It only took 56 years but Barbie has finally made a body image change.  Not only is this a huge step in the toy world but it also resonates with young girls and their confidence.  For years Barbie has had an unrealistic and disproportionate body when compared to real life women.  Her body measurements are extreme and if Barbie wasn’t just a doll she would have to walk on all fours, definitely not what we want young girls wishing they looked like. The body shaming that our world portrays is so unfortunate.  It is inspiring that there are so many campaigns and celebrities out now to show girls that they need to love themselves how they are.  Every body is unique and beautiful in its own way.

I was always small framed and thin due to my genetics so I never had to worry about gaining weight. Even though many people told me how lucky and blessed I was, I never thought that was the case.  Our world shows that tall and thin is what every girl should look like but it isn’t all sunshine and daisies.  I always had a hard time finding cute clothes to fit me like all the other girls I went to school with. (thank goodness I went private schools and wore a uniform so I didn’t have to worry about this much) I didn’t experience bullying until I was in high school when people thought that I was anorexic which I definitely wasn’t.  I played sports and ate pizza but I would still get made fun of for being skinny.  I didn’t start to appreciate my genetics until I was in college and became more comfortable in my own skin.  I decided that I shouldn’t care if my chest didn’t fill out my bikini tops as much as the other women. I was happy with my body and if felt great!! Now that I’m out of college and have turned 25 my metabolism has started to slow and I have had to be more conscious about what I eat and add daily exercise into my routine.  At first, I hated this new transition but now have welcomed it because it has helped me adopt a healthier lifestyle.

So thank you to everyone out there fighting for what God has given them and showing the world that it is okay to be more than a size 2.  Thank you to the companies that have accepted every woman for their size and expanded their fashion lines to adapt to our world today.  The time is now to stop body-shaming and we can thank Barbie for being a part of the movement.

Yeti Coolers, ever heard of them? I hadn’t until a few years ago when the fratty and sratiness began splurging on them, everyones just wanting to be southern.  Don’t get me wrong, I love oversize Comfort Colors shirts and Chacos as much as the next sorority girl but I don’t get this new obsession with buying a $350 cooler! Apparently, they keep ice for 2 weeks AND they’re Grizzly Bear proof. I don’t know of any sorority girl who would need a cooler that kept ice for that long nor one that would ever be in the same vicinity of a Grizzly Bear, unless you go to college in Alaska which has two sororities (I can’t even imagine how often Greek Rank changes up there)

I follow the The Cooler Connection page on Facebook and have seen lots of girls posting pictures of their new seafoam green or baby blue Yetis that their boyfriends bought them.  Really? Your boyfriend bought you a cooler that’s as much as a designer purse which you will probably use 17 times.  I have to admit the monogram stickers that they put on them are quite adorable but I still don’t get this new fad because honestly, I’d rather have the purse; which I can also carry beer in although not recommended.

I’m one of those guilty ladies who spent hours/days/weeks painting coolers for fraternity men and thoroughly enjoyed it.  There’s just something about sanding the crap out of a plastic box and spraying white primer on it to get some college stress out.  Classes are optional and studying is hopefully not something you need to do in those weeks while you paint your masterpiece. It’s quite humorous to read on the Facebook page when girls post about painting a Yeti for their boyfriend.  Just to summarize “Don’t paint a Yeti, you will void the warranty, and die”. Apparently, lots of ladies don’t care and should bypass the drama and sand the damn thing. (I have seen many painted Yetis and they look pretty bomb so you go Glenn Cocos!)

I never thought that a colored Yeti cooler would complete the sorority girl uniform. Guess I won’t be accepted into this cooler club, not like I would be invited since I’m 25 and not in college anymore but I will still continue to rock my leggings and oversized fraternity shirts while I still can. Which should be for a while since I still get carded for R-rated movies, 25 going on 18.

Growing up is tough, I know I wrote a post about this a few months ago but it’s still true! I’ve recently run in to a work-slump and have been needing motivation to continue my upbeat personality and effectiveness at my job.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and company and the people I work with but it can be hard knowing that 5 days a week you wake up destined for an eight-hour day filled with emails, calendar invites, expense reports, travel booking, and coffee breaks.  It’s exhausting and sometimes I wonder if I should be doing something else. Is this the job for me or is there something else out there that I could use my skills at?  These questions have really been stressing me out recently to the point where it has made me sick.  But then I think about putting it all into perspective and how blessed I am to have such a great job with amazing managers and coworkers.  Sometimes you just need to look at your life from the outside to help you realize what you have.  I guess it also doesn’t hurt that I have a great support system of a boyfriend who does his best to calm me down when I have these panic attacks :).

I recently moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment away from the ‘burbs and closer to the city.  I absolutely love where I live!! I am closer to a lot more of my friends who have gotten their own places and we get together at least once during the week to do fun adult things! There’s always cool events happening in the city like beer and wine samples at the zoo or concerts and picnics at the Botanical Gardens. Our weekends still involve going to the bars downtown but our daytime weekend activities also consist of running errands since I am too tired to deal with traffic after work.  BUT with moving out came so many more responsibilities like BILLS! The past 10 months having a big girl job and living with my parents meant I saved a good portion of my check every week and then went on shopping sprees with the rest.  I now have to budget while putting money in my savings and having money to pay all my bills! I know it probably sounds like I am whining (which I am) but I am also really glad that I made this life-changing decision because it has forced me to grow up and learn how to manage my money better.  My advice to any young professionals who have a stable career and have been thinking about moving out on your own I say DO IT! It’s scary at first but it ends up being such an amazing life lesson that everyone needs to experience!

If you’re anything like I was in high school, which was 2005-2009, when MTV still had music shows like Total Request Live, which I watched everyday after school when I didn’t have sports practice, and showed music videos from 4am to 9am or something like that. But back to the teenage girl addiction of my favorite reality show ever, The Hills. Not only did I think Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Whitney Port, and Audrina Patridge were absolutely gorgeous and super envious of their lives living in LA, working at magazines, a record company and whatever Lo did…but Lauren and her friends had the best advice.

Life can be tough at times, I know I’ve gone through my fair share of rough patches and thought the world was ending (dramatic, yes) but if I have learned one thing in my twelve years of dealing with issues, because really what is there to fret about when your 11 years old other then figuring out how to ride your bike without training wheels, life goes on. Those three simple words have helped me get through some of more difficult things I’ve had to go through.

I’m about to reach the big 2-5 and have realized that life decisions don’t get any easier. These decisions are different then the ones I made when I was 16, 18, 20, 21, even 23. In high school, you make the choices that you are probably really stupid but you learn from them. I know that I didn’t believe in curfews, my parents did and of course they set them for me but it was pretty rare that I would be home at that time or at all…. I was quite the rebel in high school and probably gave my parents multiple heart attacks.  I was a good student and played sports so it’s not like I was out getting into really bad mischief and I never got into trouble with the law or anything. Moving onto college when I was actually homesick!! This was when I really started appreciating my parents again. They were so supportive of everything I did, especially when I joined a sorority. I definitely think that you learn and grow the most in college, your first time away from home and your parents. The opportunity to really make those mistakes that you hopefully learn from the first time you make them but it might take a couple more tries.  And that’s okay… I’ve always been a pretty laid back person, my first year of college I didn’t study near as much as I should’ve and I learned a couple years later that’s actually something I should do more of so I don’t have to take that math or economics classes again (seriously devil courses). I also learned that I shouldn’t go to that St. Patrick’s Day party at Zan the night before a test. That one took a couple more tries to figure out. Friends come and go, if you’re a social butterfly like I am then you probably meet people on a daily basis.  I had and still have a great loop of friends that I have met in college and am truly blessed for many of them to be there for me through anything. They help me through many of the things I have to choose between. We make choices everyday and even though they may be small they impact your life.

Life’s tough and sometimes that helmet may not be big enough for some of the decisions that need to be made. I’ve been hurt numerous times and the pain doesn’t get any easier the older I get, probably because we love deeper and dream bigger.   As I’ve gotten older the stress has started to grow which I didn’t think was possible, especially since I don’t have tests to study days/hours for or grades to maintain or part-time jobs that pay less than half of what I make now (seriously, how did I live through college on that! Oh yeah, my wonderful parents helped me. I seriously can never thank them enough). I guess that’s what happens as years go by.  Different day, new opportunity, unfamiliar things to blossom your future.  I’m excited for the opportunities in my life and have learned to not be afraid because everything happens for a reason.