gonzaga basketball game!

Since I was an unexpected mess of emotions - bittersweet feelings, lots of crying - I completely forgot that the team gives the seniors gifts on our last game!

I LOVE these flowers! I always see them at the grocery store but never buy them for myself. I know the colors are artificial, but I don't care! I love the color they add to the kitchen.

We all got photo boards with our names on them, too. I also got a sparkly photo frame and decorative A to hang up in my room! I LOVE these gifts. The A says "don't let anyone ever dull your sparkle." These gifts were so thoughtful! And very "me." :)

We had one last "circle up" before we went out to perform. (This is where the seniors cried, haha). A photographer captured this moment so well. It's the moments we share together as a team on and off the court that make dance team so special. I will dearly miss our pre-performance pep talks!

[photos]

What a fantastic four years. I still have NCAA (we perform and cheer for the women's tournament) and a few other non-basketball performances. So it's not quite over yet! (Thank goodness, I couldn't handle that.)

xo-ally

happy march

I can't believe how fast February went by. I mean, I know it's a short month, but still!

A few things I love about March...

the first day of spring

March Madness and Gonzaga basketball

spring break

mid-March when midterms are over

phasing in warm weather clothes

st. patrick's day

cherry blossoms on the trees

What do you love about March?

xo-ally

dancing

I am currently rehearsing a my first speech in my Advanced Public Speaking class for tomorrow morning. I am talking about dance and how it has significantly contributed to the person I have become throughout my life.

I love dance. I love performing. I love every dance team I've been on, especially the lovely Gonzaga Dance Team.

I'm bringing all four dance uniforms from Gonzaga Dance Team to class tomorrow as some of my visual aids. Seeing all four dresses laid out makes me feel so nostalgic. My four years are almost up. I have had so many great performances in those dresses. I can't believe that my time with dance team is almost over. :(

No matter what, even if it is just by teaching Zumba, I really hope to keep dance part of my life in years to come.

Okay, okay! I'm not letting myself get too sappy yet! There are still two more months left :)

xo-ally

last first day of school

Chose a pink notebook for this semester! Then realized I also have pink nail polish and a pink jacket on....though I have to say I'm not surprised with myself. I'm also right-handed, not left. I guess I was trying to be cool for the photo (ha)

Today just flew by, and now I'm finally getting time to sit down and blog! I had three of my six classes today - advanced public speaking, graphic design, and my public relations capstone class. Based on the first day, all three classes are great. We have 45 students in capstone (a large class for our small Jesuit school). We're all PR majors and everyone is super chatty and awesome. I love it. Graphic design will be fun too because we get to work with InDesign and Illustrator. (Speaking of - my Photoshop is BACK! Finally.)

Tomorrow I just have journalism and marketing, and then next week I'll get into my multimedia class. This is my first semester with no core classes. I am so beyond excited to be done with biology, and if you've been following my blog for a while, will be relieved I won't complain about it anymore! ;)

I just got back from our first dance team practice of the semester, too. It is so nice to be back. All the energy of seeing everyone, the exercise (those endorphins!), and dancing just made me so happy! I also just became the Foursquare mayor of the gym on campus too. I got pretty embarrassingly stoked about that. Tonight, just like any other night after practice, I have a ton of energy. YAY.

I'm just trying not to think about how this is my last first day of school. Ever. I'm not planning on additional school, so....this is it. It is exciting and terrifying and sad and bittersweet. Any other college (or high school) seniors in the same boat as me right now?

xo-ally