Summer 2016 Movie List

I never got around to doing a Spring movie list for 2016, and because of missing a single season, I now have a plethora of wonderful films I've watched and now want to share with you.

Like Sunday, Like Rain
This movie features a very young main character: Reggie, who is a somewhat lonely and outcast cello prodigy. Over the summer, a young woman in her twenties comes to live in the house and take care of Reggie after having lost her job. The movie focuses on the developing relationship between this unlikely pair, in a wonderful combination comedy and coming-of-age drama. I am a big fan of Leighton Meester (you may know her as Blair from Gossip Girl), and she plays her role perfectly in this film, making it even more enjoyable.

10 Texts I'm Glad I Read During High School

Around Christmas break, I got the idea to write a post about texts I am glad to have read during high school. I had my last day of high school (ever!) last Friday, and it is incredible to think that a portion of my life has now come to a close. Although I have always really enjoyed English class, this year has been especially influential for me. I am a firm believer that having a passionate teacher can have a huge impact on what you take away from the class, and this is why I hold teachers with such high regard. My English teacher this past year was absolutely phenomenal, and I am very thankful for having learned a lot from her. I think the most important thing she taught me is simply to love reading, because it is how people (of any race, color, age, gender, etc.) can share their stories. Not only this, but all stories are connected and come together to create the one larger story which relays the human condition.

Any time you read, always have the question 'What does it mean to be human?' running through your head. A good book––no matter what genre or style––should answer this question in some way! There are a surplus of wonderful books in the world, and I look forward to reading many more (and I already have a good list going for summer). However, for the purpose of this post, I condensed things to ten books that had an impact on me during my high school years. I would absolutely recommend people to read all of these books, and if you have any suggestions for me, I would love to hear about them in either an email or in the comments!

Winter Movie List 2016

I am constantly stunned by how many wonderful films there are, and I think with each one I watch, my love for movies grows exponentially higher. Since it has been quite cold here in Pennsylvania, most weekend evenings watching a movie and drinking hot cocoa sounds much more preferable than going out with friends or going into town (yes, I have been turning into even more of a recluse than usual!). But for you this is good news, because it means I have watched many films and now have lots of recommendations. So grab a cuppa tea, your calendar, and start planning some movie nights!!

Inception
Trailer here
I definitely came a little late to the party with this movie... I still remember one day back in 8th grade: Inception had just come out in the theaters, and everyone was talking about it. For whatever reason, I did not jump on the bandwagon then, but I watched it recently and was completely taken with it! The idea of 'inception' is ridiculously trippy (even thinking about it now!), and the movie has wonderful cinematography and phenomenal acting. Leonardo DiCaprio is a perfect fit for his character, and I adore Marion Cotillard. Although I have a lot of films I love, Inception has very possibly jumped up to #1 on my list. On a side note, stunning soundtrack as well; well done Hans Zimmerman.

Winter 2016 Favorites

January absolutely flew by.

It's hard for me to fathom that we are already a whole month into the new year, because it feels like only last week that I was watching the New York City count down to 2016. I have been at a bit of a crossroad this month: on the one hand I am excited about the new year and have many exciting things that are coming up to look forward to, but a part of me has also been struggling with this dreary time of the year. Because I live in Pennsylvania, this time of year is typically very snowy––which I love––but this year it has been unseasonably warm, and we've gotten almost no snow! Instead, it is semi-cold, and the scenery is relatively bleak... not the winter wonderland I am wishing for.

With that said, despite the disappointing weather this winter, there have been a lot of things I have been loving this season. And I wanted to share them with you! This will be my first 'favorites' post, so I will be experimenting with how I want to format my photos and such, but I'm thinking I'll might make this a seasonal routine. Without any further ado, let's get into the mish-mash of what I've been loving!

Reflecting on the Year: 2015

I was not planning on doing a post about the end of the year, but then was reading Hello-October's (one of my favorite bloggers) Goodbye 2015 post, and was inspired by her positive outlook. She described how she's really been enjoying her adult life, and my initial reaction was 'wow, I'm excited for when that time in my life comes'. I then realized that's a silly thing to think because I have not only had a good year, but should also fully be enjoying my life right now, because life has been very good to me!

In the same style of Hello-October, I want to share some of the highlights of my year with you, as I am a firm believer that being able to reflect on life can be very valuable for both learning and appreciation.

Autumn Movie List 2015

These past few months, as weather grows increasingly colder, I am constantly wanting to snuggle up under a big blanket with a cup of tea and a good movie. And in fact I have been doing quite a bit of just that! I have tried to continue branching out with what kind of films I watch--rather than always going for typical Hollywood rom-coms--and I have loved a lot of the films I have watched so far, so I wanted to share them with you!

Copenhagen
Trailer here
A couple of weekends ago, my parents were out of town, and one of the nights I was on my own in the evening, so I made a nice dinner and then decided to watch a movie in the living room where we have a big TV and great speakers. This may not sound that unusual, but I normally watch movies on my laptop in my room, so it was exciting for me. I was browsing Netflix for something good, and stumbled upon Copenhagen. The story follows a young American who goes to Denmark with his best friend in search of his grandfather. While there he gets to know a girl who turns out to be quite a bit younger than him, and the film explores the controversial topic of relationships with substantial age differences by pushing the limits, but never crossing the line. Naturally being filmed in Copenhagen, the scenery is stunning, and by the time I had finished I found myself wishing I was on an adventure in Europe!

The Best Feelings in Autumn

I am currently sitting at my kitchen table, with my brother is just starting to cook dinner (it's just the two of us tonight, because my parents are out of town). I have had quite a laid back day, but in a wonderfully relaxing way: I did some reading for English, made a quick shopping trip for groceries, I'm wearing one of my dad's big, worn T-shirts, and the best part: I made my first pumpkin bread of the season!! I figured that it was the perfect day to make a post celebrating the wonderful season of autumn. The past week has been quite cold and rainy and completely gray everyday, and while I definitely appreciate cloudy fall days where it's cozy to hide inside, I have started to miss the beautiful clear days of autumn.  This afternoon, right as I finished washing up, I looked outside and realized that it was suddenly completely clear; the sun was already starting to descend on the horizon, but the sky was a beautiful hue of light blue... barely a cloud in the sky. Anyway, I though I would share what I think are the most wonderful feelings of Autumn and share some photos of what I've been up to!

Seven Healthy Habits to Adopt

With the start of a new academic year coming up, I thought I would compile a list of healthy habits that I think everyone should adopt. I am definitely still on my way to making some of them habits I am consistent with, but I'm working on getting there. I will say that some of these are somewhat generic things that I am sure you have heard before (and if you're not already doing them, shame on you! ;) ), but others you may be new to you, and if that's the case, I hope you can make use of them.

Summer Movie List

As we approach August, for me it means that I have just about one month of summer left. In reality that is about a third of the entire summer (so quite a bit), but it still feels quite unfortunately close to the start of a new school year, and with it, lots of stress. Rather than think about the fact that soon we will be buried in homework, however, I thought I would make a list of my all time favorite films; I love having movie nights with friends, and summer is the prime time for it. Get the works: pillows and blankets on the floor in front of the TV, plenty of drinks and snacks (my favorites are popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, and Dr. pepper), some of your friends, and most importantly, some good movies.

DIY: Tumblr Inspired Room

I've been spending a lot of time on my computer as the long summer days continue on, but I figured I should be doing something a little more productive with my time. One of my favorite things to do about once a season is to spice up my room with new decorations and photos.

I don't know about you, but I will often see photos of rooms on Tumblr or We heart it, and and always pretty jealous of the decor. The simple fact is that there are a couple things you can do to get a similar looking room and it's not very expensive!!

☼ Summer To-Do List ☼

Hey Everyone!! Almost July, it is officially summer! As great as summer is, after a couple weeks of school being out, I tend to start getting kind of bored. Currently I am in California, but once I am home again, many days will be filled simply with me lazying around. I'm definitely not complaining about being able to sleep in and lay in the sun all day, but in order to keep the summer interesting, I like to create a To-Do list of things I want to do at some point. So here are my ideas; if you have any of your own, comment below!!

☀ Have a beach/lake/pool day! I know, going to the pool is not a very original idea, but make a day out of it. Get some friends together, and you can swim, have a picnic, bring a frisbee, etc.

☀ Have a bonfire with some friends. Similarly to a pool day, make an occasion out of this. I'm talking s'mores, music, blankets to lay on, and some fun games like mafia (or murder depending on what you call it).

☀ Get some summer reading done. School's out, and some people may not want to read, but personally I love reading. With lots of down time in the summer, it's the perfect opportunity to read.

☀ Work out! Whether it's by starting a running schedule, hitting up the gym, or joining a class, motivate yourself to get fit this summer.

☀ Work on a tan. I know this may not be for everyone, but I make it a little personal goal each summer to get a golden glow. Just make sure you're always aware of how much sun you're getting, and don't forget sunscreen!

☀ Take up a new hobby. For me, this summer I've decided to learn some guitar :)

☀ Have a spa day. Do a face mask, soak up some summer sun, try some new nail art! Pamper yourself!

☀ Slumber partaaaaay! Haha, you have to have some sleep over with your friends. Movies, popcorn, truth-or-dare: the works!

☀ Start a new TV series. This could also just be catching up on a series you already watch, but some lazy days, it's nice to just chill out on the couch with some snacks, and get a dose of TV.

I hope you can enjoy doing these things this summer!

xx

Erin