Etsy Shop Officially Opened | Salut Greetings

I am so incredibly excited to announce that I (finally) opened up an Etsy shop for my handmade greeting cards. I've been thinking about doing this for a few months and thought I'd start out by listing a couple Valentine's Day cards.

I would totally appreciate it if you would check out my Etsy shop! Don't forger to share it with your friend and family. Feel free to leave a link for your Etsy shop too!

Salut Greetings | Handmade Cards

5 Road Trip Essentials

I just back from vacation last week. I went on a road trip to Florida and it was so much fun! We went to Universal Studios, Downtown Disney, Lion Country Safari and spent time with family. Definitely a much needed vacation and break away from the cold weather back at home!

After all spending so much time in the car, driving to and from Florida and to all the places I mentioned above, I came up with these road trip necessities:

1. Water
Probably the smartest thing we did was go to the store before we left for Florida and bought a case of water bottles. I drink water more than anything (except maybe ice tea!). It prevents you from getting a soda at each stop you make for food or buying an overpriced bottle of water.

2. Snacks
No, I don't mean chips. Although they are convenient, opt for something healthier that won't spoil. I chose trail mix.

3. Music
Enough said. Make a playlist. Bring CDs. Don't forget the cable to hook up your iPhone/iPod to your car if it doesn't connect wirelessly!

4. Cash/change
This might be a no brainer. Make sure you if singles and change for any tolls or vending machines. Sometimes it's better and less expensive to buy gas using cash rather than credit too.

5.Blanket
When you're in the passenger seat and want to take a nap, you'll appreciate this. Trust me.

Are there any road trip essentials I missed? Let me know!

Some Changes (New Name, New Logo!)

In case you missed my earlier post, I mentioned some new changes that will be going on here... some of which I just changed a few minutes, like the blog's name!! I've been thinking about this for a while and decided to go with it. I'm so excited about this change and future changes I have in mind.

Thanks for coming with me on this new blogging adventure!
Hope you are enjoying the start of 2015!

Ringing in the New Year

Happy 2015!!! (This is me and my dog Riley towards the end of December. I just love this picture!)

I am so excited for this year.

For one, I'm graduating! Say what! I'll be starting my last semester shortly and I cannot wait. This semester I am working on a special design project and will be exhibiting my work over the past two years in the Senior Show.

And two, I have some plans... for this blog and some side projects which I cannnot wait to share with everybody.

As with every year comes some goals and I already got a jump start on mine.

I've completed two workouts with Abby from 3sfit.com. Check out her website and her YouTube channel, which is where I saw her new Give Me 30 program. I'm loving it so far. It's made me realize how even with a busy schedule (and who isn't busy these days, lets be real), it's important to take some time for yourself. Exercise hasn't been a consistent thing for me, but I'm making it one now.

Like my exercise routine, I hate to admit that keeping up with this blog hasn't been a consistent thing for me either. I'm changing that up to. By the way, Pinterest is a great way for inspiration on how to keep up with your blog, topics to blog about, etc. I think I'll have a follow up post regarding some blog changes I've been considering.

What are your goals for the New Years? Did you start them already?

Pretzel Bite Snack/Dessert

Happy December 1st! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday, so I definitely did. I wanted to make a quick dessert to bring to my Thanksgiving dinner. I found these two recipes for these pretzel bites on Pinterest, which helped me to make my pretzel bites.

1. Hug M&M Pretzel Bites
2. Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bites

And this is what I made!

What you need:

• 1 bag of pretzels (I got one bag of gluten free pretzels for me and 1 bag of regular pretzels for those who don't eat gluten free.)
• 1 bag of Hershey's kisses
• 1 bag of Reese's pieces

Preheat the oven for 200 degrees. Lay the pretzels on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place one Hershey kiss of each pretzel. Put in the oven for 6 minutes, take the baking sheet out and press one Reese's piece into each Hershey kiss (it should look similar to the picture above).

I made about 4 batches of these in 1 hour. It's super quick and easy to make and seriously tastes so good! Enjoy!

Another Year Older and A Day in Philly

Last week was my 23rd birthday. Yes 23. I still can't believe it. About a week or two before, I stumbled across this article: The Brain On 23. What timing!

Make sure to watch the video posted in the article too. It's an interview with the author of the article.

I went out to Philly for a day trip and it was so much fun! A little chilly, but an otherwise beautiful day. I first stopped in Reading Terminal Market for lunch (hello cheesesteak!). Then went to see the Liberty Bell. I've never seen it before!

Here are some pictures from my trip.

On My List: Books To Read

Now that I've finished my daunting 10 page research paper for the semester, I'm hoping I'll have some time to leisure read.

I started reading Wild a few months ago, but stopped a few pages in. I'm hoping to pick that book up again soon. Aren't they making it into a movie?! How cool would that be! I'm into hiking which is why I bought this book to begin with.

 

And I've kept Commencement in the back of my car just waiting for some time to be able to read it. Maybe it's because I'm graduating from college in May (whattttt?!?!), but I've really been wanting to read this book.

Now I don't know which one to start reading first! What books are on your list to read?