Introducing: Prince Asi

“Can I haz cheeseburger?!”-Asiago

Hello all!

If you follow me on Instagram, or are my friend on Snapchat you are well aware I adopted a kitten a few weeks ago. Asiago *yes, like the cheese* is the cutest fuzzball around and I  am completely obsessed with him. This little guy has already managed to cause me loads of stress, heartache, but most importantly, love.

I adopted my little nugget from PAWS, a local animal shelter. After a fantastic first weekend with Asi he started acting really lethargic. He wasn’t interested in any of his toys, and pretty much slept for two days straight.  This sent me into a complete state of panic, and I rushed him to the vet. The doctor told me he had lost weight since I had been there for his wellness exam four days earlier, and his blood tests came back saying he was anemic. The vet told me he likely had contracted FIP, a deadly virus that kills cats in a matter of weeks *cue heartbreak*. I was devastated, and spent a lot of time sobbing at home and blasting John Legends ‘All of Me‘ while drying my tears on my sick furry baby. The next day I took him to the vet to have another test that would confirm he had been exposed to the virus.

Over the next several days, Prince Asi began to act like a normal, healthy kitten running, jumping, playing, and exploring. All of us were completely surprised since the vet was practically convinced he had contracted the deathly virus.

A few days later we got the results of the blood tests,  negative *YAY*.  We celebrated by getting the little man a laser pointer (his new fav).  Though he was negative for FIP, we still weren’t sure what was causing his anemia. I went to the vet this week and it turns out he’s no longer anemic! During this whole ordeal PAWS has been so helpful and offered to pay for all his tests (close to $650).

Asi’s glamour shot

We still have no idea what was wrong with him those few days, but I am so happy he is a healthy kitten! Although I’m not a fan of his 6AM wakeup calls via kitten paw slaps to the face, it’s amazing the life that one fuzzy ball of love can bring to a home.

Here are some of the hundreds of pictures we’ve taken of the nugget. Enjoy!

Asi loves to cuddle!

Asi is convinced this glass was made for him. Its purrrrfect!

 

Shannon’s Summertime Wishlist

1. Embroidered blouses // 2. Mini backpack // 3. Statement earrings // 4. Black romper // 5. Sandal booties 

Summer has finally hit the midwest with full force, and I couldn’t be happier about it. This winter was a long one for us, so it’s pretty amazing to finally enjoy the outdoors again (yay for outdoor seating, patio bars, and long walks around the city). A new season means new items that I have been oogling over. I keep noticing embroidered tops around the city, and can’t wait to get my hands on a flowy number like this old navy one. Carrying a purse around the city can hurt one of my shoulders, so a fun little backpack like this one would be a good investment. Statement earrings, because duh. I love me a good romper, and I think I need a plain black one that could be dressed down for daytime, and dressed up for a night on the town. Last but not least I have been eyeing these summer sandals for MONTHS, but still don’t have them for some reason…

Do you have any summer items on your wish list?

5 Life Lessons I Learned in College

Kayla and I at graduation!

I graduated from college last Saturday. Wait, what? Yeah. After three wonderful years in Wisconsin, it was time for me to leave the beautiful dairy state with two-degrees in hand and big plans for the future! College didn’t just teach me about advertising and psychology (my two majors), it taught me about life. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to get a higher education, and here are 5 lessons I learned from my time as a Warhawk.

1. There are a lot of different kinds of people, and they’re all great

 

 

 

College really opened my eyes to all the different kinds of people there are in this crazy, cool world. I grew up in a large suburb of Chicago, so my school was pretty diverse, but honestly, I was ignorant. I didn’t know much about other ethnicities, genders, or sexualities. My all time favorite college class was sociology of gender where we openly discussed the  problems behind a binary gender system, and the importance of acknowledging and accepting people who don’t fall into this weirdo binary system we have. I didn’t know much about transgendered, intersexuals, or any other variant before this course and it really opened my eyes. I also met a ton of people that had such varied backgrounds, it really helped me understand and appreciate other people.

John Green *the best author/vlogger ever* does a way better job at summing up this point here 

2. Failing is actually ok, and probably better in the long run

Me and two other girls who were on the Ultimate team my freshman year (I wasn’t good)

I’m not talking about failing classes, because that’s definitely not better as you’ll be stuck at college for 100 years if you do that. I’ve always been a big goal setter, and it wasn’t until I went to school that I started failing at goals I set for myself. I had my heart set on being an RA after my freshman year, but didn’t get it. I wasn’t good at ultimate frisbee. I didn’t get the first internship I applied to. And I didn’t make 1 million BFFs. BUT THAT’S OKAY. Even though I failed at a lot of things, I still graduated as a happy, healthy, employed 21-year old! I learned a lot from those failures, and they ultimately shaped me into the positive go-getter I am today.

3. Stop comparing yourself to other people

Look how glam my RA staff looks, you should’ve seen us during hall closing

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram make it super simple to make you feel like you’re a loser by comparing yourself to your friends. Wake up buddy, you aren’t a loser. It’s easy for people to portray their lives as fabulous, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for them either (they get pimples, gain weight, and get stressed out too). Think about how you portray yourself online, and realize how glamorous your life appears to outsiders.

My problem was that I always compared people’s social lives with mine. I realized I was an introvert after one of my first psychology classes, and it all made sense to me. I have amazingly strong, and wonderful relationships with BFF #1 and BFF #2 (Kayla and Logan). I don’t think anyone else can really compare when it comes to those two people, and that’s okay. I don’t need a lot of social stimulation to be happy, and college taught me to be okay with chilling in my room alone, watching Netflix, and texting Kayla non-stop. That’s just my thing.

4. Stand on your own two feet

Emily is the best example of someone who does new and exciting things all on her own

Every year of college was really different for me. For example: my first year I was a part of my university’s Ultimate Frisbee Club Team, my second year I was the event planner for my dorm’s Leadership Involvement team first semester, and I was hired as an RA second semester. My third, and final, year was spent as an RA, and a social media intern. I took all of these positions on my own and without having guaranteed friendships on the other end. I remember walking up to the first ultimate frisbee practice all by my lonesome not knowing anyone. It was terrifying, but also super liberating! All of those experiences taught me l could be outgoing with people I had never met *small victories, people*!

It’s so so so important to be able to motivate yourself, and not be dependent on other people. So stand tall and do something crazy all by yourself.

5. Be willing to change 

I always thought I would be a wine person, but beer is WAY better.

If you ask me, “high school you” and “college you” should be totally different people. College should question your beliefs, values, and ideations. It should challenge you to think about life, people, and experiences in a totally new and exciting way. It’s so important to be open to learning about other ways of living! Try a new food, switch up your style, or befriend someone who’s totally different than you. At 18, you are way too young to be set in your ways, so stop being a stubborn teenager and open your eyes to all of the possibilities your life has to offer!

 

Although I’m done learning vocabulary and theories, I’ll keep these lessons I’ve learned near and dear to my heart for the rest of my life. Cheers to constantly learning, changing, and evolving.

 

Baby, It’s COLD Outside

Happy New Years! 2014 has a lot of changes in store for Kayla and I. We will both graduate from college *yikes* and start our lives as “big girls” in the “real world.” I’m sure it’ll be an exciting and terrifying year for the both us; I’m sure you’ll hear all about it through our little, wonderful blog!

I’ve been living in Chicago over the past week with Kayla; we spent the week ringing in the new year and going on mini snow-filled adventures. Chicago in the winter is kind of a terrifying experience. Temperatures dip below freezing, blizzards hit, and you’re forced to cover up your beautiful outfits with a giant parka. Nonetheless, the city still has our hearts (a love hate relationship for sure).

Kayla and I decided to brave the cold last Saturday and hit up our favorite places in Lincoln Park. We went to Molly’s Cupcakes and split a very tasty, and accurately named Dream Bar. Just an FYI, Molly’s Cupcakes was on Cupcake Wars and won (so they’re kind of a big deal)! They also have these super sweet swings for seating, how fun.

For those of you who don’t know, Kayla and I  absolutely love shopping, it’s kind of a problem… We love shopping, but hate spending the money that us poor college kids just don’t have. As a solution, we like to hit up resale shops. Our favorite kinds are these “upcycling” stores like this one here (yay Crossroads). It’s like a grown up version of Plato’s closet.

With this arctic-like weather, what could be better than warming our little tummies with a nice hot bowl of soup?! Soupbox has two locations in Chicago and about a billion awards for being one of the best restaurants in the city.

One of my all time favorite things to do is browse little shops like the one above. They are filled with all the things you’ll never need but always want. I get lost in the beautiful trinkets that I hope to fill my future home with one day. Lucky for me, there are tons of these little boutiques scattered across the city. Mission: find every single one of them.

What have you been up to in 2014?!