Fim De Semana!

I'm taking Portuguese this semester and every Friday my professor tells us its "Fim De Semana" (Weekend!) and does a little cheer, so I thought the title was fitting for this post!

I am having a pretty normal day! Nothing too crazy is going on.

My sorority is having their Crush Party tonight at one of the local bars on campus, but since it is Lent I will not be in attendance.  Off timing, Oh well!

 I am new to this whole blog thing and I am trying to figure out how to get the Google Friend Connect on my sidebar so people can subscribe, but of course, my internet is blocking Google (college apartment internet life), so I will just have to do that later! 

The weather was chilly this morning, but now the sun is out! I really am sick of the winter cold and CAN NOT wait for spring and summer! In my anticipation I have been online shopping for spring shoes! 

Here are some of my favorites I have found so far that I am DYING to add to my spring/summer wardrobe! 

 1. J. Crew Hot Pink Loafers 

 2. J. Crew Factory Flats  

(I am probably going to own these by the end of the weekend! How cute are they?!)

 3. Polka Dot Keds 

(I am a little late to hop on the polka dot train, but as of late I have been LOVING polka dots!)

 4. Tory Burch Flats 

(I am Tory Obsessed and I will be saving up BIG TIME to add these to my shoe collection!)

 5. Lilly Pulitzer Kit Heels in Nude 

(The perfect delicate classy ladylike shoe for just about ANY occassion!)

 6. Jack Rogers Navajo Sandals 

(I already own Jacks, but honestly these are shoes that I will NEVER have enough of.)

 7. Tory Burch Espadrilles 

(Once again, I LOVE TORY, I like the idea of TOMs but I am not sold on the way they look, I think these are the perfect solution for me.  Getting that TOMs look with extra flair!)

What about Spring are you most excited about?!

I hope everyone has a wonderful start to their weekends!

-Jennie

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Whether you are single or happily boyfriended or married, Valentine's Day is an AWESOME day to just be grateful for the loved ones in your life!

I know soooo many girls who obsess over the fact that they do not have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day and get super sad and just have a bad day because they talk themselves into it.  I feel like these people forget about all of the wonderful people in their lives, whether its parents, or a best friend, or even a classmate to joke around with during lectures.  Everyone has someone to be grateful for, and Valentine's Day is the PERFECT day to let them know! So if you are single this year, do not get caught up in that, and go to your room, and self loathe, and eat Ben and Jerry's all day! Get out and show someone that you care and that you appreciate them! Not only will you make someone's day, but seeing someone happy and doing something nice for someone else will surely put you in the best of moods! Its a day about love, and as far as I know there are soooo many different kinds of love apart from boyfriend/girlfriend and husband/wife love! So go out and Love!

As for my plans,

My boyfriend and I are going out to a tapas restaurant here in Champaign called Radio Maria that I have been wanting to check out for quite some time! So I am really excited for that! 

This morning he also left flowers and cookies at my doorstop! I found them as I was rushing out to lecture.  What an absolutely lovely thing to trip on! I will post pictures later!

I still have to call my parents and tell them I love them as well! 

Here is what I am planning to wear to dinner! :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

xoxo,

-Jennie

The Season of Lent

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of one of the most solemn seasons in the Christian calendar.  However, I can not help but feel excited during this time as well.  Lent is a time of reconciliation and reconnecting with God and Faith and thinking about all the wonderful things that he has provided for us here on this Earth, but how it is all meaningless without Him.  It is also a season of change and growth, and an opportunity to challenge ourselves to become closer to God and really experience his undying love for us.

Being Catholic, I attended the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Saint John's Catholic Newman Center on my campus, and during the mass when everyone walks up to recieve their ashes the person administering them says "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." I never really thought about this, even though I attended Catholic school and knew that it had some sort of reference to when God created Adam, I never really understood.

As Mass continued, Father talked about this and I began to understand the meaning behind these words.  They are a reminder to us that we as humans are nothing. We are dust. Through the grace and love of God however we become more than that.  We become his children, and only through him do we begin to truly live and have meaning in our lives.  The world brings us so many distractions through the media, consumerism, and this idea of immediate self gratification, that sometimes we loose ourselves and become selfish and think that it is we who are most important.  All these things are absolutely meaningless in the grand scope of life though. Today is a call to recenter our lives around the only person who makes our lives worth anything, and that is our Lord.  

This year being the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI talked about strengthening our relationship with God through Sacraments, Prayer, and People. So I decided to center my Lenten resolutions around those things.

1. Sacraments

-  Go to Confession once every 2 weeks

- Apart from attending Mass on Sundays, attend 2 daily Masses, one whenever, and one on Fridays

- Attend Stations of the Cross every Friday

2. Prayer

- Attend Adoration at least once a week

- Spend at least 10 minutes 3 times a week reading the Bible and reflecting on what God is trying to tell me

- Take more time out of my day to let God know what I am thankful for

3. People

- Read about the life of a different Saint every week

- JP II is a person that I want to get to know better so I want to read at least one of his works (I just bought Love and Responsibility on Amazon!)

- Be more helpful and patient with my friends 

- Make more time to call my parents/hang out with friends/be a living witness to those around me

- Love others and be less judgemental

I am very excited to see how my journey this Lent will impact my life!

And although we enter into this somber season, I can not help but feel joy in my heart and wish you all 

a Happy Ash Wednesday! May your Lenten journeys be fruitful and life changing!

-Jennie

Mardi Gras, Carnevale, and Tlusty Czwartek

Let me start out by saying...

H a p p y  M a r d i  G r a s !

Being someone that was raised by immigrant parents (both of them are from Europe) Mardi Gras was never really on my radar until I was about 12 and we learned about it in my Catholic grade school.  However, the concept of celebrating and having fun in a completely human sense before a time of fasting and re-evaluating my faith and life is not completely foreign to me.  

When I was younger I remember attending elaborate Carnaval costume parties and getting to dress up in fancy dresses and masks.

Then last year I got to study abroad in Italy and celebrate Carnevale in Venice which was absolutely a dream come true! 

Seeing all of the people in the streets in their costumes and their amazingly beautiful masks, and being able to be apart of that was an experience that I will never forget.

Carnaval in Poland as in every place that celebrates it lasts about 2 weeks.  The last Thursday of Carnaval my family, and all Polish people celebrate Tlusty Czwartek!

On Tlusty Czwartek we eat these donuts called pączki, and mmmmm are they yummy!

My favorite flavor is raspberry!

In Poland, pączki were made right before Lent because they were a way to use up ingredients in a household that were not supposed to be used as much or at all during Lent.  

I really love my family's traditions of Carneval because instead of packing all of my celebration into one day, I get to have 2 weeks worth of it! 

Do You have any special Mardi Gras/Carneval traditions?

-Jennie

Kate Spade Surprise Sale!

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I LOVE KATE SPADE!

The cuteness, classiness, and lady-like-ness of everything always makes me swoon!

So when I received the Surprise Sale E-mail, there was no way I could pass it up.

I opened it during one of my lectures and found some goodies right then and there!

I can't wait to get them in the mail!

Heres what I bought!

I was planning to make my first post a bit more meaningful than this, but oh well!

I am sure there will be plenty of time for that later!

Happy Wednesday!