I'm Approved!

This could be the greatest thing that's happened to me in this moving journey aside from actually getting a job.

I got my apartment by a sheer stroke of luck (and a lot of prayers to the man upstairs). I had a friend who moved to the city when we graduated last year. A few of the times I had visited the city I had stayed with her and her roommates and loved the location, the apartment, and the people there. By some immaculate Godsend, one of her roommates decided to move out at the end of the lease and there, like a beacon from Heaven above, was my shot.

The anxiety from not knowing whether my application was approved has been killing me for a few weeks now. But alas, I have finally been APPROVED for my New York apartment! (Just over a month to go!) 

Farewell, Florida

For the last few days I've been with the Kappa Sigma chapter at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. It felt great to finally see some sun and not have to pretend I was trapped in a scene from Frozen every time I tried to leave the house.

Upon arriving to the University of South Florida, I immediately bolted to this giant bull on campus. Apparently when you're a freshman you're supposed to take a picture on the bull, but only under the cover of night. Well, life's short and you may only get to see this sweet bull once so I figured why not?

My first meal no doubt had to be a Publix sub. To anyone who hasn't eaten one of these delicious sandwiches, I highly recommend it. My apologies for everyone I disappointed by not getting the classic chicken fingers sub, but I just had to go with turkey. 

Met the cutest, calmest, and sweetest dog ever while shopping in Tampa. This majestic golden retriever just sat on this bench inside the store and greeted customers as they shopped. His only downfall is that when I went in for the kiss he may or may not have went for my nose and got me with a little teeth in the process. But how do you say no to that sweet face?

Off to my second to last visit today! Farewell, Florida (until one week from now when I'm back, just in a totally different city).

Until Next Time, North Carolina

Last week was spent in Charlotte, North Carolina with the Eta Tau chapter at UNC-Charlotte. I made the quick drive down last Sunday and left yesterday. It didn't really feel like work, partially because I only had to drive a few hours to get there, rather than fly, and because I had a lot of fun the whole week.

When I arrived I was greeted with all of my favorite things. I apologize that the mini muffins aren't pictured, I'd already dug into them by the time I figured it was worth it to take a photo. 

I channeled my inner college freshman with my campus map to navigate my way to the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life. I'm terrible with directions (something I should probably work on before attempting to conquer the city) but the  map was all planned out for me by the sweetest sister so I managed to make it there with no serious problems. 

One of my sweet friends Alyssa (you can read her blog here) is getting married, and it just so happened that her biological little sister and MOH is a ZTA at UNC-Charlotte. We took an afternoon trip to the mall to send our favorite bride-to-be some of the best (and worst) dresses we could find. I'm just curious as to who is supposed to fit into this dress since it's actually TALLER THAN ME....?

I'm now in the Sunshine State and the land of all things right in the world, aka PUBLIX SUBS. If you've never eaten a Pub Sub, get on the next plane to Florida or any other southeastern state that has Publix, and get one. Life. changing. Until next time (in three weeks), North Carolina.

What's In My Carry On?

If you'd asked me this months ago, the answer would be vastly different. However, after being on a plane every other week for the last 8 months, you get pretty good at packing. Here's what's in my carry on: 

Planner

For a psychotic/OCD/Type A person like me, I can't go anywhere without my planner. Including the few hours of airport time where I know I'll be doing nothing productive (unless you count detouring to an entirely different terminal for coffee a productive use of time, which I do) I have to have my planner. By the way, this planner is the best thing that's happened to me so I'll be blogging about it eventually. 

iPad

Because when you're stuck behind the one person who decides to recline their chair on the plane (even though I absolutely do, it's just only okay when I do it) there's no room for your whole laptop. It's much easier to use my iPad for reading, catching up on emails, etc. word to the wise: if your flight is over 2 hours, invest in in-flight wifi. 

Makeup Bag

You really never know who you'll run into in the airport. In my travels I've run into coworkers, friends, potential new connections, etc. I always keep my makeup bag with me in case I need to make any touch ups. Ain't nobody got time to be lookin janky. 

Wallet

For obvious reasons, I need my wallet containing my ID, credit cards, and boarding passes. That whole TSA thing requires all of the above to actually get on the plane.

Eyeglasses

On some of my longest travel days I want nothing more than to take my contacts out. As someone who has worn contact lenses since middle school my eyes are, to say the very least, drier than the Sahara Desert. Airports and airplanes don't help this at all. I always keep my eyeglasses handy in case I need a quick rescue from my lenses.

Snacks

A hungry Rachel is not a happy Rachel. A sweet perk to this job is that people like to give you free snacks at the places you visit. I always toss a few of these in my bag before leaving so that in case I get stuck on a flight with no free snacks (by the way, what's up with this lately?) I at least have something to eat.

Ban Refreshing Wipes

I don't care who you are, if you say that you still smell glorious after hours in the airport then you're lying. Thanks to Polar Vortex 5.0 and the fact that it's still snowing in March, I've spent countless hours in airports waiting on delayed and rebooked flights. Occasionally you've just got to freshen up. These refreshing wipes by Ban are great while you're waiting on that flight and perusing the gossip magazine section for the fifteenth time just in case you may have missed one more article on what a loser Juan Pablo is. 

Cosmetic Bag of Toiletries

Kleenex, Chapstick, hand sanitizer, perfume, a lint roller, and a mini hairbrush are essential. Rather than having all these smaller items getting lost in the bottom of my bag, I keep them in a little makeup bag that's easy to access but also doesn't take up a ton of room. Side note: I got the cosmetic bag (pictured on the right) for free with purchase at Ulta a few days ago. Absolutely worth it. 

Sweet Caroline

I am so sorry for neglecting the blog the past few days but I just had to "unplug" from the internet for the weekend and enjoy my last "Spring Break" probably ever with a weekend in Chapel Hill. Here's a recap:

The first order of business was to celebrate this lil' biddie getting into Veterinary School at the UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. This chick is going Ivy League, y'all. I first met Morgan when she was a cute little freshman and she wandered up to the ZTA table at Greek Promo Day. I then proceeded to dirty rush the heck out of her (not even ashamed of this) and made sure this girl went Zeta. We ended up living together (with her ridiculously cute siberian husky, Basil) my senior year of college and I couldn't ask for a better friend. I'm sorry for making fun of you for all those nights you chose to stay in and study but clearly it all paid off!

Of course no trip to Chapel Hill would be complete without a trip to Carolina Brewery to watch the Heels play some basketball. In true Carolina fashion, they nearly gave me a heart attack before pulling out a W to take us to the next round of the NCAA Tournament (we won't even talk about the loss last night, it still hurts too much). 

On Saturday we got up bright and early to participate in ZTA's 25th Annual Franklin 5K. The sun was shining and weather was phenomenal given that it's been freezing/snowing/icing in North Carolina. This 5K has meant a lot to me over my college years and I'm so grateful to have such awesome friends who support me and my sorority in our hopes that one day we will be able to find a cure. In past years this 5K has raised over $40,000 for Susan G. Komen, ZTA Foundation, The UNC Lineberger Cancer Center, The Arc of Orange County, and Ashton's Angels and I am so excited to see how much money they were able to raise this year!

My next visit is the Eta Tau chapter at UNC-Charlotte so I made the quick drive down on Sunday morning. It's great to be back at work for the home stretch and even better to be starting this last leg of the journey in the greatest state there is, Sweet Caroline.

A Charitable Contribution

Hi I'm Rachel and I'm addicted to shopping. This is where we all sit in a circle and you simultaneously recite back "Hi Rachel". I went into this whole attempt to start clearing my stuff out with a very casual attitude. But I tell y'all what, you really don't realize just how much absolutely necessary stuff crap you have until you try to pack it all up to move over 500 miles away. And I know at least 90% of you are probably struggling with the same thing. I blame Carrie Bradshaw.

Here's the steps I followed to get rid of four huge garbage bags of clothing, shoes, and purses (and still going):

1. Find a Charity. I used to always think that donating my clothing meant Goodwill was my only option. Not that there's anything wrong with Goodwill, but there are tons of other charities out there that use donated clothing/appliances/home goods to raise money for great causes. For this donation I chose the National Kidney Foundation. Basically, you clean out your stuff, leave it on your porch for them to pick up, and all the proceeds for it go towards the NKF for kidney services. Being born with two healthy kidneys, I couldn't imagine having to go through anything like that. Finding a charity that means enough to you that you'll give up that size-too-small pair of jeans you know you'll never fit in again, but never saw reason enough to part with.

2. Try on everything. I often found myself picking up a shirt and thinking "Oh yeah six months ago when I wore this, it looked fine". Well, let me tell you, six months ago and now are two very different things (thank you Jimmy Johns for delivering to every corner of this country). Try the item on, see how it fits, how many different ways you can wear it, and think to yourself: in my next journey where would I wear this, how versatile is it, etc. I got rid of so many items by thinking through what kinds of items I would actually wear going to work, walking around the city, and going out. This was also a great time for me to pretend I was Carrie Bradshaw in the SATC movie, sans totally ridiculous 80's outfits.

3. Create three piles. This is the most simple step. Literally, three piles: Love, Donate, Sell. It really is that simple. If you love the item after trying it on, then keep it. If you don't love it, either choose to donate or sell it. My criteria for choosing to donate vs. sell is pretty much just based on condition of the item/when it was purchased. If I purchased it in the last year, and it's in good condition I'll try to sell it. If not, it's going in the donate pile.

4. Actually get rid of your stuff. Part of the reason I was so awful with donations before was having to load up my car and actually bring stuff everywhere, but the ease of the NKF donation is what made it so easy. They literally come straight to your door and pick it up for you. Hopefully your 'sell' pile is smaller than your 'donate' (but trust me I understand, I love getting as much money back as possible too so I get it if this is still consuming your whole trunk of your car). But this is the biggest thing y'all: If you go to sell it and they do not take it IMMEDIATELY bring it to a donation site on your way home. Don't let these items wander back into your closet.

Slowly but surely I'm narrowing down what I actually need. Loading up my dad's SUV in a few months should still be a total disaster but hey, at least I can say I tried.

Weekend Recap

My first weekend home for break was filled with fun, friends, and of course a whole lot of sleep. My hard work managed to pay off and I came off the road with ZERO paperwork to do (but we all know I'm still compulsively checking my email). Here's a short recap of the weekend via pictures:

Celebrated St. Pattys Day a few days early with some fab friends. This was the closest to green I owned but I tried! 

Brunched so hard at Breadmans, a Chapel Hill favorite. I gave up diet coke for lent but y'all know I made up for it with a huge glass of sweet tea and of course lots of carbs. 

Today I've been attempting to start cleaning out my clothes/belongings for a donation my mom is doing this week. If I ever figure out how to actually convince myself that I really don't need that tacky Christmas sweater I wore once in college, I'll make sure to blog about it. But for now, that sweater is still in the "absolutely coming to NYC box".