TGIF, Spring Break!

I'm pretty sure this has been the longest week ever! Happy Friday, Y'all! 

1. Spring Break!

I. am. so. excited! Spring Break is finally here! We are heading down to Hilton Head for the week and I cannot wait. It has finally warmed up a little bit here, but I am so looking forward to knowing that it is going to be in the 60s and 70s consistently. Hopefully I'll come back with a little color. Check out yesterday's post with some of my favorite mix & match swimsuits for this season! 

2. Sunday Funday 

You know how some most people head to the grocery when a snow storm is coming? Well. I went to Hobby Lobby, and I don't regret it one bit. Unfortunately, I ended up having to go to actual work that week and didn't get to craft as much as I'd planned. Luckily we had a relatively free weekend so I spent all day on Sunday painting. When I was at Furman it seemed like we were painting posters and gifts all the time with Kappa, but law school doesn't quite provide the same opportunity. Here's a little something I painted, what do y'all think? (In case y'all weren't already aware - am in love with Kentucky and Furman!) 

3. I have the best fiancé 

Do y'all remember when I posted this dress a few weeks ago and mentioned how much I loved it?? Well, luckily for me, my fiancé reads this blog and took it upon himself to order it for me as an early spring break gift. Let me tell you, it is even more perfect in person! This is one of my absolute favorite necklines (not sure if there's an actually name for it), and it fits perfectly! 

4. Moot Court Board Training

Ugh. We had training on Thursday night to "re-vamp" how the scoring is supposed to be done for the 1L oral argument competition and it was a giant disaster. The "new" score sheet was not significantly more objective than the prior one, and yet we still had to spend an hour talking about how it was so much better and would produce so much better results. I think it is a great idea to work on making this judging more cohesive because it really is all across the board, but this was a failed attempt. And it took an hour. I know, I know, an hour isn't that long in the grand scheme, but we're leaving tomorrow and I have stuff to do, ya know? Anyways, sorry for the vent!

5. MARCH MADNESS

Y'all. The best time of year is finally here! MARCH MADNESS! I am SO SO SO excited. Kentucky is doing so well and it has been such a great season! They're 31-0! The first game of the SEC Tournament for Kentucky is today at 1:00pm since they had a double-bye. I have no idea how I'm going to keep paying attention at work, but I'm sure I'll find a way. Do y'all have a favorite team? Is anyone as excited as I am?

PS - I found this workout for March Madness, think something like the Bachelor workouts. 5 push-ups for each foul, 1 minute plank if someone fouls out, etc. I am so looking forward to trying it, and as much basketball as I'm about to watch in the upcoming weeks I should be in great shape by the end!

Have a great weekend y'all, and GO CATS!

xoxo

linking up with:

Oh Hey Friday | Friday Favorites | Five on Friday | Casual Friday | xoxo Rebecca

Mix it Up Friday

Spring Break: Sunshine, Swimsuits, & Sandals

Spring break is almost here and I could not be more excited! All week I've been trying to figure out what I needed to pack and what "warm weather" clothes I needed to pull out of hiding. Then the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'll be spending every day at the beach or pool, and only going out to dinner one or two nights. So, all I really needed to worry about are my swimsuits and sandals. 

Last year I bought six separates from Victoria's Secret, and I have been so happy with them. I tried to buy pieces that I could mix and match so that over 4 or 5 days, I would have at least that many "matching" combinations. Their website has a bikini mixer feature that lets you look at all of the different styles and colors at once, so you can decide what pieces look good together and which ones you can easily pair with multiple tops or bottoms. If you're willing to have a little fun, the possibilities are endless! 

Here are a few favorite matches I like from this season's colors and designs! 

What are your favorite bikini styles? Do you like to splurge on a new suit each season? 

In addition to swimsuits, obviously you need to put something on your feet to wear down to the beach, along with a cover up. Sometimes I'll throw on a cotton dress because it's so easy, but I tend to stick with Nike Shorts and a Tank Top when I'm heading to the beach. In terms of shoes, I always tend to underestimate how hot sand can be! Ouch! These are some of my favorite sandal options, some I own and some I think I need to get in my closet ASAP. 

(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) 

What are your true essentials when heading to the beach? 

Happy almost spring break, y'all!

xoxo 

linking up with

                                          Style Me Wednesday | Trend Spin | Doused in Pink

Wedding Wednesday, 346 Days to Go {How I Asked My Bridesmaids}

Let me be clear, I do not think it is necessary at all to do anything but call a girl up and ask her to share in this day with you. However, in law school I don't get nearly as many chances to craft as much as I would like to, so I decided to take full advantage of this opportunity! 

After scouring Pinterest for a clever, but not overdone way to ask my bridesmaids, I finally concluded that I would just have to come up with something on my own. I ended up incorporating a few different things that I'd seen, and eventually just let my creativity get the best of me and this is what I ended up with! 

I knew I wanted to do something clever without being too cliche, but everything I kept finding on Pinterest just seemed over the top. After some brainstorming and flashbacks to Big/Little reveals with Kappa, I settled on including a few different items, each with a cute note attached. Below are the notes I attached to each item, and then I put all of them inside a large mason jar. I also included the girls' names on the top of the mason jar. I tried to choose the shades of nail polish and type of candy for each one specifically, so they were still personalized. 

Inside of the mason jar I also included a card that said "Will you be my Bridesmaid?" and one said "Will you be my Maid of Honor?" I included a small personal note on the backs of these cards. 

To make all of the cards I typed up what I wanted to be on the card in a word document. Then I cut down scrapbook paper so that it would fit in the printer (8.5 x 11). I don't hate my handwriting, but I knew I was going to need to make seven (!) of these jars, so I thought it was more efficient for my perfectionist self to let the computer do the work. If any of y'all are interested in this let me know and I can send it your way!

After I'd printed the cards, I cut them out and glued them to some glittery scrap book paper and cut them out again. For each of the "item" cards, I attached them directly to the item itself. Then I put the "Maid of Honor" and "Bridesmaid" cards on another piece of glittery paper to really frame it and make it stand out. 

To present it to each of the girls I put the jar in a cute chevron gift bag from Target with a piece or two of tissue paper. I also placed a piece of tissue paper directly inside the mason jar before placing everything in just to make it look a little nicer and also so that it wouldn't be banging around inside. 

What do y'all think about these? What are some of your favorite ways you've seen brides ask their bridesmaids? 

Have a great day, y'all!

xoxo

linking up with: 

Wedding Wednesday | Celebrate Southern | Humpday Happenings | Merry Monday | Wow Us Wednesdays

Interview Tips: Questions to Ask at the End of Your Interview

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, one of the ways you can prepare for your interview is to prepare a list of questions to ask at the end of the interview. More often than not you will be asked if you have any questions, and you want to make sure that you are prepared for that. Occasionally the interviewer will talk your ear off and you might not actually have anything left to ask, and that's okay. However, generally there will always be something that that wasn't covered that you can ask about. The questions below are divided into questions for the interviewer, questions about the firm, and questions generally about the position. Depending on how you think you're getting along with the interviewer can help you determine which questions are most appropriate. 

Questions for the Interviewer

These questions are more specific to the person who is actually interviewing you. This is a good way to get to know them, and make them feel like you really are interested in what they do and genuinely appreciate their time and their opinions. That being said, make sure that you have still asked a couple of questions about the firm itself since you are going to be working for the firm, rather than that one individual.

Questions about the Firm

The most important thing about these questions is to make sure non of them could have been answered by looking at the firm's website. However, a lot of things like the culture and and comparison to other firms is not something readily available in that formal. Obviously, they can and should be adapted to the specific firm and interview that you are participating in.

Questions on the Position Generally

This is a great way for you to find out what is going to be expected of you if you are offered the job. Similarly to questions about the firm, make sure that you are not asking questions that were covered in the job posting itself. It is not worth looking interested, if it makes you look ignorant or lazy because you should have already seen the information about the position. In the same fashion, it is also important to make sure when you are asking questions about the position it comes across as genuine interest, rather than it sounding like you are unwilling to work hard.

These questions can all be adapted to serve the position you are interviewing for. It is also very common once you are in the interview and they are telling you a lot of things about the firm, questions will come to you that you may not have prepared ahead of time. Those can be some of the best questions because it shows you are really listening to what they are telling you. However, it is also helpful to have a few questions in your back pocket so you don't have a blank stare at the end of the interview when asked if you have any questions for them.

Do y'all have any go-to questions that you always ask at the end of an interview?

Have a great day, y'all! And if you have an interview coming up, good luck!

xoxo 

Interview Tips: How to Prepare for an Interview

There are so many different aspects to an interview from what you should wear, how you should act, what you can and can't talk about, etc. I think often the preparation before the interview can get overlooked, but can make such a difference when you are in the interview. It will make you more confident, and it will give the interviewer the impression that you want to be there and want to have that job. Here are a few things you can do to prepare, that are so so easy it's crazy not to do them! 

1. Research the Firm/Company

This is one of the most important things you can do because it will show that you actually do have interest in the company. Depending on how long you anticipate the interview lasting, it is likely that you'll be asked why you want to work there and why you applied for the job. You need to be able to tell your interviewer the answer to these questions, and if they can see that you have researched their company it will be a major bonus. i.e. "I noticed that you all just litigated a case on adoption law, and that is something I've always been interested in." or for something outside of the legal field, "I notice that your company has a lot of career opportunity and that is something that is important to me." 

All of that being said, you don't want it to look like you've memorized their website and are just spitting it back out. But, if you are asked what area of a law you are hoping to practice, the last thing you want to do is either (a) ask them what their firm does (because you should know!) or (b) reply with an area of law that the firm doesn't actually practice. 

This is something that you can spend as little as fifteen minutes on know way more than you would have going in, and it is something that is essential to feeling confident and honestly (and appropriate) answering the questions.

2. Research your Interviewer 

If you're lucky you will be told who is conducting your interview. Usually a company has a staff/employee/attorney directory that you can use to research your interviewer. And, fortunately for us, there is this thing called google. However, make sure if their linked in page comes up in your search that you either don't click on it, or are aware that they will know that you've viewed it. In researching your interviewer I think the important things to look for are (1) his or her position with the company, (2) how long he or she has been with the company, (3) undergraduate and graduate schools, (4) general appearance. This information can give you some preliminary information about questions they are likely to ask you and what they might expect from you. It can also be beneficial to know where he or she attended college or graduate school because if you have that in common it is something they will likely bring up and you can be prepared to discuss that. Finally, I do prefer to know what my interviewer is going to look like. I know it might sound ridiculous, and its obviously not the most important thing, but it's just one more thing that you will know before you get there and one less thing to distract you once the interview starts. 

3. Print Extra Copies of Your Resume and Transcript

It is rare that you would not have already submitted your resume, but you should still bring extra copies with you. Once I had two interviewers and one of them preferred not to look at the resume until the actual interview so that he wasn't pre-judging the applicants too much. Another time, I had an interview at a big law firm and the associate I was interviewing with had left his copy of my resume in his office, rather than the conference room we were in. He didn't ask for one, but when he mentioned he'd left it, I was able to provide another copy to him. Again, this is an easy thing to do, but can definitely make an impression. 

4. Decide what to Wear the Night Before

As I mentioned in this post, what you wear to an interview can be, and usually is very important. It is also important to make sure that everything you plan to wear is clean and that you can find it. I would recommend trying it on to make sure if fits how you think it should, although not ideal to have to go buy a new suit, it is important to make sure you look professional and maybe it is time to purchase a new suit. Whatever the case, make sure everything you have planned to wear is clean and ironed and get it ready the nice before to ensure a less stressful morning.  

5. Prepare a List of Questions

More often than not you will be given the chance to ask questions to your interviewer(s) at the end. As I addressed above, you definitely do not want to ask any questions that you could have found the answer to on their website. However, you can use that information to form other, deeper questions. There are a lot of factors that can play into what questions you should ask, and tomorrow I will provide a lengthly list of questions that will give you options whatever the situation. 

How do you like to prepare for an interview? 

Have a Great Day, y'all!

xoxo

linking up with: 

Meg