The Swing of Things

It isn't even the Fourth of July yet and holy whoa this summer is really taking off. Life has not gone as planned in both good and bad ways, but everything is still moving forward. And things are moving FAST.

Earlier in June I became the editor in chief of The Odyssey at Cornell, and I absolutely love the position. I get to call potential writers, edit articles, and get my articles published. It is a blast! It has taught me how to do phone interviews (for some reason I hated phone calls before) and recruit writers and even in the short time I've been at it I've already learned so much.

I've become a brand representative for a few more companies in addition to Kiss My Southern Sass, and this is my last week working away from home. Which means, I have started job hunting. I'm in the process of finding two jobs (on top of doing everything else) because I have big goals and those goals require funding. But that also means that going to work will mean so much more. I'm not just working, I'm giving myself the ability to have opportunities and open doors that I would not have without hard work in many different areas. Life requires work, but when you're working towards what you love, it can't be all that bad. Or at least that's what I'm hoping...

In addition to all of that fun stuff, the Fourth of July is on Friday! The Fourth is my absolute favorite holiday because it is celebrating our great country, and the men and women who have given us freedom. My boyfriend is coming up for the weekend, and among the weekend activities include a day by the lake, lots of fireworks, a trip to the zoo, stuffing our faces with Dinosaur Barbecue, and lots of time with family and friends. Nothing makes getting through the week easier than knowing every hour you're one step closer to a fantastic weekend!

Have a good week everyone!

Behind the Name: Pursuit of Pizzazz

Plot twist, I decided to change my blog name. What was previously "Seeking the South" is now "Pursuit of Pizzazz." Life is too uncertain right now to be focused solely on my goal of moving down South. And besides, New York isn't all that bad when it's summer and you can spend a few days a week by a lake. Right now in my life there are so many things to accomplish and experience, and I have never been more excited to just live. Obviously I like blog names that deal with the idea of a journey, and I also apparently enjoy onomatopoeia. So why "Pursuit of the Pizzazz"?

When I was looking up words that started with p (yes I actually Googled "words that start with p") I realized that pizzazz is such an underrated word. The idea of combining vitality, having energy and strength, with glamour, characterized by enchantment, excitement and allure, means you have to be almost irresistible. You have a mix that doesn't create physical attraction necessarily, but definitely energy and passion.

Pizzazz (noun): an attractive combination of vitality and glamour.

Honestly I almost didn't pick the word because it's not a very pretty word. It kind of sticks in your mouth and doesn't flow very well off the tongue. But once I looked up the definition, I knew that it was perfect. Life is never straight forward. It is not simple, or boring, and it is always dynamic and changing. The only thing I focus on is that the sun will always come up tomorrow, and time will pass whether I am cowering under the covers hiding from the world, or out there going at it trying to get what I want. I control my own future and I am going to make it the best I can. I have made mistakes in the past, and also been affected by things that I cannot control, but that is behind me and I am going to move forward. Besides, I think everyday would be better with a little more pizzazz.

"Just because today is a terrible day doesn't mean tomorrow won't be the best day of your life.

You just have to get there"

Commitment

I have only had a few relationships in my life, like most early twenty year olds. Obviously all of them had their ups and downs, and each of them had individual challenges that could either be overcome or could not. Different phases of life have their struggles that need to be faced, and each person has their own separate personality and life that they bring to the table. I have my good and bad qualities just as any person does, and I have changed a lot as a person since my very first relationship. And this is what is supposed to happen, we are supposed to grow after every experience in order to become better individuals, more able to contribute to society and another person in the long run.

Being in a relationship with another person means making a commitment to that person. I never really thought about the word "commitment" until my uncle started talking about it at dinner one night. Commitment is easy when things are smooth. You can easily say, yes I'm with this person, or yes I will do this task. But when things start to go wrong, or when you just really don't want to do something, that is when you actually need to be true to your commitment. The "for better or worse" clause in marriage isn't just there for shits and giggles. It's there because there is going to be worse, it just matters how bad the worse gets.

He discussed how in relationships, one of the reasons we find another person to share our life with is that we need someone for companionship. Every relationship needs balance. When one is weak, the other should be strong, and support the one until things get better. When both are strong, things should be great. Those are the moments that keep a relationship going. However, sometimes there are moments when both people are weak. This is when the commitment matters.

It's easy to talk about what to do when challenges happen, it's a completely different thing to actually go through with it. Things can be great one day and rough the next, but that just means that at some point after the low you'll have to go back up again. "Change is the only constant" but we can choose who we have with us when the rest of our lives are changing.

When I look at my parent's relationship I have so much love, respect, and admiration for them. They are true examples to me of how life can turn upside down, but what matters is who is there next to you. Standing with someone, even when they hurt you, because they need you and you need them is such a powerful thing.

Sorry for the ramble, I'm not even sure if any of this makes sense. I'm just kind of brain dumping on random thoughts. 

Brand Review: Kiss My Southern Sass

I admit that I am a little biased when it comes to Kiss My Southern Sass. Yes, I am a sales rep for them (if you want to know about how to become one leave a comment!) and yes that means I am supposed to promote them, but I love this brand because it is so much more than just a line of clothes. And it may seem ironic to some people that I'm a Kiss My Southern Sass sales rep because I'm from New York, but like me, KMSS believes in a Southern state of mind.

When I became a KMSS sales rep, I did not know what to expect. I applied through twitter, and because I loved the brand, I hoped I would get one of the super coveted positions. Obviously I did, but I was not expecting to quickly make connections that I formed with girls from all around the country. I have a KMSS big and a KMSS twin, and all of the reps have a Facebook group where we not only ask sales questions, but also get life advice, gossip about ridiculous things in our lives, and joke about our daily adventures. The KMSS rep group is a family, not a group of girls trying to make commission on cute tank tops and koozies. 

The story behind KMSS is also what endears the company to my heart. The founder started the brand in her dorm room, with the goal of creating a sassy but classy line of clothes. I think we can all agree that the world would be a little better off with more classy sass and less trashy sass. The brand has grown and is doing exceptionally well because the products are excellent, the messages and slogans are clean but interesting, and the team behind everything is remarkable. They represent America, a Southern state of mind, and cute style, all of which make life better!

Kiss My Southern Sass has tanks, koozies, spirit jerseys, pocket tees and tanks, and even a wedding line. They're an all American company that I am proud to work for, represent, and wear, and I would recommend them to everyone. I bought my boyfriend the men's "Running the World since 1776" tank and when I asked him to give a once sentence review he came up with "similar to America, this tank has no equal in awesomeness." If that's not a ringing enforcement I don't know what is.

Want to place an order? Visit

http://www.kissmysouthernsass.com/

and use code "@KMSS_Cornell" for a discount!

My Birthday Horoscope

Every year on my birthday my parents cut my horoscope out of the daily paper and put it on the kitchen table with some flowers so it's the first thing I see when I come downstairs. I think it's so sweet and I absolutely love it! This year, since it's my first year away from home on my birthday, they sent me it by text.

If you were born today, June 12th, your horoscope is:

 People born specifically on the 12th of June are imagined to be patient self starters who like the majority of Gemini's, are naturally good at getting their own way. The ruling astrological planet for this particular day is Jupiter making you destined to be highly optimistic, free spirited and sociable. If you have this birthday, a generous giving nature is bestowed upon you along with a realistic, responsible and dutiful attitude. Your clever quick wit allows you to make friends easily and gives you a fun loving, young-at-heart approach to life. Curious and expressive, you will also usually be prone to moodiness, restlessness and become bored fairly quickly. Individuals with a June the twelfth birthday are enthusiastic and alert with a desire to be constantly busy. Your multi-tasking abilities and fondness of diversity encourages you to be resourceful and flexible. A believer in fate you tend to cope well with change and rarely succumb to defeatism. 

I like to think it's pretty true, even though I don't put too much weight on this kind of stuff ;)

Also, thank you to one of my best friends for the monogrammed tumbler wine glass! This birthday has already been a great one because of all of the love I've felt from family and friends long distance. I can't wait to go out later and celebrate!

Behind the Name: Seeking the South

For some reason I have always had an obsession and love for the South. I used to visit family in Georgia every year for a few weeks until I was twelve, and given my hatred for the northern cold it just always felt more like home than New York. Don't get me wrong, Central New York is a great place to live and grow up, but if you're like me and absolutely despise winter, the snowiest city in America may not be the place for you.

My senior year of high school I applied to about 20 schools, about 13 of which were down South. Ironically, I ended up going to Syracuse University for my freshman year, and then transfering to Cornell. I suggest these schools to anyone that loves hilly walks to class in the snow, and not very good football teams. These schools kept me close to home and my family, and also were the best for my academic goals. But even though I chose to stay in the Northeast for college, I made the decision before college while in Conyers, GA for a horse show that I couldn't stay above the Mason-Dixon line for much longer. 

My first year at Cornell I met a girl from North Carolina, who is now one of my best friends. We both rode horses, loved sorority life, and all things Southern. She has a family house on the beach near Charleston, SC, and we spent a week last summer and this year's spring break on the beach, eating Chik-fil-a and Bojangles, and drinking sweet tea. When we are at school and battling negative temperatures and winter storms, we talk about how our lives will be when we live down south together, and it helps keep the dream alive.

I do not want to pretend to be something I'm not. People always ask me if I'm from the south, because I apparently seem southern. But I accept that there are parts of southern culture I don't understand, and that my view of the culture is skewed and fairly limited. However, I still cannot wait to branch out and move where the tea is sweeter and the weather is hotter. 

So as of now I have two more bitter cold winters, until my dreams of seeking the south become a reality. In the meantime I need to finish up school and get my life back on track, but I have plenty of motivation! So for now, I'll just stay in my southern state of mind. 

Side note: the picture is at a restaurant in Charleston drinking sweet tea with one of my littles. And my phone autocorrects BOJANGLES and BISQUITSSSSSSS because those are things I get excited about. 

Let's Kick it up a Notch

So today started out as a typical boring tired Monday. I woke up way too early, packed up everything I would need for the week, and drove the hour and a half to work. I was not feeling it at all today, so I got a GIANT sweet tea from McDonald's (a place I swear I usually never go) and continued on my way. There must have been something magical in that sweet tea because after I started working I started thinking about life, where I want to go and do, and who I want to become (typical Monday thoughts, no?) and I realized that I have never been more ready to take on the world.

Life for the past year or so has not gone as planned. At all. I don't think it could have been more full of surprises and twists if it was a soap opera. Sometimes in your head you think "this is how this is going to go" and life just goes "nope." And what can you do about it? So much more than we ever think. When things started to go majorly wrong I just threw my hands up and covered my eyes while things crashed and burned around me. I didn't want to move forward, I just wanted to feel happy in the moment, so I hid from my responsibilities. Obviously things do not go well in college or in life when you put your head in the sand anytime something serious comes along. Failing at things seemed to be a pattern, and the cycle of being a turtle continued. I didn't feel like I was in control of my life at all, so putting in effort seemed pointless.

Mistakes have been made. Some of them were major mistakes that will have consequences on my future. It was hard to accept that I was responsible for my own destruction as a result of circumstances I had no control over. I didn't know how to take responsibility, I wasn't ready to take responsibility. But now I have a plan.

Life is never ever going to be perfect. There will always be bumps in the road and sometimes you just have to let them knock you down for a bit, but then get back up and dust yourself off. There is so much that can be done to take control of life. Nothing is impossible to overcome, especially if you have people around you to support you through your rough patches. Life moves on one way or another, so you can either let it happen and do nothing, or you can work hard in the present to have a better future.

I used to have GIANT dreams. Become an Olympic rider, an NFL cheerleader, Miss America, and then many more that were a little more academically based and achievable. There has been a little twist in my plan, but I am going to move forward at full speed ahead. I know what I am capable of, and I am determined to be successful in all aspects of my life. This blog will probably be a significant tool in moving my life forward. It is a good way to measure growth, and reading about other bloggers' lives and adventures and challenges is motivating because it is real.

This was definitely not the summer of my dreams. I did not get an awesome internship in an exciting city where I could live on my own and have future opportunities. I am working part of my summer doing physical labor, and the rest of the summer is still up in the air. I thought it would be a wasted summer, and I was so angry with myself for causing this to happen. But I believe that everything happens for a reason, and the reason for this is to be able to move forward in a different way. Now I can pull my life back together. There are parts I cannot fix, I can only work to improve, but with extra time this summer I can really create a plan for launching myself forward. I never would have thought about looking into extra ways to get experience or income if this hadn't happened. There are opportunities I have actually created for myself from this situation, and that is what I plan to do going forward.

Look out world, here I come.

I'm now on Bloglovin!

Follow me on bloglovin here!

I like how bloglovin' lets you put all of your favorite blogs into one place. I highly recommend it! Hopefully this will give Seeking the South a little more traffic!

Roses and Rings and Rivers Oh My

 

This was one whirlwind of a weekend.

First of all, my more than wonderful boyfriend was able to come up for the weekend, and he surprised me with absolutely GORGEOUS red roses to celebrate our anniversary that was last Monday. He's the first boyfriend to ever give me flowers, I didn't even know how to react. It's been a crazy six months, but he is such an incredible man that he makes me want to be a better person.

We spent the weekend with my parents traveling up and down the lovely state of New York for my cousin's wedding. The ceremony was small, simple, and in the middle of nowhere, but it was lovely and focused on their love for each other. I watch a ton of bridal shows and sometimes the purpose of the day seem to get lost in all the glitz and glamour and gowns, and it was nice to see that they focused on what matters.

Instead of spending the night with everyone at the hotel where the reception was held, we were lucky enough to be able to spend the night at a family house on the St. Lawrence River. I spent many of my summers when I was a kid here, fishing and boating and just being a wild child. I had forgotten how much the river means to me, and it does show that even though the North can be awful and cold and miserable, it can also be so beautiful. It's a reminder that even in my hurry to move down South, you can't move forward without leaving some things behind.

This was the first time any boyfriend of mine has taken a trip with my family, or met my very large extended family on my mom's side, or visited the river with me. It was a weekend of firsts but I really enjoyed all of them. I feel very thankful that I have someone that I can share all of the parts of my life with, and that accepts me for all of those parts. We've been together for "only" six months but it has been so incredible, and it has taught me what genuine love and caring is. It's not my longest relationship so far, but it is hands down my best.

The weekend was spent with well loved family and friends, and it was a lovely reminder that sometimes it's important to stop and appreciate the beautiful things in life, like red roses, the love at a wedding, or a morning on the river.

"The most important thing in life is your family.

There are days you love them, and others you don't,

but in the end they're the people you always come home to.

Sometimes it's the family you're born into,

and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself."