What's Going On?! Where Have You Been?!

       Last we spoke I was happy with my school life and heading off to New Orleans for the Katy Perry Prismatic Tour! Today, I sit in my office with far too much homework and an overwhelming feeling of dread and panic. My "easy" semester took off suddenly when my 8-week math course began. Around the same time I also started a new job and moved into my first apartment. Needless to say, blogging, reading, and writing have been the lowest priority on my agenda for about a month now.

       This doesn't mean I'm gone for good, but I did want to check in with you all. I have 3 weeks left of this semester and then I can begin focusing on other projects, such a life, christmas present crafting, and blogging. But in saying that, a lot is changing. I want to push through and make blogging a priority in my life, once again. So come January there will be some great new things rolling out and all of that will be on a new hosting site! As soon as all this information is nailed down I will let you all know. Expect something new for the New Year from Positively Rae!

Until then, you can keep up with me here:

Twitter: @Positivelyrae

Instagram: @positively_rae

xoxo Rae

Rae Goes Away: Packing for NOLA

When this post goes up I'll be in the car on my way to #NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) for the Katy Perry concert! Sadly, we'll only be staying in my self-appointed second home for one night, but I'm super excited to go. As I was packing for the trip I found it looked like I was moving to NOLA permanently! So I grabbed my smaller over-night vintage suitcase and started downsizing.

Here are a few little tips I learned along the way:

1. 2 for 1. Since our trip is going to be two days of traveling, I wanted something comfortable both days, so I decided to make two outfits using the same pair of leggings. This saves space in my luggage since I'll be wearing  the leggings and boots on the way.
2. Make a List. This is the simplest trick that everyone suggests but I'm so the worst at it! I ended up actually outlining each outfit (3 in all) and seeing what pieces I could cross over. This is a different approach to packing for me and it really worked.
3. Smaller Suitcases Win. When I was trying to pack my big carry all suitcase for this trip, I packed about 6 completely different outfits and two variations FOR ONE NIGHT! I felt like I needed to fill up the bag despite the fact that I don't need much for the night.
4. Plan for Travel. I initially started by putting my bag together with the clothes I wanted to wear on the car ride down. Then I realized how dumb that was, pulled everything out and reassessed. I knew we'd be leaving early so I wanted to have my outfit picked out, so I set it on top of my suitcase with hair accessories and all ready for a quick, speedy morning.

Packing List:

2 Concert Dresses

Heels

Fast Flats

Underclothes

Sweater

Hairbrush

Make up/Toiletry Bag

2 Tunic Tanks

Leggings

Boots

Extra Tunic

Hair Accessories

Night Gown

Slip-on Shoes

Blankets/Pillow/etc.

How do you pack for overnight trips?

Rainy Monday

Posting a little later today than I usually like to but it's a rainy Monday; who wants to keep busy? Because of the lazy dazey feeling of today I thought I'd share with you a few tidbits of my life.

First, Fall is here! Everyone else is so excited by this fact that it's hard for me not to be! I will admit, I love the feeling fall brings and all the sweaters that get to come out and be seen! More than sweaters though... BOOTS! Fall is when I really get to wear my boots and I love that fact! The boots in the opening picture really have become my go-to fall boots. They're comfortable and (relatively) rain proof and really just add a little spunk to any outfit I make.

Speaking of outfits, today I found my Audrey t-shirt! I was so darn excited I just had to wear it immediately! I paired it with a pair of high-waisted jeans from Forever21 and my boots. It was a super simple look and perfect for my rainy day in at the office.

Lastly, being in the office all day with only photo editing and a few clerical things to do, I had time to update my planner for the week! I always love getting to pull out my washi tape and get my week down on paper. The beginning and end of this week are full of work and school, but the middle is exciting! Wednesday morning early I'll be leaving for #NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) for the Katy Perry concert with the beautiful bestie! I can't wait! Despite the rainy start, this week is lining up to be perfect.

How has your Monday been?

Recently Added v.1

In the last two weeks I've added 41 songs to my iTunes library. On this Wonderful Wednesday, I thought I'd share my new obsessions with you.

1. Maybe by Ingrid Michaelson
2. Manners by We Are The In Crowd
3. You and Me by Holly Conlan
4. Home by Holly Conlan
5. Winter by Holly Conlan
6. Happy Song by Holly Conlan
7. You Are Goodbye Holly Conlan
8. Sparkle by Holly Conlan
9. Beautiful Night by Holly Conlan
10. I am Alone by Holly Conlan
11. Honey Don't by Holly Conlan
12. Come Back Home by Holly Conlan
13. Good Ones by Holly Conlan
14. Gone by Holly Conlan
15. Dust in Out Hands by Holly Conlan
16. Uh Oh by Holly Conlan
17. One Two Three by Holly Conlan
18. Take the Blame by Holly Conlan
19. New Song by Holly Conlan
20. OK by Holly Conlan
21. How Do We Know by Katie Costello
22. Ships in the Night by Katie Costello
23. Cityscapes by Katie Costello
24. Lost and Far from Home by Katie Costello
25. We Are the Way We Are by Katie Costello
26. Gonna Get Over You by Sara Bareilles
27. Shake it Off by Taylor Swift
28. Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson
29. Songs of Innocence Album by U2 (Very Not Impressed)
30. Beautiful Day by U2

All the bolded ones are my favorites as of the moment. Another honorable mention is Dollhouse by Melanie Matinez. I didn't add that one in the last two weeks but it's still a current obsession of mine.

What are some of your favorite recent additions to your musical life?

Life Since When

It's been 21 days now since my post about the Magic of Taking it Slow. Apparently I've decided to really live that post up to the max and... disappear from the internet. Oops! One thing I definitely didn't disappear from, predictably so, was Instagram. So here's what's been going on this September as per Instagram and random little notes!

1//Keith and I had a sweet little walk down by the river one night. Downtown Shreveport it actually extremely beautiful if you can navigate the one way streets. 3// The lovely Jordan and I got new tattoos at the awesome Voodoux Tattoux! Pictured is her first one of the day. Mine will come around later sometime. 4// Who decided to forget to tell me that Soy Iced Chai Lattes were so amazing? You're fired. #addicted

Speaking of Iced Chais, tragedy struck last week. The drive through gave me a Pumpkin Spice Latte, hot, instead! Thinking it was at least a hot chai, I accepted the mistake and went on. NO! #notevenchai. Thankfully Barnes and Noble saved the day.

1// On the 20th, for Ketih's birthday, we went to Festapalooza II and had a complete blast! I love any excuse to get down to Festival Plaza. 2// Fozzy 3// New pleather leggings are a huge hit in my new wardrobe. Seriously. 3// My little family is the best at selfies, right?

1// I've also fallen in love with the Doctor Who Risk game I got Keith for his birthday. Grey Daleks for the win... eventually. 2// We went apartment hunting. We actually found one we like! The waiting for the application to be reviewed is the most torturous part of the whole ordeal. 3// I got a new job working for a lingerie store. It's actually a ton of fun. My first sale was $300. 4// And finally, last night was #pamperpartyofone. Chai, face masks, manicures, NovelTea book club read, and Sara Barielles.

Yep, my last 21 days have rocked. I'm working on a few things that may keep my postings a little slower than they were, but hopefully the apartment will work out and everything will go back to normal soon! Thanks for sticking it out with me!

How has your September been, since it's apparently almost over?

The Magic of Taking it Slow // Student Life

This semester, for the first time in my college career, I'm not taking the max number of credit hours I'm allowed to. I'm really enjoying this chance to slow down and figure out what I really want in life. 

Here's the Magic:

1. Time to plan.
   With my smaller course load, I've been able to dedicate real time to planning a strategy for each class I'm enrolled in and I can spend more time on the assignments.
2. Freedom to enjoy life.
   Not having to be in class all the time or studying for classes when not in them, I have more time to go to the library for leisure, take a walk with my partner, and volunteer.
3. Time to dabble.
   I've always been a dabbler, a kind of jack-of-all-trades. I love to pick up hobbies and crafts to find the ones I want to stick with. Now, for the first (non-summer) time since high school, I can pick up watercolors and fashion curating, just for the hell of it.
4. Time to intern.
   This year begins my first full school year with my internship at the Pet Education Project (PEP!) With my smaller workload, I can now really dedicate the time to sit down and work on my intern projects as well as get in the field with my fellow PEPpy People and my buns to make a difference.
5. Freedom to develop.
   Being in classes has always been restricting to me. More so in my own personal and social development than in any other way. Having more time outside of classes to discover new loves, move out of my parent's home, work, etc. is giving me the opportunity to grow in myself and develop a clear sense of what I really want. To me, college is the time to dabble and figure out what you want in life, but how can you do that if you are nailed to six classes fulfilling just one major and/or core curriculum? 

I'm so glad that I've chosen learning and growth over my formal education. I'd never dropout/not get my degree, but I feel, for myself at least, that graduating then growing is defeating the purpose of college. I could have my French or English degree by now but neither would have made me happy. I don't know what my bachelor's degree will be in, but I feel certain I will love the time I have remaining to get it.

Are/were you that "max-out" student or did you enroll in minimum hours? Would you do it differently now if you could?

Thoughtful: What does Time feel like?

PHOTO CREDIT

For my English class this semester, we're currently reading Ray Bradbury's short story "August 2002: Night Meeting." I love Bradbury's style over all and always have. After a few years of not reading him, this piece feels like coming home. One quote early on in the story caught my attention though;

"What did Time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people. And if you wondered what Time sounded like it sounded like water running in a dark cave and voices crying and dirt dropping down upon hollow box lids, and rain. And going further, what did Time look like? Time looked like snow dropping silently into a black room or it looked like a silent film in an ancient theater, one hundred billion faces falling like those New Year balloons, down and down into nothing."

Do you agree with Bradbury? I do, to an extent, but I feel there are a million other ways to explain Time. The real question, which Bradbury doesn't explain is what does Time feel like? Not the passing of time, but the feeling of Time itself.

I think time feels like a rabbit's fur tickling across your face as the summer heat sets in, like the massaging of the one stubborn tense muscle that hurts too much to continue and feels to good to stop, like the air of the night when you reach up toward the stars and just, for a moment, grasp the light of the moon only to have nothing to show for it.

What do you think Time feels like?

Taking it easy today and enjoying the holiday! Hope it was a great one for you as well!

What's your labor day traditions?

Let's Talk: Reading Slumps

Today is the last day of my first week back at school. Last week, however, was the Bout of Books 11.0, as many of you may already know. I posted my TBR for the week and finished a whopping 24 pages of A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan and an amazing 30 minutes of the Stardust audiobook. Over the entire summer, I read a total of 2 books and started somewhere around 15 books. It's official, I'm in a reading slump.

I think I've been falling into this slump for a while now. And every time I read a really good book I think I've cured my slump. I've read some absolutely astounding books in the few I've read this year. The beautiful narrative of Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore kept me spellbound and the NovelTea Book Club kept me motivated. Enchanted left me eager for the next book and to devour every fairytale within reach. Cress left me longing for Winter and the final two Gallagher Girls books I read back to back! Somehow though, my good intentions to find another book to love have not come to fruition. I suppose we'll see how September deals with this slump.

How do you handle a reading slump?

Bout of Books 11.0 // TBR

I promise I'm just going to just re-post my videos here! This one is actually relevant to a previous post! For those who don't care, check out the other links below the Bout of Books things!

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Books Mentioned:

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

The Buddha in the Attick by Julie Otsuka

Legend by Marie Lu

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Burn this Book edited by Toni Morrison

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

~ Links ~

Bout of Books Read-a-thon: http://raegoesaway.blogspot.com/2014/08/bout-of-books-11.html

Jean // BookishThoughts: https://www.youtube.com/user/bookishthoughts

Rosianna: http://youtube.com/rosianna

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• Thanks to Kristin over at My Life as a Teacup I've become a little obsessed with the idea of a capsule wardrobe. 
• Here's some good food for thought as I find myself less and less in the college world and more and more in the "real," "grown-up" world.
• I've loved the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry for a while now, especially Table Top, but the web series Spooked has definitely caught my attention. 

Other than that, the last week has been crazy and this week is looking even crazier!

What are you reading (for Bout of Books or otherwise)? How was the last week in your life?

Let's Do Youtube: Introducing PositivelyRae

Yep, back on the Youtube train. Got derailed but back better than ever. Subscribe if you'd like to see more videos! If not, keep an eye out here for bloggity things :)

Happy Monday all!

Are you on Youtube? What's your channel? And/or who are some of your favorite Youtubers?

Bout of Books 11.0

That's right! I'm getting back into reading with a read-a-thon! Get excited and keep up with me during the read-a-thon on Instagram (all of which will also be posted on twitter and tumblr).

If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, here:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Are you going to do the read-a-thon? What's your plan of action?

Date Night: Shreveport Downtown

About a week ago Keith and I decided to a little date night reminiscent of our first date. We went downtown to a little restaurant/bar called The Blind Tiger, walked around Downtown Shreveport, and went on the Shreve Town Ghost Walk. 

The Blind Tiger was a surprisingly pleasant meal out, even as a vegetarian. I ended up simply getting a baked potato and some fried pickles. There was also the option to get "Quorn Po'boy." Quorn is a meat substitute which would have been fried for the Po'boy. Next time, I'll definitely try that, but I wasn't feeling very adventurous this time. I find that having that one vegetarian option on the menu made my meal out a much less stressful experience, despite not actually getting that option. The Blind Tiger definitely one of my more favorite date night restaurants now. Also, that drink is called a "Fuzzy Tiger" and it's not too bad, just very strong.

We ended our night with a nice little ghost walk. While I enjoyed the walk, I was a little disappointed. The stories told  were much more centered around the history of Shreveport than actual stories that are theorized to have caused hauntings. There was actually very little talk of hauntings in general. Those ghost stories that were told were very ill-explained. More or less, this was a history walk that told of some reports of activity with not much background/reasoning and told stories that could have caused hauntings without actual reports of activity. I did really enjoy the walk, it just was not what I expected.

It was such an amazing date. Somehow, ghost walk dates are kind of our thing.

What's your favorite date night idea?

Happy Haul: Disney Tanks

I have quite a bit of an obsession with Hot Topic, and the 20th was the last day to cash in the "Hot Cash" I'd "earned" by purchasing way more items than I needed to. I spent about $60 ($120ish without the Hot Cash) and got quite a few things, but the most interesting things, I think, are my new Disney tank tops! I'm literally obsessed with them now! They're so gorgeous, easy to style, and pretty soft fabric/screen prints too! Definitely a 5/5 if I were to review them, which I won't.

1// Aladdin is the softest  "off-the-rack" shirt I've ever owned 2// This frozen one is gorgeous. I also wanted this Frozen dress but I wanted the tanks more 3// I promise Rapunzel has a nose, the wave of the shirt just covered it in the picture 4// Stitch #nuffsaid 5// I wasn't sure about this one, but I really like it the more I look at it and style it. 

Yes, I've worn all of them in the past week #noshame. I'm too obsessed with tanks this year.

What's your favorite summer/hot weather clothing item?

VegHead in Shreveport

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Look at me, posting on time/on the schedule again!

About 1 week and two days ago I decided to go officially and properly vegetarian. I've always known it would be better for my health and for the environment, but living with my venison loving mother has always made it a little difficult. That's not to mention that I had never done much grocery shopping for myself until Keith came to live with us. But now I've truly dedicated myself to making a tiny impact in myself and in the world with my diet. (This sudden motivation may or may not have come from Kalel Cullen's blog post, video, and suggestion of Paul McCartney's "If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls.)

Yes, that's a smoothie bowl. Yes, it was delicious. Yes it's the only picture I've taken of food for the last week. 

So far I've found the diet to be a bit difficult. There are very few places in Shreveport that I've found that have vegetarian friendly meals. I'm finding it very frustrating that everywhere I go I get french fries, mashed potatoes, fried onions, etc. I eat a lot of bean burritos and eggs (I am not vegan, vegetarian who eats only free-range eggs and is lactose intolerant). Mostly I find going out very frustrating now when I once loved it. Italian has so far been the exception as I only ever ate Alfredo before anyway. 

Aside from the frustrations of going out, I really enjoy my new "friendly" foods, as I've begun to call them, at home. I've found so many different ways to make/mix/cook the veggies I've always loved and some I'd never tried. So far, these AMAZING zucchini fries from Yummy Healthy Easy have been my favorite go to.

I haven't made the ranch dip, but with Hidden Valley they're pretty great. Last night I also made this Fruit Salsa from The Thread Affect and it was pretty good. Pasta has also become my best friend again. I can eat pasta with butter or Alfredo or marinara and be perfectly content. 

These fruit quesadillas (by A Cedar Spoon) were also a huge hit with myself and Keith, so they're definitely here to stay. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a homemade desert so much!

As I discover more delicious ideas and undoubtably learn some things about being Vegetarian in Shreveport I will let you all know!

Have you ever been/are you vegetarian? What did/do you find most challenging? If not, what is your favorite veggie?