2016: The Year of Productivity

With a new year, comes a new and improved attitude. This is the year for productivity; to make a better me by doing what I love and all the challenges that come with it. This year's resolution is to improve my skills in all that I do, whether it is involving people or keeping me contained to myself.

When it comes to both my lifestyle and travel blog, I intend to post at least once a week in order to build them up to blogs of my high standard. I hope to maintain them so that they are appealing, interesting, and able to share a part of my life. My lifestyle blog will include fashion, crafts, hair, food, and fitness posts. My travel blog will include my photography of places I visit, places or things encouraged to see, almost anything dealing with me visiting somewhere new or somewhere I love and writing about the interesting features.

This year, I hope will turn out to be the year to really start my life. This is the year I turn 21, making me a legal adult. I've put off things for far too long, therefore making me crave to enjoy my life to the fullest. I hope to gain as many followers as possible to share my life adventures and maybe inspire others to do the things they've always wanted but couldn't push themselves to do. I want to be an inspiration to others which will in turn inspire me to continue to live out my dreams and finally feel free.

P.S. Check out my photography portfolio/website and tell me what you think! taishastewart.wix.com/tsphotography

Roma, Italia

So yesterday was my first day in Rome, Italy. I landed in Rome at 7:30am, which is 1:30am back home in the United States. I was super excited and still am to be overseas for my very first time. I am here studying abroad, as I mentioned in my previous post, to continue my major in Fashion Merchandising. Today has been a semi-hectic day; including the hassel at the airport to go through customs and baggage claim, even though that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and meeting up with the rest of the school that was studying abroad as well. I was mainly excited that I was studying abroad with my two best friends from school, which is making this experience even more enjoyable.

My Experience on the Plane

Honestly, my plane ride was a pretty decent one. The flight was actually quicker than it was supposed to be. The flight was supposed to be 9 hours but it was actually 8 hours. We got dinner and breakfast on plane as well. One tip I suggest, never underestimate the plane on the food. Always come prepared with a snack just in case you may not like the food. Also another tip is to always be polite to your seatmate... You never know whether or not they will be nice. I happened to sit next to a couple who were extremely nice and another girl who was studying abroad for a semester. It was a nice experience.

My Experience in Rome

My first day in Rome was actually amazing! It never hit me that I was in Rome until our tour guide took us around on a mini tour of our neighborhood. The area we are staying in felt like downtown Philadelphia; it's called Trastevere. The towns in Rome are super cute and quite close together. One tip being in Rome is to always carry a water bottle around with you. It is extremely hot here especially through the summer months. I saw according to there average weather temperatures that it won't start getting cooler until the end of September. Another tip I learned, even though it is quite common in other places, is to pay close attention to your belongings and your surroundings where ever you go because there are so many people that pickpocket here and are great at it. So just like any other country, just make sure you are aware of your surroundings no matter what.

Overall, I am excited to take on these next three and a half months in Rome. I am ready to start classes, even though I am not ready for this homework. I feel like this semester will be extremely laid back and fun especially being in Rome.

The Anticipation for Rome, Italy

Today marks 2 weeks until I leave for Rome. My first trip on my own. It’s way more than just a trip it’s a life experience. I will be there for almost 4 months, continuing my studies as a fashion merchandising major. This was a great opportunity to take that my school, Philadelphia University, offered. They have so many opportunities and places to go for people to study abroad.

            In Rome, I hope to travel throughout Europe to as many places as possible. I want to experience as much as possible. I just want this to be the most life changing experience I’ve ever had especially at this stage in my life. I don’t want to waste one second just sitting around waiting for something fun or exciting to happen. I want to meet new people, see new things, and enjoy every passing minute in the present time.

            Being that I am very interested in fashion, I want to go to fashion shows, experience Fashion Week in the top countries of fashion and of course shop. I want everything to be perfect and completely different from my previous experiences.

            The worst thing about this whole experience is the packing part. I absolutely hate packing. The fact that I already over pack for whatever I do and wherever I go do not help my case that this time I have to be super conscious of what I pack. Taking the plane only allows you to take one suitcase and one carry on bag. So me, packing for 4 months seemed impossible when I first thought about it. But now that I am 2 weeks away from being on that plane I had to figure something out to make it work without paying for an extra bag. I invested in compression bags, plenty of compression bags. I have a bag for almost every single thing in my suitcase; jeans, shirts, sweaters, undergarments, and dresses/skirts. I wanted to be able to take everything I know I will wear a little more and also have space to bring back the new things I buy while there!

            This whole experience is still a little unreal at this moment, but I am super excited to see what comes my way. I can’t wait to be with my best friends in Europe on our own, making important life choices while having immeasurable fun together.