I Ate a Doughnut in Under a Minute

Hi y'all!

Remember me? I know it's been a full week (apologies). Last week I promised a round-up of sorts, of all the things I've been lovin' over the past month. It's a long list, so let's get right into it!

As I've mentioned previously, YouTube has recently and quickly become my latest obsession. I love that we live in the era of social media where we can blog to our viewers directly and let them see into our lives through the power of video. We can communicate like never before so incredibly directly that it feels like we are a part of that someone's life, even if you've never met that person. YouTube has opened up a whole new era of self-branding and I, for one, love it.

One of my favorite YouTubers right now is JAROD ZSZ, or Jarod Majeika, who is actually a friend of mine from high school! He's Vine famous, with over 165K followers on Vine, and then as of late he has branched out into YouTube videos and has been doing pretty well, all things considered. It's one thing to see all these incredibly famous YouTubers out in the world who also are working red carpet events and traveling the globe all the time, but it's another to see someone from your own hometown reaching out to his or her followers and connecting. I've been absolutely loving his videos, they're hysterical, you should check them out! I've included the link here.

Other things I've taken away from YouTube? Anyone who watched Tyler Oakley knows that once a month he recommends something new on NatureBox. What IS NatureBox, you ask? NatureBox is a snack subscription service that sends you a box of snacks once a month. Each box comes with a variety of snacks that you get to choose and they're all incredibly healthy. You have tons of options, whether you're looking for vegan snacks to gluten-free to low in sodium and high in vitamin C. I'm LOVING the dark cocoa nom noms (yes, they are called nom noms). I'm absolutely addicted. It's a pretty cool service, I recommend checking it out if you're into healthy snacking and also the beauty of shopping through the internet. Here's the link if you're interested.

There's another line of products I've been meaning to talk about for awhile now, and haven't ever brought up. As you can probably tell, I tend to gravitate towards a life of healthy options (at least, I've been trying to!) I've taken up yoga, I've become vegetarian, and I'm now considering going vegan. But something almost no one ever brings up is skincare and hygienic products. We worry so much about what is going into our bodies and how we treat our bodies, that we don't often look at what we are cleaning our bodies with. If you look at a bottle of shampoo nowadays, I bet you $20 you couldn't read the entire list of ingredients out loud (don't try at home; you might hurt yourself). It's kind of sickening to think of the number of chemicals we put onto our skin. But there ARE alternatives: natural products such as homemade soaps and shampoos, which can often be purchased from farmer's markets and online boutiques. My aunt has launched a business into this line of product and as a avid fan of her soaps, I can highly recommend. Shepherd's Harvest is managed from her home and all the products are made right in her kitchen (I've even helped in the past!) My faves? The Onyx Detox and Pumpkin Spice soaps, and the Glossy Lip Balm are amazing (the onyx detox clears up acne like no other). Wanna purchase? Link's here.

Other cool things: ONE DIRECTION'S NEW SONG/ALBUM. (Excuse the fangirling.) They're dropping their new album a couple of days before my birthday and I am SO excited. The new song is fabulous. I'm not even a little ashamed.

Speaking of music... Top 5 songs for the week!

1. Thinking Out Loud // Ed Sheeran
2. I'm Not The Only One // Sam Smith
3. Animals // Maroon 5
4. Flaws // Bastille
5. Out of the Woods // Taylor Swift

More cool things: ya girl is doing a room makeover! Around this time of the semester I get into this slump of being bored with my life (even though my life is far from boring). Room makeovers breathe some new life into my stressed out and overworked mind. Plus, it's just fun to redecorate/rearrange your room. Who knows? I might even do a blog post on it! 

There are a few other things that I really wish I could talk about right now, but I'm going to wait on because they're still in the works and once they're finalized I'll definitely spill the beans. One of them mayyy involve me *actually* launching my YouTube channel... More to come. I promise. 

I also wish I had some photos for you this week, but sadly the ones I'm looking for aren't online yet. Once my friends upload the photos to Facebook I'll post 'em here. I have TONS of photos from HA Field Day, which was this past Sunday and was an incredible day. I ate a doughnut in under a minute and was the top of a human pyramid, need I say more? 

I'm just now realizing that I talked about a ton of random things in this blog post and there was no cohesive structure and it's basically just me rambling... Oh well. Some weeks I'm organized and put together, other weeks I'm all over the place and busy beyond belief (aka this week). I literally almost walked out of my apartment wearing two different shoes this morning. It's just been that kind of week.

I really don't have too much else to talk about right now, but by the end of this week hopefully I can talk a bit more about the projects I have under wraps. 

Until then, love y'all, bye!

Amputating My Arms

Hey y'all!

Today's post is gonna be an update/storytelling/fun-filled rambling sort of post because of everything amazing and wonderful happening just this week in my life (EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING SO FAST).

Where do I even start?

How about Top 5 Songs of the Week, because with everything going on I've needed some motivation music to pump me up:

1. Million Voices // Otto Knows
2. Run the World (Girls) // Beyonce
3. BO$$ // Fifth Harmony
4. I Lived / One Republic
5. Shut Up and Dance // Walk the Moon

I've been nonstop moving this week for a number of reasons (I'll explain shortly, I promise) and these songs have been on repeat in addition to my playlist 'Motivation Mix' on Spotify. Feeling down? Power through with kickass music; it is the MOST beneficial thing you could possibly do.

Okay, so, what have I been up to, you ask? 

I'll start with Sunday, when my best friend Anna came to visit me here in Boston! As I assume a lot of you know, Sunday was the Season 5 premiere of The Walking Dead (!!!!!!!) and she came to stay with me pretty much just so we could watch it together. I know. We're nerds. And also lame. Whatever.

Of course, we did other things as well! We went to the Museum of Fine Arts on Monday, which was MIND-BLOWING as I've never been there before. I probably stared at the Van Gogh's and Monet's for a solid 40 minutes and would've stayed longer except Anna had to catch a train. 

As you saw from my last post, I'm not a fan of being alone and even though I have more personal coping strategies now, I still like having my friends around as much as possible. I hadn't seen Anna since the end of August and seeing her this weekend was exactly the recharge I needed to power through another month of college. Thanks for being my everything, I don't have a clue what I would do without you.

Another Monday happening was my first ever November Project workout! Now, I'm not one to workout. I pretty much hate it. I'll take ice cream and Netflix in bed over a simple run literally all the time. But I'm starting to get to a weird age where eating anything I want isn't making me put on weight, but if I continue building certain habits now it'll result in unhealthy habits for the rest of my life. So I figured I should start exercising so that I can form that habit and have that going for me for the rest of my life (hopefully). 

For those of you unfamiliar with November Project, watch this:

Now that I've actually experienced one of these workouts I can honestly say, it's everything they promise and more. Monday morning I got myself up at 5 in the morning and drank maybe 3 cups of coffee because y'all know I canNOT wake up early. I broke out my workout gear, which has pretty much never seen the light of day, and jogged over to Marino Rec Center to meet up with my friend Xander who talked me into going. The workout starts at 6:30 and consisted of a bunch of different exercises. The main workout this specific Monday was 7 straight minutes of burpees. I'm still, 3 days later, incredibly sore and looking into amputation options for my arms. 

No matter how much I despised working out, this was definitely the best thing I've done for myself in awhile and it was so incredibly satisfying. The community is super positive (imagine being greeted at 6:30am with bear hugs) and I can't wait to do it all over again next week. I'm going to attempt to make it to all the workouts each week, but with 8 ams, we'll see. (Wednesdays are Harvard Stadium, which I can't WAIT to take on.)

Other things? I've never interviewed for anything before and on Wednesday I held a mock interview with my co-op adviser and slayed! Nerves ain't got nothin' on me.

I also met with my career development adviser and have officially decided on a major of Business Administration with Concentrations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship (geez that's a mouthful). I'm so incredibly excited you guys, you don't even know. I'm filing the necessary forms this week and hopefully by next week at this time I will officially be a business student! 

Also, by visiting career services, I have been given an opportunity to guest blog on the Northeastern Career Development blog site! My adviser got me talking, and inevitably I brought up social media. When she heard I was a student blogger myself in addition to be the resident social media gal, she was more than happy to put me in touch with the woman in charge of running that blog. I'll let you know when that becomes a more concrete thing!

And as always,  I'm keeping myself incredibly scheduled at all hours of the day, so I'm either in class, cleaning or cooking, working, or now working out. I would put sleeping in there as well but ain't nobody got time for that.

I think that my next post is going to be a compilation of a bunch of cool things I've either seen or used or heard about so look out for that later this week. Other than that, thanks for keeping up with me lovelies! As always, follow me on social media (shameless self-promotion say whaaaaatttt): my handle is @jessieetrager on everything :)

Until next time, love y'all, bye!

Don't Watch Netflix All Night

Hey y'all!

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to talk about in this blog post, and it took me awhile to admit to myself that I wanted to write about loneliness. Now, I'm not talking about describing loneliness because we all know what it feels like in some way, shape, or form. I'm talking about how to survive loneliness. Because inevitably, you're going to have a night when things get rough and you feel all alone and it's tough to get through those nights. It's a process, and I'm still learning, but I've come a long way and I'd like to share with y'all how to get through those times. I had to figure it out for myself, but by sharing this, maybe you don't have to go through it alone.

Admittedly, this all sounds pretty dramatic. But last night for me was one of those nights where I had nothing to do, nowhere to be, and that made my skin crawl. I know most people LIVE for the nights where they get time off and can just veg in bed with some Netflix and ice cream. But me? I work so much that I hardly have time to hang out with friends, and Friday nights are the one night I have off to really just chill with my friends and have fun. I truly hate being alone and in the past, it has caused me to become depressed and I went to a really bad place in my life.

Sometimes, even if you KNOW people are there for you, you can still feel terribly alone, and that's okay. Being alone is okay. Not having someone right beside you at every moment is okay. People ARE there for you, even if you think they aren't.

It took me years to realize it's okay to feel alone. Last night was one of the first nights I spent by myself and didn't cry (real talk time). Over time though, I've picked up quite a few tricks on how to spend a night alone without feeling lonely.

Step 1: Take a shower. The thought of spending Friday night in when you're getting hundreds of snapchats from friends at massive parties and concerts can be a little daunting. I've found taking a hot shower (for a good 30 minutes) can calm you down and relax you for a night of restorative activities.

Step 2: Make food! And I don't mean put a frozen something in the microwave or make some popcorn to eat with your fudge sundae. I mean cook something new and kinda fancy. Spend an hour or more. Practice a cooking skill you've never used before. Last night, I made myself lemon basil chickpeas and then baked cinnamon apples with peanut butter and they were fabulous. It's really easy to fall into a groove of eating the same old thing over and over again because that's what you know and are comfortable with. But eating the same thing over and over again can decrease your mood (unless it's mac and cheese because I could probably eat that every day till I die). Trying something new is a challenge and forces you to concentrate on the task at hand, rather than the fact that you're at home alone. Plus, the end result is some new fantastic food that you can eat while watching YouTube or Netflix!

Step 3: Don't watch Netflix all night. That's literally the worst thing you could do. I've done it before, and by the time I want to go to sleep I've wallowed myself into a pit of misery (not even joking). Watch a movie (I recommend Disney) but then allow yourself time to unplug. Use your laptop for music if you need the noise in your home. But do something else that's productive.

Step 4: Speaking of productive.....do something active! I never have time during the week to exercise (except that now I may be starting to attend November Project, stay tuned for that...) so Friday nights spent alone in my apartment are a great time for me to work out. I'm personally a fan of yoga because it's strengthening in addition to being spiritually healing. But then, as a dancer, I like to work through my muscles by doing simple ballet stretches and strengthening exercises. And then, as a bit of fun, I usually dance around my apartment to something super upbeat (Taylor Swift's Shake It Off comes to mind) because there's only so much "calming and relaxation" I can tolerate until I need to really get moving and pick up the tempo a bit.

Step 5: Clean. This sounds totally horrible, I know, I know. But it's one of the most therapeutic things I can think of. It's also incredibly productive, because we all know your apartment's not getting cleaned any other day of the week. Again, I like to have music blasting and sing along at the top of my lungs while cleaning (sorry apartments 518 and 514...).

Step 5: Sleep. If you're in college, I KNOW you don't get to sleep before midnight any night of the week. If you do, I may or may not hate you. (Jk, but really...? Teach me your ways.) This is your one night to get a full night's sleep and actually feel rested when you wake up in the morning! Get in bed early, write in a journal, get those last stressful thoughts out of the way, and then fall asleep knowing you're not alone and you had a relaxing night to yourself.

You might be wondering why I decided to write this kind of blog post. Honestly, this blog post was very much for me. I originally wanted this blog to be a way to keep a journal because I was never able to write things down on paper and I had hoped that by putting it on social media, a platform I love, it would motivate me to write. These past few weeks have been stressful, and yesterday was a small victory for me. Writing all this down *may* serve to help someone reading out there who goes through this as well, but in all actuality, I'm writing it down to prove I made progress. To be able to look back on it and say "You used to feel so alone, but now you're okay with it. You're strong enough to get through the negative feelings."

For those of you who read this far, thanks for putting up with my emotional blog post! As a little side note to end this post, ya girl overcame another challenge this week and asked someone out! I was my usual awkward self, but hey; he said yes so maybe I'm not all that odd? At any rate, wish me luck. It'd be incredibly awesome if I didn't dump a glass of water on myself this time, or trip over my chair. Yes. Actual things that have happened.

Hope your three day weekend continues to be fantastic, and remember, you're never alone.

Until next time, love y'all, bye!

Four Coffees and a Bag of Doritos

Hi there!

I apologize, my life's been so incredibly busy lately that not only do I barely have time to blog but I barely have time to sleep or eat. It's been hectic, but completely 100% worth it, and you're about to see why! Most of it's been due to classwork and my jobs (this whole balancing 30-40 hours of work a week and also keeping up on classwork is meh) but some of it's been due to Husky Ambassadors! I haven't actually talked about my involvement in Husky Ambassadors a lot, but today you're about to get a huge dose of Husky Pride *insert confetti emoji here*

Side note: it makes me incredibly mad I can't actually use emojis in my blog posts. *insert red angry face emoji here*

So yesterday was Husky Ambassador's 2014 Fall Training and if I were asked to sum it up in a single word, I simply wouldn't be able to. Yesterday marked the official one year anniversary of my actual involvement in Husky Ambassadors, the student organization that organizes all campus tours for our university. One year ago yesterday, I was a terrified freshman who didn't like talking to people but was utterly excited to turn the page and become someone who could talk to anyone. One year ago yesterday marked the first day of the best year of my life. (Sorry, I'm totally getting really emotional and sappy...)

Throughout last year, I made a name for myself in the Admissions office, not because I wanted to become someone of importance there, but because it was simply fun for me. I was able to open up in the Visitor Center, make my closest friends there, and have a safe space at the end of the day where everyone was incredibly accepting and wonderful. I came into college as a shy and timid girl and through this incredible program, I feel I have emerged as a much more confident and independent young woman (who doesn't feel like vomiting before publicly speaking). It truly is amazing what a little dose of positivity in the workplace can do for a person.

After doing so much last year, I was recommended to apply to the Husky Development Committee this fall, a committee of 15 students that work as leaders of the Husky Packs in HA and guide their own assigned groups of tour guides and minglers throughout the year. I jumped at the opportunity and when I was accepted, I may or may not have actually screamed. The other people in HDC are equally fabulous (shout-out to y'all, I adore you so so so much) and every Thursday for the past few weeks we've been having meetings to prepare for Fall Training.

So yesterday, then, was a culmination of weeks and weeks of our efforts to construct what we hoped would be a flawless training session. And while it may not have been ***Flawless, it was pretty amazing. If any of you follow my Twitter, you can get a pretty good idea of how the day went, but here are some highlights:

Not to mention the fantastic photos that came out of yesterday:

And I certainly couldn't forget a shout-out to my own Husky Pack, the Wollaston's pack (aka My Smallaston's)! We're gonna kick some serious ass on HA Field Day.

Yesterday was very surreal at times, as I was incredibly excited to be there and also hyped up on a lot of coffee, but was also remembering what it felt like being in the newbies' shoes a year ago and how I looked up to the HA leaders then and now I was that someone they might look up to and just, wow. Nostalgia. Also a lot of pride. I never would have seen myself where I am today at this time last year. So I guess I owe everyone a very sincere thank you. You've all given me so much and have supported me every step of the way so far.

So now that I've fangirled a considerable amount and have gotten extremely sappy AND you know why I haven't been sleeping or eating (my day yesterday started with 4 coffees and ended with a party-sized bag of Doritos, yay), I can let you know what my Top Five songs are for the week!

1. Arcadia // The Kite String Tangle
2. Fast Car // Tracy Chapman
3. Fun // Troye Sivan
4. Money On My Mind // Sam Smith
5. Candles // Daughter

I find the subdued music helps me to focus when I have a lot to get done. It's definitely re-energizing and relaxing, and calms me down when things get a little *too* hectic. Like yesterday night after training ended.

If you cared enough to read about my sappy Husky Ambassador experiences, thank youuuuuu :)

Until next time guys, love y'all bye!

It Involves a Home Video of Me and a Snuggie

Hi y'all!

My week got off to a roaring start. Monday started with very little sleep and consisted of 3 exams and a 30 minute speaking presentation, and finally ended with (thankfully) not a night of work but instead I treated myself to a night of pampering and relaxation. AKA the guys and I watched the Patriots game and I made loads of coffee, hot chocolate, and fried potatoes. I also gave myself a facial and took about an hour long shower. It was much deserved.

It was a really stressful day and the weekend wasn't much better as I was working full time and studying where I could and running around everywhere. I couldn't help but notice my anxiety levels were at an all time high this weekend, so obviously not a good time. But I'm back!

A couple of things that got me through the weekend:

My mom is a constant support in my life right now. She can calm me down with any hyper-stressful situation I'm dealing with and is constantly giving me lil' bits of wisdom to help me out with everything. One of her "pro-tips" is to make a gratitude list, which is exactly what it sounds like. I've been writing down 8 or 9 things every night that I've been grateful for throughout the day. It sounds silly, but it's been very calming and is a gentle reminder that even on the worst days, there is always something to be happy about, whether it's vanilla scented candles or a cute guy making you coffee on Sunday morning. (Also, shout-out to my friend Pedro who makes incredible Nutella pancakes!)

Netflix, of course, also helped me stay sane this weekend. My weakness is Law and Order: SVU, which is the most comforting show to me. I don't know why, because the show focuses on rape and other sex crimes and is very dark and edgy... But for whatever reason, the show always has the ability to calm me down after something stressful. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend.

Lastly, I also owe coffee a shout-out for getting me through the weekend. Thank you coffee for never letting me down. You are forever and always bae.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was going to talk about joining the YouTube community and what I found along the way. However, what I found was too terrifying to show the world (let's just say it involves a home video of me and a Snuggie and I'm speaking in French very badly) and so we'll talk about YouTube some other time.

Today I wanted to share with you some music odds and ends!

Music is one of those constants in my life that is always there to pick me up when I'm feeling down. If we're being honest, music got me through high school, and is currently getting me through college. This weekend alone was stressful, but I also have things going on in my life that have shot my anxiety through the roof and have caused me to experience a panic attack or two. For those of you who have gone through these in your life, they suck majorly. But I'm always able to pull myself out of it with some feel-good music.

As I've said before, Spotify is life. For $5 a month, you get unlimited, ad-free music listening on your laptop or on the go. My favorite feature that I've found so far is Spotify's ability to recommend amazing new music based on what you've been listening to. I chose a few of my all-time favorite "cheer up" songs and Spotify helped me to compile an entire playlist that I have been LOVING. I also have some rainy day playlists, jazz playlists, and then pop hits radio (it's a weakness, I know, I know).

Songs you should check out?

• Anything by Betty Who. She's a queen.
•  Lea Michele's debut album, Louder
• I'm Only Joking by KONGOS
• Tongues by Joywave/KOPPS
• Bleachers. Anything by Bleachers.
• The entirety of Camp by Childish Gambino. But listen to the songs in order.
• Maroon 5's newest album. Need I say more?
• On Our Way by The Royal Concept
• Siberia by LIGHTS
• Not On Drugs by Tove Lo
• The Kite String Tangle, they're amazing.
• Troye Sivan's new EP, TRXYE. 
• London Grammar, another fantastic band.
• Also, Banks. She is a GODDESS. Also, her song Goddess is *swoons*
• And as a classic: Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

I'm one of those people who likes to listen to music 24/7 (if possible) and I'm always looking for new music in the world. I'm thinking from here on out I'll give you guys a "Top Five" list each week of the songs I've been listening to on nonstop repeat,

Until then, love y'all, bye!