Why I love traveling, and you can too!

Happy Wednesday! A few months ago one of my blog besties, Molly, reached out about me participating in her series on a color of our lives. I decided to share this post on my blog today as a little throwback and to reiterate my love for traveling. I hope y'all have a great day! xo

When Molly approached me about writing this post it was clear to me what I should write about...traveling. Traveling is something that defines my now 23 years of life. I've hardly traveled in comparison to the immensity of the world but that's something I hope to remedy for the rest of my life. So today, I'm going to share some of the places I loved!

I admittedly have not done the best job about traveling within the United States. But this past spring my college roommate and I traveled to San Diego. I fully recapped our trip in 2 parts here and here. Check it out! Some of the best spots from my trip were...

Seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time and eating a delicious breakfast at Pacific beach...

...and visited the famous zoo...

...and walked around beautiful La Jolla.

If you get the opportunity, visit San Diego, I promise you won't regret it!

If you're looking to travel internationally Brussels, Belgium should be on your list. Brussels stole my heart with it's quintessential old European charm. The people are amongst the warmest and kindest I've ever encountered. 

The food is insanely delicious too!

If you're traveling alone or for the first time Belgium is a great place to visit. Most of the locals speak English, it is very safe and clean, and it's pretty tourist friendly. I also visited Brugge and Ghent while in Belgium as well. All of my Belgian recaps are here and here.

I've always beat to my own drum. So it wasn't surprising to me that when given the opportunity to study abroad in Russia for 2 weeks, I jumped. I had been looking for a short study abroad opportunity my junior year but could never figure out where I wanted to go. I didn't want to go to a typical place so Russia was the best fit for me! I would definitely encourage anyone to visit Russia. It was an incredible experience.

I've hit some of the highlight cities of Europe but Russia is such a unique culture. It's a completely different world and pace of life over there. It was so great to contrast my European travels with this trip. 

It's important to venture out and see parts of the world that aren't as polished and idealized. It's humbling and teaches you so much. I wouldn't necessarily recommend traveling by yourself to Russia though because it is a huge culture shock. It isn't as tourist friendly as other areas of the world. I skimmed the highlights of my trip here. 

I've also had the opportunity to travel to Spain, France, London, and Scotland. All of my trips enriched my life in some capacity. A couple of tips that I learned from my trips...

1. To set reasonable expectations. Traveling isn't always easy. It's expensive, exhausting, and challenging. Of course, it's one of the most rewarding experiences in life but it doesn't come without hurdles. I dedicated a whole post to touching on this. Check it out here.

2. Europe is a great place to visit because you can hit a lot of great cities and countries all within one trip. Utilize the trains that can travel within a country and internationally! I was able to do day trips using the trains. I talked about this tip and a couple others here.

3. Utilize staying in Airbnb. You get a larger space for a lower price! Also, it gives you a point of contact in an overwhelming new place. I talked about it in depth here. 

4. Pack a lot of layers and pieces that can be mixed and matched. Weather in Europe is all over the place. It tends to be chilly and rainy but other days its sunny and hot. You have to be prepared for all situations! Also, you're taking so many pictures that you don't want to remember how you wore yoga pants at the Eiffel Tower...am I right!?! I unpacked my suitcase here. 

Well there are some of my tips and experiences with traveling! I hope that y'all took away something to help you or inspire you!

Show & Tell Tuesday: My Hometown

Lauren, blogging on a Tuesday? It can't be! Oh but it is, my friends! I've been on a blogging roll this week and why jump off the train? I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to share a little about my hometown, the town that raised me, and link up with Andrea for Show & Tell Tuesday!

So at the beginning of my blogging life I blogged about my move and what brought me to Charlotte but I never went into depth about my hometown of Irmo. Oh yes, my hometown has such a beautiful name...Irmo. Sigh. But before I get ahead of myself a little bit of background on where I grew up.

So I technically wasn't born in Irmo, I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. My parents built a beautiful home there and planned to have roots in Raleigh forever until life had different plans. When I was 4 years old we packed up and moved to Irmo for my Dad's job. I don't have any photo albums in Charlotte with me so I have to work with what I have via Facebook, but this is a picture of 3 year old (sassy) me and my cousins on the front steps of my Raleigh home...

I cannot get over my sassy stank face or that dress haha! In case you're confused I'm the one on the right ;) There's very little I remember about our time in Raleigh, which is why Irmo will always be home to me. Irmo is a suburb that is right outside of Columbia, SC. There's not much there other than neighborhoods, a mall, chain restaurants, and lots of schools. It is a popular area for people to live who commute to Columbia for work. Irmo is admittedly a horrible name. It originated from the two city founders first two letters of their last names combined. Irmo sounds like a hick town but it really isn't haha!

After only a couple of months of living in Irmo, I started elementary school and quickly became acclimated to a new city.

Here's a picture my Mom snapped of me getting off the bus...

 

My neighborhood was up and coming and full of young families with kids my age. It was an incredible place to grow up because you always had a friend to play with. We always had a ton of fun! P.S. I'm the stinker on the right.

It's crazy to me because even after all these years I still stay in touch with my friends from my neighborhood in Irmo even though we all split in our different directions...Charleston, San Diego, Charlotte, etc. 

As I grew up and went on to middle and high school I started to make friends outside of my neighborhood. I think when I look back at my years in Irmo the memories that will stick out to me will be Friday night high school football games...

...spirit week...

 

...just goofing off with my friends...

...school dances...

...being a nanny...

...and graduation.

I think a common thread of all of this is that in the end, my hometown really isn't a particular place, it's where I have all my memories. My hometown is truly when I'm with my friends and family. It sounds cheesy but it is so true. I didn't have this realization till after I graduated college. What I missed the most about going home was being with the people I love, not the geographical location. And here I am now, typing this in Charlotte, North Carolina. I would've never expected this but alas life always has a way of surprising us. Will Charlotte become my new hometown? You know, I'm not sure. I would love to dig my roots in deeper but I can't do that yet, I have a lot to figure out first. In the mean time, I'm loving Charlotte and taking it one day at a time!

Well, there ya have it, a little bit about the towns that raised me! Not to mention, a lot of not so cute pictures of Lauren growing up haha! I hope y'all have a terrific Tuesday and see you back here tomorrow for Workout Wednesday! xo

Feb 29th Let's Talk: Guys in our life

Happy Monday! My weekend was fantastic. I spent time with some of my favorite people, my parents! More to come on our activities later. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to link-up for Let's Talk.

I questioned whether or not I should link-up for this post. I'm not dating anyone nor am I married. What could I have to contribute? But I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about how I'm dating myself. Yes, I said it. I realize that can come off as selfish but I think at 23 in a position where your life has changed a lot, it's okay to be selfish.

 

If there's one thing I could go back and tell my younger self, it would be...learn to make yourself happy because you're the only person you can never escape. Wow. Think about that. We are the ones who have to live with every quirk, every insecurity, every negative thought, etc. Instead of focusing on what you're lacking, how beneficial would it be if we took the time to fall in love with ourselves? 

 

There's a huge piece of my story that I haven't blogged about yet. I just recently got out of a relationship for 6.5 years. We met when I was 15 years old and dated throughout high school and college. He was a huge part in shaping my story during some of the most formative years of my life. And equally as important, he shaped my expectations of who I deserve. I haven't blogged about him out of respect for him and his family. But I could never speak a bad word about him, he was one of the kindest humans I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, much less loving. But the problem that ended up breaking us? I wasn't happy enough with myself to be in a relationship any longer.

 In a society where divorce and struggling relationships are rampant, what's the rush? We have so much life ahead of us. Being in a relationship with myself I expect to...

1. Dig deeper into what I want from life

2. Find my career path, that I enjoy

3. Make mistakes

4. Grow from my mistakes

5. Travel

6. Lean on God

That's just the tip of the iceberg. 

I know that by becoming more comfortable with myself that when God brings the right man into my life, I'll be ready. I'll be ready for the love, the sacrifices, the struggles, and the joys that come with a marriage. 

So the take away from today...whether you're already in a relationship or looking for the right person, your life will be enriched if you first learn to love yourself. I would love to hear what y'all think. 

Have a great day and see you back here soon! xo

Not an Ordinary Monday

The title of this post definitely speaks volumes for itself: Today is not an ordinary Monday. You might ask why...well, it's the beginning of my Michael Jordan year! Today is my 23rd birthday! I cannot believe it's here. I truly feel like my 21st birthday was yesterday...time flies so quickly. Each year of life is truly such a gift that I never want to take for granted. I relish in the fact that I've been able to live such a full life in my short time here on earth.

That being said, I want to keep track of the memorable things 22 brought for me. Things I'll always remember, cherish, and think back to.  Some things are small, everyday, memories and some are grandiose events that will go down in my book of life. Each event is so special to me because it brought me to 23. So without further adieu, here are 22 things I'll remember about 22...

1. I graduated from the best University in the entire world...Clemson! Graduating from college is something I often take for granted because I never gave myself the option to not a) go to college and b) not graduate. But nonetheless, it's an accomplishment that I'll always remember. 

2.  Accepted a job in the financial industry in January before graduation. I'm so thankful I was able to find and secure a job before graduation so that I could enjoy the rest of my senior year!

3. I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, a new city. It has to do with #2. Starting from scratch in a city where your family isn't nearby and you don't have any friends is intimidating. But I absolutely adore Charlotte and can see myself here for a long time. Read about my move here.

4. I talked about this a lot on my blog but passing the Series 7 and 63 for my job has been one of my largest accomplishments to date. This took an incredible amount of work. Read about the joy I felt after passing the exam here.

5. I crossed 2 countries off my bucket list by visiting Belgium and Spain. Read about my trip here, here, here, and here.

6. When I was moving to Charlotte, I didn't have anyone to room with. I joined roommates.com on a whim (I'm not kidding) and met this girl.

I would've never imagined that putting myself out there on a roommate website would lead to such a great friendship!

7. I knew that when I moved to Charlotte I would have to search to find a church I could call home. It only took my first Sunday to realize I found the perfect spot for me at Elevation.

8. I went to my first Panther's game! Go Panthers, keep pounding!

9. I started off my sports' kick around Charlotte by seeing the Knights play.

10. I went to my first NBA and first Hornet's game. Are you noticing a sports' theme? :)

11. This past weekend I went to see my Clemson Tigers in the ACC Championship and they WON!! They are #1 in the playoff rankings and headed to the Orange Bowl!

12. See above...I went to 5 Clemson games this season to cheer them on to 13-0!

13. I traveled with my college roommate to San Diego and Las Vegas. Read about our trip here and here.

14. Before I started my job, I spent sometime with my parents by going zip-lining in Asheville. Read about it here!

15. I colored my hair for the first time...I talk a little bit about my decision here.

16. I seem to go in themes...I donated my hair for the 2nd time to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

17. I made a huge leap and followed my heart to start this blog. I was so worried that it would be a huge flop but I've enjoyed it immensely. I'm thankful for each and everyone of you.

18. I got my pet fish, Matt-Lauer. 

 

19. I added 5 more holes to my ears all within 8 months. Sorry about that, Mom and Dad!

20. Decorated my first real apartment. You can read about my bed here.

21. I spent a lot of "ordinary" time with my favorite people, my family. Memories that I will never forget. I wrote about our weekend here.

22.  I coordinated Christmas dinner and decor for the first time by myself. I can't wait to continue that tradition.

22 was so good to me. But I have a feeling that 23 is going to be my best year yet. I cannot wait to share my new adventures with all of you. Have a great day! xoxo