saving pennies.

if you've been a constant reader, or have looked around on the blog, you probably read that i will be headed to Cummington, Massachusetts at the end of June to be a babysitter/counselor + student at a camp called Greenwood Music Camp. i'll be spending 5 full weeks in Cummington preceded by a trip to New York with my best friend over at The Sweet Tamarind and concluding the summer with a small tour of the coast (Boston, NYC, Philly, D.C.) with jake. as excited as i am to fix the poor technique i've picked up over the years, i'm especially excited about traveling to all these new places. the northeast coast is completely foreign to me. i can't say that about most places as i have lived in some of the most exotic places in the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, but i have never traveled to the northeast coast. for some reason, my dad was always wary of taking family trips there. last night, jake was crunching some numbers and the total cost of the trip will be around $1600.

WHAT.

goodbye summer shopping. hello clothes from last season. ;)

it really shouldn't be all that bad, but watching the amount of money i spend has never been a strong suit of mine. i guess now's the best time to start though. so in anticipation of this change, i celebrated with a shopping trip (ironic?) to my local thrift stores and hit up a few garage sales. bought some things i don't really need. you know. in total, i spent just $20. not too bad, right? (...excluding the Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret purchases...*sigh*)

any tips to save money? i know i've just got to buckle down and do it...but tips would still be helpful!

hannah

howlin' for you.

early this week we took my sweet pup, who's not really a pup anymore, to the vet to get checked out. lucy is a boston terrier and is, in human years, 13 years old. she's gotten kinda lazy over the past few years and may have gained a couple of pounds ... 40 pounds for a boston terrier is kind of heavy, no? she's been experiencing some health problems lately and it makes me so sad realizing that i might not have that much time left with her. lucy is more than just a dog to me. she was my birthday gift when i was 9 and always reconnects me to adolescence. having no siblings, she filled that void. she was my confidant when i had no one else, always faithfully by my side and sharing in whatever secrets i may have had. expecting the worst, we got good news from the vet and she might have a few more years left! hooray! as she ages and the risk of losing her gets even greater, i'm comforted in knowing that i now have someone else to fill that void. {i think she's holding on to make sure this guy sticks around, what a friend.}


did you have a pet that you had a hard time saying goodbye to?

hannah


i've been slightly addicted to the black keys lately. how fitting that one of their song titles can relate to this doggy post. :)

succulents for mom

sadly, i'm not a big mother's day person. maybe someday when i'm a mom i'll appreciate it a little more but being an only child, holidays aren't that big of a deal. this year i decided to do something that my mom would appreciate and could enjoy for more than just a day. fortunately, shopruche came out with their spring diy guide and i went with it. somehow i got jake to help me with this fun, easy, little project too. so we made three little succulent egg planters, for my mom, his mom, and his sister. :)

1. i got my egg shells and my succulents ready and planted my succulents into the eggshells. ideally you'd have smaller succulents ... but i was out of luck.
2. tie together three twigs into a triangle shape with floss. we didn't tie our floss off but we wrapped it as many times as we could before leaving it.
3. place your egg planter onto the twigs! it shouldn't have any problem standing on its own.
4. our final product. 

this project was super easy ... really it only took 10 minutes total. i think it has a nice sentiment to it as well. :) hope you mothers had a great mother's day! 

hannah

p.s.- i'm trying to revamp the blog so be prepared to see some weirdness. i'm new to this whole html/css language!

my cup runneth over

this week has been an amazing. 

i found myself stressing out in the beginning of the week, unsure of what this summer would bring but ultimately i realized that no matter what happens i can be comforted by the thought that God is in control. 

i'm truly living a blessed life as i graciously celebrated my 22nd birthday, with those who shed so much love on me, this past friday. jake and his roommates allowed me to decorate their place a little, adding a touch of femininity, before having people over to grill out and attempt to play games. {i also lit this awesome candle from bath and body works called blackberry grapefruit. it smells delicious.} we started about 5 games and didn't finish one ... there's a reason for the limit on the number of players. once you surpass 6-8 people, it's hard to concentrate. {especially when you (or i) have a short attention span as it is. whoops.} however, each game had it's great moments. like michael putting red lipstick on during quelf. pretty sure everyone pulled out their phones to take pictures. 

thank you to everyone who helped me ring in my 22nd year of life. i'm just thankful to have spent it in your company. :)

hannah

summer time and the livin' is easy.

the end of the school year was rough with the papers, my students' recitals, and my own senior recital. however, it all ended with a great night of baseball in kansas city with my parents and jake. (can i just say that derek jeter is amazing? i may be in love with him even if he is almost 40. sorry jake...) we had really great seats close to third base where there was a chance for foul balls to knock me out. seriously, i was actually concerned about this! i am a pretty accident prone person as it is, i don't need increased odds. this cute kid in front of us kept saying, "don't worry, i'll just catch it." every time i mentioned a ball hitting me in the head. it was adorable. he was even more comforting than my man was. maybe i can trade ... just kidding, that'd be a little creepy even though he probably is closer to my height than my tall-ish boyfriend. who looked like a giant next to me. just look at that last photo.
i hope you all are having a great start to your summer. :)

winding down

i can hardly believe school is almost over. i have at least 21 pages in papers to write for the last few days of school. that's always my cue to blog instead.

the past four years have been the best of my life, at least to date. i have become friends with some amazing people and have firmly established relationships with others. every one is planning on going their separate ways, which makes me a little teary-eyed. meredith is going to NEW YORK (all caps because who wouldn't want to go there? and for mannes). tim is going to ohio (CIM). janny is going to texas (rice). michael is going to washington (walla walla). becca is going to boston to be with her man. it's so crazy. crazy to think of where we all started and now where we're all going. from a small music college to big time universities and conservatories. it really does prove that it's not where you start but where you finish. i'm so proud of all of these great people and the accomplishments they have made over the past few years. they'll always hold a special place in my heart.

i'm especially going to miss my dearest friend. she's been around for 10 years and next year she's going to be gone. ok, not gone. but she won't be able to go on our little shopping trips or entertain my moments of craftiness. at least she's giving me a good reason to visit new york city. (june 24th, watch out big apple. me and my partner in crime are gonna take a big bite out of you.)

back to fiddling research papers, cultural anthropology, and analysis for performance. quite the mix.

on the shelf.

just a few things.

1. i've been lacking some serious motivation lately. mainly in school ... and practicing. which is awful. i think it's a mix between the absence of inspiration and losing sight of the finish line. i just want school to be DONE. i'm tired of the tests and the assignments. i'm ready for new things.
2. i've been buying a lot of things for my home ... that i don't have yet. is this a sign? like maybe it's time to move out of the parents house or something. but really... i bought some cute stuff. stuff i could not pass up. no matter how temporarily stinky it may be.
3. i love thrifting. now more than ever.
4. summer plans are coming up quickly! let's just skip spring break and get right to summer. so excited to be going to greenwood music camp in massachusetts to babysit some chiara bebes in exchange for some quality time with julie yoon. who is going to kick my butt in ways that it hasn't been kicked before. i need inspiration? there it is. 

here's the stinky couch that i could not live without.  

it's currently residing in jake's room.