Family Weekend 2019

Happy Sunday everyone! It's been about a month since I last blogged, and trust me it's been a whirlwind. I know that I said that I would be posting once to twice a week,  but life has been a bit tough recently and I haven't been able to post. I have a few partially written blog posts that I will be finishing up, so March will be filled with more of 'This Fashion Girl'. This weekend was Family Weekend at my college, so my parents came up and we had a very busy 24 hours. Here's a little insight into how I spent my family weekend.

Just making a call from the Dean Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island.

At 12pm, I met my parents at the basketball game. Providence College was playing Marquette at the Dunkin Donuts Center (our home arena). I had been to all the games this season except for two, but this was so exciting because it was sold out because of alumni & family weekend. Unfortunately, we lost the game, but hopefully, next season will be a lot better. Our freshman basketball players are so good. This was my parents first time at a PC basketball game, and they had such a fun time. 

Afterward, I hung out in their hotel room for a bit. My mom and I went to get my eyebrows threaded, which was such a necessity at that moment. Then we went to Friskie Fries and bought fries with chicken, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, and sauce. We might've devoured it before taking any photos...

Then, we went to the hockey game at 5pm. My school was playing UMass Amherst, and we won 3-2! This was super exciting because of the last two games they played each other, Providence had lost. The arena was filled too because of the weekend, and it was fun to have at least one win for the day. 

For dinner, my parents took me and my two friends, Colleen and Alex, to dinner. We hung out in the Dean Hotel first and took some photos before going to RED FIN Crudo + Kitchen, which is a very yummy tapas restaurant.

This phone is located outside of a karaoke bar called 'The Boombox'.

The three of us posing with the cute red phone. You can check out more of those photos on my Instagram!

 The Next Morning...

 My parents and I went to Rebelle Artisan Bagels and bought three different sandwiches to split. Above is the "Breakfast Sammi" which is a spinach frittata and bacon on a bagel. My mom got egg and bacon on a bagel (not shown, but either she or I will post it on insta).

 Lastly, we bought cream cheese and lox bagel. I have never tried lox before, and it's very good. I've been to this store twice, and have only gotten the "vegan dream," which is absolutely delicious, but I decided to switch it up this time. Rebelle is partnered with NitroBar, and so they have a cold brew tap, so I had to buy it.

Before this weekend, I hadn't seen my parents in person since January 12, so spending even twenty-four hours with them meant a lot. Although we facetime a lot, there's nothing like being present with people you care about. Also, it's so fun for them to come up here because we get to try out different restaurants and cafes for breakfast and dinner that I wouldn't have gone to. It's more of an opportunity to discover more about Providence and catch up. 

Two Coffee Shops in Providence & A New Blogger

Hey everyone! In the typical blogger fashion, I went to some cafes in Providence to do some studying with my friend Colleen. I had principles of marketing final earlier that day and my brain was absolutely fried, and so I needed to leave campus for a bit.

Around 1:30pm, we went to the Nitro Cart - Nitro Bar ( https://www.thenitrocart.com/ ), which is a Rhode Island coffee shop that has portable carts that come to Providence College and Brown University when it's nice out. They have nitro coffee (which is all the craze now!) on tap, and I might have a small obsession with it.

So, the Nitro-Bar is located inside the DASH bicycle store. I was able to hear the founders of the NitroCart speak at my college, and they said that the reasons were for 1) it's hard to find space 2) the bicycle store had the customer demographics they wanted to reach.

The bicycle store is technically next to the coffee bar, but some of the bikes line the walls and they sell merch as well. 

We ended up sitting at this cafe (in a different seat than where this photo was taken) for about 2.5 maybe 3 hours. What started as Colleen planning out her English final, and myself working on making a study guide for Macroeconomics ended with us drinking copious amounts of coffee and blogging! Which brings me to this... Colleen made a blog and it's really good!

 I was obviously ecstatic because I haven't met that many people in real life that blog or want to. Also, the demographics of bloggers are usually older than me and in the United Kingdom (which I absolutely love, but also means I haven't met them).

Nitro Bar closes around 5pm, so around 4, we decided to leave, as to not overstay since at that point we had been there since 1:30. We really didn't want to go back to campus yet, so we just looked up another cafe to go to!

Before we started the ten-minute walk to another shop, we just had to take a photo of this sign. I am a fan of cute signs like this!

Okay! Next, we went to White Electric Coffee (http://whiteelectriccoffee.com/#thebestcoffee), where we proceeded to both get another coffee and camp out.

The aesthetics of the two coffee shops are a bit different. Nitro-Bar has more of a clean and minimalist aesthetic, while White Electric's is warmer and crowded with lots of browns, reds, and LED lights. White Electric Coffee reminds me of a store I would find in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; so I was a fan of that. I am going back to both places definitely!

I have yet to try to food at White Electric Coffee, but it's on my to-do list for the second semester.

Above is a photo that I took of my cappuccino, but Colleen's blog is up on the screen.  next to I am literally so proud that Colleen made a blog (so catch me promoting it a bunch), but she's one of my closest friends here. So please check it out! Her link is: http://stainedpetals.blogspot.com/

We left the cafe around 6pm to come back go back to campus. It's so dark and cold out now; so it was a tad depressing to go back to the dorm, but it was time to. We were completely bundled up in our big blanket scarves and winter coats. 

I hope you liked this post! Check out about the time I went to a different cafe in Providence called Sydney (it's Australia inspired) here. My last post is about what music I've been listening to, and I actually wrote that while sitting in NitroBar (don't forget to comment what you've been listening to on it). 

If you have finals, good luck! See you in my next post!

xx

Christina Madeleine

What I've Been Listening to *December 2018*

Hey everyone! I've been listening to a lot of music lately (the only way to get through finals week) and I wanted to share my top tens songs from my different playlists. I will also add some pics of what my covers for each playlist are (or maybe a photo that sets the vibe).

My First Semester College 

(I titled it 'Off the Rails' because college is so crazy)

1. All in White by The Vaccines

2. D'You Have A Car? by SWMRS

3. You're Going to Hate This by The Frights

4. Inside Your Mind by The 1975

5. Television / So Far So Good by Rex Orange County

6. Clean by The Japanese House

7. Lethal Combination by The Wombats 

8. I Like America & America Likes Me by The 1975

9. Your Graduation by Modern Baseball

10. Orpheus Under the Influence by The Buttertones

Study Study Study

(Can you guess what this playlist is for?)

         

This is my school's humanities building where I spend a good portion of my time

1. Visions of Gideon by Sufjan Stevens

2. Elegia by New Order

3. LostMyHead by The 1975

4. The Theory of Everything by Jóhann Johannsson

5. Hedwig's Theme by John Williams

6. The Call by Regina Spektor

7. The Night We Met by Lord Huron

8. The Funeral by Band of Horses

9. You're Not Good Enough by Blood Orange

10. Mystery of Love  by Sufjan Stevens

Oldies, Throwbacks, and Memories

Photo from Tumblr

(My Playlist of all throwbacks, Disney, and Broadway songs)

1. Stockholm Syndrome by One Direction 

2. The Club from the 'In the Heights' Soundtrack

3. 'Who Am I?' from the Les Miserables Soundtrack

4. Where You Are from the Moana Soundtrack

5. Champagne from the 'In the Heights' Soundtrack

6. I've Been Waiting For You by ABBA

7. A Girl Worth Fighting For from Mulan

8. Fathoms Below from 'The Little Mermaid' Broadway Soundtrack

9. Baba O'Riley by the Who 

10. I'll Always Remember You from Hannah Montana

Question: What songs have you been listening to?

xx

Christina Madeleine

Thoughts and Ramblings of a First Semester College Freshman

So...it's been a month since my last update. To me, it's very strange that I haven't updated in that long because I am constantly talking about my blog and thinking of ideas, yet don't write anything. I've decided instead of apologizing in every post, that I will make 2019 my year with 'This Fashion Girl' because, at this point, this blog is part of me.

What's this post about? Well, I have learned a lot in the last 3.5 months of being in college, and have some thoughts and experiences I want to write about.

1. The first two weeks are the absolute worst

In all the movies and stories, you hear about how college is such a magical time from the point of moving into your dorm to graduation. My first day was so stressful starting with finding a bug into my desk to not being able to find half my items. Also, there was a pressure to "go out" that night, and I was so exhausted I just went to bed. My orientation group was not very friendly, and it's funny now because I am very good friends with my leader for activities, but not close with all the initial people I met. I also cried so much during the first two weeks because it felt that everyone found friends so quickly, which is absolutely not the case. There is also a jump from taking high school classes to college classes (different times, and time management), which is hard at first.

2. It's 100% okay to not feel like you fit in 

I say this all the time to my friends here, but I don't feel like I fit a type of mold that the people at my school are. I stand out in different ways (for example I am one of the only people that come from New York City in my grade) or I will wear some eccentric pieces that no one would care about at home, but here people will stare. I also try my hardest in classes (even ones that are slightly boring), and I am very eager to learn, and sometimes it feels like everyone around me hates being in classes. There are times where I feel like I stand out for negative reasons, but I've also met people that like to be creative, and talk about intellectual things, and those people who are "your people" come in time. As long as you love the college you go to, fitting in should never be a worry. People are drawn to those who stand out than those who blend with the crowd.

3. Everyone is struggling, it just might not seem like it 

The worst part of the beginning of college was looking at the social media of my friends from home, and feeling like they are having so much fun...and I wasn't. Everyone posts on social media their new friends, and all the parties they go to, but no one will post all the times they cried, stressed, or homesick.

4.  Some friendships from home are just "high school friendships"

My best friend from home, Bree, said this to me a few weeks ago when I was very upset about how a friend of ours had been treating me since they stepped into college and before. I am not saying ditch your friends from home as soon as you get to college (those are some of the worst types of people), but if a friend from home isn't treating you right; it's okay to let go of them and just keep the memories.

5. You meet people in the weirdest ways

My friend group in college was formed by a bunch of coincidences, and honestly, I can't picture life at PC without them. My childhood friend from pre-school and I reunited this year, and through her, I met two girls who happened to live two dorms down from me (and I didn't even know that until three weeks into the school year), and our group grew to six people. These girls have been my rock for the last few months, and we have gone through some whacky adventures in Rhode Island. I've also met people through getting ready on the floor bathroom, filming videos, and going to Bingo.

6. Taking part in activities that YOU enjoy is a saving grace

The first club I joined when I got to college is a choir. As you know, I sang in my high school choir for four years, and I decided to continue in college. Singing is very important to me, and to have a small community of people I spent two hours a week with sounded like the thing I needed to not be so sad at school. I also joined PCTV (you can check out the tab to see the videos that feature me), and I did that because that's what I wanted to do and be part of. In the next semester, I plan on joining more activities in order to meet more people, and further develop my interests. '

7. Working hard is SO IMPORTANT

College is no time to slack off. In most of my classes, our homework counted for very little and our grades were solely based on group projects and tests. In group projects, you need to pull your wait or your group will be penalized and everyone knows the person in the group that is doing nothing. If you don't understand something, the professor moves on and you need to go to tutoring or office hours. A few posts ago, I talked about how much I didn't like my classes, but when I worked so hard this semester to understand and honestly it hasn't been that bad. Two of my best classes were Macroeconomics and Math when I really thought it would be Western Civ. I felt so defeated in high school and felt as if so many people were smarter than me, but at PC I feel so smart and accomplished. Professors will recognize hard-working students and be more thankful and nice towards the students that seem interested than the ones who look bored.

8. I definitely need to take better care of myself

There were times when I would go to bed at 2am and wake up at 9am for my 10am class, and I honestly hated going to bed that late. I wasn't doing work. I was on my phone. Next semester, I need to go to bed early, eat better, and go to the gym. It's so easy not to workout and makes excuses, but I would waste so much time on my phone when I could've gone to a yoga or Zumba class. I would find excuses to eat dessert at every meal and feel gross later in the day. I have found errors in my ways, and honestly, it's hard to not eat badly when everyone around you is. Also, colleges give out so much free food that might not be the healthiest but is so good (i.e Insomnia cookies and chicken wings).

9. Continue following your passions

I have so many career goals that I want to achieve in my life, but I also have passions outside of my major. I plan on pursuing a writing minor (and possibly economics) with my Marketing major because I love English (can't you tell?). I am working next semester to take classes that not only fulfill my core requirements but also make me want to go to them. I plan on sticking with blogging and posting more because that's what I like to do, and in the long run I know will be worth it.


Thank you so much for following me along this journey of self-growth and education.

Here's a picture of me in Haven Brothers diner at 12:30am.

My outfit:

Skirt- TopShop

Black Tights- H&M

Black Bodysuit - Forever 21

Christmas Hawaiian Shirt- H&M Men

Here's a picture of me and Ailish on our last "free" night before the rest of finals week

xx

Christina Madeleine

Apple Picking in North Kingstown, RI

Hey everyone! About a month ago, my aunt took me to her house in North Kingstown, Rhode Island (about a half hour from Providence), so that I could get off campus (and take a shower that didn't involve wearing flip-flops).

When I pictured going to school in Rhode Island, I thought that I would be able to see the water from my dorm, despite the fact my school is a campus in a city. Three of my cousins have gone to other colleges in Rhode Island, and two of them were on sailing teams so my thoughts of Rhode Island was always the ocean. As nice as my college is, there is no water view from my dorm or from any part of campus, so it was super exciting to go to my aunt's house and literally be on the water.

 During this weekend, we were celebrating a birthday; so we took a boat to the restaurant (and I ate real food, hence not from a dining hall).

 The next morning, we went apple-picking at Narrow Lane Orchard. I had never been apple-picking before (the closest one near me are probably an hour away in New York).

 Sometimes it's hard to eat fresh fruit in college, which I know sounds crazy but is kind of true. My room is stocked with microwavable mac-and-cheese and bagels, and I definitely needed to bring some fresh fruit in there.

 On our way back to campus, we stopped at a pumpkin farm shop. It was completely stocked with gourds and fall decorations.

 I am not allowed to have real pumpkins in my dorm, so it was sad to not buy any, but when my parents come up for parents-weekend maybe they'll get some. My dorm room has fake pumpkins in order to have fall vibes.

When I got back to campus later in the day, the sky was so beautiful at sunset. Definitely, one of the perks of my school is how pretty the sky looks in the evenings. This photo was taken by our soccer field and hockey complex. 

How is Autumn going for you? Have you ever gone apple-picking?

xx

Christina Madeleine

I am officially a #collegeblogger

Hey everyone! The last six weeks I have been on a hiatus from blogging due to many factors. I worked at a summer camp for five weeks with five and six year olds. My job consisted of teaching little girls how to sing Disney songs and taking them on field trips and basically catering to their every need. I would come home so drained, and I was completely not my self. I absolutely love working with children, but it took me away from my other passions. The fun part though was that a lot of my friends worked at the same camp as me, and we would grab dinner and hangout which meant a lot considering we are all going to different college.

I could apologize for not being a good blogger, but instead, I wanted to focus on the future of this blog. As known, I started this blog when I was thirteen (so either sixth or seventh grade), and now I will be entering my freshman year at Providence College and now I'm 18. Since I am also moving states I wanted to update my blog persona. There's a ton of college bloggers out there, but now that I am officially one... I want to do the best I can.

Photo of me in front of my high school with my college gear :)

So let's talk about what I'm studying, how I feel, and how I am preparing. I'm a bit nervous about starting at a new place and especially living there. I'm more excited than anything else but it's definitely scary. I am living in an all-girls dorm (that's the only option for freshman girls), and I got the dorm that I requested (a double!). My roommate and I have been non-stop talking about how we want to decorate our room and that's very exciting! Our dorm theme colors are white, gray, turquoise, and navy. Maybe I'll even do a dorm post....hmmm.

I am also trying to be more organized, which I always say I'll do, but this time I am serious. I put all my classes into my Apple calendar, and I plan to put all my extracurriculars, events, tests, deadlines, and blog posts into it! There will definitely be an update about how that works out, but I am hopeful!

Since I am a Marketing major (as of now!) at the Business School, I wasn't able to pick my own classes, but this semester I am taking Financial Accounting, Development of Western Civilization (a four-semester class that everyone takes at my college), Economics, Marketing, and Math Business Analysis. I don't have much experience in most of those subjects, but I am up for the challenge. Providence College is a liberal arts college so there will be a balance between my business major and humanities classes over my four years (especially when I take up a Writing minor).

There's a lot to look forward to despite how nervous I am. There's sports events, extracurriculars, meeting new people, going around Providence and Boston, learning new subjects, becoming more independent, and so many more things. It's so easy to become flustered and anxious, but I am trying to keep my head up and go into this experience with an open mind. I think my blog is going to grow even more with me now that I have the motivation to keep going with it.

I am super excited for the future and I've decided I am going to try to post twice a week from now on and be more interactive with the blogger community!

xx

Christina Madeleine

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