A Little Inspiration

For an exciting project I am working on, I have to come up with my favorite quote. That seems pretty easy, right? Well, it becomes a problem when you have too many favorites. It’s hard to pick just one!

I have narrowed it down to several quotes and I figured I would share them with you. Because sometimes all you need is a little inspiration.

Quote 1

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Quote 5

 

I just love them all! It will be hard to choose…I am leaning towards one in particular, though. However, I will wait to reveal that one once I can finally share the news about the project I have been working on! (Which is in a few weeks!)

Mind Shifts

Last night, I had to say goodbye to Emily as she headed off to the airport. It was definitely bittersweet. Bitter in that my sister was no longer going to be in the same city as me. Bitter in that it means I need to really buckle down and begin writing my final papers and preparing for my final exams. But, sweet in that all of it (even the bitterness) means I am getting closer and closer to summer! And I am hanging on to that sweet part as tightly as I can to help ease the bitterness of the situation.

Holding onto the sweet part has definitely kept my spirits lifted and my anxiety calm. Normally, I would be feeling very overwhelmed with all of the looming due dates hanging over my head. However, recently I have had a mind shift. In these situations I used to say to myself, “how are you going to get all of these assignments done in so little time??” And this week in particular, I would have said to myself, “how are you going to get 19 pages written in a week on top of preparing for finals?” But, one day, it just came to me that I was asking myself a silly question. I am not one to not follow through with an assignment, I feel responsible as a student to give my best efforts in every assignment given to me, even the ones that seem completely pointless (I talk more about that here). So, asking myself how I was going to get it done was silly. Of course, I was going to get it done. I don’t have it in me not to get it done. So, instead, I just keep telling myself that I only have this many days until I don’t have to think about this assignment anymore. On Monday, April 15, I will no longer feel any pressure to write 19 pages. So, today, I only have 7 more days until it is over with. And three weeks in total until I am DONE with my freshman year of college…THREE! Switching to this mindset has made taking on these next few naturally stressful weeks much easier.

Another mind shift that has helped me ease the stress of my perfectionist characteristics is this TED Talk that Tom Shadyac showed our class a couple weeks ago by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love:

 

 

Thinking that we all have little fairy genius friends is a little bizarre out of context. But, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me! Tom reminded me and my fellow classmates that JK Rowling said the idea for Harry Potter just “fell into her head,” that Paul McCartney woke up with the lyrics to the song Yesterday, Albert Einstein said of his theory of relativity that “the breakthrough came suddenly”. These people that our society refers to as geniuses don’t take any credit for the ideas. It just seems to make sense that their little fairy genius friends helped them out a little bit.

I find this message to be so freeing and I am continually working towards that mindset. So, today, as I begin the writing process, I am going to say to my little fairy genius friend that I am here, showing up, and ready to work! Then, I am going to ask my little fairy genius friend to pretty please do his or her part of the job!

With making these mindset adjustments, I can already feel the weight lifting from my shoulders and I feel ready to tackle what these next few weeks have in store for me. I really mean it! You should give it a try; it’s at the very least worth a shot, right??

Sunday Funday

My sisters and I had to say goodbye to my mom this weekend and we already miss her terribly! Emily stayed a few extra days and I’m so glad she did…they are easing Allie and me out of it, instead of just leaving us all at once!

So, since Emily stayed, she got to experience Sunday Funday with Allie and me. We planned on getting up a little early to accomplish everything we wanted to…but when morning came, we hit snooze several times on our alarm and postponed our activities a little. Sleeping in is one of the greatest activities on the planet. We very much enjoyed ourselves.

Once, we finally got up, we got ready and went on what we call an urban hike. There are lots of hills in Beverly Hills with lots of pretty houses and buildings, so we decided to hike up and down those hills! (And our legs are all feeling tired today, that’s for sure!)

Urban Hike 1
Urban Hike

Then, on our way home from the hike, we stopped at the Beverly Hills Farmers Market to pick up fresh fruit to use in our brunch we decided to make!

Farmers Market 2

Farmers Market 3

Farmers Market 1

Farmers Market 4

Farmers Market 5

As soon as we got home, we got right down to business cooking. Recently, we bought Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook and we couldn’t wait to try out a few of her recipes. We made Watermelon Mint Fresca, Buttermilk Pancakes with bananas and blackberries, and a fresh fruit salad! So delicious and refreshing!

Brunch 1

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And that wraps up Sunday Funday! We loved having Emily around and will be very sad to say goodbye to her tonight! But, luckily for me, I will see her in three weeks…yay!