I'm so excited/tired I can't think of a decent title for this post

So, today is pretty much the day I've been waiting for for my whole life. Okay, maybe that's a tadddd bit exaggerated, but I am pretty stoked about tonight.

Tonight, I am going to see the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Cue happy dance*

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I'm so incredibly pumped. They've been in my top bands to see live and it is finally going to happen :) :) :)

My dad is driving in to come visit me and be my concert buddy since he is a big DMB fan too. It's going to be a fantastic weekend.

*Disclaimer* If you follow me on instagram (@calyseb), be prepared to be flooded with pictures of the whole shindig :)

First though, I've got to go give a presentation at a leadership retreat for my job -- hence the too early in the morning post. Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person?! ;) Oh well, I'm roadtrippin' it two hours away with my boss and co-worker so it should be fun (But not as fun as tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Okay, I think I've used the maximum amount of exclamation points allowed in a day so I'll sign off now.

What are YOU up to this weekend?!

Thoughts for your Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Hope your week is going absolutely fabulous so far -- if it isn't, heck, it's hump day you can pretend to start all over and make it a fabulous one.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Summer Edition

Summer is quickly approaching and I am so excited!

There is so much to do during the summer -- everything from BBQs, beach/pool time, to just spending time with friends & family. It's great. 

I asked my lovely sponsors to share what they're looking forward to about summer and their favorite summer activities and here's what they said!

Abbigayle Rashae from True Blue Abbi

Blog

 

A little bit about your blog: I've had TBA for nearly three years now, and it's really grown a lot! I post my personal outfits, life snapshots, inspiration, and product reviews, mainly.

What are you most looking forward to this summer? My birthday is July 31st, and I'll be turning sixteen! So, that's pretty exciting.

 

Favorite summer activity? I don't really do much in the summer, but I love that I have more time to read and write. I'd also like to focus more on my photography!

 

Rachel from t-shirt and jeansss

Blog / Pinterest / Bloglovin

A little bit about your blog: A place where I let my creativity run wild, where moments are treasured, captured and remembered. A place where I share my ideas and thoughts, make new friends and learn from each other. 

What are you most looking forward to this summer? If there are four seasons where I come from, if I have a summer to look forward to, I'd say I'll look forward to going to the beach! :) but hey, in Malaysia, the weather is mostly summer all year round with bouts of wet (rainy) season in between and yes, the beach is what I love about sunny days and summer! :)

 

Favorite summer activity? Soaking in the sun and getting sunburnt!

 

Amy Lynn from Fabulously Ordinary

 

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

 

A little bit about your blog: I love to write and I write about what I love! You'll find my thoughts on life, books, and coffee, and I share products I love, projects, and even the occasional healthy recipe. I have a loving husband, and a wonderful family, and I count myself so very blessed. I also love to make people laugh, so you will find plenty of embarrassing stories, all for your entertainment!

What are you most looking forward to this summer? So many things! Going on vacation with my husband, and camping with my family. Then throwing a baby shower for my best friend! It's going to be a fun filled summer!

 

Favorite summer activity? This one is so tough. Family barbecues, long days spent at the river, and laying out to watch the stars at night would have to make up my top three!

 

Jayda from Sing Out Your Song

Blog / Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest

A little bit about your blog: Sing Out Your Song is the place where I celebrate the little things that make life fun. Cute outfits, great recipes, and pretty home decor may not be the most essential and important things in life, but I absolutely love them, and I think they're definitely worth celebrating! 

What are you most looking forward to this summer? I'm looking forward to wearing cute dresses, painting my toenails, drinking smoothies outside, roasting marshmallows, camping, and road trips. Oh, and to not being cold. That's a huge plus!

 

Favorite summer activity? My favorite summer activity is probably camping. Sleeping outside in a tent is one of my favorite things.

 

Chelsea from Life Unpublished

 

Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook

A little bit about your blog: Hello! I'm Chelsea, I blog over at Life Unpublished. I like to blog about my life and share things that interest/inspire me. If I am not on the internet blogging or learning something new, I'm probably either reading or taking photos with my iPhone! I love making new friends, so stop by my little piece of the internet and say hi!  

What are you most looking forward to this summer? I am most looking forward to the hot weather (hopefully!), beach trips and summer nights. I also can't wait to bring out all my summer clothes again!

 

Favorite summer activity? Swimming in the ocean!

 

Laurie from The Brotherton's

Blog / Twitter / Instagram / Bloglovin

A little bit about your blog: I'm Laurie Brotherton. M is my better half. We have two fur-babies, Kodi & Maggie. You can usually find us outside with our girls, or snuggled on the sofa watching our favorite shows. We are newlyweds enjoying this new life called marriage. Please stop by & say hello! I love meeting others :)

What are you most looking forward to this summer? I'm looking forward most to our trip to St. Augustine this July. I love a good beach vacation & I've never been to St. Augustine before, & I've heard so many great things about it.

 

Favorite summer activity? Probably my favorite summer activity would have to be playing badminton with my family. My parents have a grass court in their backyard, & when it's nice enough weather we can spend hours out there playing.

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I love some of their favorite activities! They seriously sound like so much fun and I'm excited to try some of them myself :)

If you have a sec, make sure to check out these lovely ladies' blogs and other links which are located right below their pictures! They are so fun and I love that I get to be blog pals with them :)
  
What are some of YOUR favorite summer activities?

Have an awesome Friday and weekend!

Music Love Thursday

Here's a couple of little videos that will hopefully make you smile for this week's Music Love Thursday:

Isn't this kid adorable?! Such an entertainer already.

Thoughts for your Wednesday: Mind Blown Edition

I'm such a night owl. I can literally stay up until the wee hours of the morning and be totally alert and awake, but ask me to set my alarm and try to get up at that same time after sleeping -- not a pretty sight. 

Obviously the majority of the world doesn't cater to night owls like me -- my job & internship require me to wake up at what seems to me to be an unearthly hour, but to you morning people it is perfectly normal. 

Because of this, I've been making a conscious effort to try and get to bed at a decent time -- it works 50% of the time and the other nights when it's midnight and I've been laying in my bed for two hours trying to fall asleep I turn to pinterest to keep me company. 

I know, I know -- I've read/heard countless studies on how electronics further stimulate your senses and instead of helping you wind down, but it works for me, okay? 

All that to say, last night I was having one of those "can't fall asleep as hard as I may try" moments and I logged on to pinterest and my mind was forever blown when I saw this image: 

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For those of you who may not know who the above two characters are, allow me to explain. 

The guy on the left is Inigo Montoya (as cleverly displayed on the name tag) -- he's one of the characters in the movie The Princess Bride which I love. So corny and cheesy, but I seriously have it on VHS. Yes, VHS still exists, people!

The guy on the right is Jason Gideon, one of the main characters who used to be on Criminal Minds, which I also love. The show is seriously so interesting. 

So we have Inigo Montoya and Jason Gideon which is actually the SAME PERSON!!!!!

WHAT?!?! After all these years of watching the movie and the show and I NEVER put it together. Never.

Seriously. This was my thought process after I saw the above image. 

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And then it was this:

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I know, I know -- this is a simple and trivial thing, but fuh realz you guys, my mind was blown. 

After all these years, I had no clue.

And that was the post for Thoughts for your Wednesday: Mind Blown Edition. 

You're welcome. 

I'm backkkkkk

I'm back. After a long finals-induced hiatus, I am done with all that nonsense for this semester! I turned in my last paper last week and I'm SO ready for a little breathing room :)

I also get about a month's break from my internship so all I have to focus on this month is my job and well...ME! ;)

I'm excited for May -- family coming to visit, having the time to do some exploring, and I get to see DMB in less than two weeks!!!

It's so nice to have my weekends free again -- no bothersome papers to write or silly research to analyze. This past weekend I ventured into downtown and went to a little festival my friend helped to coordinate. It was a Dragon boat Festival and although I've heard of them before, I was unsure of what to expect. It was actually pretty neat -- lots of fun vendors and entertainment. Plus the teams were pretty amazing and man, they were zooming through the water. I also added to my little plant family with a baby fern. So now, Stan (my very first plant) has a friend. I think I'm going to name this new little addition Leo. They say talking to your plants is good for you and them, but I don't talk to mine, I just give them random names. ;)

It's amazing how refreshed I feel just by having a little down-time. Time when you can forget about the to-do list and just be.

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So I hope you can find the time in the all the busyness of your life to just be. Even if it's waking up five minutes earlier to take in the calmness of the moment before you rush out the door or if it's just forgetting about the piled up dishes in the sink and deciding that they can wait another 10 minutes so you can sit outside and soak up some vitamin D.

It's worth it, friends...believe me.

Last week as I celebrated with sweet friends on the arrival of their precious baby boy, the very next day I also mourned with another sweet couple as they lost their beautiful baby girl after only a few moments of finally meeting her.

Life is short and we are not promised tomorrow -- take the time to love & live. In the end it's all that really matters.

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Here's a couple rules for all you commenters

So here's the deal, folks.

I LOVE responding to all of y'all's super sweet and kind comments, but it's hard for me to respond if you're one of these two commenters:

1). If you're a "no-reply" commenter, I can't reply back to you via email! I try, but it just doesn't get delivered anywhere. So, if you want to change (and get replies back from me!), check out this super simple tutorial.

2). If you comment as anonymous. I want to "know" who I'm talking to and in my experience those who comment as anonymous usually don't have anything nice to say anyway :)

So, yeah, you should take care of all that if you fit into one of those two categories, that way we can be blog pals and I can thank you for your kind comments. :)