Hectic

I keep on drafting out blog posts in the attempt that one might accurately portray my mindset right now. In fact, this post was drafted last week and I've since then been unable to get myself to posting it. Time to take care of it.

I'm amazed that it's already November, I'm distracted by lofty daydreams (see what I did there?), I'm stuck between being highly motivated and not motivated at all, and I'm simultaneously excited for and dreading the following 24 days. I've experienced an inspiring and emotional lecture by PostSecret creator Frank Warren, I laughed my ass off at Jon Stewart's comedic performance at Cornell, I've been frustrated by the NCAA's ruling that's kept RIT's star goalie benched, and I've nervously registered for my first 5-mile race. I'm looking forward to getting a new cell phone (one that works!), I'm excited that it's the holiday season (and the music that comes with it!), I'm sad to be ending my dream internship, and I'm dreading the departure of my boyfriend on yet another co-op.

So... I'm all over the place. I'm confused about how time is flying by so quickly, I'm worried about being lonely during winter quarter, I'm totally excited to tackle a new running achievement, I'm eager to spend all my time in the kitchen cooking comfort dishes and seasonal sweets, and I'm getting distracted by my future. My time at Partners + Napier is coming to an end, something I have been dreading since the end of my first week on the job. This has been the most valuable experience throughout my journey to a professional career. After spending a couple weeks here, I was confident in my decision to pursue Account Services. My time in the office has proven to be exciting, busy, stressful, educational, insightful, and truly fun. I am so incredibly grateful that this opportunity came my way.

With the close of fall quarter comes Rochester's infamous cold weather. We've had some snippets of snow, though it's nothing compared to the serious whomping Pennsylvania, southern New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and the rest of the northeastern seaboard experienced last weekend. "Snowtober" hit with a strong force, making us Rochesterians able to, for the first time, gloat about our lack of snow. With November comes brisker mornings and tardiness to work, as I'm not yet in the habit of building in that extra time to scrape the ice off my car. Time to get used to it, since we won't feel the warmth of the sun for about another 5-6 months.

With the cold weather, however, comes my favorite holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas. I bought some decorations for the apartment over the weekend and am now wondering when it is appropriate for me to hang them all up. I'm forcing myself to be patient, but all I really want to do is jumpstart my Christmas cheer. Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Welcoming Fall

It's officially fall in Rochester. The clouds are moving in and threatening to stay until March while the winds are picking up ominously. It's not all bad, though... the leaves are changing and I'm having no problem welcoming the change in temperature. This weekend felt like October, for sure. Rainy and cold, with highs reaching the upper 40s on Saturday. Josh and I were planning on going apple picking after our trip to the Public Market, but the uncomfortable cold made sure that didn't happen. Not too much to complain about, however - we opted to snuggle up and watch a movie at home instead.

What really made it feel like fall, though, was the return of RIT Hockey! The exhibition game against Brock University was Saturday night, and I couldn't wait to get back into the Corner Crew. The excitement and energy in Ritter arena was contagious. We cheered on our Tigers as they skated to a nice 4-0 victory over Brock :) Great way to start the season! The official start of the season is next weekend against Niagara, so we'll get to see how they play against our own conference then.

My co-op has continued to be fantastic, and I keep learning more and more everyday. It's getting to the point where I don't want to leave and go back to school... on one hand, school is a nice, safe haven but I am a bit sick of classes. I guess this is the form my senioritis is taking. I've found my dream job and I don't want to have to leave.

I received my first paycheck last week, and it's helped reiterate my desire to travel next summer... each time my bank account goes up, I see my chances of affording my trip get a little bit more realistic. With Oktoberfest taking place in Munich right now, I have such desire to get myself over there and experience new things. Who knows what will happen come May, but for now, I've got my eye on this.

Checking In

Apologies, guys. I was all gung-ho about my blog and self marketing this summer and then I managed to disappear. Well... LOTS has changed. I am still working on my website and professional blog, however they're not quite ready for public viewing. One of these days I'll get them there. The website requires more creative work than I'm used to while the blog just requires me to be a bit more frequent in my posting. I suppose I underestimated how much time I'd have to work on such things once Honors Orientation picked up in August. (Orientation was a blast by the way - such great new freshmen in the Program... sad to say it was my last Orientation! *tear*).

Speaking of Orientation, I received BIG news while learning how to belay rock climbers with the Honors freshmen. I am now officially a BrandCamp intern at Partners + Napier! I'm two weeks in and it has already proven to be an incredible experience. I'm actually sad that it has to end in 9 weeks. The people are amazing and the work that I've been given has been challenging and relevant. When I used skills that I learned in my various marketing classes at RIT for the first time, I was ecstatic! As it was last winter with my co-op at Martino Flynn, my life is now completely centered on advertising. I can't get enough and I'm constantly eager to learn more. Even in my first two weeks here, I am confident that Account Leadership is what I want to do once I have that coveted college degree in hand. It's a great feeling.

Besides my love of my new internship, life in Rochester has been great recently. The weather is cooling down again, promising snowfall within a few weeks. (I'm betting on the first flakes falling mid to late October). Luckily, I had my fair share of summer weather and I'm willing to welcome the cooler autumn air into the area. I'm not quite ready for snow yet, seeing as this past winter seemed like it would never end. Soon enough, though. Once I'm surrounded by crunching leaves, warm chai lattes and hot cocoa, and pumpkins for a bit, I'll be much more in the mood.

It feels so strange to come full circle with this blog. It feels like just yesterday I was complaining of the never ending cold, yet here I am again welcoming it.

Happy Fall!

Repurposing

This summer has been all about self-marketing. I've spent a lot of time on the computer at work, which gives me a lot of opportunity to stay up to date on all things Twitter - essentially, all things marketing, advertising, and social media. Luckily, this led to my finally purchasing a domain name.

Out of all those things I pushed off until summer because I'd "have more time", this is one of the few I'm following through with. And I'm super excited to really get into it. I'm hoping to include my resume, a collection of work I've done, and information of how to get in contact with me - including linking my Twitter feed and this blog. However, this blog has traditionally been a personal blog, not a professional one. That's why I've created a second blog (with my frequently-used moniker, kriserick) for professional use. Hopefully I don't find myself spread too thin in the social media realm, but social media is such a huge part of marketing and advertising these days, it's important I prove my aptitude.

More information (and links!) to come once I finalize both my blog and main website. Stay cool!

Predictable?

It's time for an all-too-expected post about how badly I want to explore the world. I'm coming up on my last year in college and am planning a galvanizing foray into Europe as a celebration. One last hurrah before I attempt to enter the working world. Although I'm a year out, I can't help but daydream about my plans. It sure doesn't help that I keep making pseudo-plans with various friends about where we will go. England, of course... London, Manchester. Then Dublin, or Glasgow. Then Bruges. Off to Paris, naturally, followed by Strasbourg and Marseille. Follow that up with Berlin, Goettingen, Marburg. Munich is a must. Then Prague, Budapest, Vienna, and Dubrovnik. Go back east a bit to Barcalona, Madrid, and Lisbon. Back west to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Tuscany in general. Keep going south... Rome, Pompeii, the Almalfi Coast. Hop around some Mediterranean islands, visit Athens and Crete.

Of course it's ambitious. Of course it will cost an unfortunately absurd amount of money. Yet ever since I left Europe just shy of one year ago, I've been itching to go back ever since. And what a perfect opportunity to do so (and perhaps my only opportunity for some time). To pass the time and help with planning, I've been perusing travel blogs (perhaps a bad idea for my Wanderlust). Here are some of my favorites:

I just discovered Fathom. It's an awesome collection of travel ideas and blog posts for everyone's traveling desires. I haven't gotten very far in it yet, but I can guarantee I'll be immersed in the website for quite a while. Check it out here: Fathom

I've recently started following this guy on Twitter and I just discovered his blog today. Andrew Evans works for National Geographic and has, what I can only presume to be, the dang coolest job in the whole entire world. He goes on trips and blogs and tweets all over the place, which is perfect for someone like me who is forced to live vicariously through those who have the means to travel ALL THE TIME. Or in this case, gets paid to travel ALL THE TIME. Check out his blog here: Digital Nomad or follow him on Twitter @WheresAndrew.

I'd say I've got 11 months to go until travel time. Wish me luck in my money saving endeavors!

Settled

Whoa, apologies for my complete lack of blogging. Life just kept getting in the way of my blogging intentions. Let me elaborate: in the past month, I've enjoyed some time at home, moved all of my stuff into the new apartment, spent half a week in Brattleboro, VT enjoying the Strolling of the Heifers weekend while eating inordinate amounts of Thai food, finally got to Rochester, unpacked everything, started work again, celebrated Josh's 21st birthday, visited my best friend in Washington D.C., and cooked a lot.

Despite the crazy rush to get things done, I'm feeling great. Josh and I have been greatly enjoying our CSA produce, and we even wake up at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings to beat the rush to the Rochester Public Market (well, attempt to beat the rush). Each weekend, our refrigerator is bursting with leafy greens and delicious veggies. Our fruit basket and surrounding countertop is covered in apples, peaches, plums, mangoes, bananas, strawberries, and fresh bread. Sometimes even a pineapple makes it's way into our apartment. While we can control what we purchase at the Public Market, the CSA continues to be a surprise each week. Since our first CSA pick up two weeks ago, I've since learned how to cook bok choy, turnips, and kale (which I absolutely love!) This week we're destined to receive some swiss chard, so that will be a whole new adventure! Each evening I plan out dinner and try to have it ready for when Josh gets home. Although he feels guilty for being so busy while I'm left to do the cooking, cleaning, and shopping, I really can't complain about about the food. I love the cooking I get to do (and sometimes baking!) and I look forward to it every night.

Veggie lasagna for Josh's birthday :)

Tie-dye cupcakes for Josh!

Basil-garlic pasta, roasted kale, fresh salads, and garlic bread

Our haul from the Public Market two weeks ago :)

Healthy blueberry-banana bread - sweetened with honey and full of oats!

Bok choy attempt #1 - pretty successful, but I've gotten better since then

Roasting some kale with salt, pepper, and garlic - perfect combo!

It's great being back in Rochester (and, more importantly, with Josh!) for the summer. I do miss being home, though, so it'll be great to enjoy some time there next weekend for the 4th of July. Time is, as always, absolutely flying by. Not sure when it became almost July, but I'm just going to ignore the fact that I start my senior year of college in 2 months and simply enjoy the beautiful summer and delicious food!

Focus

It still hasn't really sank in that RIT's spring quarter is over. It went by crazy fast, especially these past couple weeks. Trying to finish up all my projects and final exams while simultaneously packing up everything I own made it insane. But now I'm at home in New Jersey and I'm spending my time well: relaxing by the pool and hanging with my parents. It's been nice not spending an inordinate amount of time on my computer, as was my habit throughout the quarter. I've spent my time in a more productive manner, such as going on runs with my dad or finding nifty new things for my apartment with my mom. I've also revisited some of my more dormant hobbies - art (specifically, painting) and baking (french macarons!).

You really can't beat this life sometimes. This morning, I woke up to a crystal clear blue sky. I ran just shy of two miles around my neighborhood to the sounds of Panic! At The Disco's Vices & Virtues. Perfect start to the day. I followed it up with a breakfast of homemade apple oatmeal and homemade banana bread (with a glass of grapefruit juice, of course). You really can't deny that enjoying a wholesome breakfast out in a backyard of blooming flora (the welcoming, crystal waters of a swimming pool included) is the way to go. Sure, I've got some crazy great things to look forward to in the coming weeks, but I am just sitting back and enjoying the moment.

So many simple things to enjoy. The bright blue sky, the green grass, the pink, orange, and white of the freshly planted zinnias, the warmth of the sun, the feeling of a cool breeze on this hot day, and the soothing sounds of the birds chipring. Two days until move in. Seven until I see Josh again and leave for Vermont (and, ultimately, Rochester). But... focusing on now.