I hadn’t known that bullet journals were not only planners, but actual journals as well – silly, I know. I personally have (or had, now) a planner, a separate journal for my thoughts, and another journal for goals/ideas. Obviously I couldn’t carry around all three, so I’d usually just carry my planner around with me. My phone is full of notes and ideas since I didn’t always have my “ideas” journal with me, so it would result in a lot of lists later that I couldn’t really make sense of.
With my bullet journal, I can have designated pages that are solely for lists and ideas, or anything else I’d like to put in there. I really like the creative freedom you can have with bullet journals, and that you can follow the system loosely and make up your own rules. I’ve found it’s been great to sit down on Sunday afternoon and figure out the week ahead, and see what all I have to do. It’s quickly become a part of my weekly and daily routine to set up the week on Sunday and get ready, and then come back after work and update my journal.
Another part I love about bullet journaling are the different “trackers.” Currently I have a habit tracker and mood tracker, and I think next month I’ll add in an expense tracker, too. Visually checking in with my goals for the month and year has been helping so much in keeping myself accountable, and it’s cool to see them fill in. I love filling in those little boxes, so it keeps me motivated, too! This has also been great in setting realistic goals, and also seeing where I can push a little more to set a higher goal.
So far I’ve been keeping my journal relatively simple, but I’m excited to become more creative in the future. I love drawing and painting, so my bullet journal will be a great place to be able to do that in, since I don’t have a whole lot of time to dedicate to that. I really love how you can get super creative and elaborate with bullet journals or keep it simple if you like!
The future log is really important for your bullet journal, because it allows you to see the year at a glance and write in important events. So far I’ve mainly written down birthday’s and holiday’s, but as time goes on there’s more and more to put in the log. I added little doodles for each month to give it some personality, too!
Put in any yearly logs you want, or anything else you’ll want to come back to a lot
These are some of the supplies I’ve been using
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My junior year of college has come to a close, and it’s been a crazy year. This was definitely the most difficult year so far – my classes were tough, my schedule was busy, and trying to stay afloat was a struggle. I made it out, though, and I’ve learned a lot. Since it’s over, I wanted to do another “Dear __________ year” because I did that for freshman year and sophomore year.
In recent years, it seems like time is going by faster and faster. The last couple of years I’ve been shocked every time my birthday comes around. How has it already passed?! Life is funny that way; when we’re kids we want life to move quickly and it goes slowly, but once we get older it flies by and we struggle to cherish it. The entire day of my 21st birthday I was trying to memorize every single detail of the day, because I want these memories to last and I want to be able to remember them. I spent the day with my favorite humans, and I was so grateful how they went out of their way to make sure I had a wonderful day, which I did.
Here’s some photos from the day:
That night I went out to one of my favorite districts in Seattle, Capitol Hill, and went to some fun bars with my of legal age friends. It was strange being back in bars after spending a lot of time in them last summer while in Europe, but also really fun! The satisfaction of pulling out my driver’s license was pretty great, and I don’t think it’ll get old for a while.
I ended up wearing this really cute romper I got from Pacsun, and I’m so glad it didn’t rain while we were out! The weather wasn’t too cold, it was actually pretty great for an April night, only a light sweater was needed (name that reference). I’m so excited to be able to go to really cute outdoor bars this summer! There’s something so great about being able to just spend time with your friends on a warm summer night, it’s definitely one of my favorite feelings.
Reflecting back on my birthday, it’s still so crazy to me that I’m finally 21. I’m trying to cherish these early-20s memories, because I know one day I’m not going to have the freedom that I do now, despite being busy with college. One day real life will catch up to me and it’ll be hard to spontaneously decide to go out with friends and spend the night out on the town. I’m so grateful I have the opportunity to do so now!
I just wanted to write up a quick post about my birthday, partly so I can look back on it later in life. I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for reading! I hope you are all having a wonderful day 🙂
Happy spring! Although the first official day of spring was a week or so ago, I am still super excited about it. This winter in Seattle has been especially dreary and cold, so I’m definitely looking forward to some warmer weather.
Going along with this dreary weather, I have felt so uninspired this year in terms of creativity. I’ve been getting caught up in school (which of course isn’t a bad thing), and I’ve let my creative side get a little lazy. It’s easy to put excuses before giving yourself a break to be creative, and to push things like writing or art to the side because they seem less important to things like homework and tests, which in a sense they are. I am first and foremost a college student, so I of course need to make my grades a priority, but I also need to relax every now and then and spend an evening doing something I love, like watercolor.
When I was writing my last post, How to Succeed in College: Mental Health, it became clear that I needed a break from stressing out so much. I was writing down tips that I myself needed to listen to and apply to my life, especially because I’ve felt like I have hit a creative STOP SIGN lately. Anxiety and panic attacks seem to relish the times of stress and lack of creativeness in my life, so I needed to take a break.
Spring cleaning has always been something I’ve loved. While growing up, my mom would enlist my brother, dad, and me to help her clean the entire house – we’re talking scrubbing the walls, floors, and everything in between. It would be a laborious couple of days, but afterwards everything felt nice and clean, and that a fresh start was much easier to be had. Because I experienced that every year while growing up, I realized that was exactly what I needed this spring.
It was spring break last week for my college, so I took the time at home to do a whole lot of nothing, besides workout, play with my family’s dogs and cats, and our new puppy.
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| Seriously, look how cute he is!! |
I needed to take the week to give myself a mental break from stressing out about school, tests, law schools, finding a summer internship, and taking the LSATs in the fall. Real life can be hard, and I know that it’s just going to get busier and more stressful as I get older. When you’re really stressed out it’s easy to only think about how hard life is and will get, and forget that it’s also going to get more exciting, and more opportunities are going to present themselves to you after a lot of hard work.
It is no secret that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I have read all of the books and watched the movies more times than I can count, so when I heard about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I was extremely excited. I was nervous about how I would like it in comparison to the whole Harry Potter franchise, so I was definitely ready for the movie to come out! Since I went and saw it last night, I thought I would write a review on it, and start to get back in the swing of things here on my blog!
There are strong female leads
Tina and Queenie, the two main women of the film, as well as the president of MACUSA Seraphina Picquery, are all very strong females. Tina is very stubborn, and is successful in her career, even though she has hit a rough patch before she meets Newt, which is awesome to see. She isn’t talked badly about for wanting to have a successful career, and is encouraged by her younger sister, Queenie. They are both very supportive of each other, which is portrayed wonderfully. Queenie is not a career women, but she isn’t portrayed as “weaker” or “lesser” than her sister at all. We don’t really get to know Seraphina that well, but the interactions she does have with the main characters leave the audience with the sense that she is a very strong woman. She doesn’t let anyone push her around, and she is strong in her decisions and rules.
The world in Newt’s suitcase is beautifully made, as well as the beasts
We have seen Hermione’s expandable bag on the outside, but we never saw the inside. It was so cool to actually be able to see the inside of Newt’s suitcase, and see where all of his magical animals live. Of course since I absolutely love animals, that was one of my favorite parts of the movies. I’m really glad, though, that they didn’t show the inside of his suitcase a lot in the previews, so that it was more of a surprise for the audience. The creativity that was put into imagining the beasts and his suitcase was so incredible, and the fact that the magical creatures were still relatable to real animals was great. The fact that Newt Scamander had made his suitcase the way he did in order to save these magical beasts was also super touching, and a part of the movie that I absolutely loved.
Eddie Redmayne made an incredible Newt
I had only ever seen Eddie Redmaybe in Les Mis, so it was super cool to see him in something else! His Newt was super quirky, likable, nice, and strong, and he played him so well. He was exactly what you think a magical beast collector/saver/caretaker (?) would be like, but he also had a depth that played into his character development very well. Throughout the movie we learned a lot about him, and saw his softer side, rather than his initial blunt character. Above everything, he cares for his magical creatures the most, and feels a pull to save them, or anyone else in need. He was super relatable, and fit in perfectly with the other quirky wizards and witches we know and love so much.
The incorporation of Grindelwald, and other known families, was done very well.
Through what J.K. Rowling has hinted at, it was clear that this new series was going to include Grindelwald in some way. In the beginning of the movie, it is made clear that MACUSA is looking for Grindelwald after he has committed crimes, but it is unclear where he is at. I won’t give anything away, but the way in which they incorporated his story into this one was done very well. I’m so excited to learn more about him (and possible Dumbledore??) in the coming movies. We also hear a bit about a Lita Lestrange, so I’m interested to see if she has to do more with the coming movies, or if she’ll be included!
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie! It does make me long for more about the characters we know and love in Harry Potter, but I’m super excited to see how the characters from Fantastic Beasts progress and develop.
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I have never posted anything like this on my blog before, but I think it is a super important topic that everyone should be talking about. The Kesha case is just one of many, and though it is really well-known right now because she is a celebrity, it is bringing a lot of awareness to the disparities women still face today, especially in regards to rape and sexism.
Do you stand with Kesha?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂
I read the Selection series by Kiera Cass when it first came out, so I was really excited to see that she had come out with a spin-off series. The first book in the new series is called The Heir, and is about the daughter of King Mason and Queen America, who are the main characters from the original book. Eadlyn – the daughter – has to have her own Selection (where 35 young men enter to possibly woo the princess into marrying one of them…basically The Bachelorette for royalty) in order to distract the public from their growing discontent. I was glad there was a larger purpose to this Selection, but it soon became clear that that wouldn’t be the main focus of the book.
It is unclear what Cass was wanting to achieve in this book; to try and get the message of the public’s growing anger with the monarchy, or Eadlyn’s anger about the selection. While at first it seemed like Cass would really focus on how angry the public was about the hard financial times the country seemed to be facing, she seemed more concerned with showing how bratty Eadlyn was, and how poorly she treated those around her. The first Selection series was about Mason and America – both very down to earth characters who I did not think could create a child like Eadlyn. She treats her maid, whom she claims to be very good friends with, horribly, and is very unhappy with having to go through the selection, even though it is to distract the public long enough for her poor father to find a way to help out his struggling subjects.
Cass seems to use Eadlyn’s feminist mind set to excuse her poor behavior, and public shaming of the men in her selection, but it just ends up being way too forced. I totally support strong female leads in books fighting for women rights, but Eadlyn is simply portrayed as being a snobby princess used to getting her way, yet complaining about how hard her life is. She is a fraternal twin with her brother, Ahren, whom was born seven minutes after her. The laws of her country dictated that even though she was technically older, Ahren was to be king due to his gender. Because their parents were so revolutionary, and America was a big advocate of women’s rights, they made it so the eldest child was to be the ruler, regardless of gender. Go them, right? Well, according to Eadlyn, very, very wrong. There is not a moment in the book when she isn’t complaining about how she’ll have to be queen one day, or how she is expected to get married soon. I get it, no one should be forced to marry young, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t make the best of her situation, and find a man she is actually happy with, and not some random person she’s betrothed to. She has the choice between thirty-five different men who she never would have met, had the selection never happened. She could at least try and look on the bright side that she gets a choice – something that not all the royals before her had.
I love that Kiera Cass is trying to make feminism a big theme of the book. I think more and more support for women is needed, but I do not like how it was executed in this book. Instead of Eadlyn portraying a strong woman, she is petty and cruel to those around her, especially the young men partaking in the selection. I wanted so badly to root for her and her feminist ideals, but I just ending up staring at the book like this a lot:
She questions why the public hates her, yet she gives them absolutely no reason for them to like her (i.e. at least having some sort of conscience). She insults the boys at every turn, and looks down upon people with “lower” statuses than herself. I found it hard to root for her at all, and instead was rejoicing when her brother tells her off at one point. I had such high hopes for this book since the first series had a strong woman lead, but I was deeply disappointed with this one. Eadlyn is not empathetic at all, and it was so hard to relate to her. Cass made it seem like women have to be completely rude and controlling in order to get anywhere in life. While we women have to be firm in many situations, we can also be human in order to be successful. I’m hoping Cass made us readers feel this way about Eadlyn for a reason, and maybe we will be able to see a drastic change in her for the next book, but for now I am simply disappointed. Feminism should not be portrayed as needing to be so independent to the point where women have to be cruel to anyone who tries to be remotely nice or helpful to them
All of the romance in the book is shadowed by Eadlyn’s attitude towards the whole selection. She treats the selected horribly, which in turn makes the public dislike her even more. There is also the “issue” she has with literally anyone seeing the real her, or trying to get close to her. I didn’t understand what the big deal was with people even asking her how her day was going, especially when she raves about how great and close her family is. The whole book was just a little bit off and forced to me, and it made me really sad. I had such higher expectations and I was definitely let down.
I hate giving bad reviews to books and movies, but honestly The Heir was not the greatest book in my opinion. It did have it’s moments, and for those I just might read the next book, if only to keep up with America and Mason. But by the end of the book, I was definitely questioning why I ever picked it up in the first place. It was very disappointing that this book was a let down, because the first series was really great, and I believe Kiera Cass really is a good writer. Hopefully the next one is better!
Have you read this book? What have you been reading lately?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂