3.31.2014

Weekly Wishes #27


Making goals for the week is a lot less daunting than making goals for a whole month. I don't think I would think that if I weren't leaving in 2 months, but since I am, I do! It's easy to say, I want to finish my book this week. It's harder to say that I need to pack my life up in two suitcases so I can get on a plane.... Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. I won't have that goal until at least next month. Oh, jeez. Haha, I can't even process it so I'm just not going to!

Guess I should see how I did last month. My big goal was to clean and organize... I did make a little dent in this. I was planning to organize my room a bit today but I am feeling kind of sick so instead I am in bed with the dog, planning to read my book after this post. Just need to keep at it! This goal is moving through to April.
I also wanted to plan a trip to Wisconsin. I booked my ticket, so I'll be going there later this month!

This month I want to work on financial stuff. I have reimbursement forms to send in to the Peace Corps for my medical stuff, I have to do my taxes for the first time ever, and I have to figure out the best way to defer my student loans while I'm gone. So this is going to be sooooo fun.
Figure out a packing list - and get started. I am supposed to be getting info soon for a website that has a packing list on it, so I need to check that out and see what I don't yet have.
Have a fun time in Wisconsin! Those other two don't sound fun, so I thought I'd add this easy one. :)

What are you doing this month? Don't forget to link up!


The Nectar Collective

3.30.2014

Peace Corps Tasks

I think it's time for an update on my Peace Corps stuff! Mostly because for once, there is something to update about.

This week I finished all of my medical tasks! I went to the dentist twice in one week but that was the last thing I needed to do! Which was great because everything is due this upcoming week.... Because this upcoming week marks two months until I leave. WHAT?! I can't even process that. They sent me an email saying thanks for turning in all my stuff and it was the greatest. Now we just have to hope that everything is in good shape for me to be medically cleared.

I also finally found the Facebook group for my Moldova group! I have been talking to another girl who will be going to Moldova with me (on FB; we haven't met... kind of like how I haven't met any of you!) and we have been wondering for ages where our group is. Someone told us months ago that the current volunteers would be making one, but we hadn't found it until this week!

So now I've got another questionnaire to fill out that will match me with a mentor! Is it wrong that I immediately thought, omg I get a Moldova big!? There's the sorority girl in me, so if it's wrong, I don't want to be right!

Everything keeps getting more and more real! Eeeeeep!

[UPDATE: I'm currently serving in Moldova and blogging at Wining & Whining if you'd like to read about my experiences.]

3.24.2014

Weekly Wishes #26


Happy Monday! Anyone else think it's going to be the start of a great week?!

Last time I did Weekly Wishes, my goal was to have a fun week by accomplishing these things!
Make Veronica Mars t-shirts. Check. P.S. - greatest movie ever. They added more theaters so you should check it out!
Finish binge-watching the show. Almost check. We had to do some recap in the car on the way to DC, but we will eventually finish.
Make O-balls for the pot luck! Check! They were a hit, of course.
Do some more journaling. Oh, oops. I must have forgotten about this one.

This week I've got some highs and lows (did you ever do that in youth group or anything, where you talked about the good things and the not-so-good?)... Lows being that I have to go to the dentist TWICE and highs being that an old friend is coming to visit with her baby, who has yet to meet his Aunt Cat! I'm so excited to see her and him!

Get ready for my friend's arrival. I may have to do some cleaning... So that's what I'm doing after I post this!
Make a start to my MapMyRun goals. I made two - one for distance and one for number of workouts! I want to stay motivated in my Just Dance kick, and I want Lilo to get more walks!
Finish a book. I pre-ordered the new Veronica Mars book (yeah, I'm obsessed) but I've been really getting into my current book, so I want to try to finish it so I can focus on Veronica! I also want to get a little further into this book I'm reading about personal finance. It's super interesting and helpful, but not exactly a thriller.
Post-dentist, get all my paperwork in. Once I go this week, I am D-O-N-E with my medical stuff! All of it! (Assuming there aren't issues and whatnot) So I just need to upload it all and I will be carefree! (You know, sort of.)

Lately I'm not as present on the blog as I have been, but I am always Instagramming! So if you ever miss me, just check that out and it will be like we're hanging out again! :)

Don't forget to link up with Melyssa!

The Nectar Collective

3.11.2014

How to Attend A Murder Mystery Party



This weekend I went to a Murder Mystery party, and it was one of the most fun events ever! Now, I can't tell you how to throw one of these parties because I wasn't the hostess, but I would highly recommend planning one of these for your friends! And if you're ever invited to one, I've got some tips on how to make it even more fun!


A friend of mine from church decided to host this event, so she used Night of Mystery for all the info she needed! We all got character descriptions ahead of time: one page describing our character and a newsletter with short bios of the other characters, too. Then when we arrived there was more! We got envelopes to open at certain times during the party with more information to help us. Pretty sure the Night of Mystery site provided everything she needed to throw this party!

My whole family, all dressed up!


The theme was Homecoming, so we all got to wear fancy clothes and go back to high school! Which brings me to my first tip: Dress for the occasion! I dug out old prom dresses for my sister and I to wear. My mother didn't have a prom dress, so we went to Goodwill and found her something fun! One of the guests called the hostess to ask what the "school colors" were so she could match her outfit to them! If you look fancy, you feel fancy! And if you wear something that you wouldn't normally wear, it can help your character come alive!


Play along and try to act like your character! My dad kept saying that drama was not his strong point, but luckily it doesn't need to be! The character descriptions and envelopes give you enough to go on so that you know how to act like your character without having anything to memorize and without telling you exactly what to say. There was a guest that I didn't know ahead of time who immediately glared at me when I walked in because she knew our characters didn't like each other.

Be a good sport! Even if characters don't get along, that doesn't mean it affects your real life! It was so fun with everyone being someone else for the night, but it was even more fun knowing most of the guests and knowing that they weren't really those people! So don't take anything personally if your little sister turns out to be the murderer or something.... That brat.

Take lots of pictures and just have fun! I didn't take that many pictures (besides a ton of my BFF and me) but the hostess did and I can't wait to see them! So if it looks like fun just from the few I've got to show, imagine the rest of the night! I won Homecoming Queen (well, Dolly Dancer did, captain of the Pom squad, aka my character for the night) and I wore that crown all night! There were also prizes for Best Dressed, Best Sleuth, Most Spirited... Who wouldn't want to win a cute little trophy?






If you want to attend one of these, I'd suggest hosting one! The host doesn't have to know anything more about the plot than the guests do, and it was really so much fun. They have different themes and supplies for different numbers of people, so you can have all of your friends in on the action!

Happy sleuthing! 

3.10.2014

Weekly Wishes #25

My friend and I at the Murder Mystery we went to - more on that later!
Another Monday?! Oh right, that's normal. I will confess that I have so far spent the majority of my Monday in bed.. It's not my fault; I had a puppy to snuggle and it's maybe the hardest thing in the entire world to leave a bed with a sleeping puppy in it.

This is going to be a fun week, I've decided. My Weekly Wishes are going to only be enjoyable ones! Not that I ever have terrible things I need to do (although occasionally I suppose I do), but this week is going to be extra fun!

For one thing (okay, basically the ONLY thing I'm thinking about), I get to see the Veronica Mars movie. 

I'm not saying it's going to be the greatest day of my life, but it's going to be up there for SURE.

So what does that have to do with what I want to accomplish this week?

Make Veronica Mars t-shirts. My mother and I need to wear VM shirts to the premiere! I have my Kickstarter shirt but she doesn't have one, so I'm just going to craft one for each of us!
Finish binge-watching the show. You won't be surprised to hear that I've already done this once, but now my mother needs to as well. Luckily she remembers the first season and part of the second, but we started on season 2 and she has made a checklist of how many episodes we have left before the movie on Thursday. She even calculates the hours of watching left.. And I wonder where I get my crazy from.
Make O-balls for the pot luck! My mother texted me this morning saying I should make O-balls and now I've become obsessed with the idea, because they are so yummy I just can't stand it.
Do some more journaling. So far it's 2 months in between entries, so.... Clearly need to work on that a little.

Have a great week everybody! Is anyone else planning to see Veronica Mars?? Tell me so we can become best friends! And don't forget to link up with Melyssa! 

The Nectar Collective

3.07.2014

Art + Tea Party.... Best Day Ever?

"Country Roses" table

So you are probably sick of hearing my Weekly Wishes about this tea party thing I'm doing, right? Well, guess what! This is the last time! Because the tea has happened and I have the pictures to prove it.
My sister and I drinking tea!

It was SO. MUCH. FUN.

My church does this Ladies Tea every year, but since I've been at school I have only been once before. But this time I could go, AND I was asked to be a hostess!

What's a hostess, you ask?

My Botticelli-inspired table
There are a number of tables at the Tea, and each hostess will be in charge of her own table. This means decorations, favors, place settings, and then during the tea making sure everyone is happy and full and has everything they might desire!

My door prize and table
Since the theme of the Tea was "Art" and I was an art major..... It makes total sense that I couldn't come up with an idea for my table theme, right? Yes, it does! Too many ideas equal having a hard time picking one! But you may know that I have a tattoo of The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, so I decided to go with Botticelli as a theme. My main focus for decorations was a fabric centerpiece that I painted on and lots of shells to go with the Venus part of the theme. My mother let me use her wedding china for my place settings, and my guests got magnets of Botticelli paintings!

I don't even like tea but I did like whatever kind I ended up choosing. The food was so yummy and our server was the greatest so we were never without whatever we asked for (for example: Ummmm, we need some more chocolate things please, and moments later, he would bring us a tray of delicious chocolatey things!) The men of the church were our servers, which was so fun!

Looking fancy!
Our table ended up winning a lot of the door prizes and raffle prizes, so it was basically the greatest table of all. My sister won a pearl necklace and earrings, my mother won some cookies and cups, and I won a set of lavender tea and sugar! I can't wait to try it.

Oh, and I almost forgot the greatest part: dressing up! Lots of people went all out with hats and fancy dresses/outfits.. It was so fun to get fancy!

If you're ever in Virginia in the spring and want to go to this lovely event, just let me know and I'll hook you up :)

Enjoy pictures of some of the tables! Can you guess the theme before you read the captions?







A Parisian cafe - she brought in a painting and everything!
Monet-inspired table

Culinary arts/photography table
Pop art table, complete with "LEGIT" artwork (which I had to explain to an old lady)

Anyone craving tea and cookies yet?!

3.03.2014

Weekly Wishes #24


I've been neglecting The Wall! I have been ultra-busy with tea stuff and I took a trip down to school to reunite with friends, sorority sisters and fraternity brothers! But I'm back to talk about my goals for the month!

First let's see how I did last month:

Get all the tea stuff bought/found/put together and set up for the tea. Yes, holla! The tea was on Saturday; I'll be doing a recap soon! Here's a preview.
Get all my medical tasks completed. Almost! You know I've survived the doctor, and now I've made it to the eye doctor too! All I need to do is the dentist!
Write and mail a letter every day! Welllllll... I didn't quite accomplish this. And yet, I did. I ended up not making it all the way through the month, but I did send 25 cards! So I think that counts, because it was more than the goal of 23! I just did multiple cards a day in the beginning and then ran out of steam.
Do some more exercising! I went on a hike, once. So. Whatever!

It is now less than 3 months until I leave for Moldova (yesterday was the "3 months exactly" day), so I need to prepare!
My big goal for the month is to clean and organize... basically everything in my entire life. I know, I know, the general goal thing is hard to manage and I should make specific ones... But my room and my house is a mess and I can't pack until everything is where it should be, etc..
I also need to plan a trip to Wisconsin. I basically have to go see my grandparents before I leave. I haven't seen them in more than a year (I think? I can't even remember) because they live so far away. I don't even want to think like this but while I'm gone for two years, anything could happen. They are in their late 80s, so.. I need to figure out when I can go visit.

I think that will keep me busy! Be on the lookout for my TEA POST! I know you'll be thrilled because when it's posted, you won't have to hear about the tea anymore! Hehe :)

Also, check out the logo I made for my friend's YouTube show (I've had that on my Weekly Wishes for a while)! He loves it, and I think it's kind of adorable too! Don't tell him I said adorable, though. And he paid me in wings and beer, which is one of my favorite currencies.


Have a great March! Hopefully the rest of the month is not as snowy as it is today... And don't forget to link up with Melyssa!


The Nectar Collective