Exciting News! All Things Trend

(pc: @aerie)

Hello again, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today I have a special blog post for you because I have news that I’m so excited to share! A few weeks ago I became a contributing blogger to Trend Magazine! I am beyond excited to be working with so many other talented and inspiring people and to be a part of the positive Trend community! You should totally go check them out at allthignstrend.org and follow along with the blog at http://allthingstrend.org/blogs/the-blog 

(pc: @ktnewms)

I’m looking forward to getting to share my love of writing and connecting to people J So far I have written two blogs about living and décor,  “Mixing School with Style- 4 Ways to an Organized Dorm Room!” (http://allthingstrend.org/blogs/the-blog/78611910-mixing-school-with-style-4-ways-to-an-organized-dorm-room) and “Embracing Fall in Your Office Space” (http://allthingstrend.org/blogs/the-blog/78607558-embracing-fall-in-your-office-space). I hope they inspire your own decorating style or even encourage you to start writing!

Let me know what you think!

~ Monique ~

Get Up and Dance: Autumn Playlist

"Hello. It's me..." 

I feel like in the last month so much good music has come out that I can’t contain my excitement! AND there’s still so much to look forward to, including Adele’s new album this Friday! I love when new albums from some of my favorite artists are released because that means it’s time for a new soundtrack! Time to learn all the new lyrics, learn the stories that the songs tell, sing along at the top of your lungs in the car, and make new lip-syncing video memories with friends!

Here’ are some of the songs I’ve been listening to on repeat the last few weeks:

Hello- Adele

Youth- Troye Sivan

Army- Ellie Goulding

Can’t Sleep Love- Pentatonix

Cake By The Ocean- DNCE

Alive- SIA

Perfect- One Direction  

What’s on your playlist? Let me know what you’ve been listening too!

~Monique~

Travel Inspiration: World of Wanderlust

Did I ever tell you what inspired me to start blogging? 

Well, it was a combination of a bunch of different factors, but one particular was that last year I discovered the World of Wanderlust blog run by Brooke Saward. I initially found her through Instagram (@worldwanderlust) and then started to follow her blog (www.worldofwanderlust.com) and YouTube channel. 

I have to confess when I first discovered the World of Wanderlust Instagram account I think I sent a good hour just scrolling back through every single picture and dreaming in awe of all the places Brooke’s travelled to. This is when I seriously considered taking up blogging. I have so many travel stories and photos from past adventures that I wanted a platform to share them on!

I still remember sitting on the subway, a few months after I had first discovered World of Wanderlust, telling my mom about how I just wanted to take a year off and travel, taking a leaf out of Brooke’s book.

I had always loved photography and taking pictures, but had never really thought of it as part of a profession, never considered the fact that being a travel blogger/travel writer was an actual real life job until I found the World of Wanderlust blog. And let me tell you, I was blown away impressed, particularly that Brooke is not much older than me (only a few years!), the she has built her own brand and travelled to so many places I myself want to one day visit! So until I get the chance, I will be living vicariously though Brooke’s photos and stories.

So thank you, Brooke, for inspiring me to want to share my adventures and go make more; for showing me that being a solo traveller is okay and can change your life. I truly believe that you have to travel to find yourself, and that is what I intend on doing (shhh just don’t tell anyone ;))

In the mean time I have been trying to share and write down my own stories from past travels to London, Oxford, Scotland, Paris, Berlin, and all around Italy!

There are still so many places on my list! Amsterdam, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Greece, other cities in England and Germany, Israel, this list goes on and on!

“I’ve left my heart in so many places” is a quote that I feel I connect with on a deep level. Every time I travel somewhere, specifically London and Berlin, I feel as if a part of me belongs there and once I’m back home I feel as if I have left part of myself behind. As much as it hurts to leave and I want to keep going back to the same places I have to push myself to go to new places so that I can keep checking places off my list! 

What’s on your travel list? If you could travel to one place that you’ve never been before where would it be?

Let me know!

~ Monique ~

November Goals

Happy November everyone! It’s the first week of a new month and that means time for a fresh start and new beginnings!

I always have mixed feeling about the start of a new month because I’m excited about having four whole new weeks of possibilities and watching the seasons change but I tend to get that nagging feeling of “no, how did this happen?” and “where did the time go!” As it’s my senior year of college I’ve been quite consumed by the latter and trying to slow down time as much as possible. So this month I decided to make some “November Goals” to get excited about the new month a head! 

Here are my November Goals and hopefully they’ll inspire your own:

Take more pictures! 

I love looking back at old pictures that remind you of certain memories. This month one of my goals is to take more pictures and document even random silly moment so that I can look back at them later.

Try something new

This relates to the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, “do one thing everyday that scares.” As much as I love this quote I hardly follow it. Lately I’ve been trying to step out of my comfort zone and do new things. This could be as simple as cooking something new or raising your hand in class to trying out a new club or taking up a hobby.

Take more “me” time

  With the overload of school work all my daily “me time” practices have just about gone out the window. These include daily meditation and stretches, reading for fun, taking study breaks, and just doing something purely for the fun of it! This month my goals is to get back to that balance between relaxation and school work.

Social media detox

Working on my computer and using the Internet is inevitable for school, but I have noticed that I have been spending more time on different social media platforms that usual. Therefore I’m setting a goal to go until at least lunch time before I check any social media…I’ll have to get back to you on how that one works out

Get in the Thanksgiving sprit!

This one is actually really important to me as silly as it sounds! So many people go straight from Halloween to Christmas/Hanukkah/ and the “winter” holidays that Thanksgiving seems to get skipped over. Like, seriously! There are people who have already been listening to Christmas music for a few weeks now! As much as I love holiday spirit I do think that’s a bit early and that Thanksgiving deserves more than being skipped over. Plus there’s so much to look forward to, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Let me know what your November goals are!

~ Monique ~