First Beach Day of Summer 2013

Yesterday sQt and I took a day trip to the beach.  It was the perfect beach day about 90 degrees with a slight breeze.  The only downside was that the water was extremely cold, but it is still May so I guess it makes sense that the water was rather chilly.  

 Here is a glimpse of my beach bag I decided on from my post in April. 

I can promise you there will be a "What's in my Beach Bag" post coming soon!

 Leaving the Beach to go home: sun burnt and hungry

Of course what is a trip to the beach without stopping at the outlets.  We spent a few hours shopping.  There was a lot of great clothing, but I was on a budget so I didn't get too much.

Vineyard Vines Flip Flops

 Two pairs of Nike running shorts

Bright pink shorts from American Eagle

Happy Friday, enjoy your last day of May!

xoxo

-mQs-

Lacrosse

I have found that hardly any people publish blog posts about sports.  As an athlete, sports are something that have consumed a large portion of my life.  Lacrosse like many sports, lacrosse is something that brings a group of people, with hardly anything in common, together to form such a strong bond.  These bonds are formed amongst fans, parents, the athletes, coaches, and so many others.  For those of you who have been on a competitive athletic team, you are aware of what I am talking about. 

This past weekend was a huge lacrosse weekend for college teams across the nation.  For me and my family, memorial day weekend will always mean that it's time for some good lacrosse.  The men's division I semifinals and championships as well as the Division II and III championships took place in Philadelphia, PA.  I watched most of the games on television with my family.  We have attended this event several times.  It is always a ton of fun: family, lacrosse, tailgating.  One year, my brother's rec league lacrosse team was able to play on the field prior to one of the semifinal games, it was kind of a big deal.  The games this weekend were all really exciting. Congratulations to the national champions of 2013 for men's lacrosse: Division I- Duke University, Division 2- Le Moyne University, and Division III- Stevenson University.

My college was a huge lacrosse school for division III, which I loved.  Unfortunately, the school I am transferring to does not have the same respect for lacrosse. Personally, I played lacrosse for four years, but since my high school didn't have a program I stopped playing and focused on field hockey.  There are times that I wish I would have continued to play somewhere, but I realize that if I had continued with lacrosse then I would not be who I am today.  Because of field hockey I have made some great friends,  lost some others, and I have gained so much knowledge about trusting people. 

xoxo

-mQs-

Friday Five: What I'm Loving

One: My Pantry

Yesterday I spent close to three hour organizing my pantry and the kitchen cabinets in my house.  A few bags of trash later...and they are all organized! I really do have an odd infatuation with organizing things.  I honestly think I could become a professional organizer.  People could just pay me to come to their home to organize their closets, drawers, rooms, desks, etc.  That would be ideal, but I don't think such a profession exists.  My parents were delighted when they came home from work and saw this and the other cabinets.  One less thing they have to do over their three day weekend. The picture to the left is the before picture, but I had already taken some of the stuff out before this was taken, oops! Obviously, the picture to the right is the finished product.

Two: Earrings

This week my mom and I went to a little boutique that has tons of jewelry for decent prices.  I bought these anchor earrings for $14.  I love them! They are so simple and classy, plus a little preppy too.  I don't usually like gold jewelry but there is always an exception. 

Three: Riley

This is what I woke up to this morning.  My yorkie, Riley, cuddled up at the foot of my bed.  I love when this happens.  He is the best dog and has such a personality for such a small dog.  We have been having a lazy morning together just laying in my bed.  He is definitely happy to have me living back at home.  While I was away at school, my dad became his favorite person in the house.  However, since I am back home my Dad claims that I am back to having Riley's #1 favorite person spot back again. 

Four: The Best of Me

I stumbled across this book when I was cleaning my room a few weeks ago.  I didn't even know I owned it, awkward.  Anyways, I am not much of a reader usually, but on my summer bucket list I have that I want to finish five books.  I am a third of the way done this one.  It is really good. I am getting to the point where it is hard to put it down.  This is not like me, when did I become a reader?  I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a mindless book to read, it would be a great one to read on the beach.

Five: Salads 

The salads I have been making this week have been delicious!  I use pretty much whatever I can find in the fridge.  I guess you could call them leftover salads. This one has grilled chicken, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, noodles, romaine lettuce, and champagne dressing.  I have made variations of this salad using red pepper, avocados, cucumbers, and black beans.  They are quite filling, and healthy too!

Happy Friday

xoxo

-mQs-

Words of Wisdom (nine)

Happy Wednesday! 

I haven't done a words of wisdom Wednesday in awhile.  I was looking on pinterest when I stumbled across this quote.  I love it! 

Often times I think we get caught up in the future and what is going to happen, and because of this we forget to enjoy what is going on in present time.  With not having classes right now, I have found it much easier to just live in the moment rather than planning for the future. Remember to take a step back and appreciate the small things when your life becomes chaotic or stressful. 

xoxo

-mQs-

Friday Five: Creating a Summer Bucket List

Today marks my first week of summer complete.  I have been pretty busy the past week catching up with old friends, making new friends, visiting jHg, cooking, exercising, sleeping, organizing, and so much more. 

Well, I decided that I needed to make a list of things that I wanted to do this summer.  This turned into me creating a Summer Bucket List of 100 things. I have never done anything like this, so I think it is going to be a lot of fun! It will prevent that summer boredom that sometimes occurs. Plus it will make for some fun blog posts too!

  I need five more things to complete my list, so I thought it would be appropriate for my "Friday five" to have you all, my readers, give me five things to add to my bucket list.  I'll start by giving you five things that are on my list.

I plan on starting this Monday, so I need to finish creating the list by Sunday night.

I've given you five things on my list, so now it's your turn to give me five or more things to add. Ready, set, go!

Happy Friday!

xoxo

-mQs

Hooping is a Lifestyle

Do you ever get bored with the usual workout of running, abs, yoga, etc...I know I do.  Just this week, my mom introduced me to a type of exercise called hooping. Some people may know it as hoop dance. It is a combination of exercise, dance, and fun using a large weighted hoop.  It sounds quite ridiculous and I'm sure you're thinking how can this even be considered a workout, but I have been doing this for two days and I am actually sore.  It really works on your core muscles.  Some benefits to hooping include developing strong abdominal muscles, works on coordination and balance, sculpts your thighs and butt, tones your arms, and relieves stress.  My stomach is my weakness, so I am hoping this helps to tone it. A family friend of ours makes these hoops.  They are only $20 and well worth the money too!

There are tons of websites and videos out there on how to hoop, hooping tricks, and more! 

Hoop Hooray

hooping.org

Hooping for Beginners

Have any of you ever done hooping before?

On a different note:
The Shore Life According to M is now on Facebook! Like my page, here you can write comments on my blog posts, my blog in general, or future posts you would like to see! Click the link on the right hand side of the blog.  You can also follow my instagram and pinterest accounts too!

Smile, it's almost Friday!
xoxo

-mQs-

Spring Warehouse Sale

A few months ago my mom and I were talking and said that we should save up some money, so that we could buy whatever we wanted at the Spring Warehouse sale.  At the time we weren't sure when it would be, so after our discussion the idea kind of fell to the side.  Well, last night my mom  told me she thinks she might know when it is going to be.... too bad I haven't been saving my money like I was originally planning to do.  We haven't decided if we are going or not, but I know I really want to! The good thing is that it's not too far from our home so we wouldn't have to get a hotel. We would just have to wake up really early, but I think it would be a fun and exciting mini adventure. 

Have any of you ever gone to a warehouse sale like this?

Click Here for more information from last year's sale

xoxo

-mQs-

The start of Summer 2013

Happy Monday everyone! My apologies for the short blogging hiatus.  I have been quite busy the past week and a half.  For those of you who follow me via instagram have already had a glimpse at my life lately. Rather than writing all about where I have been I thought it would be better to just do so through pictures and short explanations.  

 Well, I moved out a week and a half ago, when we had reading day.  But since I hadn't taken my finals yet, unpacking had to take the back burner to studying.  This drove me crazy, getting dressed was awful because I couldn't find anything.  At one point, my room was so messy that I couldn't even see the floor!

 Last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I spent my days studying for my exam Thursday.

 And I also spent that time working on my education "create a school" final project.  My school was Finding Nemo themed and located at the beach. Two of my favorite things. I guess you could say I was ready for Summer break, when I was doing this. 

I definitely enjoyed being able to study for finals week at home because I got to enjoy my mom's wonderful cooking. One day last week she made lemon chicken and spinach with angel hair pasta. It was to yummy!

On Thursday, I drove back down to school for the very last time.  I took my final exam, presented my education project, and said good bye to my friends. Since I moved out the week before, my room was so empty and depressing.  It made me a little sad leaving 307, jHg and I had some great times in there over the course of the past year. 

 Friday started my Summer Break 2013

What better way to start of summer break than to see The Great Gatsby. tDn and I had a date day- the movies and sushi! The movie was great! I was afraid that it was going to be different from the book or original movie.  The movie was just a bigger and more modern version of the original film. I highly recommend going to see it for those of you who haven't yet.

Saturday was bff day! mIr and I got ice cream and did some shopping at the mall. I finally found an adorable maxi dress at Forever 21! This isn't a great picture, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Sunday- Happy Mother's Day to my mom! We started off the day by making her brunch and showering her with her gifts.  We had fruitinis and waffles. The fruitini was a mix of grapes, strawberries, bananas, kiwis, and blood oranges in a lemon and powdered sugar coating.  They were delish and went perfectly with the waffles!

These were two of the three gifts we gave her.  The third one was an orange monogrammed tervis tumbler. She was in need of a beach tote, so when I ordered mine I got her a matching one too.  Her third gift was a Lilly Pulitzer ipad sleeve. (Can you tell I was in charge of getting her gifts this year)

We ended the day with a nice dinner. Yes, I can actually cook! My sQt and I worked together to cook shrimp in a red pepper cream sauce over pasta.  We also had Italian bread and salad with it.  Dinner was delicious. I was pleasantly surprised by this because anyone who knows me knows that my track record in the kitchen is not a good one. But maybe I have outgrown my poor cooking skills?

In my free time this weekend, I managed to finish unpacking and organize my closet.  I can finally find all of my clothes and my floor now!  

I'm off to the treadmill now.

xoxo

-mQs-

Friday Five: Songs from freshman year

Happy Friday! It's the weekend!  Today is my move out day.  Bittersweet.

This week's Friday Five are the top five songs that remind me of my freshman year of college.  These are kinda random, but when I think freshman year these are the ones that stick out most. 

Don't You Worry Child: Swedish House Mafia

All Night Longer: Sammy Adams

Die Young: Kesha

Make The Floor Shake: Wiz Khalifa

I knew You Were Trouble: Taylor Swift

1. This song came on all the time, no matter where I was.

2. My team was obsessed with this song.  It played in the locker room literally all the time.  Needless to say, I then played it in my room all the time

3. jHg are all about Ke$ha.  Her new album is really catchy.  This song is just a good pump up song.

4. This was another song my team listened to all the time.  It was played in the locker room, on the bus, and on our warm up CD too.  I heard it all the time this year.

5. Taylor Swift's new album came out in the Fall of my freshman year.  I remember standing in the training room the first day I was here, and this song was playing in the background while we went through our physicals.  

Enjoy your Friday.  It is beautiful out today!

xoxo

-mQs-

Welcome to WAC

Hello everyone, Happy Thursday!

Today is my last day of classes for freshman year.  I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by.  I've never given you all a tour of my college, so I thought this would be a fun post for today.  Yesterday I went for a walk around campus and into town to take pictures for this post.  My campus is really pretty, especially in the Spring!  The university I am transferring doesn't quite have the beauty of this campus.

This is the sign that is at the entrance of my college.  

Our school is the only one that George Washington actually founded.  Our school is very much into traditions because of this.  We even have a big birthday ball every year to celebrate George's birthday.  This is the Giant George head that sits outside of our dining hall.  

 This is the CAC. It is a really pretty building with great architecture both inside and out.  This is where admission, financial aid, student affairs, the book store, and several other things are located. 

At the bottom of the CAC there are tables outside.  Sometimes when it is nice out, I sit outside here and do my homework.

This is, what we call, the Cater Walk.  It is the main pathway that takes you to everywhere you need to go on campus.  It is beautiful in the Spring with the trees blooming.

 This an entrance to our green from a walking path.

 The building in the distance, is the science and psychology building.  

This is one our academic buildings. I had one class here this year.

 This is our green, where we start and end our college careers.  Throughout the year there are many events here.

 The landscaping at WAC, is really pretty.  We joke that this is where all of our tuition money goes.  I guess it is true April showers really do bring May flowers.

 This is Roy Kirby Stadium.  Being on the field hockey team, I spent a significant amount of time there in the Fall.  I am definitely going to miss the times I had there with my team.

Speaking of things I am going to miss since I am transferring...

 The Victory Bell- this is the bell that every team rings after winning a game.  It is a tradition that has been around for quite some time.  I am really going to miss the sound of the victory bell next year (You can hear it from just about anywhere on campus).  

This was my dorm.  I am not going to miss how old this building is.  However, I am going to miss room 307 and my roommate jHg.  We had tons of great times in our rooms.  Transferring, we won't be roommates next year, which makes me really sad. 

Another thing I am going to miss are my trips to Play It Again Sams, a little local coffee house.  They have the best Chai Blizzards!  I went there yesterday, for my last one of the year.  

I hope you enjoyed your tour.  

xoxo

-mQs-

Words of Wisdom (Eight)

Since it is the end of the semester for most of us (some have finished, some finish this week, while others still have several more weeks to go) I thought that this quote would be appropriate.  The end of the semester can be quite stressful between exams, papers, presentations, projects, etc.  So as you feel yourself getting overwhelmed at the end of the semester just remember to keep swimming because soon enough you will actually be swimming at the pool or in the ocean.  For one of my projects I have to create my own school, so I am making it finding nemo themed, which is the second reason I found this quote to be appropriate. 

Happy Wednesday!

You are half way through the week!

xoxo

-mQs-