Post-Grad Planning

One thing that's been on my mind a lot lately, is my future. 

Hearing about all of my friends growing up, moving to new places, getting engaged, and having children (some of them more than one) has made me start thinking about my own life, and where exactly I want to be in the next few years.

Though so many things are up in the air at this point, I know that whatever happens, God will lead me in the right direction, and to wherever I'm really supposed to be. 

In the meantime, a girl can always dream!

I know for sure that I will finish with graduate school in the summer of 2015. My program is exactly 12 classes, and takes most people two full years to finish. Since I'm working full-time during graduate school, I'll only take two classes each semester, (making me a part-time student) but I'll take classes during the summer semesters as well. It's not a bad deal...getting paid while I'm in school and Appalachian paying for two classes per year sounds pretty good to me!

My degree will be a Master of Arts in Higher Education, (not teaching, but administration on the university level) but I still haven't decided exactly what area I'd like to work in. I know that I want to put together events on the university scale, I'm just not sure in what area. There are so many more opportunities to do this than you would think! Appalachian, and universities in general ALWAYS have things going on, whether it's Freshman Orientation, Greek Week, Commencement (which I've come to know very well), and a multitude of other events across campus. This gives me a lot of possibilities for a job that I'd be interested in. Areas like Commencement, Alumni Affairs, the Chancellor's Office, Student Development are all super appealing to me, so you just never know!

I'm also not sure exactly where I want to be! If my dream job was waiting for me at Appalachian post-graduation, then of course I'd be happy staying here. Boone is a wonderful place to raise a family, but if not, I LOVE the idea of going somewhere completely new! Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Duke, all of which are great universities and in good areas that I'd love to live and make a life for myself, if a position presented itself. There's also the possibility of living somewhere further away, like Charleston, the Outer Banks, New York, or maybe a place that I haven't even heard of yet! 

The idea of moving somewhere completely different and being in a job that I love is beyond exciting to me, and though I don't know the answers right now...

I'm always up for a good adventure.

Love what you're reading?

Follow Sweet Like a Song on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook!

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

It's Good to be Home!

Over the past three weeks, I have been on physical and mental overload! I'm just now feeling like I can relax enough to blog again, and assume a normal breathing pattern.

I know I've talked about how excited I was to be working on commencement at my university this spring, and while it was wonderful, it was also a WHOLE LOT OF WORK! More work, stress and pressure than I could have ever imagined!

Last weekend, the entire Registrar's Office, nearly 100 student marshals, along with tons of faculty and staff helped over 2,000 students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas! What an amazing feeling!

What a great feeling it was to see 400 students file out of the arena as the 6th ceremony ended! Talk about a marathon weekend!

Here are just a few of my favorite commencement moments:

Receiving a little bribe gift from the College of Business!

Getting the stage ready for our first ceremony of the weekend!

 

After the most beautiful entrance from the College of Health Sciences!
Seriously, it was gorgeous!

My view during the final ceremony on Sunday evening!

So many people!
 

My first commencement weekend was a test of my mental and physical strength, as well as my sanity. That's why this weekend, I'm back at home with my family, enjoying their company and some relaxation.

It feels so good to be home, and posting again on Sweet Like a Song! 

Until next year!

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Making Life Happen

Here I am, one week away from directing my first commencement at Appalachian State University, and I've never been more excited, nervous, anxious, or scared in my entire life. 

The past two months have been an absolute whirlwind, but I consider myself so lucky to have experienced every piece of commencement from beginning to end. 

Often times, I'll see people that I met as a student at Appalachian, and they ask me how I like my job. I don't know if it's the look on their faces as they wait for my response or the tone in their voice, that makes me feel like they expect me to say that I'm not happy, but they are so wrong. 

I am in love with my job. 

I wanted to plan events, so I got took a job where I get to assist in one of the biggest events that Appalachian has each and every year. 

I can't help but get emotional every time I think of this process coming to an end. Just like my 10K race two weeks ago, my office is about to accomplish something that we've worked so hard for, and for so long. 

I can already sense the tears that will come as soon as the cue is given for the first ceremony to start, for the brass ensemble to begin playing Pomp and Circumstance for the first time, and for the first set of graduates to walk by me with only their dreams in mind. 

Little do they know, they'll be passing someone with dreams on her mind as well.

There are so many things I want to do, places I want to go, and things I want to see in my lifetime. Getting through seven graduation ceremonies this spring has shown me that with a wonderful team and a great attitude, anything can be accomplished.

I am so unbelievably thankful for the wonderful office I am a part of. Without them, commencement wouldn't be possible.
 

When I graduated from college a year ago, I worried about what I was leaving behind in Boone, North Carolina. Now, I don't have to worry. I am able to show my love for Appalachian in each step that I take on a daily basis. 

Congratulations Class of 2013! We did it! 

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Looking Back on my Goals for 2012!

Last year on December 31st, I made a list of 12 things that I wanted to do in 2012. I was excited, anxious and nervous for the year to come, but I knew that I wanted to do BIG things! Since 2013 is right around the corner, I thought this was the perfect time to reflect on what I accomplished!

In June (at the six-month mark,) I updated y'all on my progress, but here's a quick round up of the whole list!

How I did: 12 To-Dos in 2012:

1. Have an amazing spring break: Check!

I spent a full 8 days enjoying the Florida sunshine in New Smyrna Beach and Jacksonville!

2. Exercise more: Check!

I've been going to the gym almost every day after work, and I feel amazing! Go me! I'm even signing up for a 5k this coming March!

via

3. Graduate college with honors: No, but I was close!

 I did make the Dean's List for both semesters of my senior year. Woohoo!

4. Get a job: Check!

I have not one, but TWO fabulous jobs that I love so much!

1. I work for a wedding planner as an Assistant Wedding Coordinator to some beautiful southern brides!

2. I work full time at my alma mater, Appalachian State University as the Assistant the the University Registrar.

5. Live on my own: Check!

As of this afternoon, I am moved into my new apartment! More to come on this very soon!

6. Get a dog: Absolutely!

In June, I was blessed with the most beautiful dog that I've ever seen! I am head over paws for my sweet Paisley Ann!

7. Read More: Check

I finished quite a few books already this year, and I'm working on the Harry Potter series as we speak! Plus, I got two new books for Christmas!

8. Buy a crock pot & learn to cook with it: Check!

My sweet friends Kathy & Bob bought me one of these as a graduation gift. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it's in my new apartment ready to go!

via

9. Send out my own Christmas cards: Check! 

My Mom is a Shutterfly expert, and designed theses in about 10 minutes. I loved sending my own cards for the first time, and hearing how much people enjoyed receiving them!

10. Be able to buy REAL Christmas presents: Check!

This year, I was able to give some of my favorite Christmas gifts ever! Two of my favorites were my Mom's new Coach bag and a bear tumbler for my Dad.

via

11. Invest in a nice piece of jewelry: Check!

I received a beautiful Pandora bracelet for graduation, and I love it so much! Each charm represents something special to me. The best part, I didn't expect it at all!

12. Go to Disney World: Semi-check!

Though my family decided to go to the beach for a week instead of going to Disney, some close friends of mine did go, and brought me back an adorable Minnie sweatshirt! So until I make it back to this magical place, I'm living vicariously through them.

10 out of 12 goals...not too shabby! 

It makes me so happy to see the goals that I've accomplished over the past year. I plan on doing the same type of list for 2013. Goals seem so much more attainable when they're written down and staring at you in the face!

Do you accomplish your goals for 2012?

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Craft Tutorial: Decorating Your Graduation Cap!

One of the best parts of graduating from college (aside from being done with exams forever), is seeing how everyone decorates their caps at the actual graduation ceremony! This is something that I've been looking forward to all year! I had so much fun deciding what to put on mine! 

Want to decorate your own cap? 

Here's how:

1. Get an idea! 

Head on over to Google and look at some graduation cap decorations that people have already done! This is the best way to learn the things that you like and don't like for your own cap.

I  fell in love with these two ideas that I found:

Completely bejeweled

via

&

Hello Kitty

via

I knew from these two that I wanted my cap to have jewels on it and some type of girly theme. After brainstorming a few different ideas, I decided that I wanted a bow!

A big pink bow made completely out of jewels!

2. Get your supplies!

There was no way I could draw this thing out free hand, so I hopped back on Google and searched for a bow outline that I really liked, something not too detailed, but not too simple. I didn't have my cap with me at the time, so after finding the general shape I wanted to use, I printed out a few different versions.

Later that day, I got my hat and matched up the size of bow that looked the best and most proportionate. I cut out the outline and placed it exactly where I planned on having my jewels.

3. Get your supplies!

I ran over to the Michael's Craft Store in town and purchased a 1lb bag of multicolored plastic jewels. If you've ever bedazzled before, you know that these little pieces can get expensive, especially if you prefer the ones that are already adhesive on the backside. I decided to spring for the ones that I would have to glue myself and got the whole bag for $14.99, a fraction of what I would have spent on the same amount of the other kind. 

*I also purchased some super glue to attach the gems and wooden letters to add my monogram, neither of which I ended up using. The glue didn't adhere to the cap, so instead I grabbed my hot glue gun and that worked perfectly. Also, the wooden letters were too big, so I used some glittery ones that I already had. You can save money by not purchasing either of these items until you know exactly what you want to do.

4. Lay it out!

I found that the best way to design your cap is to lay everything out, so you can see exactly what it's going to look like. I probably tried 50 different shapes and colors before I ever glued down the first gem!

This is the first version that I came up with! As you can see the bow is taking up so much of the hat that the letters are being pushed off. I decided that some things needed to be changed where this didn't happen.

I decided to condense my bow a and make it look a little cleaner. I also found some glittery letters that I used for another occasion and stuck them up top instead of the larger white ones.

Look how wonderful it turned out!

Jake & I worked for the next hour trying to figure out what else, if anything, that my cap needed. I wasn't fond of all the open black space. It wasn't until the following morning that it came to me! I wanted to put 2012 in jewels on the inside and outside of the bow! 

In order to incorporate more purple from the letters on top, I used purple beads to make the numbers and hot glued them to the hat.

Quick Tip: Don't forget to account for the button in the center that your tassel has to hang around. This will save you a lot of time and mess!

I am absolutely in love with my cap and am so glad I decided to be creative and decorate the top of it! If you have any questions, feel free to email me or check out YouTube! They have an abundance of tutorial videos on graduation cap decorating!

Congratulations Class of 2012! We did it!

I'm a College Graduate!

This past Saturday morning, I woke up nervous, excited, and in disbelief ! My graduation day was finally here!  My roommate and I were both graduating at 9am, so everyone in the apartment was up around 6, showering, straightening their hair and getting everything ready to watch us walk across the stage!

We got to the Convocation Center around 7:45am, but since graduation didn't start until 9, we had plenty of time to snap some pictures!

Here I am in the whole get-up! I was jumping up and down from excitement!

Casey & Me! She is one of my closest friends in my major! 

I couldn't have made it to this point without her!

So proud of my graduation cap!

A picture that I snapped during the ceremony!

The whole ceremony lasted about two hours, and afterward, I was greeted by Jake and a ton of family that came up for the special occasion.

The whole family!

Directly following graduation, we walked down to Walker Hall (the Communication building) for a special reception for those in my department!

After a little break and some short naps, we returned to the Convocation Center around 4pm for Jake's graduation!

I'm so excited and proud of him!

After finally getting through traffic, our two families had dinner together at this nice restaurant in Blowing Rock, NC called Blowing Rock Grille. We were starving and it hit the spot!

I ordered the salmon dish with broccoli and it was delicious!

This is also where my parents gave Jake & I our graduation gifts! The bow was wrapped much nicer on mine, but I forgot about taking a picture until I'd already unwrapped it!

Jake received a Black's Law Dictionary, something that he will be using a lot very soon! I was completely caught off guard and received the most beautiful Pandora bracelet from my family, my Aunt/Uncle and my Grandma. It came with an arrangement of charms that all mean something special to me. I know it's something I will treasure my whole life!

The day was tiring, but so much fun and went off without a hitch!

Today, I'm off for a short trip to Jacksonville, Florida with two of my close friends! It was a little spur of the moment, but I figured I might as well get one more vacation in before I start my internship:)

My Graduation Day Outfit!

I'm the type of person that always plans what they're wearing way ahead of time, like weeks ahead sometimes. I'm talking date functions, interviews, mixers, whatever, & graduation day is no exception. Yes, I understand that I'll have my cap and gown over top of whatever I pick out for most of the day, but this is a big day! This is the last time that I'll see a lot of the people I've met over the last four years, tons of pictures will be taken and tons of memories will be made during those few hours! 

When I started thinking about the dress and shoes that I pictured myself wearing, Lilly Pulitzer immediately came to mind. I just knew a dress of hers would be perfect for a sunny, Saturday morning in May, after just graduating college! The problem...I had just spent all of my dress budget on a dress for Carolina Cup & another for Jake's fraternity formal in April.  I knew I didn't have the money to put into yet another dress:( I was pretty bummed out and thought I'd just wear one of my older dresses (a good option, just not as exciting). If you read my post about Jake's formal, you may remember that the actual "formal" was cancelled because of lack of interest. Though sad at the time, this meant saving the Lilly dress I had originally purchased for that occasion, and wearing it for this special time on May 12th...my graduation!

Everything worked out perfectly!

via

The Dress

My dress is the Lilly Pulitzer Elias dress with pink, cream and & gold stripes. I love the natural shimmer of the fabric and the cute bow detail at the neck!

I also love the lower cut shape of the back!

pictures via

The Jewelry

The earrings that I've chosen to wear that day are the Kate Spade Pearl Drop earrings that I got for my 21st birthday. I thought they looked so pretty with all the gold!

The Shoes

I don't own nude heels, but I figured this dress was the perfect excuse to borrow a pair from one of my friends. That was until I talked to my Mom about the idea and she suggested I go buy myself a pair of my very own! What a great graduation surprise! So today, after my hair appointment, I'm headed to the mall on the lookout for the perfect pair!

I have yet to try on everything together, but my fingers are crossed that it looks amazing for my special day this Saturday!

I hope you love it as much as I do! What's your dream graduation outfit?

Coming to a Close

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement, nerves and tears, as my time as a collegiate member of Alpha Phi comes to a close. For those who have been in a sorority or been apart of any special group, I'm sure you know the feeling of going to your last meeting, or watching your big/mentor graduate and start a new part of their life. It's a feeling that I've been anticipating since last summer, before I even came back to school. I can remember people asking me "How excited are you to go back?" or "Can you believe this is your senior year?" and I always told them that though I was ready to be back in my college town, I wasn't ready for everything I know and love to end. 

An end to one huge part of my life & the beginning of something amazing.

I decided that since it was one of my last weekends with these girls, I was going to make the most of it! On Thursday night, I attended our last mixer of the semester. It was toga themed and held at bar in town.

On Friday, I spent the night helping my little and g-little make sashes for our Alpha Phi formal awards! Then we got so tired, Kaitlyn & I ended up having a sleepover in Katy's room:)

On Saturday, Alpha Phi held its annual Mom's Day Luncheon, so my parents came into town to spend the day with me. Mama and I had a great time painting picture frames, having lunch and meeting the other A-Phi moms! Then after a nap, the three of us had some great Mexican food for dinner.

On Saturday night, I attended the final concert for Ear Candy, an all-girls a capella group on campus. My roommate from freshman year is a member and is getting ready to graduate as well. Since this was her last time singing with them, I wanted to make sure I was there! She did amazing job and we had a great time going out to eat after.

Credit to Katie Watson

On Sunday, I attended my last chapter meeting of Alpha Phi. We had a special ceremony to celebrate the seniors and I was able to read a funny poem that I wrote to everyone.

The Alpha Phi Seniors

After the ceremony, the Princess Family had dinner together at the same place that we ate the first time we ever had a family dinner.

I will miss each and every one of them so so much!