Links I Love

If you're looking for a little weekend reading/entertainment, you're in luck! I've put together a few things that are on my radar this week and what I can't stop obsessing over.

1. Prince George's Royal Tour: I cannot get enough of Prince George!! I've been obsessed with Will and Kate since before their engagement (I held a royal tea party to watch their wedding- hats required), and their royal tour of New Zealand and Australia this month is a dream come true for royal watchers. As soon as they stepped off the plane I haven't been able to get enough pictures, gifs, and videos of the little prince in his adorable outfits, as well as his gorgeous mom. We should all aspire to be as classy as Kate!

2. Don Draper is Constipated: I am a huge Mad Men fan, and this Tumblr is devoted to pictures of Don, completely out of context, where he looks constipated!! I spent a solid ten minutes laughing to myself while scrolling through. Sometimes Jon Hamm really does look...well...uncomfortable!

3. Summer in Lilly: As summer approaches, Lilly's got a few rules for summer parties, especially if you plan on crashing! Number 1? Always wear your brightest printed dress! The full list of party rules can be found here. I am also super excited about the new Lilly summer collection! I'll take one of everything, please.

4. Kurt Vonnegut's Letter: I stumbled across this a couple weeks ago and have been meaning to put it up on the blog! A few years ago, some NYC high school students asked author Kurt Vonnegut to speak at their school. Instead, he sent this incredibly inspiring letter, read aloud and acted out by the students. I'm new to the Vonnegut fan club- I read Slaughterhouse Five last summer (it's a great little book for commuting on the train every day), and found it intriguing. What Vonnegut book should I read next?

5. Life Graphs: Confession, I stole this from The College Prepster but it was too good to resist. These 33 graphs represent various aspects of life (such as your knowledge of driving after your test or 'The McDonald's Curve'), in a hilarious and painfully accurate way. 

Head East

As much as I may complain about Long Island- the traffic, the crowds, the slow speed limits, the awful weather- sometimes I realize how beautiful parts of it really are. This weekend I ventured east with my mom to drive around the Hamptons. In my opinion, the Hamptons are even more beautiful in the off-season; there are practically no people except for locals, and the A-list celebs and billionaires haven't invaded just yet. It is still a peaceful, country New England-type town.

I usually only head way out east in the fall for apple picking (which you can read all about on Lydia's blog). But we decided, with little planning, to get in the car and just drive until we hit the end.

Once we reached the Hamptons we drove around all the beautiful neighborhoods, practically empty as the summer set hasn't arrived.



I'm not sure what these M&M-looking sculptures are supposed to be or what these crazy houses are for, but we had to pull over for a picture!

I certainly wouldn't mind a little country house like this; I'd live here year-round!

This picture is dripping with Americana- Norman Rockwell would love to paint all of Sag Harbor. 

Once we had driven around the Hamptons, we headed further east to the very end of the island, Montauk. After stopping at a few overlooks along the road to take in the breathtaking view, we reached a little parking area on a cliff. 

To reach the lighthouse, we hiked through a heavily overgrown area on a tiny, barely beaten path that dropped us out at the beach. 

From there, we trekked across these rocks (which was not an easy task) for about ten minutes until we reached the lighthouse!

Our view for most of our hike. A little scary but exciting! 

This place is old. We were surprised to see that George Washington had commissioned this as a historical site, A. the country was so new, and B. didn't he have a fledgling country to run, instead of running out to Montauk to see a lighthouse?

This sign was hilarious yet very serious. I wonder what kind of place this is...

Dinner was at the Clam Bar, a little shack on the side of the road offering fresh chowder and sea food. We knew it had to be good when we saw cars lined up and down the highway at different times during the day. Apparently this place has been featured on Sex and the City and is quite the pit stop for people on their way out east. 

Heading out east and just driving around was perfect and exactly what I needed before the home stretch as the school year comes to a close. I'm super busy with papers, finals, and projects, but I'm almost done and then it's back home for an entire summer!

On the Steps of The Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of my favorite places in New York. I have always loved art and going to museums, and living in a city full of celebrated art houses is a dream! This is my second trip to the Met this year, just because I love it so much! My next goal is to make trips to other museums in the city, including the Guggenheim, the MoMA, and the Neue Gallerie.

My mom came to visit this week, and I was so excited to be able to explore with her and spend time together! Friday we headed into the city with Lauren for the museum, Central Park, and great food with great people.

So happy my mom got to visit for an entire week!

I am obsessed with Impressionist painters- it's my favorite style of painting and seeing several rooms full of nothing but my favorite artists was almost overwhelming! Just look at the colors in this Manet!

This Renoir girl and I have very similar poses.

Van Gogh is one of my favorite painters, I freaked out a little over the rooms dedicated to his works and seeing his self-portrait!

Maybe it's my history with dancing, but I have always admired Degas. His sculptures, paintings, and drawings dedicated to the art of ballet and the ballerinas of the Paris Opera are breathtaking. 

One of my other favorite galleries is the recently renovated Near Eastern gallery, full of ancient Islamic art. Everything is ornate and elaborately decorated, like this prayer niche (above). 

This guy laying down drove me crazy- you're amongst amazing works of art get up and get off your phone!

The Great Hall of the Met. I think what I really love about the museum is that it is a beautiful old building with so much history. People go to museums to see art, but the fact that the place housing the art is a work of art in itself makes me love spending a day at the Met. 

Outfit details: Hat, vintage. Vest, Ross. Sweater, Kensie. Skirt, H&M. Boots, Target. Purse, Kate Spade. 

I had to take the stereotypical Gossip Girl picture with Lauren on the steps!

We had to make a trip back to El Centro- I can't get enough! It's hard to find good Mexican food in New York, so if you're like me and are looking for something authentic and delicious, hit up this adorable little spot, previously seen here. 

Pinterest Roundup

Ok, ok, I know I keep saying I'm going to plan out certain posts for certain days of the week and I'm trying! So, Friday is my Pinterest Round up day. This week is brought to you by my new found love of crafting and DIY-ing (fraternity problems).

This big letter covered in flowers- perfect for spring!

Make your own sorority letters- loving this idea, it's so much cheaper and you can customize it any way you want! Especially since it is so hard to find pre-made letters for pre-professional organizations.

I'm really in love with painting big letters, be it with a Lilly Pulitzer-inspired print (like I did for my little) or anything else! I'm loving these different ideas for painting letters, here, here, and here.

I was really inspired to craft more after stopping at Paper Source for the first time on Tuesday. One of my dance friends works there and I wonder why I've never been before, it's perfect!! I picked up a few of these cardboard letters, which I haven't quite planned on how to decorate yet. Any ideas?

Zeta Phi Eta- Beta Than You

"I'm in a fraternity."

"Don't you mean a sorority?"

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this I could pay off my dues! I am a member of Zeta Phi Eta, a pre-professional, co-ed fraternity for communications majors (there are several others for all kinds of majors). It gets a little confusing, especially when I post about it on Facebook, wear my letters, or tell potential students about it while giving tours of the school. And while it gets confusing, I absolutely love my fraternity.

Saturday was Big/Little Day, where we exchange gifts with our littles. They already know who their bigs are and what their pledge names are- they found out at initiation- but this was when we could all swap the crafts we have been working on for the past few weeks!

My lovely little, Geneva (we are the travel tree so I named her after the Swiss city) went all out and literally made me a crate full of gifts!

The reason I look so ridiculous in this picture is this: she found out I was her big by reading a quote, and I read the other half (cute, right??). We told the newbies they were going to read half the quote and their big would read the other half. Her slip of paper only had the first half of the quote on it, but she misunderstood and only read half of her paper, so the quote didn't really make sense but it ended up being cute! On the back of this painted owl (I'm obsessed with owls), she wrote the messed up quote!! I thought it was so, so sweet. 

I was like a little girl on Christmas morning going through all of my gifts! This is only a peek at some of the wonderful things she made/bought for me!

Outfit details: Shirt, Kennar. Chinos, Tommy Hilfiger. Shoes, Kenneth Cole Reaction. Necklace, vintage. Earrings, Betsey Johnson.

My twin and her little!

The new Gamma class!

(some of) my awesome Beta class. See, it's coed there's one of our boys!

I love my twin, I love my little, I love my big (even though she's gallivanting across Europe, Turkey, and Morocco this semester!), and I am in love with being in Zeta. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I have made some incredible friends since last semester. Tonight we held our Spring Internship Panel, our first big organization since starting our chapter last semester, and it was a huge success! We had a great turnout and I am so proud of everyone!