Fighting the Nerves

Well if you've been following my saga in my Writing for the Public class you will know that I have an oral presentation that I am giving today at 3 PM. The last thing I am is excited. I am nervous, terrified, shaking and a little upset that my professor elected me to present first. That's right, I am presenting at the top of the class. Public speaking is probably the dead last thing on my list of talents. I can probably juggle better than I speak in front of groups of people. This is something I have struggled with all through school--as I am sure many of you have. Unfortunately, my decision to be a Communication major also comes with a required Public Speaking class.

I am thinking of taking the class next spring and getting it out of the way. As for tomorrow, I have my slide show done, a note card written and a rosary next to my bed. Maybe I'm a little too dramatic about this entire situation...

Does public speaking make you nervous? What do you do to get over the nerves?

<3 Ashley

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well this was definitely a good weekend! Springtime has finally blessed Pittsburgh. On Saturday the girls and I set up camp in Schenley Plaza to soak up the sun and do some studying. Then on Sunday we had Bigelow Bash (spring concert) where Neon Trees and 21 Pilots played on campus. Here are just a few pictures from my weekend--please excuse the quality, these were taken on a Blackberry!

Saturday

View of the beautiful Cathedral of Learning from my spot on the Schenley Plaza.

Enjoying the sun, friends and studying

Sunday

21 Pilots and some sweet ukelele action!

Neon Trees. Awesome show :)

How was your weekend?

<3 Ashley

TGIF Pins

After such a busy, active week I cannot wait to put my feet up and relax this weekend. Well I have to work on my oral presentation due Monday...but at least I can put my feet up for that :) Today we are taking a little shopping trip after all of our classes. Saturday and Sunday are free for the most part. Saturday night a friend and I are going to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. I'm pretty sure this is my fourth time seeing them--I love it! Anyway, here are the pins of the week:

Fashion

Shoes

Accessories

Beauty

Home

Food

Travel

Humor

Any fun plans for this weekend? Have a good one!

<3 Ashley

Beauty: Favorite Mani

Source: Pinterest

Lately I have been so picky about my nails. I have changed them three times in the past two weeks. But  this new coat that I have now is magical in my eyes. I have never tried mint on before, and I love it! Maybe it is just because of the dawn of spring but I adore how it looks and how refreshing it is.

What is your favorite nail color for spring?

<3 Ashley

Beauty: Refreshing Spring Routine

Good morning everyone!

It's Wednesday and today I am going to have a positive attitude. While I typically cringe at the sight of a Wednesday morning I have decided that maybe if I try to be a little happier and smile more I will have a better experience. Plus one of my classes is cancelled so I actually have time between all of my classes rather than having three in a row.

As spring is making itself more know--slowly!--spring beauty routines are going to start kicking in. While my beauty routines do not vary drastically from season to season, I do tend to treat myself to a more natural regimen than I do in the winter. I typically tend toward products that are both paraben and fragrance free. There has been a lot of talk about parabens (they act as preservatives) being harmful, though there is no specified amount I prefer to just go for products that are free of them. Fragrances really aren't the best either. Opt for fragrance free or products that use herbs and flowers like lavender rather than synthetic odors. Be sure to keep up the SPF with moisturizer and as more skin becomes more visible as the temperature gets warmer apply some sunscreen to other parts of your body. Also I like to try to put the heat tools away and let my hair do its own thing in a season that just feels so natural. Let your hair air dry and embrace the flirty waves and curls that form.

My beauty regimen is fairly simple during spring. My essentials are moisturizer, concealer and mascara. Once in awhile depending on how I feel I might do a flirty winged liner or apply some eye cream with some glitter or that is a really cool color.

What is your springtime beauty routine?

<3 Ashley

Plan It Out v. Go With The Flow

Just when I thought the bulk of the stress of my writing assignment was done, in comes the news that we have to give an oral presentation on our issue during the last few class periods of the semester. Now, that's all well and fine; but here's a bit of perspective on how close then end of the semester is...my presentation is assigned for Monday! Yikes! Hopefully I can get my presentation done at some point this week so that my week isn't as blown as this past one was because my friends and I have started planning out our weekends before the end of the semester.

Hence the topic of today's post: planning v. live in the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love just waking up and going where the wind takes me; but I am also a big planner. We have made a list of things we want to do in the city before we all go home on the 26th (close, right?)

My question for you is...

Do you think you are more of a planner or do you predominantly go with the flow? What types of things are you more likely to plan out?

<3 Ashley

My Easter Holiday

Despite the holiday, this weekend was VERY busy for me. Since Friday I have been using every bit of free time to work on the first draft for my Writing for the Public assignment--a newsletter outlining the issues of No Child Left Behind and where education looks to go from there. This is not exciting stuff to write about people! In fact I am still working on it. I am taking off from my first lecture today so that I can give it a thorough edit.

Before I commit myself to that though, I wanted to share my Easter with you. We decided on Saturday to attend the noon mass on Sunday rather than the 6 PM one. I was up at 10:45 AM getting primped and ready only to receive a knock on the door at 11:15 and see my friends still in their pajamas. Instantly Megan assured me that she would be ready in time (she was a minute late, but who's counting?) After church we enjoyed an Easter brunch and then promptly went back up to our rooms to change into comfortable clothes--three blisters and counting on my feet! One girl on our floor volunteered to hide our Easter eggs for us so that we could have a hunt. Unfortunately due to our late planning the only eggs we could get our hands on were in the shape of Darth Vader's helmet. After that, our holiday was virtually over and we all set off to work and study.

And I know that one of the big highlights for many of us is what we wear on Easter. Below are a few pictures of my dress and shoes.

My entire Easter outfit was from White House | Black Market. It was a birthday gift I gave myself for turning 18 last summer. You know...I deserved it :)

How was your holiday? What did you wear?

<3 Ashley