9 Weeks.

And the countdown continues...

I must say, I have had quite the weekend! Cold, but fun. It was a weekend full of - surprise, surprise - friends and food. 

First Friday:

The weekend started off with St. Petersburg's First Friday. This is a block party that St. Pete has every first Friday of the month with live jazz bands and drink specials. It was my first time and it was a blast.

First off, St. Pete is beautiful - especially downtown. It felt very New Orleans-y with friendly people on a string-lit block and good music.  It was definitely a night to remember. But anyway, what happens on First Friday, stays at First Friday!

Acropolis: 

My good friend, Nadim, came to visit this weekend from Miami and treated me to lunch. We met up and had some Greek food in Ybor City. It literally felt like it took 3 hours to get food, but it was worth it. Seeing him and catching up made me realize that the friendships that I make in college are the ones you'll keep forever. No distance can interfere with that :) 

USF v. DePaul Basketball Game:

I love my school, but I'm not in denial. Our basketball team sucks. We have been on a 10-game losing streak, but today we actually won. Is that not a sign of a good weekend or what? The Green and Gold Guides met up, got some free pizza, and enjoyed the game together. And what happens after we are together? We eat. Psh, naturally. A group of us went to Chili's after, played with some children's menus and got scared of the future after Nadim told us the crude truth about life after college haha. No offense taken Nadim, that's why we are living it up while we still can!

With that said, I begin my last 9th week until graduation. This week is filled with papers due, tests, and my departure to Chicagoooooo!!!!! Spring break is on the horizon! I can feel it!!

Here is some more of First Friday, including an exclusive video of Kristine and Daniela eating an oyster!

The whole group at First Friday

My Graduate School Acceptance Letters!!

NYU Acceptance Letter

I write in extreme pride and accomplishment today. Yesterday morning I found out that I got accepted into New York University! But what many people don't know, is that I also got accepted to the University of Miami in January. I was in such shock about NYU, that I posted my acceptance on Facebook right away. FYI: NYU was my "reach" school. With Miami, I shared the news with my fellow Green and Gold Guides at our retreat weekend - which is when I found out.

Anyway, I figured I would post my acceptance letters since it is a huge milestone. Coincidentally, I found out both of my admissions decisions in the middle of having a conversation with Kristine - shows how much I "multi-task." 

Now the million dollar question is: Where are you going to graduate school? The decision is still pending. I am the type of person that can't even make a decision on where to eat. So, these kind of life-changing decisions are really difficult for me. A huge factor is price. Getting a graduate-level education is not cheap and living expenses don't help. After I receive admissions decisions from other schools and see what financial help can be offered, I will be able to make a decision holistically. 

UM Acceptance Letter

New York is definitely in my future; it's just a matter of when. Right now, NYU is a dream that is now in reach and I am so grateful that I have this opportunity - especially since New York is the Mecca for PR. But we will see and I will be sure to keep you all updated on my decision. 

I also want to take the time to say how grateful I am for the friendships and relationships that I have in my life. What makes these acceptances so special is the outpouring of love and support from people. Dear God, after I put my acceptance on Facebook, I got so many likes, comments, texts, phone calls, emails, screams, and hugs. It nice to be surrounded with people who get just as excited as I do for my future. I'm just lucky, I guess.

Thank you. 

Graduation Worthy?

Is this too matronly? Meh. I don't know.

I'm trying to be proactive and look for a graduation dress since right now, the outfit is my favorite part of the whole idea of graduating. I mean, there is the diploma thing, but its time will come.

There are three criteria for this dress:
- Must be green or gold (not both, that's just trying to hard).
- Must be classy, but not matronly.
- Must be amaze balls - (psh, naturally)

So, whoever reads this, holler at me if you find something worth looking at. Shoes are also another story!

In other news, next week is Grad Stampede - a three-day event where graduates order their cap and gowns, announcements, diploma frames and more. That's going to be surreal. I am actually working the event since my internship heads it up. But before that, I have some bucket list items to check off. This weekend, if all goes well, I will be going to the Dali Museum in St. Pete. I have been to the original one in Figueres, Spain during my summer internship, so it's pretty much mandatory that I visit the one that is 20 minutes away from me. Can't wait! Here are some pictures of Salvadore Dali's museum in Spain.

Sitting on the floor waiting for the tour to start - classy. 

10 Weeks.

That’s it. That’s all I have left. College will be over soon.

Last time I blogged, I was a college junior who was so enthralled in her core PR classes. My biggest worry was staying relevant, making connections, and trying to impress professors. Now, after overcoming the challenges of saying goodbye to friends, making new ones, experiencing an amazing internship, and pushing through my final fall semester with a new job, a whole new milestone is creeping upon my ball field: graduation.

I’ll be honest. I like to stay busy. It’s part of my indestructible need to keep moving forward. It also keeps me from facing my own realities. The idea of college ending is bittersweet. I catch myself telling people that I don’t want to think about it. It’s scary. The world out there, you know. You here of these stories of graduates who miss college. “Those were the simpler days,” they’ll say. But it occurs to me as I write this, that we will always compare our current situations to our past ones. We will always say that the past was simpler, easier even. It’s crazy how my logic turns my worries into excitement. Hell – I made it! I am almost at the finish line. “La etapa final” – my dad calls it.

Grad school applications are in. Graduation announcements ordered. Plane tickets purchased. Bucket list made.

So with that, I am going to run with these 10 weeks. I’ve got friends, bucket lists, a blog, and a bottle of hope – hope that all will fall into place. And guess what? I’m gonna blog about it.

Here are a few photos that explain why I’ve been MIA. 

L'Oreal Internship Interview- didn't make it, but such a great experience!

Goodbye, Seniors.

Goodbye, Les.

Goodbye, Dream Team.

Hello, Baby Noah!

Amazing summer in NYC - with Ariana, fellow intern at Factory PR.

Internship Perks. Spending thousands on styling Camila Alves.

Yep, Kristine is still here! At the Rascal Flatts concert.

My new little, my mini me!

Launching Manicure Monday!!

Featured Polishes:

Sephora by O.P.I

Keep Me On My Mistletoe's

& Don't be Eggnog-ious

I have been cheating on my blog with someone called college. I have been so busy, but I am very excited to be starting Manicure Monday's on my blog! My friend, Breeanna, gave me the idea a couple of days ago and I loved it! Check out her Tumblr!

So last night I went to Sephora to hunt down Don't Be Eggnog-ious. The Sephora in my hometown sold out of it which only made me want it more. So I bought it along with Keep Me On My Mistletoe's just because they were made to be together.

My inspiration came from Sephora's ad. I loved how the nails looked as if they were "dipped" in the glitter. It keeps it easy to do while still looking really cute! And I loveee the names of these holiday collection polishes! Two weeks ago, I bought Chestnuts About You!

Caught Red-Handed!

Lately, I have been all about BOLD lips!!! I started with loving orangey coral lips in the summer. Then after my chalazion eye surgery, I began to experiment with hot pink and deep red. I figured since I couldn't wear eye makeup, I would play up the lips. People here in Florida haven't really jumped on the bandwagon with bold lips, but I absolutely love it. My guess is that it's a little TOO bold for some, but I like to wear these lipsticks on occassion. I don't go walking about with orange lips and a violet v-neck - let's keep the class people. I usually wear white, black or any nuetral color when I wear these lipsticks.

Once I am able to wear makeup (which is approximately one week and two days from now) I'll just rock the winged liner with bold lips and call it a day :)

At Target trying to find the right red shade. Literally, red-handed. (Special appearance by Tiff in the background lol)

I ended up choosing Maybelline Red Revival. I paired it with Loreal's Infallible lip gloss (No. 315). This gloss reminds me of Sangria for some reason (can you tell I'm missing Spain!). NOTE: When it comes to reds if you have a warm undertone, chose deeper reds. If you have a cool undertone, chose brighter, cherry reds.

This is Siren from Revlon. My sister and I actually traded coral lipsticks. This deeper, bolder color looked better on my darker skintone. While my softer coral was shown off better in her lighter skintone. I pair Revlon's Coral Reff lip gloss with it.

This is Fifth Ave. Fuschia from Maybelline. Love the name and LOVE the consistency of these lipsticks. They aren't too drying or too creamy. I'm not a fan of creamy lipsticks because I often feel like it will rub onto my teeth.

Sephora's Fashion's Night Out!

On Thursday, the International Plaza was having a Fashion's Night Out in concordance with Fashion Week. Although this wasn't filled with high-fashion shows, celebrities and mass media, I think the event was a success. Eighty-eight stores participated. Some had sales, complimentary demonstrations, fashion shows, free gifts and live music.

As soon as I saw Sephora on the list, the promise that I made my mom went out the window - I went in. I can't describe the high that I get when I go into Sephora. I get excited when I go into drugstores or even MAC, but it not the same feeling I have when I am in Sephora. The variety, the simplicity of their black and white logo, the customer service, the perfect placement of makeup remover stations, the testers and displays. I could go on forever.

So my plan (well, my promise to my mom) was that I was not going to buy anything. However, when Kristine checked out she received a free gift and this is what I saw:

FYI: First, this is not a free gift, these are free gifts. That's plural. Second, these are not gifts, they are little pieces of heaven. So as soon as the cashier told me there wasn't a minimum that needed to be spent to have the gift, I zoomed and got an urban decay primer. "I needed it anyway" - that was my logic.

All the samples (from left to right): Phytolisse Anti-Frizz Serum; Bare Essentials Buxom Lash; NARS Pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer; Philosophy Miracle Worker; Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer; Toki Doki Siberia Fragrance; Brazilian Anti-Aging Peel.

The actual purchase: Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

This is an anti-aging moisturizer. I have been using Philosophy's Purity Cleanser and I love it so I am excited to try this out :)

I was most excited about this sample because this is the mascara I normally use. And since I'm all out, getting this was perfect.

I tried this last night and so far I really like it. My foundation still looked great after working and being at the football game for 7 hours.

NOTE: I forgot to add a picture of Stila's tinted moisturizer - should be interesting to see if the color medium matches me... I doubt.