Category Archives: Blogging -Behind the Scenes
You have a finite number of college weekends!
There are approximately 128 weekends in your college career.
There are currently 3 left in mine.
In marketing, we learned about the “scarcity phenomenon.” When a product or service is presented as “limited time” or “limited quantity,” consumers tend to feel a larger sense of urgency or need that they wouldn’t otherwise feel to demand that product.
When the number of weekends left in college is in the single digits, the scarcity phenomenon sets in.
Like most college kids, we begin freshman year with the idealistic goal of making as many new friends as possible. And as we change and develop new priorities, that initial number of friends typically decreases. But the quality of those existing friendships only strengthens.
Friends from freshman to senior year have been a part of some of your best memories, seen your embarrassing moments, know your habits, and love you anyways. We are spoiled by the fact that all of our friends are in a concentrated little area by the university, all within a one-mile radius. We took complete advantage of this sunny and gorgeous April weekend to cram in as much of our favorite activities as possible.
I love making dinner with friends, probably more than I like going out to dinner. The whole process is fun and active, rather than sitting at a table and waiting. I’ve made Pineapple Boats before, but Kerri hadn’t and she added a quinoa stir-fry twist. This dinner paired with decaf coffee, the best study playlist, homework session around my dining room table, healthy dessert = one of our college night staples.
The next day we dressed up to go downtown, shopping, dinner with friends from cross country, then to frozen yogurt and the new movie The Longest Ride.
CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT THE LONGEST RIDE FOR A MINUTE?
I saw the trailer while watching McFarland, USA with friends. Right when the “Waiting” song by Banks came on, I was intrigued. A chick flick about a college girl and a cowboy, set in North Carolina and flashing back to the 1940s and 50s…..it is quite perfectly my dream life. (And 4 million other girls’, right?)
We knew that a Nicholas Sparks movie would have a predictable level of cheese but Scott Eastwood makes that completely forgivable ;) I would honestly rate this as one of my top 3 Nicholas Sparks stories. I would go see again for sure!
After the amazing sushi rolls and sinful frozen yogurt, I am feeling quite motivated to get out there and do my long run today. ;) But it was another college weekend for the (scrap)books.
All of these pictures from the last four years make me happy. A colorful life = a good life. I’m not sad or nostalgic that my college days are coming to an end, just pointing out the fact that when you have a limited amount of time left, you have to make time for the important stuff!
And because social media is the new resume and my current profile picture makes me look like a Backstreet Boy, Kerri and I made a pit stop for one last Flagstaff sunset picture while we were all dressed up. Immediately we had to laugh at this one…..I didn’t know what to do with my hands! #AwkwardCurtsy
Hope you had a fantastic weekend :)
XOXO Kenz
Thirteen Things Thursday
I saw the above post title on another blog a while ago, I can’t remember where. I’m a sucker for alliterations sooooo today is a perfect time to copy this cute little theme.
Rather than hit you with another Throwback Thursday (which I was really tempted to do), I made a list of Thirteen Things I thought about this week. There is no rhyme or reason, just thirteen things that came to my head. Because who made the rules? :)
1.) Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy
This online article is so extremely relevant to everything I have been feeling lately. And according to the article itself, so have the millions of other millennials. It has been shared over 700,000 times on Facebook. I have a feeling I’ll be checking out more posts on this website. Please, if nothing else, read this article. And don’t let the stick-figure-illustrations fool you, this message is golden.
Right away when I saw Happiness = Reality – Expectation I knew I would connect with this article. I say this all time time, but I have very high expectations of myself and of others. The author hits the nail on its head when he points out that our generation has an “inflated view” of oneself and unrealistic expectations, as well as the trend of inflating our success on social media to inaccurately compare lives with each other.
2.) My Hulu Queue is building up!
Watching TV is a rare event these days…..I log maybe 90 minutes of tv shows a week, which I’m not complaining about. Usually by the time I cook dinner, eat, clean up, shower, work on homework, work on work, squeeze in some exercise, get ready for the next day, type up a blog post and check out Instagram, I’m beyond exhausted and ready for bed. I can’t wait to catch up on my favorite TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, The Voice, the new show Secrets & Lies, and Nashville.
3.) I think I went overboard with “Treat Yo’self Tuesday”
These are a few of my faaavorite things….
4.) The 10 Secrets of Well-Balanced Women
Okay, another article. Sorry for the over-link-ing. It’s worth it though! This list of necessities hits home as it points out our natural craving for connective relationships and stimulating mental activity. I can personally attest to the fact that a lack of connective relationships and a sense of community are detrimental to your health. And I love the comment “No you will not turn into a puddle of mush by recharging with your magazine”! For those of us who are constantly tackling the to-do list, taking time to unwind can make us feel guilty or lazy. *You probably will, however, turn into a puddle by “recharging” with 5 episodes of Netflix on the daily. Moderation! :)
5.) I blog-post binged on this entire website Elle & Company.
I spent some time researching how to grow a blog into a business as well as how to work with companies for sponsored blog posts. If you are a blogger, you can find a ton of very useful information here!
6.) Starbucks has a new S’mores flavor bottled frappuccino.
I haven’t tried one yet but I’m tempted ever since this new flavor caught my eye at the grocery store a couple weeks ago. Has anyone tried it yet?
7.) Researching Fitness Tracking Watches…HELP.
I’m researching and comparing fitness tracking watches. My Garmin is 5 years old and the size of a computer on my wrist so I’m thinking of upgrading. So much of the technical information is over my head. I want the basics: likes, dislikes, glitches. Do you use one? What do you like about it? (I think I would like one with a heart rate monitor.)
8.) Playing with the new Comic Book theme on PicMonkey was my form of “playtime” today.
Do not judge me…but when you spend a few hours per week maintaining a blog, new photo editing features are “fun.” I always use the website PicMonkey because it is free and simple for a not-so-techy person like me. They have cute little pictures and themes to add to pictures, the most recent of which is a Comic Book theme. I’m not an actual comic book reader, but the speech bubbles and narrative labels were pretty fun for pictures so I had to play ;)
9.) It’s Baseball Season! And my whole marketing class knows it.
Typically I am very good about silencing my phone during class and work. Yesterday though, I failed. My afternoon marketing class had an exam. Two minutes in, the SportsCenter app on my phone sends me an alert about the score on the Yankees game. “Doo-doo-dooo….Doo-doo-doooo” (That’s my effort to type out the special SC ringtone..hah). My classmates and teachers all turn around. The boys probably thought That ESPN sound came from you?!? And the girls probably thought WTH kind of lame ringtone is that?! After I announced the score to my curious teacher, we carried on with the exam and the Yankees won. ;)
10.) People rarely give random compliments anymore and so when a stranger called me “Sweetie” in the grocery store, it kind of made my day.
Not much to elaborate on this one…I guess we can all remember to give more compliments?
11.) My iPod has over 2,000 songs on it but I keep playing the same 4 over and over.
And one of them is this:
Yes it’s dramatic. But then again, so am I.
12.) How do you entertain yourself on long car rides by yourself?
Friday and Monday both started with six-hour car rides. Aside from the obvious (music + coffee) how do you keep yourself from getting bored with your thoughts? I can manage to keep myself mentally occupied while I log 7 hours a week on the treadmill….but struggle with finding enough to think about during a few hours in the car. Maybe it has to do with the endorphins..?
13.) I have another blog, it’s called KenzieAlyse.com
Ok this is a bit of shameless self-promotion but my digital marketing course is really focused on first-hand experience. Because of this class, I’ve created a “professional” blog, Twitter Account, Facebook community page and other projects. If you’re interested in more marketing content, feel free to check it out :)
Not going to lie, coming up with thirteen things was not that easy. I struggled after about seven or eight so I’m sorry if some were a bit random. Think I’ll bring back #TBT next week.
OK your turn, TELL ME SOMETHING. :)
Recent Inspirations #2
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post that compiled some ‘Recent Inspirations.’ The format was different than my usual, and I liked the alternative to coming up with my own original content. So I bring you a second dose of things that are currently inspiring me.
Life Inspiration: Empowering Quotes
I’m sure my fellow graduating seniors can relate to how stressful of a situation it is to be 12 weeks away from the end of our college career without a clue as to where our next chapter will take us. Pinterest has some calming quotes for that!
And this wonderful reminder for any senioritis sufferers:
One more thoughtful reminder before we move on to something more colorful (because I know sometimes those winter blues/hormones/stress/whatever creep in and temporarily cloud our perspective. In reality, we are pretty lucky souls to have a life with so many possibilities. And yes, I have to remind myself this all the time.)
Style Inspiration: Dressing the Part
You will never find me in class in a sweatshirt. Nor will you catch me with leggings as pants. In fact, I avoid pants as much as possible because I find dresses and skirts so much more flattering. It takes a little bit of extra time and effort but I believe that putting together an outfit is an important representation of ourselves. Some people joke that only freshmen wake up at 6:30am to “get ready” for their 8am class…..but I’m in my 8th semester of class and I do this twice a week. What we wear and how we present ourselves can impact our attitude and confidence for the day. To me, it’s a worthwhile habit. My style inspiration (if only the weather here would cooperate…..pencil skirts and parkas kinda clash!):
The shoes! <3
(So many more outfits on my Career Path board!)
Health Inspiration: Nutritious Recipes
Some of the food photography on Pinterest is amazing. They make pictures of granola bars look so fancy! A few recipes I’ve been inspired to add into the weekly rotation:
Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Honey Coconut Apples from Simply Taralynn:
Raw Banana Bread Shake from The First Mess:
And this bouncy workout for a little extra exercise:
So what else is inspiring?
The series finale of Parenthood.
The song ‘Pretty Good Day’ by Lonestar.
A winning streak by your school’s basketball team.
Hearing a friend talk about falling in love.
Finding a new running trail.
Seeing some pretty big moments coming up on your calendar.
Earlier this week I mentioned by affinity for Echosmith’s album, and after over-playing ‘Bright’ I’ve decided that this is my new favorite:
Feel free to add your own recent inspirations in the comments section :)
