Hello blog!

Wow, it’s been a hot sec.  Sorry about that, but a lot has happened.  Did you see the new look?  I’ll get to that…let me describe what’s been going on as of late.

may

May might have been one of the busiest months of my life.  To start, I had my last day of high school (at the beginning of the month) and graduated at the end of the month (whoooo).  It was so strange to finish up classes and projects that had taken up so much time, but I felt satisfied with the work that I had put in this year.  I spent the rest of that month relaxing after the craziness of senior year, attending LOADS of graduation parties, and taking AP exams.  With all of that business I didn’t have time to read ALL that much, but I did read the conclusion to Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians series with Rich People Problems.  I also had the time to answer some long overdue snail mail (wanna be pen pals? let me KNOW).

Aside from the end of school shenanigans, two other major things occurred in May besides graduation. The first was my job training and the start of my job, the second being BOOK EXPO 2018.  This summer I worked at a local boutique chain and had SO much fun explore my fashion side.  As for BookExpo, I had a lovely time!  I got to see the ever lovely Willa and also finally met Xan in person!!! There were so many books that I was excited to receive, but some of my most anticipated include What If It’s Us by Becky Abertalli and Adam Silvera as well as The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, among others.  While I was in NYC I also had the privilege of shopping in SoHo and seeing two Broadway shows, Come From Away and The Band’s Visit.  These shows have AMAZING soundtracks and killed it at the Tony’s!

june

June was spent doing a LOT of work.  I had a lot of fun getting dressed up every day and learning the process of retail.  I also

discovered that I have quite the knack for organizing clothing and jewelry!  This was the month that I also attended the opera (a summer staple in my house) AND reorganized my bookshelves with my boyfriend Nick.  We ended up having to double stack most of my shelves for the first time ever.   I read three books in July, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, Save the Date, and Meddling Kids.  To sum all three of them up quickly, I found Loneliest to be surprisingly impressive, Save the Date read a little more immature than I’ve found most of Matson’s YA, and Meddling Kids to be deliciously horrifying.

 June was also the month Nick and I become abbsolutly obsessed with sno-cones and Buzzfeed Unsolved.   For those unfamiliar, Buzzfeed Unsovled is a Youtube series where two members of the Buzzfeed staff, Ryan and Shane, present an unsolved mystery, either supernatural or true crime.  These videos are so much fun because the mysteries are interesting, but also because Ryan and Shane have amazing banter.  They also sell really nice merch.

Besides book shenanigans and Buzzfeed Unsolved, I also took a brief trip down to our family cabin in June.  It was nice to spend time outside and relax over a game of Monopoly.  Okay, maybe not relax but the principle is there lol.  I also started my summer creative writing class in June, which went on to meet weekly through the end of July.  I really enjoyed dedicating some time to my craft.

july

July was…just as busy as my other months.  lol.  Not to sound like a broken record, but I spent a lot of time during July working.  I also focused a lot on soaking up time with friends and family, taking lots of trips to local museums and enjoying the outdoors.  Now, as you can probably tell I’ve been eluding to something.  And that something is the fact that on July 27th I left home and embarked on my gap semester adventure.  I haven’t talked about this much on the blog yet, but before heading up to college in February I’m spending four and a half months traveling internationally…with few visits from my friends and family.  Although I’ll be home in December currently my journey is looking…quite daunting.  I hope to continue sharing my escapades here on the blog.

July was also quite busy as I spent quite a bit of time planning, shopping, and packing for my trip.  My closest friends also hosted me a going away party which was lovely.  Now that I’m gone I have found myself following lots of “snail mail” and postcard accounts lately on Instagram and Pinterest which probably means I’ll be expanding my pen pal list in the near future.  Additionally, I managed to squeeze ONE book into July with everything else that was going on.  This book was Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, something that my boyfriend had the option of reading for summer homework this year and I was intrigued by.  I finished this memoir on my flight to my first destination on my journey (lots of my’s lol) and was brought to tears.  Sorry to whoever I was sitting next to, but this one hits home!

now

I’m currently two weeks into my gap semester adventures and am feeling pretty okay.  The opportunities that I have been afforded are amazing and the people I have had the privilege of interacting with are amazing as well.  I can’t make any promises about how steadily the blog will be updated while I’m away (though I have lots of plans to write once I’m home before school starts) but rest assured I do have books with me and will continue to read.

ALSO admits the rest of my crazy summer…I was also going through the process of having this blog redesigned!  The Squeesome team is ABSOLUTELY amazing and I am so excited about this fresh and updated finished product.  I hope you all love it as much as I do.  Feel free to poke around and explore the new theme! : )