love – Rooted Gracefully

Friday Favorites

Yay for the weekend! Tomorrow is my big test and I am SO excited for it to be over with. Here are a few things that I was loving this past week. 🙂

1. This week I really loved some of the excerpts that I read from my book before bed. They all focused on having faith rather than planning for and worry about the future. They spoke about how God has a plan for us all that is already set and will be slowly revealed to us moment by moment.

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Some days I like the readings more than others, and this week I felt like they really were all things that I needed to hear.

2. On Thursday night my Dad and I went out to dinner in Hoboken to a restaurant called “Margherita’s Pizza and Cafe.” I had been looking forward to our visit all week! It was nice to get out of the apartment and spend some time catching up.

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I had a feeling that the food would be good here because each time that I previously walked by there had been a line out the door. The atmosphere was really cute and cozy and felt like your typical small family owned Italian restaurant.

They started us off with bruschetta and Italian bread and butter. Then for our main meals, my dad had chicken parmigiana and I had raviolis stuffed with eggplant, sun-dried tomato, and cheese. Both of our meals were fantastic!

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We then finished off our evening with a coffee and cappuccino before heading out.

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Overall we had a great time! We hopefully are going to try to do something like this once a month or so. 🙂

3. Lastly, two of my favorite things this week have to do with my bedroom coming along in my apartment. As of right now, the kitchen and living room feel nice and cozy, but the bedroom is a mess. For the past (almost) two months I have had no rug, curtains, or even a bedspread. Luckily that all changed this week!

My aunt had been working hard on a hand-made quilt for my bed for a little while now and she just finished it! I haven’t seen it in person yet, but it looks absolutely beautiful from the pictures.

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My grandma picked out the fabric for me when she was in Amish country this past summer and I immediately fell in love with it. I knew that it would make a beautiful quilt, but I’m not super confident in my quilting abilities yet so I decided to ask my aunt to make it for me. Luckily she said yes and it’s already one of my very favorite things that I own (despite that I don’t actually have it in my hands yet)!

Even the small details are perfect!

To go along with this, I got a nice surprise from my Grandma telling me that she bought me a braided rug for the bedroom as a Valentine’s Day gift!

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I had been looking at very similar rugs online for weeks now but hadn’t mentioned it to anybody. I was so shocked when she told me that she bought me one in the exact color that I liked! I am so excited to get it into my bedroom and see how it helps things come together.

I will definitely be doing a post on the apartment in the near future to share my attempt at making this place feel like home!

That’s all for this week. I am so grateful for my fantastic family who truly made this week fabulous.

Have a great weekend!

xo,

Jaclyn

Heavy Hearts

My heart is so heavy with all of the happenings in the world recently. There is so much hate and senseless violence- for what reason? Where is the justification in killing based on the color of someone’s skin or their religious beliefs?

I am afraid of what is happening in this world and I often wonder when, or if, it will end. I am afraid of the type of world that my children will live in one day- I never want them to encounter the same harsh reality. While it is easy to be afraid, we must make a conscious effort not to let this fear steal our happiness.

It’s so easy to get bogged down by the hate, which seems to be everywhere, that we often overlook all of the good that there is in this world. There are still people out there who will go out of their way for a perfect stranger. Even if it is just buying their coffee or complementing their hair, the world needs more of that.

We shouldn’t wait for the next horrific act to unite as one and treat each other with kindness. There was an outpouring of love and appreciation shown for officers after the Dallas shooting, acceptance and prayers after the Miami nightclub shooting, and unending compassion after the previous Paris attacks. We have seen what we are capable of and this deep rooted goodness needs to shine through always.

It is so important, especially in these hard and dark times, to keep spreading kindness. Show endless love and compassion every chance that you can and to every individual that you encounter. Be a breath of fresh air in a word that is suffocating.

xo,

Jaclyn

Fri-YAY

It’s finally Friday night, which means that the weekend is officially here!

Last night I went bowling with a bunch of my friends. On Thursdays one of the bowling alleys near us has $11 unlimited bowling for college students. We went around 9PM and ended up staying until almost midnight. It was a blast!

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This was one of my first times bowling non- candlepin and I was absolutely horrible. Everybody had a good laugh over the fact that across my first three turns I did not score a single point.

Today was a pretty easy day for me. David delivered a surprise coffee (along with my homework that I accidentally left in the copier at home) to my doorstep at 8AM, which was a great way to start my day! After that I went to class for a bit and then ended up spending two full hours at the gym. I ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes and spent the rest of my time using free weights and doing a combined biceps and back circuit. All followed by a short stretch of course.

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I did not intend on working out for that long but once I got on a roll I just could not stop. I love the feeling of accomplishment after a solid workout.

I showered and ran a few errands in the afternoon before heading home to cook dinner. I had the leftovers of some veggie chili that I made recently, and also made a delicious side of sautéed mushrooms and kale sprinkled with some grated parmesan cheese.

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I plan on spending the rest of my night watching Netflix, reading, and enjoying a nice big mug of hot chocolate.

Enjoy your weekends!

xo,

Jaclyn

Friday’s Fabulous Five

Lately I have been in a serious shopping mood. Unfortunately, when you’re a college student and trying to save every penny that comes your way, a shopping spree isn’t always a possibility. Instead, I like to browse online and make note of things that I love so that when I do have a little extra money, I know exactly what I want to use it for. A few of the things that I’m loving this week are things that I have found online, but don’t actually own.

1. Color Karma Bracelets

I am obsessed with these bracelets. They come in a variety of colors that each stand for something different – beauty, balance, strength, wisdom, hope, bliss, love, calm, harmony, and goodness. I think my favorite is the “calm” one pictured above. I love the little charms attached and how they come in a stack. I think that these are so cute and could make the perfect gift for a sister or friend!

2. Nude Wedges

In the warm weather, I love wearing wedges. I love how you can dress them up or down, and don’t feel like you are going to fall over every time you take a step. I have one fun colored pair that I wear often, but most of the time I find myself reaching for my mom’s nude colored ones. I am always on the lookout for a neutral pair of my own, and I think I finally found exactly what I have been looking for!

These Dolce Vita wedges are so cute and have awesome reviews, though they are a little bit on the expensive side. I absolutely love the braided detail on these. They also come in other fun colors.

3. Statement Necklaces

Lately I have been on a kick with these. I love how they can pull together an entire outfit so effortlessly. I was hoping to grab a few more for myself before I leave for Australia. Since I’ll likely be repeating the same outfits over and over, different necklaces and accessories could really help add some variety to my wardrobe.

I thought this necklace was really cute and fun! It also comes in fun a bright fuschia color.

4. Emergen-C

I know my mom is so proud to see that this is one of my favorite things this week. Don’t get me wrong I hate the taste and texture of this, but I do believe it works wonders to combat a cold. I mix it into a cold glass of water and chug it first thing in the morning as soon as I start to feel under the weather.

5. Dance Team

I’m so proud of my college competition dance team. We worked really hard on our dance all year and last weekend at our competition it paid off! Even though we still have a lot more work to do, I’m proud of how far we have come over the past few years.

Here is a picture of my Little, my BFF, and I before we performed!

xo,

Jaclyn

Valentine’s Day Recap

Of course yesterday was filled with even more snow. I really didn’t think it was possible to have such a horrible winter. In some areas outside of my apartment the snowbanks are almost double my height!

Because of this crazy weather, Conor and I’s Valentine’s Day plans were cancelled. 🙁 While I was really looking forward to going into Boston, we still had the perfect day. We went to Joey’s Bar and Grill for dinner and it was phenomenal. We were so lucky that we could just walk in without a reservation, and we didn’t even have to wait!

After filling up on the most delicious Italian bread I have ever had (oops), I ordered the short rib with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes on my mom’s recommendation. It definitely lived up to my expectations.

CFab had the New York Strip Steak with french fries and asparagus.

We were so stuffed that we didn’t have room for dessert. Instead, we stopped at Price Chopper and picked up two pints of Ben & Jerry’s for later.

We came back to my apartment, took a food coma induced nap, and then started watching Breaking Bad. We have been looking for a new series for a little while now and I think we will enjoy this one!

Since the dinner plans were Conor’s gift to me, I decided to make him a surprise breakfast this morning. I made red velvet chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, and coffee. I also surprised CFab with a copy of Men’s Health magazine and one of his favorite smoothies waiting at the breakfast table.

The pancakes were absolutely delicious, but weren’t the prettiest thing I have ever made. I may have also set the smoke alarms off at 8AM and woke up all of my roommates and completely ruined the surprise of breakfast, but it was still a perfect way to wrap up our Valentine’s Day. 🙂

xo,

Jaclyn