Don't Stop Me Now

My darling friend Gabbie Amontree of Solo Tandem Ride was lovely enough to take my senior // graduation photos for me. She sent me the rest of the set yesterday & I wanted to share them on Stellar Piece. As you can see, my favorite pose involved me gripping on to a tree branch for dear life.

In all seriousness, I can't believe that I've graduated from college. It's been two weeks since I walked across the Sun Dome stage & it's still surreal to me. 

When I graduated from high school in 2010, I had legitimately no idea what I wanted to do. I went to community college for two years, which I honestly recommend to anyone. I thought it was going to be the worst place ever, but HCC was pretty cool because I didn't know what I wanted to do anyways. To be honest, I was super lazy while I was at HCC though. I would go to class, eat and sleep. I gained a bunch of weight & didn't feel very passionate about anything.

Everything changed when transferred to the University of South Florida in the fall of 2012. After taking a marketing class during my last semester at HCC, I realized that it was something that I wanted to learn more about. I decided to major in Mass Communications with a concentration in Advertising. Right after school began that fall, I created Stellar Piece. It was just meant to be a random place where I could put my photos and thoughts but it's turned into much more for me.

Then I found CollegeFashionista. I began writing as a Style Guru a year after I was settled in at USF. I've been in love with it ever since. Amy, Melissa & Sammy have taught me so much about fashion, writing and photography. They always give me such great feedback, feature my articles on the homepage & allow me to participate in various brand campaigns. I love it so much that I've decided to write for them during the summer while I'm in NYC. I cannot wait to to be their marketing intern in the city this summer.

I guess the point is that I made fashion, photography & writing the main priorities in my life. They changed everything. They gave me the confidence I was lacking. They kept me busy. They made me want to search for & pursue opportunities. Now I'm less than two weeks away from leaving for NYC where I'll be working with CollegeFashionista & Marie Claire. I'm thrilled to work my ass off, prove my potential & see where my passions take me. 

 "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw

Love,

A

Details: Dress: Zara // Shoes: Nine West 

// Photography: Gabbie Amontree

Lack-of-Labor Day Weekend

J & I were joking all weekend about how Labor Day weekend should really be called Lack-of-Labor Day weekend because we tried to do as little as we possibly could. Last week was our first week back at USF and we were pretty excited to veg out summer-style for a few more days. I know it sounds easy but sitting in class listening to your professor read every single word of the syllabus can really eat away at your soul...

On Friday we did what J & I do best and had a dinner // movie date. We went to Boston's, where I introduced J to the amazing world of crunchy green beans & he tried their new #PIZZABURGER. Then we went next door to Veterans & watched You're Next. It was gory & had a good plot twist, so naturally J & I walked away happy.

Saturday was a day full of last minute adventures. At first the natural planner in me hated the idea of impromptu plans, but J quickly warmed me up to them with his skills of persuasion. We started the day with a yummy little lunch at Panera Bread & wandered over to Microgroove Records where I found New Order's Blue Monday on vinyl for $2.99. On our way home, we spotted the quirkiest little comic book // music store on Hillsborough called Green Shift. As Jake & I wandered around the store that looked like it might be on next week's episode of Hoarders, he told me all about his days of comic book collecting. Watching him stare in awe at all the old vintage microphones and amps made me remember why I fell in love with Jake in the first place. He's passionate about so many things & can find beauty in even the rustiest old equipment.

Later on J persuaded me to go to the first USF football game of the season. While football isn't really my cup of tea, I had fun people watching & yelling at the players with Jake. Even later that evening, we decided to go to the Tampa Pitcher Show to check out the live action performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show that they do every Saturday night at midnight. As RHPS 'virgins', Jake & I were pretty much clueless the entire time. Let's just say my favorite part about going to the Pitcher Show was the Shrimp Fra Diablo that J & I ate. It was "exxxtra diablo".

Sunday has become our favorite day of the week lately because of one thing: BREAKING BAD. We got some homework done during the day & came back to Jake's dorm to have a little Breaking Bad watch party with some friends. We ordered some pizza & ate some wings while we anxiously waited for Walter White's next move.

Even though we spent the majority of the morning tackling more homework, Monday was great because J & I were just happy to not be at school. We lounged around during the early afternoon & grabbed a late lunch at PDQ. In the late afternoon, we took a little trip up to Orlando to meet up with my family. On the way up, J put together a little playlist full of our favorite songs (get Spotify Premium, it's the seriously the coolest). I swear that the best times I have with Jake are when we're listening to music together and talking about anything. I haven't been able to keep my mouth shut around him since the first time I opened it. He's just the greatest when it comes to conversation & it's just another thing that I absolutely adore about the boy.

Although we are sad to see this weekend go, we're surprisingly excited to get back into the swing of things at school. We both love our classes so far & this semester seems to be full of new adventures. September is going to be the best month yet & I am so ready to see what the future holds.

Love,

A