Combatting Homesickness

10/04/201510/07/2015

It’s safe to say that the majority of college students feel homesick within the first semester of college. For me, I knew I wouldn’t feel completely detached from life at home due to the amount of times my mother posts on Facebook everyday and the constant Snapchats I get from my little sister on a daily basis. But, after being in college for nearly two months, the homesickness is beginning to creep up into my life in ways that I would never have anticipated.

The fall season reminds me of home in so many ways. As of late, I noticed that walking to class feels like one big cliché. Stepping on the leaves makes me think of bike rides with my sister Megan, and I start to think about all the autumnal traditions my family is participating in without me. Fall break may be right around the corner, and the days seem to pass by even slower when I realize that I could be apple picking instead of learning about Latin derivatives. Of course there are worse things in the world than feeling a bit homesick, but it’s definitely something most people experience in their lifetime. I’m lucky to have grown up in a household where I was loved and supported unconditionally, and seeing my family next week will be well worth my time away.

In the meantime, I decided to buy a new notebook and make a list of things to look forward to during the fall season. Making lists is a habit of mine, and it often ends up being therapeutic. Rather than dwelling on the things I’m missing out on, here are some things that I can still appreciate on my own at this time of year:

Dark Lipstick. There’s automatically something really special about waking up in the morning and wearing deep burgundy on my lips. For me, autumnal lipsticks instantly sets the mood for the season and excites me for what the rest of the day has in store. (high end berry lipstick, drugstore
Halloween. This means that it’s time to decorate my suite with mini pumpkins and finally bring out all of the decorations I bought at Target! Nothing is more exciting than preparing to celebrate a holiday 🙂
Layering. It’s finally time to pack up the same pair of shorts I’ve been wearing for the past month- (every outfit just looks the same when you have limited resources in the blistering heat), and exchange everything for thick knit sweaters, scarves, pants, and boots. I still haven’t fully adjusted my wardrobe due to the annoying weather patterns that’s been plaguing Philly, but I know that a shopping trip for fall clothing is in my future.
Tea. I don’t consider myself an avid tea drinker, however the access Teavana tea at Starbucks has suddenly changed that. At home, I have an iron teapot from Teavana that is designed for steeping loose teas. My favorite is the Youthberry flavor. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, (I had to) but there’s something about watching tea leaves settled at the bottom of a cup that makes me feel as extra cozy.

Here are a few links to my favorite sources of Autumnal inspiration. Enjoy(:

Blogs/Vlogs

Tree House

Tea Time

College Outfit

Berry Lips (an amazing review of my all-time favorite)

An Adorable Family pick-me-up

Autumn Makeup Looks

Zoella-Autumn Makeup

Tanya Burr-Autumn Makeup Tutorial / Autumn Makeup Tutorial 2.0

MsRosieBea-Autumn/Fall Makeup Look

QOTW: What cheers you up when you’re feeling down?

xo, Kelly

Pope Francis

09/29/201502/17/2017

This weekend, Pope Francis came to visit Philadelphia. He was staying at the Seminary down the street from St. Joseph’s University and the entire city of Philadelphia was essentially shut down. Although many people were angered by this, I was excited for his arrival regardless. I had family members calling me every two seconds for updates on the Pope’s whereabouts. I honestly think that my mom knew his schedule better than I did, and she was in New Jersey!

I posted a photo of the Pope passing by on City Ave. on my Instagram

I typically sleep through everything exciting, so this time around I wanted to make sure I got a glimpse of the history that was happening right around the corner. The Pope was running on a very tight schedule, so many people lined the entirety of City Avenue to watch him pass by in his Fiat (sadly, not the Pope Mobile edit: he drove in it on Sunday 9/27) along with a massive parade of police escorts on bikes, motorcycles, vans, trucks, cars, and helicopters. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed anything with that amount of security.

Photo by Angela Alcamo

My view from the Pope’s visit to SJU’s campus was unfortunately obstructed, so my photos were just of the tip of his little white hat during the (very brief) blessing. My friend Angela was front and center; thankfully, she gave me permission to use the pictures she took on her iPhone for this blogpost.

Nostalgia | London

09/17/201509/17/2015

I’m not as well-traveled as I’d like to be, however I’m still incredibly grateful to have gone to the places I’ve been. This past April, I was lucky enough to travel to London, for ten days with my family. We rented a house through the website onefinestay.com, which I cannot recommend enough for anyone who wishes to “live as a local” for an affordable price in some of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Street View

Bedroom View.

–View of the Thames at night-

Looking out the window and actually seeing the city I was infatuated with felt absolutely surreal. Everyone was so nice when we arrived at Heathrow airport. It was about 9:30 p.m. UK time when we arrived, but the long flight made us feel absolutely exhausted so we didn’t have to worry about it feeling like it was the middle of the day. One of the funniest memories I have from the trip was trying to figure out where to get a cab after we went through baggage claim. My little sister Megan wasn’t aware of the fact that they drove on the left side of the road, meaning that the driver’s seat was on the opposite side of the vehicle. We were so clearly tourists, that even the cab driver had to laugh along with our fascination with simple yet obvious differences.

We didn’t get to move into our house until the following day, so we had some time to kill after we ate breakfast. (note: if you order bacon in the UK, expect it to come out looking like Taylor ham…) It was the day before Easter, so many of the local shops and restaurants were closed. This was disappointing at first, but it gave us a chance to walk around and see the sights.

-Buckingham Palace-

Can we just take a moment to admire these insane gates?! I wish the door to my house looked like that…One other thing; if you look really close, you can see the London Eye in the back of the last picture! Needless to say, my heart felt like it jumped out of my body when I saw this.

I remember when we came here, we cut through the most beautiful park. Even though it was raining, everything still seemed bright and new. Back at home, we were so sick and tired of the snow that we hadn’t seen flowers in months, so it was really nice to see daffodils and tulips growing everywhere. We really lucked out with the weather (it only rained on the first and last day!) however the yellow flowers certainly made up for the lack of sunshine when we arrived.

I’m sure everyone with access to the internet or have seen any movie set in the UK are aware of the commercial double decker red buses, telephone booths, vintage looking cars, and historical landmarks that seem to be everywhere. You’d think the novelty of these things would wear off by the second day, but my family and I found ourselves becoming more and more excited whenever we came across them. We also made it a game to count how many Pret A Manger‘s we saw on each corner. My sister’s count at the end of the trip was somewhere between 75-100. We lost track.

This photo is so British it hurts.

Note: Black telephone booths are vastly underrated.

Big Ben really isn’t that big.

Call me weird, but I wanted to buy a specific fragrance to wear during this trip so I could have something to constantly remember it by.For me, whenever I smell Marc Jacobs Daisy ‘Eau So Fresh‘ (the tiny 0.24 oz. tube made it easy to slip into my Ted Baker cross-body bag that I purchased on Carnaby Street), I think of my time in London. I find that there’s something really sentimental about the fragrance someone wears. Whether the reason someone wears a certain fragrance is because they think it smells good, their grandmother bought it as a Christmas gift, or they liked the celebrity sponsoring it, I think that the story behind every perfume is different for each person.

Here are some well loved items that I purchased for my trip:

Ecote Scout Panama Hat in Black

White Keds

Sleek Raincoat

Black Jeans

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia

Festival Round Sunglasses

Keep checking up on my blog for updates on my latest interests and discoveries. My next post may include details on a ~~dangerou~~s trip to Harrods…

Thank you for reading!

-Kelly