Back To The Start

Hi guys! Sorry I forgot about all of you for a little bit, life has been…well, quite filling lately! I realized the other day that I missed blogging/journaling. Just being able to write down my thoughts and emotions and be able to look back on my past experiences and life lessons and smile a little bit. I’ve come a long way from where this blog first began. I’ve matured, physically and mentally and emotionally too. I’ve gotten myself into situations, both good and bad, that have lead me to be the person I am today. So I thought it would be fun to share them with you all 🙂

So this summer I’m actually in Boston, Massachusetts (still can’t spell Massachusetts without the help of autocorrect, haha) working for one of my dream companies, Vic Firth! For those who don’t know, Vic Firth is a drum stick and percussion mallet company. I am in the offices in Hyde Park where we deal with all of the shipments, the social media, the accounting, the customer services, and the artist relations that go into this 52 year old company. It’s a lot of fun, not as hands on as I had hoped, but nonetheless a fantastic opportunity that I have been blessed with.

Living in Boston has been a great experience as well. I’m in a house with 5 other people, all of us kind of doing our own thing. None of us are super close to each other, so it has been a very independent summer to say the least. I have explored the city of Boston and visited amazing restaurants and historic landmarks by myself a lot, which wasn’t easy at first but has become much easier as I’ve “practiced.” I feel like this is the biggest skill I have gained this summer, being independent and able to live and thrive on my own. It makes me feel ready to take on the real world after college in many ways. While I don’t necessarily enjoy the solitude and lack of partners to go adventure with, I have been looking for the silver lining. I can do things at my own pace which is nice. So I don’t feel bad if I want to change my plans around at a whim and stay in for the night or buy a reasonably expensive meal for myself. I am very much looking forward to going home though and being with my friends and family for a few weeks before school starts.

Crazy to think I’m a senior in college now. And to be honest, I still have no idea what I want to do after I graduate in May. Honestly, I’m not too scared though. Because I have options. What I mean is I have a handful of companies that I have been in contact with over the past few years or months that I feel like I would enjoy working for and that there are opportunities that I want to pursue with them. Sometimes (actually, a lot of the time) I feel like I’m not meant for “real” jobs. I don’t want a 9-5 Monday to Friday kind of job. I don’t want consistency, at least not at first. I want to be on my feet, outside, traveling, interacting, enjoying myself. I want to make people happy and I want to make a difference in the world, those are the main two things I want to aim for in my career moving forward.

Just a few hours before this, I took a look at my bucket list from a while ago. I hadn’t edited that thing in years! There were still things on it like “Hike Mt. Everest,” and “Fly to the Moon,” things I realistically can say I will never accomplish in my lifetime. So I went through the whole thing and kind of revised it. I got rid of the ridiculous goals, the ones I really don’t expect to ever happen. I downgraded others, like changing “Compete in a Triathlon,” to “Run a half marathon.” I checked off the ones I had done so far, which were a lot surprisingly! And I added a few new goals, ones that I have discovered about myself over the past few months of introspection. I feel like I have been drifting away from the person I really am recently, and I have been fighting to understand who I really am; as a person and a friend and a lover and a human being. But that story I will save for another post 😉

So I will leave you all with this update on my life. I hope everyone else following along is doing well and enjoying life and being the beautiful creatures that we are meant to be. I’ll leave you all with a little quote: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

Happy Weekend 🙂

The Power of Touch

So yesterday I went to the eye doctors just for a regular eye exam and to get some new contacts, nothing too big. I was quickly escorted back to the eye exam room and told to get comfortable in the chair with all the equipment around it. As the doctor performed her tests – asking me “1 or 2,” “2 or 3,” “4 or 3,” over and over – a thought crossed my mind.

I was really enjoying the exam, almost feeling happier because of it, and I couldn’t quite tell why. Until I realized it was the touch of the metal machine on my face, on my chin, the head rest on the back of my neck, my lower back pressed against the chair. Even though the doctor wasn’t touching me, the sheer act of being touched by those machines was improving my mood and making me feel more loose, more comfortable.

At first I was a little confused by my feelings. Was I getting turned by eye exam equipment? No, but I was experiencing some sort of chemicals being released into my body, mixing together, and resulting in a very warm wave radiating through my chest and my shoulders. Just by being touched, held and supported by the chair and machine, I was feeling the same emotional response as I would from receiving a hug or being held by someone.

Physical touch is so utterly vital to our moods and emotions that it blows my mind. Our brain somehow senses the comfort and happiness we are feeling when hugging a friend or spooning on the couch or just holding hands, and releases these natural substances throughout our body. Without them being released, something is just…missing. You don’t feel complete, you don’t feel 100% in the moment. All from touch, the power touch has on us.

I’d love to hear if anyone else has noticed this as well and what their thoughts are 🙂 Also open to a good conversation! Have a great Saturday though guys!

Let Love In

This is one of my new years resolutions. I’m not really all that big on new years resolutions, because I feel that if you put your mind to it you can begin a resolution whenever you want. But while I was sitting at my aunt’s house with the rest of my extended family, I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of having a girl next to me. Someone to share a new year’s kiss with, someone to talk to about all the funny stories our family has been a part of, someone to hold that night, to eat breakfast with the next morning, and to sit next to on the car ride home. I wouldn’t mind the cramped back seat, with our shoulders rubbing because of how squished we were in our tiny Subaru. I would love every second of it.

I went to a party last night. Just over at a friend’s place, nothing special. Literally, NOTHING special. I realized once I got there just how often our group of friends did the same thing every weekend. I felt like I was getting into a rut. I left an hour later. And as the cold wind blew on my face as I walked home, I couldn’t help of thinking back to the new years party, wishing I had someone to walk besides, someones hand to hold as we crossed the street. Someone to whisper to as we got in bed and tried not to wake my already sleeping roommate. Just someone.

I’ve been in a handful of relationships during my life, two really major ones, one which lasted the last year and a half of high school, and the other which stretched through the first two years of college. I learned a lot from these experiences, a lot more than I would have imagined. I always feel like we take away something very important from the relationships we are in, even if they end terribly or only last a few weeks. I didn’t treat these two girls nearly as well as I should/could have, and I realize that after the fact. I was younger, less mature, and just not 100% in the relationship.

But now I’m ready. I’m ready for miss right to show her face. I want her to be beautiful and smart and talkative. I want her to get shy when she gets nervous, I want her to laugh when we make mistakes together. And I want that cute booty, I want it to tease me constantly. I know she’s out there, it’s only a matter of time. But don’t you think she could be a little considerate and show her face soon. I’m starting to worry she’s not out there…

How to live a Nearly Drama Free Life (no really, I’m not kidding!)

Love can be pretty stressful, we all know that. I can’t imagine anyone has had a perfect love life; where whoever they crush on likes them as well, where their relationships fall together effortlessly and the breakups are mutual. Even just a perfect single relationship, it just doesn’t happen to very many people.

So when one of my best friends came to me for help about getting into a relationship with an acquaintance of hers, I knew we had another fun situation on our hands. This problem wasn’t going to be as easy to solve as I had anticipated, for many reasons that I shall leave out of this post, but I attempted to nonetheless. In the end, she went away away more frustrated than before and I went away with a little bit of extra knowledge that I hadn’t anticipated learning.

Drama happens. Sometimes there is no way to stop it from happening because people naturally gossip and enjoy talking about other people. So there is little chance that you can complete eradicate it from your life. But after this conversation, I learned one very important lesson:

The less you care about drama, the less it effects your life.

Say something crazy happens; your sleep with someone and ends up peeing on their floor while they’re still drunk. On the one hand, you could take it personally when people ask you about it, plead with them to stop talking about it, and try to do anything in your power to stop the fire from spreading. OR, on the other hand, you could just laugh at yourself and then move on with your life.

The first option will do nothing but spread the story around and cause you stress and more drama. Attempting to stop the story from spreading will most like backfire because of the number of people that will be asking what you are arguing over.

But the second and more superior option (though difficult to stick to for some), will let the story sizzle away with time, leaving you drama free!

This might be a new idea for some, so give it a try next time something happens that could potentially cause drama. Remember to sit back, relax, enjoy the ride, and know everything is going to be okay in the end!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! 🙂 Watch some football or relax, you deserve it!

Back To School Thought

As another semester of college began this week, I couldn’t help but think about my past. Just how on earth did I get to where I am right now? How was I so lucky to make friends, to succeed in school, to learn firsthand in the field of study I hope to one day pursue? HOW?

It truly is amazing sometimes how life just works itself out for the better. I see some of my old friends from high school every once in a while. I always make an effort to pick right back up where we left off, like the past two years never happened. But it’s difficult…so much has changed to those I once knew so well. Some have gone down better paths than others, and for them I hope for some guidance as they continue their journey through life. But others are doing really well off – enjoying their college experience, making friends, and slowly but surely becoming more and more successful.

I have a dear friend who has always been “bothered” by the fact that while we are living our own lives, other people who are not with us are living their lives as well. Even though they are not a next to us or even in the same state as us, they are going through the same daily routines as we are. I guess I can agree with her, it is a tad odd to think about…

For everyone just starting a new chapter of their life, savor every moment and every day. Because there will always be that desire to look back on life, to remember the past. My other friend has a great quote on his arm though: “Those who look back are lost.” Savor the past, but don’t live in it. Life keeps moving forward and you must too.

And for those continuing to grow and learn, reach for the stars. We are only given one life, and it’s all of our jobs to live it in the best way that we can.

Hope everyone has a great Friday tomorrow 🙂 Thanks for reading!

A Rambling Post about My Life (no, but really)

Wow, it has been quite some time since I’ve written anything… Amazing how that happens, time just escapes you and you forget this all existed. Well, nonetheless, I am back!

It’s been a fun past few weeks. Just to update my life, my internship with Crowne Plaza has ended, and it’s been very bittersweet. I knew I didn’t want to end up there forever (there are countless things that they do at the Crowne that I don’t approve of, and neither do my college textbooks…) but at the same time I’m going to miss the people and the fun of working events. I have since started setting up my next job, working aaaat… (drumroll please) STARBUCKS! I’m super excited to be a barista, and work in a coffee shop, something I’ve wanted to do for a while now! So that will begin in a few weeks then and hopefully will be my job for at least the next year or two.

In other news, I won this online contest provided by a local tennis store and got $100 worth of free Nike tennis clothes. First, turns out that can only really buy you two pairs of shorts and a nice shirt…crazy… But more importantly, I didn’t think I would use the free clothing to its fullest extent, so I took my little brother (a tennis professional (not really, but maybe someday)) and let him pick everything out for himself. I figured he would appreciate it and use the clothes more than I would, so yea!

I realize this is an update on my life that no one really knows about, but I’m honestly just enjoying writing about it. I’ve been needing to talk to one of my best friends (whom I just texted after writing that) about my life and my summer and such. And obviously it would be nice to hear how she is doing too…

LESSON FROM THIS POST: Call your best friend who you haven’t talked to in a while. You won’t regret it 🙂

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

My Day Shadowing At The Hotel Monaco!!

Yesterday I had the privileged of visiting the Hotel Monaco in Philadelphia, PA (I-76 is a scary road, just a side note). This was my first experience with a TRUE Boutique Hotel (The Rocking Horse Ranch is NOT boutique, no matter how much they insist they are) and I was very excited for what the hotel and its staff had in store for me!

I began my day at noon where I was welcomed by the GM. He was a very friendly man who told me he had some business to see to but would catch up with me later. I was first able to shadow the front desk/ guest services team. This small group of young ladies and gentlemen were eager to help each guest that came their way, something I always look for in the hotels I stay in. The decor of the check in room, which they actually refer to as “The Living Room” was gorgeous! Check out their website if you want a look at what their interior designer has done with the place. The front desk team was just becoming acquainted with a new rewards program for the hotel so it was interesting to see that. A lot of the work they did was similar to the work I did while I interned for the Lake Raystown Resort and Conference Center last summer, just on a much more professional and technological level. The room keys used wireless technology to allow access into the rooms, the guest folios had specific preferences (room location, snack or drink preference, etc.) and as much information on the guest as could possibly be gathered from their previous stays. A lot of the different interfaces were connected together and worked in unison to pass important information across the board to as many different departments as possible. This kind of advance technology is what I LOVE to see in a good hotel, especially when it is being utilized to its maximum potential.

When I spoke to the Front Desk Manager, I asked a lot about the work-life balance, the pros and cons of the job, his history with the company and with hotels in general, and many other topics. The job of a Front Desk Manager seems tough at times with its constant moving and complains from guests, but it does provide the most face-to-face interaction that I saw within the hotel, which I love. The hours are un-ordinary sometimes (3 pm-midnight or 7 am-3 pm are typical) which can be tough when you have a family or even just a partner. But overall, the idea of leading a team like this, going the extra mile for special guests to provide them with the best experience possible seems like a lot of fun to me. I love making people happy, and with the budget that the hotel has, they make that happen every day.

Next I met with the Public Relations/ Social Media person for the hotel. The cool thing about the Hotel Monaco is that they rarely, if at all, pay for advertisements. They rely heavily on word of mouth and reviews in newspapers, magazines, etc. to get their message across. Their website is also very detailed and helpful to get the company’s image across to guests. But the woman I spoke with works with connecting those pieces together. She mainly utilizes social media platforms to keep the hotel looking good and make sure guests are representing the hotel in a positive manner as well. If someone complains on Facebook or something, she does all that she can to help right the wrong. In the way of media coverage, she puts together press releases and other packets to get important writers and celebrities to stay at the hotel and then write about it, hopefully in a good light. The job seems fun in that she is able to interact with guests a little over the web and occasionally in person, and she gets to meet interesting people and sell the Hotel Monaco image to them. There is also a lot of travel involved as well, and a lot of writing.

I then moved on to shadow the head of housekeeping, something I had never done before! I have worked in many different facets of a hotel, but housekeeping is not one of them surprisingly. I was taken around the hotel, shown all the different styles of rooms and the different amenities that are offered to guests. I then helped inspect some of the rooms for cleanliness, helped restock the minibars, and then watched the process of making a bed from scratch. The whole experience was very cool, definitely different from what I had imagined. The one thing that surprised me was the use of technology with housekeeping. The minibars have a sensor that goes off when they are opened, telling housekeeping that they need to be checked for restocking. Also, they use a tablet to keep track of other minibar information and of the status of the rooms sometimes (unfortunately the tablet wasn’t working too well the day I visited…) The job is very intense, always on your feet, running around to different parts of the hotel to do different projects. This is where the most teamwork is really needed between all the employees. Each room must look exactly the same, so the same procedures must be taken every time a room is cleaned. Though it seems like it would be fun for a day or two, I don’t think I belong in housekeeping. There is very little interaction with people (some of the maids do leave notes for their guests though, which is VERY cool, and pretty cute too), and very little satisfaction (in my opinion) from the work that is done. Therefore, housekeeping isn’t for me. But if it is for you, then kudos to you!! 🙂

When I sat down with the GM at the end of the day of shadowing, I realized just how much I had experienced of the hotel. I loved every second of it! Even though most of the jobs I had performed, I had never done them on a level as high as this. I enjoy luxury and high end hotels and restaurants, and to be behind the working of one would be a incredible. I can safely say that I prefer Boutique over normal hotels because of the atmosphere, the fun, the small (yet personal) number of guests, and how attention to detail is taken.

Speaking with the GM about his job (something I had yet to do) was very cool as well. He described the work he does as “making sure none of the trains get derailed. And if they do, putting out the fires and setting them back on their tracks.” I think this is very cool because he deals with every facet of the hotel, travels a lot, and though he works long and strange hours, he fits a lot into his time at the hotel. He is the highest person in house that can deal with an issue, and though that is a great responsibility, it’s also an amazing challenge that I may want to attempt one day…

Like always, if you have any questions about my experience at the Hotel Monaco, feel free to ask!! 🙂 Hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday! HUMP DAY!

Life Is Beautiful

Today, I feel alive. I feel free and alive, like a bird gliding over the crisp blue water of an ocean. This week has gone from mediocre on Monday to a whole new life on Friday. To summarize it all (which sounds hard, but surprisingly isn’t), I got rid of the bad in my life and filled it with good instead.

This means leaving a job that was not enjoyable (which I did on Sunday, kinda), and replacing it with much more enjoyable and exciting job. This means replacing time wasted on Facebook with quality, face-to-face family time without the distractions of technology. This means living life to the fullest Every. Single. Day. and never taking a day for granted.

Life is truly beautiful, sometimes it just takes some change to see the true beauty. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend 🙂

A Day in the Life of a Realtor

Today I had the privilege of shadowing a Realtor from Century 21 and boy was it an eye opening experience! From regulatory paperwork, to visiting the house soon to be on the market, and even grabbing some grub for lunch, today was a day I won’t soon forget.

The day started with some paperwork, a little learning about the real estate industry, and some chatting about life and such. The guy who I was shadowing was a previous alum from Penn State so we had a lot in common to talk about right off the bat. But the paperwork was mostly getting ready for his big meeting tonight with a man hoping to put his house on the market.

The basic story is that the man bought his house about 5 years ago, fairly recently in real estate terms, and is now relocating because of work and needs to sell it. The company that he works for has a program that contacted Century 21 and another company to put the house on the market, so essentially the guy I was shadowing had some competition to deal with. He needed to break all the ties in his favor between this other company in order to win the client over.

To start, we put together a listing of about 10 other “comps,” or houses that we could compare to the one we were putting on the market (same school district, size, bedroom and bathroom #, age, etc.) to get an idea of how to price the house. We looked at houses currently on the market, houses currently working on being sold, and houses previously sold to get an idea.

Once this was done, we took our information and drove over to the house before he planned to do the meeting there in the evening, both to get an idea of where it was and possible perks or downsides about the property. The house was an adorable, light yellow, two story, two car garage house. Unfortunately, the street that it was located on wasn’t the greatest. The street looked like there were original plans to build about 15 houses, but there were only 3, surrounded by overgrown brush, in the back country of the town we were in. This was very unfortunate, and troubling, considering everything else about the house was looking good! But hey – where is the challenge in that?

We ended up consulting a few colleagues about how to price the houses and ended up pricing it lower than the owner bought it for until the owner is able to get the county or the people who own the land plots to do something about it.

This was one of the main challenges we faced today, making me realize that there is no NORMAL day in real estate! But that is why the person I shadowed loves his job so much. He is able to be moving around most of the day, not just sitting in a cubicle from 9-5, but instead he is on the road, making phone calls and house calls and meeting with clients for meetings. He works at his own pace when he wants to, he is his own boss essentially. He told me that normally realtors aim to either put 2 houses on the market or sell 2 houses to customers or a combination of the two each month. Some months are empty (October-January specifically) where he did no business. But other months are packed with opportunities. In May he sold or bought NINE total houses!! That blew my mind.

To make his money, he makes a 3% commission for putting a house on the market, and 3% for selling it (taking it off). And when houses run about $200,000, that’s around $12,000 a month for 2 sales, or $144,000 a year. Not bad I would say… BUT, this only applies if you’re motivated and work your butt off. It’s a dog-eat-dog work in real estate, but the rewards can pay off generously if you work for them.

To get started, about a $2,000 investment to obtain your real estate license is necessary. Only then can you be hired by a company such as Century 21. The next step for my shadowee is to get his Broker License, which he is currently taking classes for.

I’m really not sure how I feel about this job. While working on your own can be challenging, it can also be fun. Also the lack of early mornings or late nights is also a nice bonus! The only downside the person I shadowed mentioned was that you need to be self motivated, but I see that more of a challenge or mantra than a downside… I suppose this could be a fun career is all else fails, but I feel like I would need a side job during the winter months to make ends meet…maybe as a snowboard instructor…hmm… 🙂

If you have any questions about my AWESOME day, feel free to ask! 🙂 I hope this provides some people with some more information than they already knew!

The One Time Buzzfeed Was Actually Right About My Life

Buzzfeed.com is a magical website. They put out so many articles that I don’t think they can even keep track of them all! Normally they’re either somewhat funny or somewhat relevant, or they tell you the character in Game of Thrones that you are only kinda similar too. Rarely are they super accurate. Until today…

Lo and behold, 29 Genuinely Astonishing Facts You Learn In Your Twenties

Now if these aren’t the most accurate things I have ever seen, then I don’t know what is. For those going through some trouble in life, take a look here. This helped me realize that the things I’m feeling about my life aren’t uncommon, that other people are in the same boat as me, and that everything is going to be alright!

Leave it to Friends to brighten your day, I mean really! 🙂