On Greek Life & Your Mid-Twenties

It's inevitable. Even though I graduated from college four years ago, I still get this question - "wait, you're a sorority girl?!"

And my answer is always the same - a proud "yes".

Except I'm not so much a girl anymore. Instead, a sorority woman.  In a few short months, I'll be turning 27. I'll be getting married. In the years since college, I lived on my own in NY. Became a lawyer. Learned a lot of life lessons. 

And to be honest, I don't think I've ever appreciated being part of a sisterhood as much as I do now.

In my sophomore year of college, I became a collegiate member of the Zeta Nu chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha. From that moment on, my college experience was transformed. I was given the opportunity to work alongside my sisters in helping to tell the stories of domestic violence survivors. I traveled. I became a leader. And most importantly, I became a part of a family. And a family is tied together, always.

Alpha Sigma Alpha always inspired me to "aspire", "seek", and "attain." These three words pushed me through my longest days of law school, inspired me to serve as the president of my law school's organization for women, & got me to the point I'm at today. Even more important was the way I saw my fellow sisters living their lives. They have always been constant inspiration. They are dedicated, determined & unique. And I am lucky to call them sisters.

Now, in a time where jobs are scarce, student loan payments are high, & we are all starting new chapters in our lives, I've come to rely on their love and friendship more than ever.

Above, you'll see me with some alumna at a sister's bridal shower. Here we are, growing up & getting married, and yet forever tied together. This sister, leading our collegiate chapter as an advisor, inspired me to volunteer with our collegiate members. She has been an amazing example of dedication & it is so exciting that we are a part of each other's journey through this crazy world. 

Life wouldn't be the same without the laughter I've shared with these women. We have gone through the ups & downs together, and still stand tall.

So yes, I am a sorority girl. And darn proud of it too. 

-Liz

Summer in the suburbs/city.

In

Sometimes, living in NY feels like so long ago, while it has only been a year since I moved back to PA. Those three years of my life were so turbulent. Yet in their own weird way, filled with enough memories to last me a long, long time. Summer in NY was full of very vibrant imagery - fans blowing through a sticky apartment, Sublime cover bands & beers at Long Island bars, city parks full of people looking for a green refuge, a red, white & blue Empire State Building, frozen fruit bars at Jones Beach, watching fireworks in the distance over Queens & Brooklyn...

The pictures in my mind are beautiful.

But being in PA during the warm weather is just as wonderful. The chirping of the cicadas, sprawling green fields, teaberry ice cream at the dairy farm, sweet margaritas mixed with the laughter of friends, a sleepy kitten catching a breeze at the window, the hum of air conditioners...

I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have experienced both types of summer. Because no matter where you are, summer is a beautiful thing. 

Liz

Why I haven't been blogging (& why I need to more)

Life catches up with you. Sometimes, it's nothing but a whirlwind. In the past few weeks, mine has been one. I've been spending a lot of time hiding what has been bothering me. Yep. I have been embarrassed. While I'm licensed to practice law in NJ, I unfortunately just missed passing the PA bar.

It was close - trust me.

After all that hard work, I've been faced with the task of having to re-study for that exam again.

It's a tough one.

On top of that, I made the decision to start a new job. And we all know how that is.

So while my life has been in this weird in between spot right now, my eyes have been too tired to check e-mail, let alone write.

But here I am. I'm proud of how I've managed the past month.

You know what - life happens. We can only control how we deal with it.

I might not be playing my cards right but at least I'm playing them.

So I'm back to smiling. to laughing. to writing.

When life hands you lemons ...

-Liz

April Showers.

April is a strange month for me. Definitely one of transition. Somehow, PA is always caught between seasons. She wants so badly to be warm and green, but the cold never gives us that easily around here.

This April is no different.

This April has been filled with summer-like days & other days where I need a sweater and boots. It has been filled with the sight of beautiful flowers and growth and the sight of national tragedy. It has been a month of personal lows and personal strength.

April confuses me.

Last week, we had the most beautiful spring thunderstorm. The air was so warm and heavy that we opened all of our windows and let the rain drops fall into our rooms just to smell the freshness of it all.

This has been a challenging year for me personally, and a challenging year for our country. What keeps me going is the strength of my family, my friends, my community, this country. And me. I am stronger than I think.

Whether it is showering or storming in your life, open the windows & face it head on. You are much stronger than any storm.


- Liz

Small Steps, Big Changes

A spring table setting

Well, Spring is finally starting to show herself around the Lehigh Valley. The weather is starting to brighten, which naturally brings a brightening of my mood. I wasn't too happy about Easter being in March this year, but it did signal the end to a very long winter.

Spring in Pennsylvania is a beautiful time of the year. Things get so green here. This is the time of year where I realize why I left NY and moved back to PA. I wanted land. Space. Green. Growth.

Sometimes, I can't help but catch myself staring in awe at the spacious farmland stretching throughout the valley, the sky blue and freckled with clouds.

With a window cracked open, the scent of rebirth is in the air.

As I wrote in my previous entry, I was struggling with where I was at lately. But one of my sorority sisters sent me a little reminder that "we, not events, have the power to make us happy or unhappy today. We can choose which it shall be."

I am choosing happiness.

Things are not perfect. But they are good.

-Liz

Living life.

I cannot tell a lie. These past few weeks have been hard for me. I think it's a combination of things, but mostly it is that I am not where I pictured "26 year old Liz" to be. It's hard when you feel as if you are not maximizing your potential. I have been spending most of my free time attempting to remedy the situation. Attempting to add fulfillment in different aspects. However, even at what seems like my most vulnerable of times, it is hard not to appreciate the little things in my life. The way my kitten plays, breakfast trips with my dad, & finding antique treasures. These little pieces of my day are what have been giving me the strength to push through.

I know in time, I will see changes in life. Just as this snow can’t stay forever, neither can my mood.  I know, just as you do, that “this too shall pass.” And until it does, I’ll keep hanging on to the beautiful little pieces of my day.

I couldn't help but feel like the nightly devotional I received Sunday was perfectly fitting for the situation. It was a message from John 16:24, reading "until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

Keeping this close.

Stay warm (and think spring!),

Liz

Weekend Snippets on a Tuesday & My Thoughts on Easter Candy

trying out the hazelnut macchiato, flowers and patio shopping, new art hanging in the living room, & bach choir's elijah

 

We had our first few days of warmth around the Lehigh Valley this past weekend, & let me tell you, I enjoyed every second of it. Normally this winter, we have been so lazy on our weekend mornings, staying in bed late and doing lots of nothing until we were motivated by having to get up and turn the heat on in our place. But for some reason, we didn't hesitate for a minute on waking up bright and early on Saturday and I'm so glad we did. We made our first stop to the Promenade Shops, which is one of my favorite places to wander around when the weather gets warm. We did some window shopping, then I tried the hazelnut macchiato while reading the latest issue of Saveur magazine (featuring my favorite food - doughnuts!). There's nothing better than an iced macchiato, the sun shining through the windows of a bookstore, and reading about fried dough (no really, I mean, how perfect does that sound?)

We spent the day driving all over the valley, shopping and enjoying the windows being down in the car, followed by a relaxing evening at home.

Sunday wasn't quite as sunny, but the warmth was still in the air. My mom and I headed to Bethlehem Presbyterian Church to see the Bach Choir perform Elijah - one word - AMAZING. such a talented group of musicians and singers. Check them out here. If you ever get the chance to see them perform, I highly recommend going.

Now, we're getting ourselves back into the swing of the week. After grocery shopping yesterday, I realized this time of year is full of temptation. And that temptation is in the form of sweet, sugary goodness.

Easter candy galore - and yes, cheeseballs in the form of a large carrot

How does one resist peanut butter eggs or Just Born jelly beans or the gooey Peeps we let harden to eat?

The answer is simple: one doesn't.

The key to my Easter this year will be moderation. I have to remind myself I don't need a hollow chocolate bunny every time I'm at the store.

::dreams about biting off the hollow chocolate ear::

Sigh.

I also think I may experiment with some homemade candies this year. It's something I don't have much practice at, but I think the process of making them will make me slow down and appreciate the experience of eating them.

Or, you know, just make me want to eat the whole tray.

Peeps & love,

Liz

Have Your Cake (& eat it too!)

This week's "cherry berry" cake

I'm not going to lie. There's just over seven months until our wedding & I haven't paid a bit of attention to what I eat. I'm not saying I want to be on some crazy bridal diet, but, for my own piece of mind, I think I'd like to at least try to eat a little healthier. The problem is, I love cake.

Layer cake. Chocolate cake. Cupcakes. Carrot cake.

I didn't always love cake. But I've learned that there's something so comforting about baking. And from that came a healthy unhealthy obsession with icing & batter. A love affair of sorts, if you really think about it.

To add to my obsession, there's this little thing called a wedding cake in my near future. I mean, it's only supposed to be the most amazing cake ever, right? And for a cake lover, that's a pretty high standard to be held to.

There are plenty of bakeries in my area that come up with beautiful, delicious creations. And you'd think that for a cake lover, I'd have mine chosen already. But I can't. I'm stuck. It's like a roadblock. So much pressure on one darn cake that I can't even bring myself to pick it out.

Ok, maybe I am being a little dramatic.

But there is a part of me that wants my wedding cake to live up to my wild cake imagination. I'm scared to take the plunge into the world of wedding cakes because it's something that I love so much. And I've heard the warnings - "I didn't even get to eat the cake at my wedding!" "No one saw us even cutting our cake!" - but it doesn't matter. Picking out a cake is personal to me. I love cake. People know I love cake. There are all of these cake expectations!

I know there's a solution to this. I know it involves trips to bakeries and books of pictures of nothing but sweet, dreamy cake. I know I'll bite into countless samples of cake and frosting until I find just the right one.

Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

Eat a slice for me this weekend,

Liz

Through Instagram Eyes

I've spent a lot of time on social media sites over the years. I've likely given hours of my life away to "likes" and "favorites", "reblogs" and "hashtags". I've done it all. But I have to admit, my favorite form of social media to this date has been Instagram. I mean, when I first got it, I thought it was genius - a site to post pictures of how much coffee I drink or what I ate for breakfast?! See - genius! This made photo-taking accessible to me again. I had long traded in my digital camera for an iPhone, and I was never any good at setting up a shot. But Instagram made my pictures look pretty! A feat I felt I couldn't handle without the use of modern technology.

Not too long ago, I went back through my photo album on my phone and realized all of the pictures I've taken over the past few years can only now be relived through a filter. An inaccurate, albeit pretty, recollection of my life. Sure, I love a good Nashville filter as much as the rest. And I love the ease of Instagram. But my photographic memories pre-IG look a lot different. Maybe they're not perfect, but neither is my life. It's messy and sometimes dark. When I'm living life, seeing it with my own two eyes, there's no pretty filter. It's full of emotion, which makes it beautiful in its own way. It can't be cropped into perfect little squares and hashtagged.

some great memories - all unfiltered

I'm not saying I'm giving up IG or using filters on my pictures or going out and buying a new camera. I'm just realizing that maybe those old photographs captured life a lot more accurately. Off-center and blurry. And maybe, "no filter" is actually the best filter after all.

-Liz

Why I Want You to Read This Blog (& why I want to write it)

My "downtown" looks a lot different than Manhattan

The "blogosphere" is a weird place. You log onto your computer and learn intimate details of someone's life, most likely someone you have never met. And then, you likely go through a series of emotions. Smiles at pictures of happy babies and cute kittens, tears at a  touching video, & then that sneaky little green emotion of envy. "Why do they get to live that life and I don't?" "Why don't my cupcakes look like that when I frost them?" "Why can't I own that skirt?"

Yep. Admit it. You've been there.

And of course, then you want to blog because you think it'll magically make your cupcakes perfect and your home beautiful and the sun always shine at just the right angle in your pictures.

And that's likely why every blog I've ever written was destined for failure from the start. Which means you & I probably have a lot more in common than you think.

I live in small-town Pennsylvania. And I adore it. But the weather isn't California-perfect. It rains and snows and slushes and then rains some more. I'm not surrounded by incredibly tall skyscrapers that provide a picture-perfect backdrop to the events of my day.

Still picture-perfect

I can tell you that I did the NY fast-life, and it wasn't for me. I'd yearn to come back to Pennsylvania when I was there.

So here I am.

I can also tell you I don't have all the money in the world for pretty things. I'm paying off (or attempting to pay off) law school. If you're curious as to how much I'm paying off, google the tuition for a year of law school in NY. Multiply that by three. Add in living expenses. Yep. That much.

Needless to say, I like a good bargain.

So no, my cupcakes don't look like they popped up from the pages of a magazine. I can't show you the latest trends. And I won't make you envious of big city life.

But I am hoping you relate to this blog on another level. I hope you read about my happenings in a small-town and think "hey, I do the same thing." Or see my latest antique finds and get the bug to go thrifting. I hope you read about my struggles, the ups and downs, and relate to it on a level beyond pretty colors and perfect clothing.

And if you don't, I do have a darn cute cat to look at.

-Liz