My hair actually is looking like it grew a little bit! I’ve actually been investing time I don’t have into my afro lately, but it’s been worth it. I’m going to do a review of all the awesome products I got in the mail with my first CurlKit! 

I read this piece online a few days ago because someone posted it on the Harvard Facebook page. In a couple thousand words this person just sums up why I am counting down the days until I go back to campus. I miss it so much! Not really the school and the classes, just the feeling of being a part of something and walking around the square with the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made and grown to love even. Like, somewhere along the way these past few months, I’ve made a life for myself over there and I just want to get back to it : ) which is crazy. And I never thought I’d be counting down the days until break is over, but I am. 

“But let us get one thing straight: the best years of our lives are not behind us. They’re part of us and they are set for repetition as we grow up and move to New York and away from New York and wish we did or didn’t live in New York…We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I’d say that’s how I feel right now. With all of you. In love, impressed, humbled, scared. And we don’t have to lose that. We’re in this together, 2012. Let’s make something happen to this world.”

Outfit of the Day - October 1st AKA My Black Virgin Mary/Mary Kate and Ashley Hobo Chic Look 

I’m about to turn 18 in a few weeks, but I still have little pandas and lions and frogs on my notebook for school. And rubber duckies on my transparent plastic umbrella. It’s a little bit strange I admit, but what’s even stranger is the fact that I’ve been here for more than a month now and I’m finally starting to get the swing of things! 

The random brick wall and fence behind me are back exit to Annenberg Dining Hall. The back exit isn’t much to see, but the actual building itself, way pretty. Way way way pretty. I eat in Hogwarts two times a day (I can never wake up in time for breakfast it’s an issue)

And yes, this pic is straight up off of Wikipedia. 

Anyways! I’m really proud of the fact that no one made fun of me for walking around with all that wrapped around my head. I actually got multiple compliments and people thought I was looking especially fashion-y. Everyone thought I was rocking a crazy cool infinity scarf….but really I’m literally wearing 3 yards of my mom’s cheap Nigerian lace fabric. I say cheap Nigerian lace because when it’s real Nigerian lace you don’t mess around with it. This lace is more cotton-like material so she didn’t even care when I packed it with me for school :) I’m glad I did though. It’s so versatile, I was wearing it as a shawl the other day. Two accessories in one. 

The Freshman First Chance Dance 2012. That bun took a solid 15 minutes and my hair came down in the first 5 anyways :) so fun. (Taken with Instagram)

I like playlists. A lot. I have playlists for driving in the sun, driving in the rain, cleaning my room, reading books, painting my nails, any occasion you could think of! Of course I’m gonna make one for these last few days before college : ) This one even has a story to it!

The Countdown to my journey begins. Who would have thought that in less than a couple of days I’d be headed off to Boston? It Won’t Be Long until I’m wandering around lost and confused at the airport with the other kids trying to figure out Where We Gonna Go From Here. I’m not worried though because this Queen of California is headed towards the Good Life! There’s going to be a lot of fun times ahead, that I already know, but sometimes I forget that there’s actual learning involved : ) When it’s 3 am and I’m working on a paper and I can’t figure out what an Oxford Comma is, I’ll take a deep breath so I Don’t Panic and I’ll just Ask someone for help. I know I’m going to get homesick for the sun and beach and those Santa Ana Winds, but when those pangs come I’ve just got to Shake It Out. I know my family and friends are going to miss me as much as I’ll miss them, but that’s what Skype is for and I know my brothers are gonna Make Me Proud with all they do at home without me! This first year is exactly that: The First Year. There’re are still three more! I can’t wait to see who I’ll be in Five Years Time when I’m done with undergraduate school and doing who knows what : ) But that’s still far off and it’ll be a whole different playlist

I know : ) I laughed too. How does a school like Harvard have a dorm hall named Wigglesworth?! Regardless of the name (I can’t say it with a straight face) I couldn’t be happier. 

PROS
“the Yard’s most oddly shaped dorm, consists of several sections strung out along busy Mass. Ave. Its spacious triple and quadruple suites have a close-up view of lively street activity, and traffic quiets down late at night so residents can sleep. Wigg is also the most recently renovated first-year dorm”

It’s right up next to Massachusetts Ave.
AKA, right next door to all the shopping and resturants and convienent CVS’s of the Harvard Sqare. JP Licks is like, less than 3 minutes away. Hello Freshman 15! My name is Monica and we’re going to become good friends this year as I feast on bowl upon bowl of delicious gourmet handmade ice cream. 

My house has a cheer. “Go Wigg or Go Home!”
I will definitely be yelling that out at the earliest window of opportunity. 

My three suitemates and I already had a three hour+ marathon group chat session on Facebook. Within the first 10 minutes of all four of us friending each other. We talked about everything. Celebrity crushes, possible color schemes, favorite books, movies, musicals, everything. We already planned a suite bonding shopping trip to the Urban Outfitters right across in the Harvard Yard. One of my suitemates turns 18 the day after move in, we’ve already got plans for her cake. It’s almost scary how great we all get along so early in the game. I know things might change once we start living together….but I don’t think I’ll ever have issues with them when they all love Singing in the Rain, and Frank Ocean, and Tokyo Police Club, and thrift store shopping. Plus, the fact that all four of us debated over the color teal vs turquoise as a base for the decor of our common area/living room speaks volumes. These girls have my interests at heart already! 

CONS
The only one I can think of is that WiggyWiggy is kind of far from the freshman dining hall. Win some lose some : ) And it’s really not even a con to me just a minor inconvenience at most.  

The countdown begins. One month and ONE DAY till I get on that plane!

I officially leave for Harvard in basicaly a month. I’m excited! But that great news also means that I only have a month to shrink down my sizable wardrobe into one (I may end up bringing two) TSA airport approved sized bags. I know I have a lot of pieces that I don’t really wear anymore, either because they don’t fit me or I just don’t like them that much, so I decided that this was a good opportunity to weed those clothes out and start thinking about which lucky items will be making the trip to Cambridge with me!

Cleaning out a closet is no easy task. It took me forever just to accept the fact that that was how I was going to spend the next few hours (yes hours! closets don’t clean themselves in fifteen minutes) when really all I wanted to do was catch up on the 2 episodes of Pretty Little Liars that I’ve missed. Emily acting psycho > figuring out which jeans I’ve outgrown. But you’ve got to just power through it! Mind over messiness!

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There are only six meals on this Earth that I can cook properly without accidentally burning the ingredients and/or my arm. 

All I know about taxes is that they suck and no one likes them. Don’t even get me started on financial matters in general. Bank accounts? Interest? Stocks? Investments? Bonds? Savings funds? 

It is a legitimate struggle for me to get from place A to place B in my car. I frequently have to look up the simplest of routes on GoogleMaps or I will spend a minimum of thirty minutes wandering around wasting gas, squinting at street signs and trying not to get too confused and frustrated.