How They Do It: Gina

How They Do It is an ongoing series in which I interview creatives, bloggers, students and freelancers about their productivity and time management strategies for creating awesomeness. Today, we'll hear some thoughts from Gina, student, blogger, creative mind and travel dreamer.1. How would you describe the work that you do (whether it's an actual job or around the house or hobbies)?I’m all about...

3 Questions to Help You Plan For 2015

Part of me really, really loves New Year's Resolutions. I'm a lover of fresh starts, rules and making dream-filled goals. Naturally, I love New Year's Resolutions. But as I've been making them, year after year after year, I've noticed something funny. New Year's Resolutions just don't work. Not for me anyways, and I'm guessing, not for a lot of you. Even if you have good intentions, it's hard to set...

Curated Weekly / 7

What a wonderful, whirlwind of a week! Two hours after I published the Curated post last week, I went in for my wisdom tooth removal surgery + successfully got all four removed. I've been anxious about it, I kid you not, for almost a year and I'm so glad to have it done with. Compared to what I was expecting, it was a breeze. I don't remember anything until I got home + then I felt totally mentally...

The Best of Call Me Sassafras in 2014

Well it's been a big year! (But then again, aren't they all?!) Call Me Sassafras is just over a year and a half old and it has been such an exciting hobby of mine. In 2014, I wrote 134 posts (so far! I'm not done yet ;) even with the few weeks I took off this fall. Let's recap a little, shall we? (Or you can read the Best of 2013.)In January, I wrote one of my very first productivity posts...

Curated Weekly / 6

The best part of this week for me is that I'm HOME! For the first time since August. I have to say, it is quite lovely! I've never appreciated two-ply toilet paper so much. H and I took a little day trip to see some family and Christmas lights and then had a fancy dinner together on Wednesday. It's so good to see him without a deadline so close, you know? The last few times I've seen him, it's only...

3 Apps for Beginner Meditation

I'll be honest, meditation is a weird thing. It sort of makes me think of foreign movies with monks chanting and whatnot. And I'll admit, I am not the expert on meditation. I meditate maybe three times a week, if that. So it would seem like I am not the person to be telling you about meditation, but I've started practicing it and I think it's worth a try, even if it feels totally weird at first....

Good Deed: Compliment a Stranger

Every once in awhile, I'll be scrolling around on facebook (i.e. procrastinating) and I'll come across some sweet status from a friend about how someone paid for their Chick-fil-A that day or said something really encouraging. And I love that! I love when someone does something little and it impacts someone's entire day. If you knew you could make someone's day in just a few minutes, wouldn't you...

Curated Weekly / 5

This week has been an infinite improvement on last week even though finals are starting and I'm still kind of sick. I had my plant science final on Tuesday and I'm not sure I did as well as I wanted to keep my A-. Sad. I also finished a big paper on blueberry breeding and commercial production in Florida and I'm happy to have that finished!At my college, we get Thursday and Friday off for "reading...

Getting Back into Your Life After Being Sick

The last week and a half (along with all the stress that finals week brings), I've had a nasty bout of flu/cold/sore throat/ridiculously loud and socially inconvenient cough. There's no other way to say it, being sick just sucks. And when you're sick, sometimes the only way to handle it is to baby yourself a bit. Let yourself lounge in bed, watching Netflix. Take up friends on their offers to go get...

Curated Weekly / 4

Hey y'all. It's been a doozy of a week and I'm glad it's over. Of course, Thanksgiving was lovely but coming back to school was not. I had three exams between Monday and Tuesday, both of which were just bad days all around. On Wednesday, I woke up with a gross sore throat, fluey type bug that still has not gone away. So as I watch my to-do list get longer and longer, I've pretty much just been in...

A Better Way to Respond to Stress

Wow, what a week. Right after I posted on Tuesday, I came down with a gross flu sort of thing that has had me in bed way more than I'd like for the last few days. Luckily, this is really the only couple day stretch where my schedule isn't jam-packed. After this weekend, I start my finals. So I'm just glad that I should be on the up and up before then!Since I know a lot of you are students and the...

Checking In

(source unknown)To say it plainly, this is a short post to let you know that your regular Tuesday post is not happening today.Last night, I got a piece of bad news. In the grand scheme of things, everything is fine. But the truth is, I'm hurting right now, over something that I don't even want to care about. But that's just the way things are--rejection comes.So this is just a short note to say that...

3 Ways to Foster a Habit of Gratitude

I love my church. I don't talk about my faith much on this blog just because I generally view religion as a private thing (but not a secret!). I go to a very small (think 50 people) Lutheran church twice a week, once for a service and brunch and once for community with other college students. If you're not familiar with churches, specifically Christian churches, the reverend or pastor will give a...

Quotes to Inspire Your Passion

Something that I knew I wanted to focus on when I rebranded my blog a few weeks ago was passion. For awhile, I worked really hard trying to figure out how I could identify with people reading my blog. After some thought, I realized that it comes down to passion. I might not have the same history or interests as you...but as soon as you let out what you are passionate about, I can identify with you...

Curated / 3

This week, I've had three GREAT pieces of news. First off, last week I mentioned that I've decided to get a French minor + I took a placement test to see how much (if any!) French I remembered. Turns out, I scored well enough to skip 10 credits of French! Which, at least at my school, is two or three courses. So that's awesome. Second, I got a research position! I had to interview a professor...