Sunny Days and Sundresses, and Tips to Not Overwhelm Yourself

Happy Monday!

I honestly can't believe its the end of July! This month was a whirlwind with moving, travel, winding down with experiments, rediscovering my motivation, lessening stress, and getting things done from my to-do list. And also, my moving-across-the-country-again is quickly approaching, and its a bit terrifying. I'm trying to soak up the sunny days and good weather before I head east to the winter.

On the weekends I have started wearing more and more of my sun dresses, of course with a floral print, to run errands, get brunch with friends, hang out at the beach, or even to go out at night. I really like white as it is a chill summer color, and the details of this dress are just so pretty! I really liked the details of this dress from SheIn, and it was so comfortable - this Floral Print Drawstring elastic Waist Cami Dress comes in just one size, and it fits perfectly! The drawstring detail in the back with two little pearls was also just darling! Also was a great price, definitely fits into my budget right now, and totally affordable for grad students or anyone on a budget.

10 Things I wish I knew about Grad School - Part II

Hi everyone!
Today I'm bringing you part 2 to my "10 things I wish I knew about Grad School," or, rather, 10 things I wish people told me sooner, as I learned this on my own during my journey, and its more advice I'd like to give newer grad students! You can read the Part I guide HERE.

1. Networking is an ongoing thing throughout grad school - I managed to network and make many connections through grad school via all of my involvement in various organizations and outreach. It's never too late to get involved, and its a good way to make organic connections. I know a lot of people who enter their final or second to final year of grad school and make a note to start "networking." A lot of times people try to meet so and so who works at X company, and it just comes off as needy - people can tell when all you want to do when talking to them is have them refer you to a job. If you have done this, its no biggie, but just my opinion that its always more organic and less awkward if you build relationships over time, and THEN ask for a referral favor. Example: join student government club, meet older grad student who is graduating and going to X company for job. Worked closely with student who is leaving and became acquaintances, and when its time to apply for jobs, its a lot easier to message and ask for a referral!

My Current Favorite Beauty Products

Happy Monday!
I am back to blogging, with my dissertation due in a few weeks, so it is crunch time! I have 3 weeks exactly to submit to my committee, and one month exactly until my thesis defense! But I couldn't let it go without posting on my blog, and making a youtube video, to be exact! I can't wait to get back into regular blogging after I defend, I hope to ramp up the articles and some useful grad school articles for tips on various topics! I also want to write an article about career options in science and also do a live video on my instagram or Facebook page! Let me know what you think about all of these, and if there is anything you would like to see!

Anyway, Check out my Current Favorite Beauty Products!

Life with Anxiety

Hi everyone,

Today I feel the need to just vent and express my story. I'm being very vulnerable but I think this needs to come out, and I hope it helps even one person realize they aren't alone in whatever they are going through. 

read on if you dare...

Travel Diary Part 2 - Having a nice time in Nice, France

Hello!
I am back with Part 2 of my Travel Diary from my recent Euro trip and conference! This time I am talking and sharing about my travels to Nice, in the South of France, after the conference was over!
It has been on my list for some time to travel to the south of France. I had read article after article, photo after photo, about how wonderful and beautiful the beaches are in south France. I had always wanted to go to Nice/Monaco/St Tropez, but never did I think I would go so soon!
After my second year of grad school, I told myself when I graduate, I'm going to go on a euro trip for 6 weeks, and Nice, France was one of my top destinations. When I had the opportunity to go to Portugal for the conference, I said why not extend my trip and check out another city! I knew I wanted to go to France, but I wasn't sure if I should go by myself or not. I ended up convincing my friend to meet me there, and so off I went, to Nice for 3 days before my friend was to meet up with me, and we were going to then drive down the coast to St. Tropez and then take a train to Paris! It was like a dream come true!
One of the fun parts of being in France after the conference in June was that the Euro 2016 Football (Soccer) cup was going on, hosted IN France! It was soo much fun and the atmosphere was electrifying! There were fan zones set up in each city, and I found the fan zones when I was exploring around! The fan zone was basically a place to go watch the games on a super large screen, with lots of screaming fans, and there were little kiosks for food and beer - lots of entertainment. It would get really hot during the day, so at times it was scorching hot so I made sure to keep hydrated, and I had so much fun, even though I was alone. I was in Nice during the games that were hosted in Nice, in particular England was playing Iceland, and all of the English fans came to Nice just for the game, so the atmosphere was very cool. Unfortunately England lost, but it was still fun to be around!

Midweek Celebration - Mia Rosa wine

Since I finished my first interview, and my best friend in grad school also had her first interview, we decided to celebrate by drinking some wine as a little midweek break. We both have been super stressed out with trying to balance life, research, teaching, career development, interviews, and writing our dissertations (or thinking about writing, lol).

I was contacted by Mia Rosa Wines to try two of their dessert wines, and I said, why not, and this was the perfect opportunity to try them (Yes we finished both bottles in one sitting, but we took it slow and over the course of a few hours of chatting... Oh and they are both low alcohol percentage wine so you can drink it mid day with lunch or what not and not feel 'drunk').

Mia Rosa Wines are bottled and imported from Gattinara, Italy, but the company that imports and distributes the wine is local, based in Glendale, California. So this is a definite SoCal brand, and I love supporting local businesses!

I love Moscatos, my go to wine is white, and I'm not really a red wine girl. I didn't know what to expect with their red, but it ended up being very enjoyable and not very dry as I expected!

First up, the Mia Rosa Moscato White:

This wine was a little fizzy and bubbly at first sip, and it was very delicious and sweet! It had a very clean finish, and the taste didn't linger. I could taste flavors of apple, cantalope, peach, pear - it was very tasty! At 5.5% Alcohol by volume, I easily drank 2-3 glasses without feeling much! Easily a very nice wine to go to after a meal when you aren't ready for a rather wild night, and pairs easily with dessert, cheeses, or I even thought it would pair well with Thai food or other kinds of spicy food - the sweetness is a good level to counterbalance spice!

Next, the Mia Rosa Dolce Rosso Red: 

This wine was also fizzy and bubbly at first sip, and it was a rather tasty red! It wasn't dry like other reds I have tasted, which I think made it more enjoyable for me. I could taste lots of flavors of berry - raspberries, red berry among others. Again, there is only 5.5% Alcohol by volume, so it is a nice light wine to enjoy during the day. I would pair this wine with some yummy dark chocolate (girls + wine + chocolate, perfect!), and maybe some fresh fruit.

San Antonio river walk!

Ok ok this isn't a fashion post. BUT I wanted to share these beautiful pictures I took my first day/evening in San Antonio! I'm here for a recruitment for UCLA for a training grant I am on for the SACNAS 2013 conference. And OMG I am in love with this city! Our hotel is right on the river walk and the riverwalk is just so pretty! It reminds me of the venice canals! I even saw boat tours including a dinner boat tour where you can have dinner on a boat that floats along the river and there is someone playing violin! So cute! And as I sit in the hotel lobby to get Wifi to write this post, I can see White horse drawn carriages in the street! So CUTE and romantic. That's it. I'm getting my boyfriend to take me on one of those next time I'm in S.A. I'm making him come here hehehe.

Well, this picture is from the river walk. The next picture is a picture of the sunset from the Rooftop pool of the hotel (Beautiful!!!) and the last is a panorama I took of the sunset. AH I love it. Tomorrow starts the conference registration and talks! And more exploring of San Antonio! We are going to go see the Alamo too! A nice little mini vacation/break since I was going crazy with 10-12 hour days at work!

I promise I'll post an outfit pic at some point!

Enjoy the pics!

:) 

xoxo Andrea