First Day of Sophomore Year

Hey everyone! Along with many others, I started school today! Today was my first day of sophomore year, and it was fairly similar to last year's first day, except I knew where everything was, and I didn't get lost. I thought I would share my initial impression of each class because it's super fun to reread these at the end of the year.

{classic before-school pic}

1. Honors Math Analysis

I started my day off with math, which isn't ideal, but isn't the worst thing. Thanks to a seating chart I sat in the very back, but forgot my glasses, so I couldn't see much (don't worry- they're packed and ready for tomorrow). There were seniors in this class, as well as 3 of my friends. I think this class will be good as I like my teacher. 

2. Spanish 2

I have one friend in this class. I certainly forgot a lot of my Spanish over the summer, as I didn't have any opportunity to practice it, so I do need to review. My teacher seems nice, and she is my only female teacher. She said she doesn't like homework so (:  

3. Honors Chemistry

This teacher is ... odd. Is it just me, or are science teachers always a little strange? I have 3 friends in this class, as well as a bunch of other people I know, so at least the people in the class are nice. 

4. Honors English 2

My English teacher seems really cool (I mean, he told us all to follow him on Insta so...). We're reading a bunch of books this year; 10, I believe. I have one friend in this class, but a couple other friends have him in 5th period so we can help each other out. 

5. AP European History

I think this class might be my favorite, as well at the most challenging. It's my first AP class (!!), and I have 5 friends in this class, but I know almost everyone in the class. The teacher seems like a good one, and really stressed the fact of preparing for the AP test which makes me nervous.

6. Varsity Soccer

I had this class last year, and I'm excited for this year's season. Hopefully we'll have a better season than last year. This counts as my PE credit, but it's better because i enjoy it.

How was your first day of school?

xoxo,
alyssa

Travel Diary: Avalon, Catalina Island

Hey everyone! Today I'm sharing some photos and a sort of "Travel Guide" to Catalina Island. My mom and I went last Monday, and it was really fun! We woke up super early (4:30) and drove to Newport Beach, where we took the ferry. We made the mistake of sitting on the top deck- it was freezing! We sat on the top on the way home and it was perfectly warm, so just don't sit on the top on the way there. We arrived at Catalina around 10:45, and we were really hungry because we had been up for so long already. We decided to eat lunch at a little beach, and then walk along the main street that parallels the water. 

We walked along the street until we got to the Casino, which is a main attraction for visitors to see. We didn't go in, but it was cool to see. 

This is the view walking back from the casino. 

This building reminded me of one that should be in Cape Cod.

This hotel on the main street is just the cutest! So many houses were painted bright colors. 

My mom and I took the tram up the hill to the Wrigley Nature Center and Memorial (Wrigley, like the gum). It was really interesting to read about the plants that only grow on Catalina Island, and see the plants that grow there naturally. 

There was a huge memorial for Mr. Wrigley, who lived on Catalina Island. Here's a pic of my mom and I. 

We then took the tram back into town and got some ice cream. We went to Scoops because they sell their own ice cream and not Dryer's. We took our ice cream and ate it by the beach. Yum.

I loved going to Catalina for a day; it was so fun!

xoxo,

Alyssa

Life Update

{pic from Catalina}

Hey everyone! Life has been pretty busy lately, so I figured I would update you guys. I start school next Monday, so I'm finishing up my summer projects and trying to memorize all of Europe for AP Euro (wish me luck...).  I leave for Europe in around a week and a half, and I'm so excited! Yes, I will be missing 8ish days of school, so please bear with me as I will have a lot of makeup work when I return.

As you can probably tell, I haven't been blogging as much as I would like to. Between school (summer assignments), soccer, and traveling, blogging unfortunately gets pushed to the back burner. I have been blogging for almost a year and a half, and blogging is something that I do enjoy. I try to think of posts that people would enjoy reading, which is important, but I personally would rather put out content that I enjoy and have fun making. From now on, I'm going to focus on writing posts on topics that I want to talk about, as well as sharing things going on in my life. I hope you guys enjoy this change :)

A specific type of post that I have been wanting to do is OOTW, or Outfit of the Week posts. I have some outfit posts up on my blog currently, but I feel like outfit posts can often be fake. I want to show what I actually wear on a daily basis, and hopefully it will help me wear soccer clothes less (haha). Expect OOTW posts as soon as school starts! 

Last week I went to Catalina Island as well as the Reagan Presidential Library. If you would like to see pictures from these places, let me know!

xoxo,
Alyssa

Travel Diary: Mammoth Lakes, California

Hey everyone! I'm back to blogging after a week long camping vacation. Every year we go to Mammoth, California and usually camp (we have also stayed in a hotel/a cabin). I thought I would share some snaps from our trip. 

Upper Twin Lake

Lake Mary (our personal fave)

How pretty is this sunset from our campsite?

My first favorite hike is Emerald Lake, and this creek runs next to the trail. 

My other favorite hike is Heart Lake. When you hike to it, you get a great view of Lake Mary!

Hey Cookie and Mom :)

This is the view from the Heart Lake trail. Not too shabby.

Cookie hearts Heart Lake!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Alyssa

Fab Friday

Happy Friday everyone! This week has gone by pretty fast and was packed! Last Friday my mom and I drove up to Big Bear Lake and went kayaking. I volunteered at the pet rescue Saturday, and worked on my English summer project Sunday and Monday- I finished! Now i just have to do my History one (yay...). I had lunch with a friend Tuesday, had my first behind-the-wheel driving lesson Wednesday, and did some school shopping after that. This weekend I have a soccer tournament, and next week I'm going camping! Here's some snaps from this week:

one:

Last Friday, my mom and I drove to Big Bear Lake. I hadn't been for a couple years, so it was nice to go back. We rented a double kayak, and spent about an hour and a half out on the lake. I made sure to wear my favorite hat because I always get sunburned ): Also, I think I should have probably re-done my braid... don't you think?

two:

On Monday, my friend invited a bunch of our friends over to have a pool party. Unfortunately, a lot of our friends were out of town or couldn't make it, so there were only three of us. We ate really good food and just hung out. Who knew that an inflatable pool could be so fun?

three:

When I returned home from my driving lesson on Wednesday, I saw that my new soccer cleats had arrived! Somehow the order was messed up so we ended up with two of the exact same pair, but I'm not complaining. I like the solid green, and the embroidery- 7's my number!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo,

Alyssa

Georgetown University Tour

Hey everyone! I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been really trying to focus on getting my summer project done, so I left blogging on the back-burner. Today I will be sharing some pictures from a tour of Georgetown University that my soccer team and I went on around two and half weeks ago. 

Georgetown University is located in the neighborhood of Georgetown in Washington DC, and is situated on the Potomac River. It has an undergraduate enrollment of around 7600 students. 

This was my favorite building on campus!

This is the view from the football field looking up at the business school.

There were definitely different materials used to build the various buildings on campus.

Here's the view from some student housing- not too shabby!

The campus has a lot of open green space, and this particular building reminds me of Princeton!

This is the view looking down at the football field from above.

These houses are the cutest, and they're just across the street from GU!

Overall, the campus is super pretty and the town of Georgetown is really cute. Georgetown University is pretty rigorous academically, and is comparable to an Ivy League school. It was interesting to visit another college after committing to Colorado, but I know that i made the right choice!

xoxo,

Alyssa

What I Received In My July Birchbox {VIDEO}

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with a different type of post. I received my July Birchbox last week and realized that I had never shown a Birchbox to you guys before. I thought it would be fun to switch it up and do it in video form! Please excuse my not-styled hair, chipped nail polish,  and no makeup face; I wanted to keep it a casual video (:

I hope you enjoyed the video and let me know if you would like to see more videos in the future!

xoxo,

Alyssa