Moving Into a Dorm Room

Hello!

Before Move-In Day:

• If you have not already, contact your assigned roommate(s). 
• Not only will you have a chance to get to know the person you will be spending your nights with but it will let you coordinate all the stuff for the room.  Why buy a Keurig when your roommate already bought one? There are somethings that you do not need two of.
• Go through and check off what you already have before you go shopping. 
• You already probably have three unopened packets of looseleaf paper in your house right now from previous school shopping. Get together all of your belongings you are going to bring and only then make a shopping list of all
• Make a shopping list.
• If you do not make a list you will buy anything and everything. Buy only what you actually need. This is where the previous bullet point helps you as well.

Move-In day!

• Check what day you are scheduled to move-in. 
• There are always specific times for your hall, your floor and you. Plan when you are going to leave in order to get there on time. When you receive your move-in time it will most likely be a window, like from 11am- 5pm. Talk to your roommate and ask when they are planning on moving in. Imagine two kids and their parents all trying to move in at the same time. Crowded chaos.
• Picking your bed.
• Usually whoever gets to the room first, picks the bed first. This happened to me firsthand.
• Make your bed first
• You don't want to come back to your dorm later after a long day of meeting new people and going new places and have to make your bed before plopping into bed.

After Move-In Day:

• Keep it clean!
• Trust me, I know easier said than done. The most important thing is to always put things in the same place. Then you will always be able to find it! Also don't forget to tidy up every once in a while. Dirt gathers when your parents aren't there to clean it for you. 
• Get out of your room!
• Go meet people, do things, and have fun! Sure your room may be the cutest place out there, but no college story starts with "so one crazy night when I was alone in my room..."
• Be a good roommate.
• This one is a big deal. If you have to live with someone you hate, it will be hell for you. If you can change rooms. People do it all the time and sometimes its just a few floors down or even a few rooms down. Be nice and considerate to your roommate, it's their room too!

Hope you enjoy your dorm room!

Julija

Dorm Room Decor

//posters/decoration

Hello!

School is quickly approaching and I am already planning on how to pep up my drab dorm room. Most dorms are basically cylinder boxes with a desk and a bed that has been used for the last 10 years. Ew. There are many ways to fix up a boring dorm room while also keeping your sanity.

I've gone through numerous Pintrest boards and blog posts about decorating a dorm room and have compiled the most useful and my favorite tips. I placed them in my Organization board as well as my college board. Sometimes I just can't decide sometimes.


One of my absolute favorite ideas is the storage nightstand. There is a perfect one for sale at Ikea for $34.99.

This is where I got the idea from 

This is the one for sale at Ikea

They look identical to me. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the one pictured above is from Ikea. I absolutely love that store.

On that note, our next item: the Mirror.

This one is for sale at Ikea

This one is at Ikea for a whopping $8.99. A real steal if you ask me. And you can even decorate it if you would like. 

For all the girls out there this is an absolute must in the dorm room. It will fit nicely on your desk and you will love to do your make up there. Let me tell you now, doing your makeup standing up and sitting down does make a difference. 

Also, in addition to your desk mirror, you will probably need a wall mirror too, one that you would be able to see your whole self in and check out your cute outfit for your first day of classes. My dorm at Iowa already had one tacked onto the wall but I checked with ISU and it seems that they do not have one. This is one of those objects you can discuss with your roommate about who will buy it. 

There is a whole section on the Ikea website filled with Wall Mirrors. However, I like the simple clean cut kind. Like the one pictured below. It is also very cheap at $9.99. 

This one is about 47 inches tall which about 4 feet. 

The one I bought is from Target, another great back to school store. This one is over the door and I plan to make it all pretty!

The next item would be a rug. Add a cute accent to that drab flooring. This is where your personality will come through with patterns, colors and textures. Do you like the rug that resemble a fuzzy puppy or a solid color rug with a soft texture? It's all you.

I haven't quite decided which one I would like for my room, but when I do I will let you know!


Lights!!!

This is my absolute favorite decoration because it's the most useful! I hate the harsh lighting that those icky rooms have and lights are a great way to great your mood setting!

Of course invest in a light to place next to your bed for those late night readings before bed.
I just took the one I had in my room at home and it works like a charm!

Even better are the Christmas lights!!! I love love love these lights. I have the regular white ones and they add the most charm to my room! The problem with Christmas lights is getting some in the months before actual Christmas. However, there is hope! Most stores still sell Christmas light online! All you have to do is check and pay for shipping! Target of course is always selling them online for some great prices!

The classic dorm room decor: Posters.

Posters can fit any style! They also reflect your tastes! You like the Beatles? Get a Beatles poster! They're great conversation starters. "Hey, you like the Beatles too? No way! Let's be friends,"



Next are the little house keeping items you will be thankful I reminded you!

MORE COMING SOON!!!!



Julija

First Day of School

Hello!

The first day of school is coming up fast! It feels like the summer just began and now all we have to look forward too is tugging heavy backpacks and writing notes until your hand hurts.

My first day of classes is August 18, which is about a month away. Yikes!

With that said I have so much to do until that date. There are so many things that you need in order be be successful not only in school but especially on that first day. I've been looking through blogs and other websites on how to prepare myself for the school year. I have a pinterest board specifically for school. It includes dorm stuff, study tips and bit of style. I'm constantly adding to it and referencing it. The most important thing I have learned from pins on pintrest is that the picture on the pin is only half the story. Always click on the picture and trace it back to the link. There will either be the most helpful webpage in the history of the internet or a tumblr page. Choose carefully. Unless it's an info graphic. I absolutely love info graphics!

I plan to write many posts about school and the college life. There's no way I will be able to fit everything about college into just one post.

For this post, I will just give a little introduction about my school.

First of all, I'm going to Illinois State University in the fall. Go Redbirds! I don't quite know what my major will be but I would like some sort of science major. I love science and I've always been good at math so it just seems natural.

Last year, however, I was attending the University of Iowa. It was a great experience and I absolutely loved it! It was not only a great school but a fun school as well. Of course, I'm sure that you're wondering why I'm not going there anymore. Well, college is expensive. There were somethings that happened that made it more difficult to pay for college and the only option for me was to transfer. I appreciate all the opportunities that Iowa gave me and I have enjoyed my stay.

Iowa was great. The tailgating though has to be my favorite. It was difficult getting up every saturday morning at 7 am, but when we got there, it was all worth it. Tailgating will never be the same at any other school and I will have to go back and visit for sure! The old capitol was so pretty. I took numerous pictures of it and do not regret any of them.

However, the school just didn't fit me all the way. I loved it and I have great memories. But there were some things that I didn't like. Like the distance, I had to go everyday to class. I lived in Mayflower. A decision my roommate made and I thought it could work out but I hated taking the bus everyday to get anywhere. And the busses didn't run until noon on weekends. I think that if i could've lived in a dorm closer it would have been better. Also, my roommate wasn't the best. She got really annoying. 

Moral of the short story is that college is based on your experience and only your experience. It doesn't matter how much fun your friends older sister had and how much your family friend loved the school, maybe you will hate it, and that's ok. And in college, there's a lot more going on than what orientation tells you. There's not only school that you have to worry about but also your roommate, your friends, your weekend plans, and then parents. They try to tell you what it will be like, but you will never know until you experience it yourself.

And don't forget money. College is expensive! And it's not getting any cheaper. Just because you could've gone to Starbucks everyday after school in high school, it's probably not gonna be a good idea to do that in college. You have to pay for everything. Your books, food, and recreation. 

Books are expensive. So do what ever you can to not spend your life savings on books that you will probably use once. 

So before buying books from your university bookstore:

• Check your booklists for classes
• Some textbooks are only recommended. Others are required. If you would like to get the recommended books then go ahead! I do admit that they have the power to help if you use them correctly.
• Ask if you can buy them from a friend or a classmate
• They probably want to get it of their back ASAP so this is great if you need something fast. 
• Check slugbooks.com 
• I absolute love this site for books. You just enter the ISBN number and they check other sites and show you the cheapest to buy, rent and ebook. 
• Lastly if you have exhausted all other options and you can't find the book anywhere you just might have to buy it from the bookstore
• This might include lab notebooks, lab supplies, and special circumstances. 

Food goes bad eventually. Its inevitable. 

• Only buy what you will actually eat. 
• That awesome soup that your best friend loves will probably gather dust in the cabinet until move out day.
• Check expiration dates.
• It'll go bad and stink up the place and you will end up throwing out $20 worth of food because you didn't eat it in time.
• Try to make it to an actual grocery store.
• Buying groceries constantly from the convince store will add up. And they don't have a selection like a grocery store would. 

Recreation will be what you make of it. However you don't need to spend $50 each weekend to have fun.

• Don't buy tickets to the sports event unless you are going there for a special reason or something
• And If you do want to go. Buy from another student. They will sell it to you cheaper then the box office or school.
• On a different note. For special events do buy the student ticket. Or for anything you're going to buy, ask if they have a student discount. 
• A lot of stores have special student discounts, and so do attractions like movies and such. All you need is your student ID!
• When you go out, try not to buy things that are unnecessary. That extra pretzel might not be worth it in the morning.
• Also when going out, if you are a girl, try to get a drink instead of buying one. It's a secret girl code that you can use to your advantage. 
• And try to not take a cab. Walk, take the bus, call the safety ride that the school provides. And if you really have to take a cab take it with friends.

Alright! I hope that helps you with your college adventure!

Julija

O'Hare Arrivals

Hello!

Big news for the week! My cousin from Lithuania came to visit. She's significantly older but that's ok. Of course, I find out by my uncle calling me telling me I have to pick her up tomorrow but thats just how he is, and literally everyone else was either working or busy. I was the one who had to drive to the airport and pick her up. The thought was a little scary at first: driving all the way to the airport, alone, then parking and going to the gate, alone. Then again, I did fly to a different continent alone (post about this later).

So I'm driving to the airport and there are a lot of cars. Her flight was landing at 3:20pm so it wasn't rush hour or anything, which was weird. It freaked me out a little bit. At one point I was clutching the steering wheel so hard my hand started to become numb. Having only driven to the airport myself, only once before, I had to use a GPS. Thank God, we have this technology. it it the most genius thing anyone ever thought of. I know we have a regular GPS, but you have to update those so often that its almost not worth it, at least to me. I used my phone the entire time. But be cautious when using your phone as a GPS because it will drain your battery severely. I bought a car charger for my phone that plugs into the outlet thingy. (will find the site later)

Finally, I arrive at O'Hare international airport (ORD) . I've gotta say it's one of my favorite airports. partly because it's like home and party because it's in Chicago. My second favorite airport is the Stockholm Arlanda airport(ARD).  Seriously, that airport is not only huge but gorgeous, and the workers can travel around the airport in scooters. How cool is that??? Anyway, I drive down to Terminal 5, the international terminal, and park in the temporary parking lot. I lock my car and walk down to the gate where she should be coming in from. If you don't know this, there are two gates, A and B, that people can come in from the airplane. I had to go to the screen of flights and check which one my cousin would be at. Her flight was landed but it didn't say which one yet. She flew with LOT, Polish Airlines from Warsaw. After a while, it wrote that she would be arriving from the A side. I walk over to the A side and stand and wait and wait and wait. This takes a lot longer than I would like but in the meantime, people are coming in and greeting family and friends. People are greeting family with hugs and kisses and huge smiles on their faces. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I almost teared up because of how precious it was.

Not long after, my cousin slowly walks out and I greet her and help her with luggage. If you are picking someone up from the airport, take at least some of their luggage. It is heavy and they have been tugging it for probably the last 30 minutes around the airport, not to mention the flight and before.

I then try and figure out how to get back to my car. The airport is the most confusing thing ever. There are like four levels and each one is designated for something different. There's a train to take people to their car, if they parked their car at the airport. There's about 20 different ways you can travel amidst these levels. Needless to say, I got turned around for a bit and walking in the wrong direction. Eventually, I figured it out and we headed back to the car.

As we are driving through the worst traffic on earth, she tells me about her flight. She was saying how  there was a lot of turbulence. When I flew, our plane entered the jet stream for a bit and it was the scariest thing in my life. The plane shakes and then drops a few feet and then rattles again. The pilot turned on the seatbelt sign, which was an even scarier thought.

We get back to my house, and carry everything in. My puppy excited and jumps around smelling everything. My grandma is ecstatic to see my cousin. There are hugs and kisses and treats. My cousin brought some candy for us and little presents. I got a little bag of candy and a vintage notebook. And so my cousin hangs around the house and falls asleep not too long after.

Flying is difficult, even if you are in first class and especially if you are in economy. The seats are small and uncomfortable. There is no possible position that you wiggle into to normally fall asleep. There is enough elbow room for a mouse, and no possible room to lean back. The food tastes like cardboard and they don't give you much of a choice. But that feeling when you land, it is like ecstasy.  You just flew numerous miles and endured numerous hours to finally arrive at your destination. And weather the destination be vacation or home, it all feels like heaven to be where you are.


Julija

Summer Kiddos

Hello!

The summer of 2014 will probably be one the most profitable summers in my teenage lifetime. I got a job as a nanny! It has been wonderful! And of course, it pays well too!

The kids that I look after used to be the ones that my mom looked after when they were young. Now the two kids are school age and of course didn’t need my mom anymore because of the regular school schedule they acquired. However, I don’t know of you noticed, but in the summer kids don’t go to school. And thus my job was created!

There’s one boy, Grant, and one girl, Jessica. They are both so darn cute! Grant will be going into the 4^th grade and Jessica will be going into 6^th grade! Although I must say that my whole purpose of looking after them is to take them to fun places for the summer and make sure that they don’t eat cookies all day. They could stay home alone but all day would cause some problems in the long run. Kids need some stability.

Kids need to be entertained and that’s a job in itself. They need to play and be active because some kids will sit on the couch all day and watch TV or play video games (which has happened before).

With that said, I’ve thought of some fun things to do when these kiddos! Some have been completed already this summer; others are in the planning process.

-       Have a Picnic – complete with the blanket and sandwiches. Also bring fruit for a healthy side. Picnics are great because you’re basically packing the kids a lunch and kind of force them to eat whatever you brought or let them starve. It’s a great way to make kids try something new and eat something healthy. Also, another important component of picnics is the active part. When I went with the kiddos, we al brought along baseball mitts and played catch!

Almost impossible to catch a good picture of both of them!

-       Go ice-skating – on a scorching hot day rent some skates and cool off! Ice rinks do keep their facilities pretty cold so it would be nice to bring a sweater. It will be wonderful to feel that cool air amongst all that summer sweat. Of course, make sure to check the times for public skate for your local ice area because they only let you skate during those specified times. Another thing is to take them to Stick and Puck. Play a little hockey to keep them entertained. Of course, kids under 18 must wear full gear and be accompanied by an adult. So if you meet the requirements, take the ice!

-       Take the dog to a dog park- on a nice cool day to get not only the kids moving but also the pup. There are many dog parks around the country just look one up on the Internet! When I was searching for a park for my dog I wound the site BringFido.com. The site allows you to search and find all dog friendly places around your neighborhood, from dog parks to restaurants to groomers, a true dog’s paradise. Some parks require that you buy a permit beforehand. Check with the parks website to make sure!

-       Go to the Zoo- I live in the Chicago area and there are two Zoos that are both wonderful: Lincoln Park zoo in downtown Chicago and Brookfield zoo that’s closer to home. Lincoln park zoo is actually free admission so that’s a huge plus. Most zoos also have special summer events. I know that Brookfield zoo this summer has “summer lights” where it’s all lit up pretty lights at night. There are also zoo camps for your little zookeeper.

-       Go to the movies – This one of course is almost a given. On a rainy day or on a lazy day, movies fit all kids of wants and desires. A little trick I found was that if you tell Siri on the iPhone “Let’s go see a movie” she will automatically pull up all the movies currently in theaters and then show times for the nearest theater.  Such an easy tool to search for movies. I also know that Seven bridges movie theater by my house has $5 movies on Tuesdays. Check for specials near you!

-       Go bowling – another rainy day idea. I know that my kiddos parents found some coupons for a bowling alley nearby that will give the kids two games free games or something like that.  But of course we must rent the shoes so that’s where they get ya. But it’s all going to be worth it. One game of bowling lasts about an hour or so. Of course do refrain from buying so much food there. Not only does it add up, it’s also not so healthy for you.

-       Go mini-golfing- the game of golf that requires little skill but provides lots of fun! The mini-golf place I go to has a driving range next to it so that’s also an option. I think they may also have a course but kids don’t find that exciting. So mini-golf is the perfect thing! The size fits their cute little stature and it’s fun! Also, they have colorful golf balls, if that persuades anyone.

The neighbors wanted to join in on the fun!

-       Go the pool – this one is also a given but its always a classic! The pool the kids go to has public swim everyday from 11 to evening times. Of course, it closes early for meets and the mornings are reserved for lessons. But during the peak hours of a hot day go on and take a dip! Remember to apply sunscreen! The kiddos have season passes with their parents and they let me in along with that but there are also daily rates for those one timers. Another ideas for the kiddos, is going to a water park. Although this may be a little pricier but it’s a day full of water and sun!

a  Canvas painting - This one is a special one for your little artist. The canvas pictured below was $7.99 at Michael's. If you go on their site, there are some good coupons for 50% off! We used paint that I already had from before, but otherwise one little bottle is about $.49-$1.99. You can also look up some good ideas on the internet (such as Pintrest.com). Of course, you can paint some other craft! The world is your canvas!

Look at that focus!

The final product with a proud artist.

I will continue to add to this list as new ideas come by. Feel free to share your activities and ideas as well! Have a great summer!

-Julija

Why Petunias?

Why did I pick Petunias as a role in my blog title? 

I've decided that A "Petunia" will stand for the important moments, things, and people in my life. I like to think of this as a metaphor allowing me to gather together all things that come across me into a list that I could reference anytime I need a sense of encouragement or a push when I'm feeling down.

For my very first Petunia, I choose perseverance. Perseverance is defined as "the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult,"  as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 

Nothing is ever easy, no matter how easy and simple something may seem. Life is full of obstacles to tackle and hoops to jump through. Without any sort of Perseverance nothing would be correctly accomplished and we wouldn't be able to take pride in our work. We have to remind ourselves during a difficult task to preserve and finish strong. Such a thought could be applied to almost anything! Perseverance will be the guide for this blog to continue posting and creating not only for myself, but also to those reading this right now. 

I have always wanted to start a blog and I've always had some trouble continuing with it. I would maybe get two or three posts in and then forget about completely for the next three months. But it  won't happen this time. I will take and oath to continue posting at least ONCE A WEEK and sometimes more if it suits me for the occasion. I also swear to keep a blog journal so I will always have the chance and no excuse to write and think of new posts!

And thus concludes my FIRST POST!!!! 

Thank you my Petunias!

Julija

P.S. My name is spelled correctly. It is Lithuanian.