time for rest and restoration

Now that I am on break (yay!), I am attempting to revert back to Holly as a social being as much as possible, without sacrificing all of the forward motion I created for myself during a hectic 18 classes in 6 months.

My goals for this break: to unwind, to work, to study, to spend time with friends and family.

Version A of unwinding: binge watching Netflix with B. Specifically, binge watching Dexter - it's a great show! Version B of unwinding: exercising more. I've started doing a nightly ab workout that only takes 10-15 minutes, and I am hoping that I can carry this through the next semester as well (I definitely slack in the working out department when the semester gets going - and that is something I would like to work on!). I have also been running after getting out of work. There are some really amazing trails in the general area of the location I work at, and it kind of forces me to make sure I am prepared for a run after my shift ends. Version C of unwinding: music. I want to perfect my Amazon Prime Music playlist for studying (no words!) and for times where I would like other music that I enjoy (a mixture of indie I guess you can call it, with some piano, jazz, classical, orchestral, etc. etc...I love most all types of music!).

instagram: xohollyd

Working. I'd like to make a few dollars over break. Not working like a mad woman (like I did to get into PA school - more on that on a later date), but a few shifts a week so that I can have some money to support my coffee addiction. Yes, that is a legitimate thing! Coffee = necessary essential.

I've been pretty good about keeping up on studying, sort of. In a much more leisurely way than I'm used to. It is really nice to head out to a coffee shop, plug in my headphones, and review/read/write. It is amazing how much I am remembering, despite how quickly it was thrown at us in class and exams. It is also nice to have a few assignments ahead of time (i.e. a pharmacology journal article review) so that I can take my time and really understand the scientific articles I'm reading.

Finally, the best part: spending time with friends and family. My first encounter with the outside world (my non-PA school friends) was going out with my friend while wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. I immediately headed to my mom's closet, where she keeps several brilliant 90's Christmas sweaters that fit the "ugly Christmas sweater" description perfectly! She doesn't like me saying that though. :) Then, of course, there is cooking dinner with/for my parents and sister, shopping with my family, Christmas eve mass, Christmas day lunch, and much more! I also plan on visiting a good friend from college in Philadelphia, and going for lunch with some of my local non-PA school friends. B and I plan on taking a little mini trip somewhere and exploring. We always have the best times when we randomly pick up, Priceline a hotel an hour or less before we get there, and find fun local activities for the next few days. Not going to lie, it usually always involves a lot of tourist attractions (we are both nerds at heart), yummy food, and shopping (for me - B is always a good sport about it)!

I am going to soak up every last bit of this break before I hit the ground running next semester.

xohollyd

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a simple hello could lead to a million things

hello,

My name is Holly. I am a twenty-something girl making recent strides in both my career and my style. 

I have been following some pretty amazing bloggers and instagrammers to evolve my style, which I felt like was recently in a rut. I am a clearance rack hunter by trade - no shame here!! But I have more recently been gravitating toward more durable and quality staples (my boyfriend just recently purchased a pair of $150+ leather booties for me...I somewhat freaked out about the price tag, but was glad I insisted that he at least use a coupon for a few dollars off!). 

Now onto the career aspect. I was recently accepted into physician assistant school (the start of my dream career!) and will be starting my didactic, or classroom-based, year in less than 100 days, which is crazy! I've worked really hard to get where I am, and I had many struggles along the way, but am super proud that I have been able to accomplish more than I thought possible in the past few years since beginning my whirlwind of an experience as an undergrad at Temple University (more on that to come in the future). 

My newbie blogger goal is to be able to share [mostly] these two aspects of my life on a platform that I have never attempted to use. A sub-goal is to become more comfortable with my informal writing voice (I've really only ever written some college papers, most of which were science-based. Eek!). But that is more of a note to my nerdy side so that I can hopefully look back on this first post and see improvement on my writing skills and internal voice development. I'd finally like to make the following statement: I'd like this to be a positive place. I want to be able to encourage others (if anyone actually does read this), but at the very least provide myself with the ability to express my thoughts and grow. That's not to say I may not post anything difficult in content, but I'd like to be able to improve or grow, and I'd also like to make this a safe place for anyone who may need a friend. I am really excited about this new beginning, and I hope you'll join me!

xohollyd

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