Good Sunday Morning to you and welcome to of my Sunday State of the Union! This is the week in short and will cover everything from A to Z, or at least everything between A and Z that I care to mention. This weekly post will be published EVERY Sunday morning and will be written throughout the week.
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What a week. Let me tell you, I am really, really glad that this week is over. Every day has been just one thing after another and I need this nice weekend to catch up and reset. With everything that's happened, I think we all need a little reset. And maybe a manicure too.. But without further ado, here's the week:

 
1. Brussels Attack - Being a weekly review, I can't avoid this awfully sad bit of news. Tuesday morning in Belgium there was a series of terrorist attacks leading to 31 deaths at the time that I am writing this. I first heard the news early Tuesday morning, when J had messaged me about it. All I can say is that I am sending positive thoughts to all those touched by these events. Here's to hoping that world leaders take this as a sign to do more, not in prevention, but in complete elimination of the perpetrators of these awful attacks. If you're looking for more information, I encourage you to check out the linked article from BBC to keep as updated as possible. 

2. #StandWithZoe - On Wednesday night, YouTuber Zoella Sugg posted a picture on snapshot. In that picture, you could see her underwear. And people lost their minds. The underwear covered all of everything going on, but yet so many people considered the picture utterly obscene. Honestly, with all of what's going on in the world, I don't think her picture was really all that important. But since it blew up overnight, I have to say that I #StandWithZoe. She wasn't hanging any of her bits out, it was just a selfie with a cute top and a pair of CK underwear before she went to bed. Comparing this photo to, say, Kim Kardashian's latest nude antics, Zoe's photo really isn't bad. I mean, I've seen more revealing photos on VS billboards in New York. The only think I'm concerned with is where did she get those underwear, because they are super cute, and look super comfy too.

3. Not in Kansas Anymore - Okay, so it's not actually all that new, but I absolutely love the new  spring line from J Crew. Gingham is back! Step aside Dorothy, we aren't in Kansas anymore with these fabulous designs. My favorites? First of all, definitely the popover, a must have for summer. The Martie pant is amazing too, I have such a love for patterned pants, and this is just one pair I definitely need to add to the collection. No gingham shopping spree is complete without a pair of shoes, and no pair of shoes is complete without a bow and the d'Orsay flats fit the bill perfectly!

4. B(v)S - No I mean Batman v Superman. Well, let's be honest it's BS too. Have I seen it? No. Do I plan on seeing it? Definitely not. The linked Vox article is one example of many, many terrible reviews. The one amazing thing about the film though? Henry Cavill. Let's be real though, I'd watch him any day.

5. The Best Bloomberg - As an equestrian, I already loved Georgina Bloomberg. In the linked T&C article Emily Selter interviews Georgina all about her philanthropy and philanthropic interests. She does a lot of work with the ASPCA and has rescued all kinds of animals, dogs, pigs, and even a goat. She's an amazing rider, an amazing philanthropist, and an amazing role model! I definitely recommend that you check out the article.


Photo of the Week:


Taken from the review of La Tomate by the Bitches Who Brunch, this is our photo of the week. I write this on a perfectly cool Saturday morning filled with clear skies, the perfect jeans and flats weather, and the best brunch weather imaginable. Unfortunately, I'm writing this in my pajamas, binge watching Sex and the City for the first time, and pretty much starving to death. Okay maybe not starving, but really, really hungry. I haven't brunched outside of the campus dining hall in months, and I think the fake eggs are starting to get to me. 


Quote of the Week:
"Welcome to the age of un-innocence. No one has breakfast at Tiffany's and no one has affairs to remember."                                                    - Carrie Bradshaw

In honor of my binge watching Sex and the City for the first time, I picked the arguably most iconic of all the quotes from season 1. While I disagree, I think breakfast can always be at Tiffany's and I'm certainly going to make my latest "affair" certainly one to be remembered. While I'm here with my blog to try to prove Carrie wrong, I'm still going to be spending this brunch-less weekend with my new manicure watching SATC and pretending to do homework.

I hope this week is better than last, but until next time,

Writing to you from M, Personally


PS Remember J from the recent relationships posts? He wanted you all to know that England beat Germany this weekend 2-3 after being two down. After my incorrect guess, I was informed that this indeed was soccer, ah excuse me, football, and apparently is a very big deal. So go you England!
6:00 AM
Good Sunday Morning to you and welcome to of my Sunday State of the Union! This is the week in short and will cover everything from A to Z, or at least everything between A and Z that I care to mention. This weekly post will be published EVERY Sunday morning and will be written throughout the week. 

. . .
First week back in DC post-break is in the books and I for one am already ready for the summer. Politically this was a big week too, with all kinds of crazy news left and right. Best part of the week? St Patrick's Day of course! The one day a year when everyone is Irish and most people drink like it too. I for one spent my St Patrick's Night in, working on homework and writing for the blog. While rocking as much green as possible of course! Without further ado, here's the week!

 1. Marco Rubio Drop - I won't say I predicted it, but I predicted it. Unfortunately, after losing the Florida primary this past Tuesday, Senator Marco Rubio dropped out of the race for president. I liked Rubio a lot, but he just lacked the momentum to get voters to out to the polls. It's not surprising to be honest. All that being said, Rubio definitely has a successful political career in front of him, should he choose to continue on that path.

 2. Vine-Tube - We can all agree that Thomas Sanders is a Vine god and John Cozart is a YouTube sensation. This past week, the two of them got together to create Vine vs YouTube: The Song. And it is fantastic. The two of these guys are the funniest and most talented I've seen in a while and you should definitely check out their video!

3. Shut. Up. -  Something big is happening. Change your life big. Bigger than orthodontia big. Princess Diaries 3 is happening. (Momentary pause for excited squealing). The director as well as Anne Hathaway are in for the three-quel. I am absolutely dying right now. Probably the best news I've heard all week to be completely honest. Princess Diaries was my childhood. I totally connect with Mia's transformation in the first movie, from poofy haired awkward girl to stylish awkward princess. I'm just waiting on some Chris Pine-looking, preferably accented, prince to swoop me up like the second movie. Hey prince, maybe going to see Princess Diaries 3 for the first date? Sound's like a pretty good plan to me!
Photo of the Week: 
source

I had another photo, for this week's SOTU. With the problems publishing this post, I decided to edit it last minute, changing the photo to the Belgian flag in light of recent events. An article will be shared in next week's post.


Quote of the Week:
                 "When things go wrong, don't go with them."             -Unknown

 Oh yes, after all the issues I've had with Blogger these past couple of days, I've learned my lesson. Always plan ahead and don't let things going wrong take them with you! My lesson for taking the last few weeks of good fortune for granted!
On that note, I'm off to go do my Sunday workout. Until next time,

 Writing to you from M, Personally
6:58 AM


So because of some big plans coming up, I have a little bit less than two months to get myself through this weight loss plateau I'm at right now. I did really well and it's taken me about a year to get to this point where I'm happy and confident with my body on a majority of days. There's always the off day, but everyone has them every now and again. Long term, I want my thighs to be a bit less soft, I definitely want my back and shoulders to be stronger, and I would love to one day have Pinterest-able abs. Short term, I just want to work off that stubborn belly fat and a bit off the sides as well. I have a decent amount muscle underneath of that, but I've been struggling to shed the last bit of fat covering my half-abs.

I had been lacking some heavy motivation to get my butt moving on these workouts. I had enough to do some half-assed 30-Day Challenges, but I knew I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could be. So in comes the pressure from an, ahem,  foreign source coming in with those big plans giving me a heck of a lot inspiration to move my behind!

And with that, I sat down, did a little research, and overhauled my fitness routine in order to reduce or even get rid of those last trouble areas so I'll be looking extra good and feeling extra confident when those big plans finally come to fruition.

Before, I had been doing a combination of two different 30-Day Challenges as a workout. An overall one with sit ups, triceps dips, and pushups simultaneously with  one doing just squats. I started to do a little research though, on the effectiveness of 30 Day Challenges. What I found was that challenges like that don't actually work that well at all. Because it's the same workouts day after day, once you get the muscle tears, you don't let them rebuild, sort of negative the purpose to working out to build muscle. These challenges also ignore other facets of health and fitness, like proper nutrition or working around previous injuries. Even more, 30 days of the same exact exercise, again, and again, and again, gets to be really boring. Because of that, as well as not seeing results after trying challenges of all kinds, I decided to drop the challenges and start something a little more efficient.

Now workout-less, I was on a mission to find something that fit my needs. I wanted a workout that didn't require a gym. I don't like going to the gym and I really don't have the time to take the extra, like 20 steps to go. I also wanted a workout that had some variation. I get very easily bored of the repetitiveness of the challenges, and I wanted a workout that would force me to try different exercises. I didn't want to work just on one muscle group either. Though most of the fat I want to burn is in the tummy area, isolating workouts doesn't do anything for burning fat in the area. I wanted a workout plan that would last for about a month, since that seemed like a good amount of time. It's not so long that it gets repetitive, but not so short that I can't get into a groove for it. Lastly, I wanted a plan that had flexible schedules. Because I'm working around my and my roommate's class schedule, I can't workout for hours every day. I generally have about 60 minutes max to workout 3-5 days a week.

To top all that off, I wanted one that either built in runs OR gave me time to work my running schedule into the plan. I had decided to focus more on my personal overall fitness for the next few months as opposed to my running. I'm not tossing in the towel on my marathon goal! It make more sense to work on my whole body first, before I try to push it's limits with an insanely long run like that.

Finding something that fit that schedule was certainly a task to say the least. I practically have more requirements for a workout than a boyfriend. Despite a bit of trouble, I ended up going with the Nike Training Club app. I decided to go with a four week Get Lean plan. They have 5 days of workouts, which was a lot when I first looked. Breaking it down, 2 days are just running, and 1 day is dynamic yoga. There's enough wiggle room where the workouts are on free days for me, and I can easily swap it around to keep my busiest class day free of workouts. I'm a little over a week in now, and it's going great.

The runs really push my distance, but not so much so that I'm struggling to complete them. Next week has a 5 mile and 3 mile run. The five is going to be tough, but not impossible. Hopefully the weather is in my favor that day!
On the Dynamic Yoga days, I add on one of Brett Larkin's Online Classes (link to her channel) afterwards. Nike's yoga involved a lot faster paced flow with a lot of muscle work. It's great, but it felt like it was more of a workout than yoga session. Adding in a really light stretching class from Brett allowed me to cool down with yoga, stretch out my muscles after a week of workouts, and center myself again before jumping into the weekend.

I'll have to write again at the end of this plan to give it a bit of a review. I might repeat this workout plan again or if I'm feeling really confident with it all, I'll jump ahead to the next level up! I'm off to go drag myself through some burpees, but until next time,

Writing to you from M, Personally.

6:00 AM
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Growing up, I was never a big lover of my hometown. I liked it well enough, but I never really felt like it was really home, you know what I mean? It was where home was, but it wasn't home. When it came time to apply for colleges, I didn't really have much that was keeping me tied to my hometown and I was ready to move away.

Going to college in DC was an amazing decision and I don't regret it one bit. But every so often, I do miss my tiny little hometown. It's an itty bitty place, according to the 2010 census we boast a whopping 2,303 residents. In comparison, my middle and high school combined had about 3,000 people. Yeah, it's that tiny.

In honor of my first week back in DC and the start of the spring semester final push, here are the four things that really give me the hometown blues

1. The Beaches - I am no great beach lover. I can't swim, I hate jellyfish, I don't like sand, and let's not even talk about the sun. The beach is not a fun place for a grumpy pale person like myself. But I can't imagine life without having the beach there. Being away from it for most of the year really make me appreciate the ability to go to the beach pretty much whenever I want. The cover photo for this week is an aerial photo of there beaches of my hometown. Well I live on the mainland, so technically the beaches aren't of my hometown, but we're pretty much all one big community there, so it counts. You jealous yet?

2. Wawa - I'm from New Jersey, so this is no surprise. We have a convenience store on campus, and there are the occasional gas stations in DC, but nothing can compare to Wawa. Every trip home includes a stop at the nearest Wawa for a sub, a cup of mac n cheese, and a peach Snapple (which I can't find anywhere in DC!). And the next day for breakfast is a Pork Roll and Cheese Sizzli. It's the eleventh commandment, thou must stuff oneself with as much Wawa as possible. If you've never been there, I can't explain it to you. Any New Jersian knows what I mean. Just ask them. No, it's not the same as a Seven Eleven and don't even try with Sheetz!

3. Driving - Don't get me wrong, the metro is really convenient, and I love not having to buy gas every few days. I can't imagine driving in DC anyways, the traffic here is insane. But sometimes, I just miss having the radio on full blast, windows down, going 30 above the speed limit on the highway. I mean, uh, follow the laws. And don't tell my mom!

4. Food - Not just any food. And I mean more than my mom's cooking. I miss the restaurants and specifically, the burgers. Burgers are probably one of my favorite foods, cause you can have pretty much anything on them and there's a 99% chance that it's still delicious. Favorite burger? Medium with a fried egg and pork roll with aioli sauce. I could eat that burger every day and be completely happy with life.

 5. Finn Dog - Let's be real, the only thing we all truly miss while we're away at college is our pets. And Finny is no exception. While I was home, he and I had taken to napping and blogging on the front porch in the sun. It was so great and I took more than enough photos of him while I was home last week. And I restarted up Finn's Instagram account, my mom loved to post on it. Maybe I'm biased, but I think he's way cuter than most of the other insta-famous dogs, what do you think?


Check Finn.dog out on instagram!




Well I'll end this week's post with that happy little puppy face, because who doesn't love little puppy faces! Until next time,

Writing to you from M, Personally













6:00 AM
Good Sunday Morning to you and welcome to of my Sunday State of the Union! This is the week in short and will cover everything from A to Z, or at least everything between A and Z that I care to mention. This weekly post will be published EVERY Sunday morning and will be written throughout the week. 
. . .
With this past week off, I thought I would get more blogging done than usual. Turns out, I was totally wrong. Apparently, playing 3 hours of Skyrim and sleeping for 10 hours every day doesn't lend itself to increased productivity. Who knew? There may be a pretty good chance that I'm writing this entire post while on the bus ride back down to DC.. Oops. Without further ado, here's the week:

 1. Nancy Reagan - I'm sure many of you have already heard, but this past week Former First Lady Nancy Reagan passed away at age 94. A beautiful woman, both inside and out, she brought a classic style back to the White House, reminiscent of the Kennedy era. The article I've attached is from the New York Times and, in my opinion, beautifully covers Nancy Reagan's funeral. Written very neutrally and respectfully, it is a great little homage to the former First Lady, much better than I could squish into a paragraph here.

2. International Women's Day - March 8th this past week was International Women's Day! One of my personal favorites of the holidays. I loved the posts shared IFL Science on their Facebook page with the hashtag "Women You Should Have Heard Of" recognizing some of the greatest scientific and medical contributions and discoveries made by women. IFL Science highlighted the women who had been jilted and overlooked by their fellow male scientists including Rosalind Franklin, who's X-ray images lead to the discovery of the shape of DNA, but were used without her knowledge and permission by Frances Crick. Everyone knows about the Nobel winning team, but Franklin wasn't credited for her contributions. Check out her story, and others like hers on the IFL Science Facebook page

 3. FemTalk - I'm sure by now you all know I love Estee Lalonde. She's a gorgeous blogger/blogger with a great sense of style and a fabulous attitude towards life. This past week, she débuted a new style of video, breaking out of her previous beauty/fashion blogger mold and more towards a lifestyle channel. Her video, FemTalk was great. I laughed, I cried, the whole nine yards. Well okay I didn't cry, but I definitely face her some serious snaps for 90% of what she said. I've been a pretty dedicated fan for a while, and I am definitely staying that way!

4. Generation Next - While I'm not a huge follower of Oli White, his debut book looks pretty good! It's a fictional insight into the rise of fame experienced by YouTubers, but I'm thinking that it's a bit more fact than fiction.. One of those books where all character similarities are just "coincidental," you catch my drift? Either way, he announced his book tour today, which is unfortunately not coming to anywhere near me, unless you count 3,000 miles away as near. I'll have to see if I can con J into going to the London signing for me.. You think he would wade through a sea of boy-crazy tweens to get a book signed for me? I'll have to work on my persuasive skills!

5. Chicago Away - This past week in Chicago, a Trump rally was cancelled amidst what one can only be called a hot mess of a crowd. Trump supporters, BLM supporters, Bernie supporters, and a couple thousand other people crowded together in a stadium in Chicago and became the cause for a Trump Rally to be cancelled. I don't really have much of an opinion on this story, just one heavy sigh and my eyes rolled so far, I think I can see my own brain. To be honest, this is just a confirmation of my continuing belief that this country's political system is just one big clusterf*ck. Remind me, why am I a Political Science major again? This is one of those weeks where I really consider switching to something less painful, like underwater basket weaving or something...


Photo of the Week:




This week's photo is also a shameless self-promotion. I went to New York last Thursday, and took this picture in Times Square. It's not particularly exquisite, but I like it, so I'm using it for this week. Check it out on Instagram!


Quote of the Week:
                          "If reason fails, use force!"
                                                         -Dowager Countess
I love, love, love Grandmama Crawley. She was the sassy guiding matriarch that every woman needs. While nearly all of her lines are incredibly memorable, this particular one stuck with me. Why? Because that mindset was my unofficial method for life before I watched Downtown Abbey. Now, post Downtown, I finally have a mantra for it. So this week is to you, Dowager Countess Crawley! And until next time,


Writing to you from M, Personally.
6:00 AM
Good Sunday Morning to you and welcome to of my Sunday State of the Union! This is the week in short and will cover everything from A to Z, or at least everything between A and Z that I care to mention. This weekly post will be published EVERY Sunday morning and will be written throughout the week. 
. . .
Welcome to March everyone! Only two more months until the spring semester is over and summer break starts, so cue the countdown to the crazy summer. But until then, it's been a pretty neutral week news-wise for me. So without further ado..

 1. #MakeYouTubeGreatAgain - Generally I hadn't followed the recent copyright issues on YouTube as much as I should. I learned quite a bit from watching Philip DeFranco's videos mostly. But watching Matthias' video on copyright abuse. Definitely check out the more indepth information videos oncopyright abuse if you're looking to get educated. I 100% support Matthias' demands for his 20 cent check from Studio71. And I encourage you to join the #MakeYouTubeGreatAgain trend and (respectively) tweet to YouTube's CEO, Susan Wojcicki. I will definitely be watching to see if that class action lawsuit does come up, which I think it will. Even more, I'm interested to see who will join onto the suit.

 2. Gold Star For Me - A super cute and super short collab song by Dodie Clark and Carrie Fletcher. While this isn't really news, I recently discovered Dodie's channel through Evan Edinger, and she's pretty much the cutest human, like ever. Seriously. After you listen to Gold Star, make sure you listen to her original song, My Face. It's a cute little song that will really perk up your day! Her song Down is also a really great way to explain depression to someone who doesn't understand it. 

 3. The What?! - News has come up recently about Fox's new comedy show called The Mick. When I saw that, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I'm sorry, but a comedy show entitled The MICK? Did no one at Fox try googling that first?? Or is it just a casual thing to use derogatory words for comedy titles now? Just because it isn't a common term now, doesn't mean it's not still offensive. I know that Fox's use of the term isn't meant in an offensive way. And I know that the connotation of the word has nothing to do with the show. But there are plenty of other titled that the producers could have chosen. As someone who is extremely proud of their Irish heritage, I find Fox's flippant use of a term historically used to demean Irish immigrants and Irish Americans extremely disturbing, offensive, and just plain ignorant. 

 4. Donald's Drumf - Oh yes folks, believe it or not, a presidential candidate discussed his, ah, little candidate, on national television. I don't know in what world that is considered appropriate behavior for a candidate, but apparently the mass of the american people think it's just fine. Excuse me while I research my upcoming move to Canada..


 Photo of the Week: I mean, what else could it be?? This week Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar! I guess the internet is over now, the world's greatest meme has now ended. But in all reality, congrats to Leo for this one!
Source

 Quote of the Week:
          "We get to have our hearts broken, dust ourselves off, and go find love again."
                                                               -Devon Werkheiser

 That's all for this week's State of the Union, I'm off to go enjoy my spring break (yes, binge House of Cards).

Until next time, writing to you from M, Personally
6:42 AM
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