Vaca at Home

Weelll, I am not exactly at home but I am spending the week with S in his empty house and we have nothing on the agenda other than a few dinner dates with some friends. I am so excited! We slept in this morning, I have responded to some emails and caught up on blogs and now we are off for a run and the grocery store. This not working not studying thing is so nice ;). Too bad it won't last!


Some random thoughts for today:

• The Bachelorette was all kinds of interesting. A guy dressed like a Grandma? The egg? The horrible pickup lines? I spent the night texting my roommate/bff and sharing commentary. My early favs? Charlie and Ryan (the one from Savannah).
• Watched the season finale of How I Met Your Mother last night and oh my goodness I spent it screaming! So many things happened - I won't ruin it for you guys that haven't seen it but baby boy Erickson gets the most HIMYM middle name ever and my FAVORITE from Ted's past returns ;). SO SO SO SO SO good! I can't believe next season is the last.
• I went shopping yesterday and bought a ton of new clothes I don't really need... what else is new? I got some turquoise shorts from J.Crew, two pairs of shorts and a dress from Gap outlet and two pairs of neon Norts from the Nike outlet. Is it sad I am most excited about the Norts? (Side note: Norts are Nike running shorts).
• I haven't run in a week. There, I said it. It was graduation week and I had other things to do like drink with my friends and pack my life up. Whoops? Back on the bandwagon starting today!
• Twitter is better than Facebook. Especially for watching TV shows with the rest of America. And not having to read political rants with all of the ensuing comments.
• I am sick of Amendment One debates - FROM BOTH SIDES.

That is about all for today. Happy Tuesday!

Graduated! (Kinda)

Happy, happy Monday!


I am curled up on the couch next to S getting ready to watch the Bachelorette! Anyone else tuning in ;)?


It feels like it has been forever, and what a whirlwind week it has been :). 


Thursday night I worked an Architecture party (I used to work for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies), and we went through 100 bottles of wine in 2 hours! There were NOT that many people there, but lots of people left on foot instead of car, haha.


Friday was graduation day! We had to get up at the buttcrack of dawn in order to get to campus because security was so high due to the guest speaker. You may have heard of her, the First Lady of the US? Regardless of political affiliation or beliefs, having the First Lady speak at your commencement is pretty darn cool. Her speech was nothing special but it was really neat to be a part of US history :).


We had to run from the big ceremony in Lane to grab some lunch before my departmental ceremony. The big ceremony was at 12 and my department's ceremony was at 4, but I had to be there at 3:15 and we didn't get out of the big ceremony til 2. 


Fortunately, my departmental ceremony was only 45 minutes top to bottom... best ceremony ever! S met us at my favorite restaurant by Claytor Lake, MK's and we had a casual pizza dinner... perfect for me since last year was so nuts!

 Coley and I

 My girls while waiting in line to go through security.

 With the main Tech sign.

Processing in!

We headed back into the burg and spent my last night in 1316 with Coley and Josh. We decided our only course of action was to drink the rest of the beer in our fridge - so we did ;).


Saturday there was lots of packing and moving out to cars and seeing family and such but the biggest moment, and the one I want to remember is sitting on our green couches in our spots opening cards from each other. We both cried and took in our surroundings. That was OUR place for 4 years and we are going to miss it (and each other) horribly. We actually ended up saying goodbye at the Kroger gas pumps because we both needed gas, haha. I drove out of town listening to Enter Sandman and bawling... guess Bburg had a big impact on me ;).


This weekend was spent unpacking and cleaning because we are a host family for a local baseball team and one of the girl interns (my sister is the other) is living with us this summer! S and I headed back to Cville tonight for the week to look for apartments for him and spend some time together... a little mini vacation since no one else is in town :).


I'm sure I will be back around more this week, hope y'all have a good one! I should have some more pictures soon :).

It's the Final Countdown

We have been trying to live it up as best we can these last few days in the Burg! Lots of wine, chatting and TV show watching, mixed in with some adventures :). Needless to say my pants won't fit the same after this week, but the memories being made are so worth it!


Saturday Nicole and I decided to hop in the car and hike the Cascades, but that didn't happen. We ended up at Mountain Lake (where they filmed Dirty Dancing!), decided we were to cheap to park and see the sites and just kept on driving. We finally found a semi trail and decided to go for an hour and a half hike. We didn't really find anything (other than that little guy on the top of Nicole's bottle), but the rainy weather made for quite the adventure!

Corey went out with us Saturday night because he was in town and we grabbed dinner and drinks at the Rivermill. So glad to see him!

Sunday I spent the day working on my LAST FINAL EVER (other than a paper I have due at the end of this summer for my Field Study) and completed it in time to come home to Nicole and Linds cooking dinner. We ate and watched Once Upon a Time, Desperates and GCB. Love these lowkey nights :).


Monday I got up for a run and then showered and got ready for our photo shoot across campus! We started off by getting Subway and eating by the Duckpond and pretty much made our way all over campus. We stopped midway for a few beers at Sharkeys and then took a few more pictures before heading to the Lyric to see the Hunger Games and then downtown to Champs and Big Als for a bit. Here are a few of my favs from the day!

I have been doing laundry and packing (booo!) most of the day, although I did throw in a two and a half mile run a spin class to try and negate some of my eating/drinking choices this week, haha. My butt has never hurt more after that spin class! Tomorrow Nicole will take her last two exams EVER and we will be celebrating with Margs and Mexican food. I cannot wait!


Here's to living up my last weeks as an undergrad. It's been a hell of a ride!


Happy Tuesday y'all!

Dear Friday

Happy Friday y'all! I love the idea of writing letters (cough B.A. in English cough) so this Friday link-up is perrrrfect. Head on over and link up with cute Ashley with me :).

Dear Thursday Nights, Please stay like this FOREVER. Our little tradition of wine and my girls should never have to end, even if we are all moving away. You have quickly become my favorite night of the week and I am so sad that we might have to part. Love, Sentimental Sap


Dear Stuart's Job Offer, Please offer him nice benefits and a decent salary that he can live off of and buy me something shiny with ;). He is a hard worker and I know your company will benefit from having him around. Also lots of vacation time so he can play with me would be the best. And hurry up and do it already, would ya? Sincerely, Impatient


Dear Bloggy BFF aka Claire, Thank you for becoming unprivate again. When you were private, you no longer showed up in my reader feed and I had to bookmark you and then randomly stalk to see if you posted. Awkward. Also, HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!!! I know this year is going to be the best year yet! Filled with looottsss of Moe's and Starbucks dates, as well as a few other big things ;). XOXO, Your Favorite Friends/Moe's Fanatic.


Dear Take Home Exams, If you could go ahead and do yourselves, that would be wonderful. I would much rather lay in bed and watch movies and hang out with my girls than do you. If you could get A's on yourself, that would be great, although I would definitely take  B+ if you'd just leave me be. Kisses, The Star Student


Dear Graduation, I am SO ready for you and SO not ready for you at the same time. I am so ready to be done with the schoolwork aspect for a bit, but I am not ready to leave some of my best friends and move out of my adorable apartment. Also, if you could manage to make everything run smoothly next Friday, that'd be good too. Hearts, The Graduate


TGIF!!

Is It September Yet?

Just about this time every year, my blood pressure has finally gotten back to normal and my Saturdays have been free for so long that I start to really, really, really itch for the fall. And no, it is not just for the cooler temperatures, my favorite outfits and the beautiful foliage (although, I love those too). It's because I really, truly, 100 % miss football season.


If you are just making your way around these parts, I am a college football fanatic. Always have been. My team of choice is, of course, the Virginia Tech Hokies. It has been since day one, see?

I live for those Enter Sandman jumps, key shaking third downs, turkey leg smells, Lets Go Hokies chants and post touchdown high fives. 

I can't even remember a fall in my life that hasn't been spent in Blacksburg, either for weekend trips or the last four/fiveish years of college. It is the best place on earth. If you haven't been here, get your booty here asap. But start looking for tickets now... they sell out quickly :)


My momma has already volunteered to watch my babies when the time comes and I need to be in Lane Stadium, but rest assured they will be wearing these no matter what their hoo-lovin' daddy says ;). (Both via Etsy.)

Even though I will likely be living in enemy territory Charlottesville this fall, I cannot wait to make the short two hour trek back to Blacksburg to root on my Hokies, biting my nails and screaming the whole way :). And I can't wait to sit on my couch and root them on during away games, waving my VT flag proudly and likely annoying the neighbors, haha.

We may not quite be the SEC, but we are on our way up and I will be proud to say I have been there since the beginning, crying after losses as a young child (oooorrr after our bowl loss in Janualry), celebrating wins in DT Blacksburg, and standing in all elements just for my boys. 

Anyone else ready for September?

Happy Wednesday!!

Foxfields 2012!

Happy Sunday!


We spent most of our weekend either preparing for, attending or recovering from Foxfields. If you've ever been to the Carolina Cup, I would imagine its pretty similar to Foxfields - it's a horse race but rarely do us college kids see the horses :).


We decided pretty late to go- as in Friday but by the time we decided to get tickets, two of Stuart's other roommates decided to join us! I had to buy a new dress and of course a hat since I didn't pack anything to go... suchhhh a sacrifice, haha!


We had a great time and it was nice being with some of Stuart's our friends for one of the last times before graduation.

Before we left. The dress came from Macy's and the hat is good ole Targ :)

S's two girl roommates (he lives in a house of six) that I adore. Such fun girls and I am so sad they are leaving Cville :(.

Right after we arrived the bottom dropped. S decided the best solution for this was to stand in the rain and dance a bit.

Laura and Joe making the best of the rain.

It finally stopped raining and we made it to see a few horses!

Such a fat cat. He even trekked through the mud to go get this cigar - a must have at Foxfields. I even smoked a bit of it... sorry mom!

J.B. and I. Laura's boyfriend and one of my all around favorite people. Yep, that's a rain coat over my white lace dress... only in Virginia.

We all made it back home, napped for a while and woke up, order dinner and hung out together for the rest of the night. S is at a meeting right now and should be back soon because we have plans for a lazy Sunday afternoon together before I head back to Blacksburg for my last week of classes...eeekkk!


Hope the rest of you have a great Sunday!

Tunes

Anyone else channel Carrie Bradshaw as they type (especially Mac users?). No? Just me? Oh well. I hear her voice when I am writing blog posts sometimes. Although there will be little relationship advice over here because I am just learning as I go :).


Anyways, I am getting ready to head out for the weekend and now that I have my pretty new Macbook Pro, I can actually burn CD's (yes, CD's! My 2006 car has neither a tape player or a iPod jack sadly) for my road trip :).


I love seeing what other people listen to and I thought I'd share some of my playlist with y'all. (The second half is grey because I am currently burning) 

As you can see, I have a preeeetty random assortment of tunes. The first song is a cover by the Sun Kings, S's band with his roommates. It is a pretty good cover if I do say so myself.


Admittedly, I love oldies and I especially LOVE 70's singer songwriter stuff. See the Carole King, Pure Prairie League and Hall & Oates? Adore!! And I rock out to some Pink Floyd.


We are also huge Beatles fans around here. Our "song" is Something by The Beatles. Great, great, great song :).


I love me some country and Kenny is my absolute fav! Although Stuart HATES You and Tequila because I played it about every other second last summer after we saw him in concert in June. Whooopsss. I also love some older country like the classic Harper Valley PTA and I even through in a little Gwyneth singing Country Strong from her movie with hottie Tim McGraw.


I am a 90's kid to the core and I actually can't believe I didn't put any Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys on there. I must be growing up... pshhh not, I wish I could go back and add them. With or Without You and Foolish Games are two songs I BEEELLLTTTT out. Love. And can anyone else tell me what Duncan Sheik has done since Barely Breathing. One hit wonder maybe?


Like any good Hokie, I included Enter Sandman as well :)


Anyone else jam out to these tunes or have any good stories behind why they love certain songs?


If you see me bopping up 81, don't you fret - just because I'm looking a fool singing with my best car voice doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to the road.


Happy (rainy) Thursday!!

Back to So What!

I adore Shannon's So What Wednesday at L.A.I.D. and I know you will too if you bop on over and check it out :) Most hilarious reads all week found right thurrr ;)

So What...

• If I turn on the same Big Bang Theory dvd after Friends goes off at 1am if I am still up. I die laughing everytime. Seriously, one of S's roommates IS Sheldon and he kills me! 

• If I CANNOT get the little capicha things right the first time, EVER. They are so blurry and hard to read and rarely real words... I seriously feel like an idiot every time. I am not a robot, promise!

• If I can't help looking at wedding cakes, especially when my roommate pins them for me on Pinterest and they are delicious and beautiful looking. At least it's only cakes. Lets be real, its definitely more than cakes bahaha. Found on theknot.com. 

• That I saw S last weekend and I'm driving to Cville to see him again this weekend... he's worth it and I want to spend some more time with him and his roommates before they all leave!

• That I chose this photo for our thank you cards for the donations for St. Jude last year because I look skinnaaay (for me at least). Tired face, who cares? It's all about that skinny arm (clearly seen in every photo of me forever).

Happy Wednesday and y'all go link up!

Ch-Ch-Changesss

Hello beauties :)


Things have changed a little around here, and I am liking it!


I was a little over the old theme I had going on and with my fantastic Google skills and a little prior CSS knowledge, I was able to change things a bit. I will probably be making a few more changes around here within the next few weeks, but after hours of working on it tonight, I am pretty happy! More than likely the tab layout will be changing, but that shouldn't cause any big commotion! 


If you notice, I also changed the name (but not the URL, if anyone has any advice on this please let me know because I am ready to not have my whole name as my URL) because Life's A Beach felt a little dated for me. I started collecting stuff with that name many years ago and it was my AIM screen name if that gives you any clue.


I still wanted to stick with the beach theme because so much of my roots started there, but I wanted to add a little in about my more grown up life too...hence the Boots. If you are curious as to why, ask this guy:

The real one, not the incredibly LAME mascot of his silly school. He started the nickname and bought me the cowboy boots. Although neither of us remember how the nickname started, bahah.


I'm thinking this pretty new design will make me blog more, no? After all, this is my second post today. :)

You're Gonna Miss This

I know y'all are probably sick of me talking about leaving soon and how sad I am but I truly am! That song by Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This" has been running in my head all afternoon.


I have spent today doing the usual stuff, getting up and going to class, heading to work, another class, a run and dinner on campus but I just soaked it up today.


I absolutely adore where I work and I am so sad to be leaving. The CAUS office at Virginia Tech has been amazing and I have learned so much there over my years. Today, my boss Tracey even encouraged me to stay in higher ed, telling me she thinks I am so good at what I do- what a reassuring compliment! They are all so kind and interested in me and my wellbeing, I don't know that any work environment I enter into will compare!


I also JUST TODAY discovered a fantastic running trail by my house. I cannot believe I am leaving in two weeks and I found perfection, so lame. Nicole even ran with me and then we went to grab dinner on campus. I am even going to miss my favorite salad from West End.


If you can't tell, I don't deal well with change at all and this one is particularly hard. Not only am I leaving my favorite place, I am leaving some of my very best friends and the place that I call home. I will soon be really leaving the nest and moving somewhere with a job (fingers crossed!!) and starting a brand new stage of my life and I am scared pooless. 


That being said, I am excited to move on to bigger things, but I want to soak up and cherish every moment I have pounding the pavement in Blacksburg, curled up on my couch watching Wheel and Jeopardy with my roommate and every trek across campus. Because I most certainly know that I will miss this and want it back at some point.


P.S. Head on over to Southern Simplicity and read something just for you. I know I needed it today!