BACK

I am back! My blog break took a little longer than expected, thanks in part to the most hectic summer yet. But also, I wanted to rethink my blog and make some changes. 

SO I have decided to move to a new space and start fresh, which kind of makes sense because I am starting a new and fresh phase of my life -- law student turned law associate.

Please come visit my new little corner of the internet!!

http://currentlytheblog.blogspot.com/

blog break

I did not want to do this. I completely thought that I would be so on top of bar review that I would have plenty of time to lead a balanced life and do everything I want. However, slowly I have made less of an effort to make it to the gym, prepare thoughtful and exciting meals, and to do fun adventures on weekends. And despite all of that and attempting to devote the vast majority of my time and energy studying, I still feel overwhelmed and unprepared. The thought of sitting down in the exam room 20 days from now is terrifying. What I have come to realize in the past few weeks is that I am not going to feel ready for this test no matter how hard I work. There is so much information to process -- majority rules, minority rules, exceptions, elements, and three part tests . . .  I think anyone who does feel prepared maybe is missing something. Or just has one of those amazing memories.

My posts have been rather uninspired lately and I don't like the feeling of coming up with something just for the sake of posting every day. SO I am going to take a little break and will be back after the exam at the end of July.

Wish me luck as I try and focus 100% of my energy into studying for this test!! I need it.

Thanks for understanding lovely readers.

xoxo Laura

Happy Birthday, Love

Happy 28th Birthday to the handsomest, most loving-est, and sweetest husband a girl could ask for!

Of course, hubby's birthday is the same day as my simulated half day essay exam for bar review. boo. 

Though . . .I still have plans for presents, an awesome cake, and a romantic dinner out. 

Have a wonderful weekend all : )

Pallet Garden

First off, sorry for all the recent plant related posts. What can I say, all  of this studying indoors has me thinking out nature I suppose.

You might remember from this post that I have been wanting to create a pallet garden.

Well I FINALLY acquired a pallet (thank you S's cousin!!)

So now I have been seriously  brainstorming the best way to attack this little DIY. Here are some images I have been saving for inspiration:

I don't know when exactly I am going to get around to doing this . . . with less than a month left until the bar exam, I might be better off waiting. Then again, everyone needs a break. and gardening is therapeutic . . .  so we shall see!!

j crew obsessions

I had an unusually productive study day yesterday! yay!

However, I think the creative part of my brian completely got turned off. I have not once struggled to think of what I want to write a post about until now.

It is no secret that I love jcrew . . . so I will leave you with some of my picks currently available at jcrew that I would love to have in my closet!

My love for house plants

I seriously love house plants. Though watering them can be constraining at times, the pops of green through out my house make me truly happy. Not only that, but it is an inexpensive way to decorate. Currently, my favorite plants are my ivy and my huge leafy fern BUT I am constantly on the look out for new ideas for incorporating greenery into my house. I love the idea of planting herbs or succulents in little tin tea leaf containers, or putting a huge leafy green fig tree in my dining room or living room:

something about pink

Yesterday morning I had an amazing brunch with some good law school friends in Freeport. We ate at Linda Bean's and I was pleasantly surprised by the breakfast menu, which had a lot to offer and was very inexpensive. I highly recommend it! One of my friends took and passed the bar last year so it was REALLY nice to get her perspective and to commiserate about how terrible bar review is. It is good to know that I am not the only one going a little crazy because of it.

Then, we indulged in a little light shopping. Every store we went into I was drawn to pink for some reason. Here are some of the items I came home with:

{all from J Crew-- which is having good sales by the way : ) }

All in all it was a nice weekend. I got some tidying done. Finished my book. {sigh!} I  will not be purchasing the second two until AFTER this exam is over! Too distracting. I also did as much homework as possible among other plans (wedding etc.). I hope you all had nice weekends as well!

bandwagon

so I jumped on the fifty shades of grey bandwagon. my timing could not have been any worse (do you know how hard it is to leave christian grey to go watch a constitutional law lecture over the internet?!)

I am only half way thorough the first book and while it is a good read -- entertaining, sultry, and naughty -- it is a little bit TOO much for my tastes. It bothers me that the female character is so young, innocent, and naive and honestly I am even a little bit creeped out. Also, I am convinced that it is EASY to become a new york times bestseller. All you need to do, so it seems, is create a strikingly handsome, dark haired, tall, rich, cryptic, opera listening, intelligent man who drives nice cars and dresses well BUT with a dark side THEN inevitably, make him drawn to an awkward brunette female character so he can sweep her off her feet. Add in some sexual tension and you have a hit!

Maybe it is just me . . .but there is a little bit TOO much similarity here between this series and Twilight.  and to illustrate I took a study break to whip up a little venn diagram. no really, I did:

that might be an over simplification but I am sort of annoyed by it! nevertheless, a good summer read....

In other news . . .I still have quite a bit of catchup work to do  in terms of bar review. This prompted me to cancel my weekly tennis date with a friend today. LAME! I hardly ever cancel plans because of a failure to get work done. I do not like not feeling on top of my work! I also have a wedding this weekend and a brunch with friends on Sunday. S is fishing in a state tournament and will be away all weekend. I see myself hopefully being very productive, getting a lot done, and finishing my book with a glass of red wine. 

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Life Lately

Completely random, but here are some shots from the past week : )

During a bar review induced tantrum, I went outside and resorted to a favorite childhood activity -- flower chain making-- and forced Chase to model it. I think at this point S thought I officially had lost my mind

I whipped up a little pie with extra peaches, cherries, and strawberries

Blonde pizza made for a study snack

Bird watching

Delicious pasta with zucchini and carrot ribbons served with fettuchini and home made alfredo sauce.

Pep talk

Bar review for me has been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. I always feel guilty when not doing work but simultaneously can only think about doing things other than studying. One minute I am excited and happy because I "mastered" some AMP questions or scored a desirable percentage of practice questions right. But then I will be half way through a four hour lecture and DIE INSIDE!! I also will admit I may not have been the most easiest person to deal with at times. Sorry hubby.

SO I am constantly trying to reward myself with little "treats" to motivate myself to keep going. I also have resorted to giving myself lots of pep talks. I don't know if it is working but here are some things motivating me:

Now I am off to starbucks and WILL get caught up on this mountain of work. with a SMILE on my face!

happy hump day : )

sometimes you just need a margarita

My Mom brought me out for a much needed dinner and drinks last night!! I love spending time with my Mom and it has been such a long time since it was just the two of us. 

Happy to get out of the house, I ripped the tags off my new chambray shirt (which is something that I had wanted to buy for quite some time).

I seriously love this shirt. It is a light weight summer version and is fantastic. I have already brainstormed at least 5 outfits to wear it with i.e. over maxi dresses, mini skirts, white jeans, bathing suits . . . 

I was also very excited by the fact that Emily from cupcakes and cashmere featured the shirt when she was on the Today show last week.

On this particular night I wore it with banana republic jeans, my new toms, my ray bans, and my long champ.

Lobster Risotto

This meal is EASY and perfect for summer entertaining:

I use this recipe as a general rule of thumb, and make a couple of changes i.e. using only lobster. As much as I love cooking my own lobster, sometimes to satisfy a craving, I will by a tub containing one pound of already cooked lobster meet from the seafood section at my local grocery store. This saves a lot of time and is perfect for throwing into a risotto, lobster mac and cheese, or for making a couple of lobster rolls. Also, at $13 for a one pound tub, the price is right for the convenience factor.

Serve with a fresh garden salad. 

Enjoy!

Black White and Natural Green

Restlessly moving back and forth from my home office, to living room, to bedroom in an attempt to keep myself from getting bored studying has me yearning for a fresh new space. I would love love love to redecorate my living room by adding a rug, new curtains, and making some subtle furniture changes {coffee table and sofa table!}.

There is something about this color scheme that really appeals to me:

Black and white is so clean and polished, and the touch of natural green keeps if from being stuffy. I recently created a pinterest account, which is OH SO BAD for my bar review studying habits. Sure enough I am stock piling photos for future inspiration, including many more with a black, white, and green color palette. 

I am considering making a separate account just for my blog . . .  but I should probably wait until after the bar.