Blocking, Speeches, and Walking

"Sure it's delusional, creepy, insane, but since she strutted in I haven't been the same"

~Delusional, Charlie Allen

Heyo!

So life has been pretty good lately. The weather has been pretty weird though; it's rained or thunderstormed almost every day, except for today! Today's weather was actually PERFECT. It was 65 with a slight breeze and not humid at all! Definitely a great day to go for a walk!

thrifted top • dress, purse, and shoes from Ross • Charlotte Russe Sunglasses

I'm trying to appreciate the great season of autumn by going outside a lot. This is definitely when the weather is best. It's chilly and beautiful outside! Can't wait to wear more sweaters and warm socks!

thrifted sweater and shorts

 Another new thing is last Thursday I had to give a speech for a class, and I think it went pretty well! Now I have to watch a DVD recording my teacher took of my speech and reflect on it...how about no. I did like giving the speech though. It was on something I'm passionate about, which is theater!
Speaking of theater, we started rehearsal for the play this week! Let me tell you, it is really a lot of fun. Seriously, I have never loved working with a cast as much as this one. Everyone is so uplifting and caring and lively and really tons of fun! I love getting along with everyone so much! We started blocking on Wednesday, and it's been pretty tough to do. There's a big set and lots of things going on throughout the play, so it's pretty complicated! Also, since I'm the lead (yep, no real male lead, no counterparts, I am the sole lead!! Ah!!), I am on stage for most of the show and I move around a lot, so my blocking has been pretty complex. Not to mention I have a crap ton of lines to memorize...

at rehearsal last night with my new friends Kara and Robert

So yeah! Life has been pretty good lately. That's all for now, and I hope the good vibes last!

With love,

Olivia

Back in the 906!

Hello hello! It's been awhile since I've had a chance update. Mainly, I've just been adjusting to life as I enter my sophomore year of college! It's pretty crazy when I really think about it! To top off the summer, I said farewell to my beautiful friends in one of my favorite places ever: downtown Waukesha.

It really was sad to say see ya later...but I'm hoping we can all do a trip up to my other home here in the UP this fall! These wonderful people are super loyal, so I never worry about distance coming between us.

But here I am back in Marquette! Since I've gotten here, I've embarked on many wonderful experiences with my college friends. From drag shows to hikes to slumber parties, there really hasn't been a dull moment! Here's a little photo gallery to sum up the past month of adventures.

This is my roommate Courtney! Courtney and I met last summer at Orientation. Both scared wee lil freshies, we quickly bonded and stuck out our first year together. Courtney is from a small town in the UP, so even more up northy than where we go to school. Needless to say, when her and my silly Wisconsin/Chicago land self combined, 'twas quite an adventure. This year, we decided to room together and have both enjoyed the experience of being friends with your roommate! This involves a lot of toaster oven shenanigans and late night lack of sleep chats. It's certainly a party in room 127 this fall! ;D

With our friend Kirstan. Aren't my friends beautiful?!

Chilling with Kirstan and Em at dead River falls!

On top of Sugarloaf mountain!

One of our favorite activities to do together when we're not dying over schoolwork is to go hiking with our friends Kirstan and Emily! These photos were taken at Dead River Falls, a waterfall and hiking area and Sugarloaf mountain which is a scenic area and a very nice day hike! I feel very lucky to live in an area where I can do these things whenever I'd like!

Look at that clear blue water!

Now it wouldn't be a fun time in Marquette if it wasn't for the beautiful and wonderful person that is Jess Gula. Truly the Ann to my Leslie, I usually call her an elegant swan a few times a day. Normal stuff, right?

Jess looking swell in a hat.

Basically, this chic is my rock and I love hangin out in her apartment and making Dino Mac and Cheese and chicken wings, or driving around good ol Marquette talking about life. We're both on Student Goverment, which was they beautiful fate that caused us to meet last year. It's been a whirlwind, ladies and gents. God bless her for dealing with this hot mess.

me in my natural essence.

So to move on from that pic to a much more aesthetically pleasing section of this blog... Let me introduce you to Brian!

Alright I definitely lied, but I still really appreciate this photo. It sums up our friendship which truly revolves around the fact we're both insane. But, in the midst of said insanity we enjoy cooking food in the sketchy basement, wandering around Marquette taking photos, and causing literally everyone we know to question whether or not we're a really annoying couple or just two people who probably shouldn't have met...but who did and plan to cause as much havock as possible. We always say that we are the human embodiment of what would happen if a dog and a cat became friends.

Most photogenic friends of 2015

"Quick, take a photo!!!!!!!!!11111"

He also likes to hack my social media and send snapchats to everyone I've ever known ever.... Like this one:

Because my entire contacts list needs to 

see that. Thanks!

All joking aside, he is a very solid friend and I am quite lucky. We actually did a photo shoot the other day, and some of the pictures turned out really nice! Here's a few of em: I could probably do a whole post on that later!

This one was my personal favorite^

I call this one: Cecilia attempting to be street.

So even though I'm drowning in schoolwork already and working like 15 hours a week, life is good. My job is actually amazing- I'm a tutor at the Writing Center here on campus and I really enjoy it. I have very little to complain about. Although I miss home, I know I have family and friends who love and miss me too.

I miss you CL. See ya soon 😘

Ups and Downs, Gelato, and Coffeeshops

"It's the end of the line for you and I, don't make believe we even tried"

~The Line, The Dear Hunter

Hello!

So my life since my last casual update post has really been a roller coaster of emotion. Long story short, I went on a few adventures with my friends, got together with then got my heart broken by someone I've been into for a long time, started my second year of college, auditioned for a play and got the lead female role. So yeah, I guess it's safe to say that the past few weeks have really been up and down.

thrifted American Eagle top • thrifted shorts • thrifted shoes • hat from Ross

I've been trying really hard to stay happy and distract myself from all of the negative things, and let me tell you it is really difficult. But I'm trying.

Before Cecilia left, we went up to Waukesha for her mom to run a 5k, and I kinda fell in love with the city. It's quaint and quirky and full of fresh, happy people! Not to mention really good gelato.

I also recently discovered a cute local coffee shop right here in my hometown with my sister, and I'll definitely be frequenting that place throughout my time here!

I also did a lot of thrift shopping and got this cute watch, along with a crapton of new clothes and sweaters!

But yeah, that's been it in a nutshell. I'll give more updates as more happens, but for now I'm mostly really excited for the play!

With love,

Olivia

Fashion, Music, and a Cute Boutique

"You know I try hard, I really try hard, Still you're letting go"

~Tranquilize, Finish Ticket

Hello!

Now that I finally have some time, I've decided to start updating this more frequently and fill in what I've been up to lately! I'll post again later today with more updates, but this post is about a couple weekends ago when I went to Chicago Fashion and Music Fest!

I was having a bad week, and my friends Adrian and Andrew invited me to go with them to the Festival to see our friend Erika modeling for a teen designer! I had never seen her model before, nor had I ever been to a fashion show, so I was really excited! We met up with Erika and her friend Ryleigh, who was also a model, and we headed downtown on Saturday, August 29. It had been raining on and off all day, so the day fashion show was cancelled. We were already downtown, so we thought we might as well just take advantage of a day in the city! We visited Eataly (an Italian market) and California Pizza Kitchen, then we heard the night fashion show was still on, so we headed to the venue. An entire street was blocked off for the event, and we got in for free because we were with the models. While they were getting hair and makeup done, Adrian, Andrew, Erika's mom, and I wandered around the street. There were two stages, one for fashion and one for music, and lots of vendors and shops in-between. We wandered into this cute little boutique on the street and spent a while killing time in there.

On our way out of the store, it started to rain heavily again, so we waited it out under the awning in front of the store. While we were chilling there, we found a flyer for the event hanging up and we checked out what bands were going to be playing. I figured they were just gonna be crappy local bands or something, but I was very surprised to see two bands I love listed on there! Arkells was supposed to perform later that day, and one of my all-time favorite bands, The Mowgli's, were to perform at 8:30 that night! I immediately began freaking out! We would get to see them for free that night after the fashion show! It was completely unexpected and I couldn't wait! While we were waiting, we also saw a band called Finish Ticket, who was actually pretty good too! 

The night show was really cool! We got to see Erika and Ryleigh modeling for several different designers! My favorite was a collection by a designer named Christopher Carrillo having something to do with Privilege and lies or something like that. 

Then after the show, Adrian, Andrew, and I headed over to the music stage, and The Mowgli's were setting up! The best part was that there was barely anyone there in the audience. Typically at concerts there are people crammed in and overcrowded, right? Well here we got right up to the stage and there were people spread out casually watching! They performed despite the fact that it was lightly raining, and it was really really fun! They're amazing live, and incredibly nice! One of the band members gave his rain jacket to a random girl in the audience too! Everyone was just watching and dancing and having a really good time. I loved it so much!

The Mowgli's! We got so close!

The next day, we went down to the festival again for day 2! The weather was nicer (a bit too hot though), and we got to see the day show and the night show! The entire time I was hungry and waiting around a lot, and it didn't help that an Italian restaurant behind us smelled like garlic bread the whole time...

sittin around on day 2...

After the day show, Adrian, Andrew, and I went to one of the restaurants on the street because we were starving. Then we wandered a bit more because we had a few hours to kill. We ended up getting to see Arkells too (while we were chilling out sitting on a curb, I suddenly heard the song Book Club by Arkells, and freaked out because I didn't think they were going to perform today)! We went over there and chilled there. They were also very good live!

We then got to see the night show, which was the biggest one! Erika and Ryleigh got to walk a lot, and I was really proud of them!

So overall this weekend was really cool and refreshing. It was great to see my talented friends at work and to see some amazing live music! I'll never forget this!

With love,

Olivia