Otherwise, I am stone cold marble. It’s a problem. Emotions make you vulnerable and being vulnerable is a way of losing control. I do not like not being in control. It’s a twisted way to think about things. There are a select few people in my life that get to see me let down that wall, but they’re like… two.

I have a game face like no one’s business. OH, you just broke my heart? You will never know.

It’s not like I don’t feel feelings, although, God, I wish I didn’t most of the time. I just never know how articulate them. Ever. That’s where music really helps me out. Have you ever been going through something and then there’s that one song that gets it? It’s really teenager-y of me considering I’m a grown-ass adult of 23 years.

For me, music is an outlet where someone else is expressing my emotions for me and, it’s damn therapeutic. Almost as cathartic as having a good cry.

And let’s face it, there are very few things that are as a good as an all-out sob-fest.

I have two preferred methods of listening to my music:

1. In my car. There I am traveling along in my little bubble of music through the streets (while abiding by traffic laws, of course) and just jamming out to my songs.

2. In my bed, in the dark. Headphones in. (How moody of me.)

Essentially, it breaks down to any situation where I’m by myself and I can really connect (how emo of me) to the music. I just need it, ya know? Every time I try to explain this to someone, I think they automatically go to that SNL skit with Emma Stone where she’s crying to ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele (no shame, we’ve all done that). And yes, while that has, on occasion, been the case, a lot of the time I’m listening to music because I’m happy or because I’m excited. There’s a plethora of reasons why I use music to express my emotions.

Music is a great way to work through both the dark and the light sides of our emotions. For me, I just go all over the place with it. I truly believe that music is fantastic for happiness and emotional trauma alike.

I know that everyone uses music in similar ways, but for me it’s especially useful because, like I said, I’m not very good at saying, much less discussing, what I feel.

So, what do you guys listen to when you’re happy? Sad? Angry?

Let me know! I need some new music, and I know my fellow HelloGigglers have excellent taste.

(I’m really into Beyonce’s music right now. Girl power.)

Image via Shutterstock

The post Music and My Feels: I Can Only Express Myself Through Song appeared first on HelloGiggles.

Sorry about that, but you know, school and life.

I conducted a poll via my Tumblr a couple of weeks ago and this is what y’all wanted to know: how to survive grad school. I’m here to tell you, but first a little background on myself.

I am a graduate student studying business, also known as an MBA. Yes, my background is in science (Chemistry), but after graduation I was like, “F-that, I don’t want to be touching toxic chemicals my whole life and be cooped up in a lab.” So I got to thinking, and decided that business was the way to go. Somehow, I would combine my background in science with business in a way that would make me filthy rich. There is no shame in wanting to make piles of money, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise (as long you’re not making said money in some immoral way).

I applied to graduate school and, lo’ and behold, I got in! Woohoo! (The application process was an ordeal in itself, let me tell you).

What’s graduate school really like? A lot of work. There is always something to do. You thought you were working hard in undergraduate? Nope, you weren’t. Grad school is a different beast. In my field, especially, everything is detail oriented (it’s probably a good thing that I’m a Virgo, you know, being all analytical and stuff). I’m working really hard all the time and it kind of sucks sometimes.

Actually, it sucks a lot of the time.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This light, my friends, is my future. It is a bright future indeed. Grad school is going to take over your life, but there is no greater investment than an investment made on yourself. Guess what? Education is a pretty great investment on yourself (minus all the student loans). The debt sucks, but one day you’re going to pay it back and you’re going to be free again.

Grad school is all about the future. Just think about it this way: you’re building a better future for yourself and that’s all that matters. Sure, it’s going to suck for a little while, but like all things in life, it is only temporary. Remember that.

Also, it’s not all bad. I’ve made some amazing friends in my time in school. I’ve had more fun in these past six months than I had in all of undergrad. This is the time to build lifelong friendships and network. By going to grad school, you’re already ahead of the curve. I suggest making friendsies with all the people that you’re in grad school with. Like you, one day they’re going to be running stuff (Who run the world? Girls!) and you want to have that connection.

Graduate school is a unique time in your life. This is something that you’re never going to experience again and, trust me, it will pay off. Have fun. I’ve found that taking snacks to study sessions really helps. Most importantly, always remember that this is an investment in yourself (since you’re awesome, then it follows that grad school is also an awesome investment).

Pro-tip: time management is hella’ important. Get a planner and get yo’ self organized. It makes life so much less painful.

If you have any more questions, ask away in the comments section!

Tweet and Tumblr at me too, if you want.

Image via Shutterstock.com

The post How to Survive Grad School appeared first on HelloGiggles.

I cried over last week’s Parks & Rec episode.

Because you know what? Ben and Leslie are perfection incarnate, as far as fictional characters go. I just couldn’t even. I lost my ability to even. I was coherent, and then I wasn’t. It was so good. It felt like my heart was bursting. Oh my god, you guys, I am way too emotionally invested in the Leslie Knope universe. On my list of heroes, Leslie Knope is Numero Dos (J.K. Rowling is Numero Uno, she’s a queen, Leslie would agree).

Ben and Leslie are my favorite TV couple, ever. Like, EVER. Rachel and Ross are peasants in comparison to Ben and Leslie. I didn’t think that anyone could ever dethrone Pam and Jim, but there you have it. I adore that Ben and Leslie are so in sync and, obviously, so in love. When they finally got together I may or may not have done a happy dance. Last season, when Ben announced that he was going to be in Washington D.C. for this season, my first thought was, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” You just never know what the TV gods are going to do and if they split Ben and Leslie up, I would have wrecked my TV. In a fit of rage, I would have destroyed my TV, or computer, really, whatever was closest to my unforgiving hand.

However, it all worked out. And now they’re engaged! It was so sweet and perfect. Leslie’s reaction was magnificent. Ben got down on one knee and it was fireworks, puppies, kittens, cupcakes and rainbows after that. I was not expecting that to happen at all. Then I started crying.

I swear, this is the only TV show that has ever made me cry. Lies, The Office made me cry too. The Pam and Jim proposal was glorious. It just so happens that I’m not as emotionally involved with The Office as I am with Parks & Rec. I still cried though. I just like seeing people happy, okay? Even if they’re fictional characters.

Let’s talk about the imminent Ben and Leslie wedding. There’s two scenarios that I can see:

1. Leslie is going to throw an elaborate and crazy party.

2. Leslie is going to plan an elaborate wedding only to get overwhelmed and get married to Ben in Vegas.

Actually, you know what? I don’t know what’s going to happen. Here’s what I what do know: it’s going to be GOOD. Also, I’m probably going to cry again. No shame. I’ve already decided that I’m going to throw a wedding party whenever that episode airs. I’m going to watch that episode with my friends and toast to Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Knope’s happiness.

All I know is that I’m going to love it because Parks & Rec will not fail me. I am so excited!

(Now, all I need is for Chris Traeger and Ann Perkins to get together, and my fictional character ships will be fully realized. It needs to happen. Get it together.)

Image via Shutterstock.com

The post Parks and Recration: My Heart is Exploding appeared first on HelloGiggles.

I’ve been there and done that. Actually, for me it wasn’t just 15 pounds. It was more like…a lot. It sucked. I wasn’t happy about it at all. Then again, I wasn’t doing a whole lot to fix the problem either. Panda Express is delicious and I had access to it all the time. So what did I do? I ate Panda Express all the time…

…and Chick-Fil-A (pre-fiasco), Jimmy Johns, Chipotle, Johnny Rockets and a whole lot of other unhealthy food. Apple pies will always have a special place in my heart. Spending my weekends watching all the TV and movies I possibly could, probably wasn’t very good for me either.

It was no surprise that I gained almost 40 pounds in college. It makes me feel faint just to think about it. I’d look at my body and think, “What have I done?” Because, in my case, it was all my doing.

In high school, I’d been quite active. I was in the marching band (you would be surprised at how physically demanding it is) and was also subjected to two years of physical education. I was working out a lot. In addition to that, I didn’t really have a lot of opportunity to eat out so, what I ate, in general, was a lot healthier.

In  college, I got majorly wrapped up in school. Everything else just didn’t matter anymore. So I stopped exercising and I ate everything I wanted. Cue gaining 38 pounds by the end of my junior year. I’m telling you, I went on a rampage. I was also using food as a way to de-stress which contributed significantly to my packing on the pounds.

Finally, my senior year I was too uncomfortable to keep up with my lifestyle. I felt tired all the time and I was sick a lot. I couldn’t really wear a lot of the clothes I wanted to because they weren’t flattering anymore. I was unhappy with myself so I finally decided to do I what I should have done at the end of my freshmen year: get a grip on my eating habits.

I still don’t eat as well as I should. I have a weakness for Coca-Cola. I could be poisoned with mac n’ cheese (side note: I try mac n’ cheese at all major restaurants because I’m trying to figure out who makes the best mac n’ cheese…so far the Hard Rock Cafe is winning). However, I’m really trying to eat better. I still need to drink more water though, and yeah, I’m still not done losing weight.

College freshmen, listen to me, keep exercising. Try to eat relatively healthily. It’s hard to lose weight. It’s better to live a healthy lifestyle because then you won’t have to go through the shittiness of having to revamp what you eat and re-learn how to exercise.

However, if you’re in my boat, it’s totally do-able to get your life back in order. I’m not quite to the point that I would like to be, but I am working on it.

The post The Freshmen 15…AKA A Lot More in My Case appeared first on HelloGiggles.

Seriously, when it came to the internship and my job after graduation, I had no clothes to wear! That being said, my sense of style has changed dramatically over the past year. Now it’s all flats and cute little sandals. Back in the ol’ college days, I spent almost every day of my life in sneakers. Part of it was a safety issue (in chemistry labs you have to wear closed to shoes in case you spill something on yourself) and the other part was that they were just super comfortable.

I like comfortable.

What did the rest of my attire look like as an undergrad? Jeans and a t-shirt. If (big “if”) I was feeling fancy, I would wear sandals and a nice tank top or shirt. Other than that, college was an exercise getting the maximum result (looking cute) with minimal effort. I can honestly say that most of my days in college were spent looking scrubby, and I’m okay with that because something has to give when you have to choose between sleeping and finding a cute outfit.

In retrospect, I’m surprised that I was so not into my clothes during college. I love clothes. I love all the pretty things that I can put on my body and all the cool things that I can do with my hair and make-up. I’m not exactly sure what was going on with me. It was probably the lack of sleep, weight gain (oh yes, one day I’ll write all about that one because the Freshmen 15 are more real that you can imagine) and the overall havoc a busy schedule can wreak on your appearance.

Anyway, upon graduation, I realized that my current closet just wasn’t going to cut it. You can’t go to a congressional office in jeans and your college gear. It just won’t do, ya know? Suddenly, I had to look like a young professional and had absolutely no clothes to match this new image that I was trying to project. No one told me that this was going to happen!

College seniors (college freshmen, you should pay attention too), heed my advice, start looking for professional clothes now. It will give you the time to find what works for you and, most importantly, build up a wardrobe over time so that you don’t have to spend a lot of money at one time when you enter the workforce.

You may think that you know what you should wear in a professional environment, but trust me “business casual” is the most ambiguous dress code ever. Start looking now. I know that it’s probably the last thing that you want to think about, but it’s going to make your life so much easier.

My best advice is not to ask your friends what you should wear. Go to a store and ask an associate because there are certain rules about dressing in a business environment that, although lame, are considered a standard. Case in point: skirts. If you want to wear a skirt, at the most, it can only be two inches above the knee. Dressing the part is not as a easy as it sounds.

Image via Shutterstock.com

The post Post College: My Clothes are Useless appeared first on HelloGiggles.

I love kittens. I love eating cupcakes. My life was made.

(I’m so interesting, aren’t I? These are the sort of crazy shenanigans that I get up to every weekend, in case you were wondering. I’m a party monster. As the oh-so-wise Ke$ha once said, “The party don’t start til’ I walk in.”)

No, this isn’t the only type of party that I go to, but I would estimate that it’s about 97.5% of what typically occurs in my life as far as partying goes. Give me an Alice in Wonderland tea party any day. But you know what? When I was doing my undergraduate degree, I actually felt kind of loser-y for not engaging in the typical college party scene. I will say that this was all coming from an internal place, it wasn’t even my friends telling me that I was missing out.

Then in the second half of my undergrad years, I got to do some of your more typical partying and I wasn’t all that impressed. Let me just clarify that this isn’t to rag on college parties. Some people have a lot of fun because that’s what their personalities find entertaining. Because of the way that I am, it’s just not environment that I get a lot of enjoyment out of. We’ve talked about my introversion, yes?

I’m glad that at least I got to try it, though. It kind of sucks to feel like you’re missing out. Then you go on to discover that, after all, it’s not something that you even particularly enjoy.

Frankly, I was surprised at myself for giving in to the college atmosphere (however, there are some awesome things that you should do in college). I always thought that I wasn’t prone to being influenced by my environment, but it turned out that I was. Granted, I was like 18-19 years old. For those of you that are that age, you’re going to be delighted by how much you change by the time you hit your early 20s.

I wouldn’t even call myself “weird” for liking a nice theme party or board game night. I’m pretty sure that there’s a lot of you out there that feel the same way. It’s all about personal preference. Mine just happens to be that I don’t find big parties enjoyable.  And, it was kind of awesome to realize that it was okay, and that I wasn’t missing out on anything.

So, for those college freshmen out there, if you don’t want to go to a frat party, don’t. Get a group of friends and do a “Knit and Bitch” session. If you want to play hacky-sack, do it. Watch weird cult movies with your friends. Watch Ryan Gosling’s crazy ex-girlfriend interview him. Do what you want to do, and don’t feel weird about it because you’re not the only one.

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(Although, pro-tip here from Making Faces, NARS makes the best blush ever. You will look glowy and beautiful after using it.)

I have this tendency to blush super easily. So easily in fact, that it’s really embarrassing. I will even blush even when I am not feeling embarrassed. What is that?! My awkwardness shows, and I don’t like it.

Also, what the hell is up with blushing? Thanks body, thank you so much, for betraying my feelings to the world. If it was at least, I don’t know, an internal feeling of embarrassment that would be okay. It would be so nice if instead of getting a red face, you could just feel a burning in the pit of your stomach. Uncomfortable, yes, but everyone wouldn’t know that you’re uncomfortable. Of course, we would get off way too easy if that was the case.

Some situations are awkward enough without the added bonus of the other person knowing that you’re embarrassed. Blushing is just life’s way of adding a little kick to humiliation. It’s like: wow, this is embarrassing, here’s some confirmation in tomato red…on your face!

Props to actors and actresses that are constantly being asked embarrassing questions. How do they cope? If that was me, I’d be beet red the entire time. Needless to say that it would be awkward for everyone involved. Then people would start commenting about my red skin and  there would be some horrible rumor about a medical condition. On the positive side, my face slowly (or not so slowly) going from a normal color to bright red would be turned into a GIF. I would be immortal on the internet forevermore.

However, I will say this about blushing: sometimes (rarely) it can be a good thing. Here’s a nice little situation to consider: a cute boy (or girl) says something nice to you, cue the blushing. You just got to skip a step because he/she already knows that it had an effect on you.

Still…it’s gonna be embarrassing (but hopefully, it will mostly be endearing). Just so you know, I may be grasping for straws here trying to find a positive side to blushing. It can’t all be bad, right?

If you’re a high-strung little Virgo like myself, I’m sure that you’re also familiar with a tendency to over-analyze. So, you may ask, does the embarrassment end after you’ve gone through some ordeal? No. You’ll be sitting there thinking about it over and over again, and then you’re going to blush…again. By yourself. Because just thinking about it is going to make your body react. Actually, that’s pretty amazing that we, as humans, are able to blush just by thinking about something embarrassing.

I’m going to develop a steely look that I will be able to conjure when I’m feeling the heat crawl up my face. It’s going to be my antidote to my little problem.

It’s just one of those horrible things about being human, I suppose.

So, how about you guys? Any blushers out there?

Image via Shutterstock.com

The post Let’s Blush appeared first on HelloGiggles.

*Confetti falls and angels sing*

Since I’m enough of a narcissist, I decided that I was going to write about it. Besides Christmas, there is no other holiday (yes, I consider it a holiday) that I enjoy quite as much as my birthday. It was the day, 23 years ago, that I was gifted onto humankind.  At least in my little microcosm of the world, it’s a day that really is all about me. I like to think that it is anyway.

In all seriousness, I am pretty thrilled to have been born. Although life can be pretty sh**ty sometimes, most of the time it’s pretty fantastic. God, can you imagine never being born and not being able to read Harry Potter? That, by itself, is tragic enough to weep.  Let’s take a minute to be thankful that J.K. Rowling was born and that we get to celebrate her birthday every year.

Now, let’s get back to me: it’s my birthday!

When I was younger, I thought that as time went by the excitement of my birthday would wear off. Nope, hasn’t happened. I still look forward to it like I did when I was five. It is such a good day. Frankly, I hope to be this excited for my birthday when I’m 80.

I’ve heard people say that, “Your birthday is just a year closer to your death.” NO. Technically, yes, I guess that it is, but I like to think of it as another year to celebrate the life that you have lived and your accomplishments. Think about it, 23 is pretty young, but there are a lot of people who don’t get to live to be 23 years old. It’s a sad thought, but it’s true. I’m not going to be a cloud of sorrow and think that this grand day is one day closer to my impending doom when so many people haven’t even lived to see their own 23rd birthday. Hell no.

I’m going to be happy for what I have done with my life, my family and my friends. Also, the Facebook and Twitter happy birthday wishes that I’m going to get (I’ve been ruined by technology).

And the gifts that I’m going to get.

Don’t lie to me, you all know that you love a good present. It’s great, yes? My parents still get me a birthday present. I look forward to it every year and also, I realize that I have pretty amazing parents. Considering that they gave me the gift of life, they really shouldn’t bother with a present each year (don’t tell them that), but I’m happy that they do. I’d be happy with a card (full of cash) to be quite honest. Actually, I just got a birthday card in the mail from a friend and it made me indescribably happy. It’s the best feeling to know that there are people that care about you. On a more materialistic level, I just really like new things.

In conclusion, happy birthday to meeeee! Also, happy birthday to anyone else out there that has a birthday on this glorious day.

Now, I want to know, why do you love your birthday?! Is it the cake? Is it the presents? Is it the balloons? The candy? The joy of knowing you made it another year?

Image via Shutterstock.com

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