Celebrating Mr. & Mrs.Jackstadt

This past weekend was filled with all things wedding.  From the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, to the wedding celebration and reception on Saturday to unpacking gifts and centerpieces Sunday, I spent a lot of time with my family. I was fortunate enough to be chosen by my cousin to be a bridesmaid in the wedding. Saturday we all got ready at the crack of dawn and from there the day flew by. My cousin and her fiancé got married in my families church- St. Norbert. Although it may not have been the warmest day it was still beautiful and we took tons of pictures at several locations around St. Louis. The reception was held at the Frankilin Room in Soulard and was a ton of fun. I was so proud of my cousin, the bride, for all te hard work and time she put into crafting the centerpieces and decorations by herself. I thought I share a few of the many pictures from the weekend.

I love spending time with my family and I also love witnessing something as beautiful as a marriage between two people I care about. Weddings are such a fun celebration! Although, it was a stressful and busy weekend, I would not have traded it for the world. Lets be real though, who doesn't love weddings?

 

xoxoxox

Emily Margaret

Monogrammed Monday

Happy Monogrammed Monday! It's the Monday after Spring Break and classes are slow and boring and I can tell this is going to be a busy week. However, Monogrammed Monday gives me a great excuse to talk about monograms. I like monogrammed anything but  one of my favorite things to monogram is clothing, especially sweaters. I have several monogrammed sweaters. I like monograms on my sweater because they are classic and give a plain sweater some pop of color or fun. I never buy my sweaters from websites or shops that specialize in monogram clothing and accessories. Instead, I like to buy my own sweaters and get my monogram embroidered. This way I get exactly the type of sweater I want and the exact monogram I want, it is also generally less expensive as well.

Above are examples of some of my monogrammed sweaters. I like monogramming clothing because monograms are the perfect accessories. Monograms allow you to personalize your clothing and truly make it your own. I hope everyone is having a great Monday if not, find some monograms to brighter your day!

xoxoxox

Emily Margaret

Spring Break aka SB2K14

This past week I was on Spring Break. After seven days spent with my friends staying up late and relaxing all day, I am dreading waking up at the crack of dawn for school tomorrow. From laying out and getting sunburned to long walks on the beach, I must say I had a great Spring Break. 

I spent my first days in St. Louis then road tripped to Gulf Shores, Alabama. The twelve hours in the car were definitely worth it after I stepped foot in the soft white sand. I enjoyed laying out on the beach, playing paddle ball, and attempting to fly kites as well as long walks, collecting sea shells, and reading in the sand. The small condo was perfect for us girls to bond and enjoy our time together from watching and quoting Bridesmaids to making fun dinners, snacks, and drinks. Although I did not want to leave the seventy-five degree beach, I was looking forward to my mother's cooking, my dog, and my bed. However, I must say it wasn't the perfect trip due to the horrible sunburn I had after the first day which turned into sun poisoning, swollen feet, and blisters.

I am going to miss the beach and the free time, but I must say I am looking forward to getting back on a schedule. I have a busy week coming up including my first day of  working with theatre from social change, managing the first varsity soccer game, my last R-K pep rally, and being a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding. It's crazy to think how quickly senior year is going by, but I will just continue to live each and every day to the fullest. I hope everyone else had a great Spring Breaks too!

xoxoxox

 

Emily Margaret

The Day of Luck

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I hope everyone had a great sunny St. Patty's day full of green, luck, and laughs. I am lucky enough to live in a city with strong Irish heritage. I celebrated on Saturday with my friends. It was a perfect, sunny spring day. We all went downtown to the parade and had a great time together with my friend's crazy Irish family. After the parade we all went back to my friends house were we feasted on food and laughs. It was a fun filled day and I am so glad I got to spend it with some of my closest friends. I am looking forward to getting back together with my friends to celebrate events like this even though we all are attending different schools.

Monday, my mom had family over for a St. Patrick's day feast. Even though my family is only about 10% Irish my mom still like to celebrate and decorate the house. We had a huge dinner of corned beef, cabbage, Ruben sandwiches, roasted potatoes, and even green jello.

I hope everyone else had a great St. Patrick's Day. I am looking forward to seeing more green as spring is just around the corner. 

xoxoxox

Emily Margaret

The Beauty of Pro/Con Lists

As my friends and many of my classmates know, I LOVE to make list. I love to plan, organize and create any and all types of list. The easy way to do this is on paper and different color pens. My favorite pens to use are the Papermate flair pens. They come in wide variety of colors. They are bold and do not bleed through paper. I enjoy writing in my planner with these pens and making all kinds of list- such as to-do list, packing list, planning list, and pro/con list, any list you name it. Over these past weeks I have been making many pro/con list for both myself and my friends. Pro/con list are very useful for making decisions, such as college decisions. I thought I should share how I make my pro/con list.

As seen in the picture above, this pro/con list is specifically for making college decisions:
1. Choose the two things you want to compare- in this case two colleges.
2. In one color title the paper, make points you want to compare (size, cost, location, basic facts)
3. Then make titles for separate pro con list (such as certain programs, academics, student life)
4. Fill out the information using a different pen for each college. For pros use a + as a bullet point and for cons use a - as a bullet point.
5. Any information you cannot find online, contact your admissions counselor.
6. After completing your pro/con list read through and add all the pros and subtract all the cons.

As seen in the picture above, this pro/con list was also created for making a college decision but really could be used for anything:
1. Define the two things you are comparing, and title your list.
2. Use different color pens: a pro pen, a con pen, and a fact pen.
Or
1. Define the two things you are comparing, and title your list
2. Make a pro column and a con column.
3. Use as many different color pens and compare. For example in orange a pro for Quincy is the price, and still in orange a con for UMKC is how expensive it is.

Although a pro/con list is helpful in making decisions, you should ultimately chose what you think is best for yourself. Good luck on making your list! I hope making list will be as helpful to you as they are for me.

xoxoxox

 

Emily Margaret

Spring Break Packing

Who doesn't love going out of town or on a road trip with their friends? Who doesn't love the beach? Next week I am going to Gulf Shores with some of my friends for Spring Break. As I said before in my previous post, I love making lists. When I go on trips I make a list of clothes I need to pack, toiletries I need to pack, food I need to pack, other things I need to pack, and items I still need to buy. I know a little OCD, but I just love making lists. Making lists for trip help me not to over pack, help me not to forget anything and also help me not forget anything when I head back home. I do not leave until Tuesday, but I am practically already packed because I am so excited. I cannot wait to wear sundresses and sandals, tank tops and bikinis. I am looking forward to a great trip my friends and their moms. To make this trip fun for us, my friends and I got matching tank tops made and all are packing the same blue comfort color tees, coral spirit jerseys, and monogrammed baseball caps. We also are making matching bejeweled water bottles and some other crafts. Tuesday cannot come soon enough!

Instead of making everyone jealous by talking about all the summery clothes I am packing or all the beach essentials I will be needing, I decided to talk about something else. It is almost a fifteen hour car ride so I thought I should share with you some items I am packing for the car ride.

1. Snacks
Everyone knows snacks are one of the most important part of road trips. Whether you enjoy sweets, salty, or healthy, everyone loves snacks. Snacks are also great for road trips because people cannot talk while their chewing! Some of my favorite road trip snacks are popcorn, trail mix, and suckers.

2. Water
It is important to always stay hydrated even while you are in the car so water is a necessity. Water is the best drink to bring on road trips because it has no caffeine, no sugar, and is easy to clean up if there are spills.

3. Pillow and Blanket
These two are the most important for me. I always take a pillow and blanket with me when I travel. Why? I love sleeping in cars. I am always cold so a blanket is a must. I also am very picky about hotel pillows and blankets, so I just always play it safe and bring my own.

4. Phone Essentials
Can any leave their house without their phone and their phone essentials? I carry headphones, chargers, power bars (portable chargers), and phone cases with me daily. Phone essentials are extra important when you are cooped up in a car for fifteen hours. How am I suppose to be iastagraming, tweeting, facebooking, pinteresting, blogging, and texting my mom without a fully charged phone?

5. Reading Material
Trips are a great time to read! You have so much time to kill in the car and reading is relaxing. Whether you enjoy reading novels, magazines, school books, or even cook books. I plan on taking some school books, magazines and a novel with me on this trip.


What do you like to pack for road trips? Who else is excited for spring break? Looking forward to sharing my trip with you all when I get back!

xoxoxox

 

Emily Margaret

College Decisions

My fellow seniors will all agree with my when I say it is tough to make a college decision. As this time of the year rolls around seniors are becoming more stress because not only is it harder to concentrate on homework and studying but also because there is a lot of work with college admissions. When applying for schools, I suggest filling out applications for any schools you might be thinking about at all. This is why I ended up applying to seventeen schools. However, after receiving my scholarship packets, visiting the schools, and researching, it was easy to narrow down the list to four. My top four were UMKC 6 year BA/MD program, Quincy University, Rockurst University, and St. Louis University. When doing my research on these schools I looked into their pre-med program, student to teacher ratio/relationships, research and internships available, distance from home, opportunities in the community, and cost over four years. After attending some interviews, I was able to define my top two- Quincy University and UMKC. From here, I have been working on specific pro/con lists as well as communicating frequently with my admission and guidance consolers. In the next post I will share with you a great way how to make a pro/con list. Good luck to everyone else who are trying to make college decisions!

xoxoxox

Emily Margaret

2014 Acadamy Awards

As long as you do not live under a rock, I am sure you were aware that the Academy Awards were hosted tonight. Although I can honestly say I have not seen a single film that was nominated for an Oscar, I still watched the entire show with my family. In fact, my mother was so into it she had an Oscar's Party. We had little appetizers and she made me my favorite food- popcorn. We also filled out ballots for who we thought were going to be the winners. Obviously, I won the ballot game... Just kidding- my father did! One thing I do enjoy about the Academy Awards though is all the beautiful actresses and actors. So, instead of doing homework I came up with my 2014 Best Dressed:

1. Lupita Nyong'o

2. Cate Blanchett

3. Jennifer Lawrence

4. Olivia Wilde

I hope everyone is enjoying the Oscars and a peaceful Sunday night! I am praying for a snow day tomorrow, not only cause I have been putting off my Western Civ essay but also cause it will be a cold, boring, Monday!

 xoxoxox

Emily Margaret

Happy Late Mardi Gras!

I know this is late- by a whole week... but any way Happy Mardi Gras! For those of you who do not know what Mardi Gras is I can provide a brief history. The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to medieval Europe, passing through Rome and Venice in the 17th and 18th centuries to the France. From here, the traditional revelry of "Boeuf Gras," or fatted calf, followed France to her colonies which is why it ended up in New Orleans. There are many traditions that go along with Mardi Gras from the fun mask, purple, green, and gold beads to balls and crazy parades. But most importantly the food, after all it is Fat Tuesday. I celebrated Mardi Gras with my friends at the parade downtown. Did you know St. Louis has the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the USA? I also had a Fat Tuesday feast with my family were I enjoyed all the foods I will be abstaining from during lent. I must say I had a fun Mardi Gras and I am diffidently looking forward to the next holiday filled with parades and parties- St. Patrick's Day! 

Xoxoxox

Emily Margaret