I am feeling two very strong emotions. First, the astonishment that it’s already the end of the fifth month of the year. Second, the relief that it’s finally SUMMER.

I’ve been home in Arlington for the past month, taking it easy and resting up before the very exciting Summer that lies ahead of me.

Since I had very few solid plans in my schedule, I had a lot of autonomy during the month of May. I used this to my advantage by:

1. Catching up on sleep
2. Watching lots of Netflix
3. Scheduling (and attending) appointments
4. Spending time with family and friends that I’ve missed
5. Working out and eating healthily
6. Konmari-ing my room (read more about that here, here, and here)
7. DIY-ing wall decor for my dorm room next year
8. Shopping too much
9. Practicing yoga
10. … and lots mo(o)re

Anyways, here are some of my favorites from May 2019! Enjoy :’)

Music

ESM is back with yet another monthly Spotify playlist! Who would have ever thought! Crazy! It’s called MAY 19! Revolutionary!

(Okay, I’ll refrain from the sarcasm and overuse of exclamation points… for now.) The overall vibe of MAY 19 is alternative pop — the kind that you’d listen to whilst driving with your windows down on the way to a small beach town with your closest friends. Specific enough?

As always, here are my top 10:

1. Coconut — Shag Rock
2. Flowers for All Occasions — Blood Cultures
3. Are You Bored Yet? — Wallows, Clairo
4. YOU REMIND ME OF NO ONE — DAISY
5. Space Cadet — The Technicolors
6. Younger — The Hails
7. TJ — Orange Guava Passion
8. Nothing in Return — Monsune
9. Harvard — LAUNDRY DAY
10. Grow — HOAX

I also made a driving 19 playlist since I have been driving all around Northern Virginia a lot this Summer to hang with my friends. (That’s the one bad thing about Summer, all of my college friends are no longer within a 2 mile radius of me at all times, making last minute plans much more difficult.)

The playlist consists mostly of popular, cheerful sing-along tunes. 10/10 would recommend blasting to the highest volume and rolling down all 4 windows for this one, kiddos. Speaking of driving, keep an eye out for a ~what’s in my car~ blog post sometime in the near future! ;’)

I also fell in love with another artist’s music this month — thanks to my good friend, Madisson (who actually met her!). Her name is Kim Petras and her music is perfect for the Summer or just hanging with your girlfriends.

I am in the process of making a summer 19 playlist and a lot of the songs on it are Kim Petras! Definitely check that out for some ~positive girly summer jams~

Clothes

On multiple occasions this month, my mom and I were in serious need of retail therapy. So, we walked around Clarendon in our bright Lilly dresses and shopped till we dropped. We did the most damage in South Moon Under. I’m adding the sizes and prices in the captions so that if you want to get these items too, you can use me as a point of reference!

Here, I found an adorable pair of ripped denim shorts for the Summertime. I will be wearing these nonstop over bikinis at the beach, to concerts, and days on the town with my girlfriends.

I also got this cheap and cheerful cropped white tank top just as a staple piece for my Summer wardrobe. It could go well layered under some denim overall shorts, or with the pants I bought — which you will see next!

I am in LOVE with these pants — and the 1970’s vibes that they’re giving me. Basically, it’s a pair of shorts underneath a couple long pieces of fabric, making it look like a maxi skirt kinda situation. I can imagine wearing this with flat sandals on the beach or with espadrille heels to a nice dinner. AKA you can dress it up or dress it down!

I’m happy to have finally found a maxi skirt/pants/whatever that isn’t way too long for my short legs!! Thank the Lord!

I’ve also been spending way too much at Lulu Lemon lately — likely because I now have the excuse of being a future Yoga instructor. I love the Wunder Under High Waisted 7/8-Length Leggings (I wear a size 2) and the Free to Be Moved Sports Bra (I wear a size 4).

My grandma gave me a pair of her favorite Chanel sandals, among other iconic shoes. I love the chunky shoes that ride the line between cute and kinda ugly. Plus sandals are just a necessity for the Summertime.

I also have them in the brown color, which work with basically every outfit you could imagine! Now whenever I wear them, it’s like she’s walking right along with me.

Yoga

I bought a Yoga mat from GAIAM so that I can start practicing at home and use my own mat in class. Not only is it super adorable AND affordable, it’s also sticky enough so that I don’t slip around while I’m in any positions. Here‘s the link to the one I got!

As a future Yoga instructor-in-training with the Shanti Garudasana program, it’s important that I practice fairly regularly — whether it be at home or in a studio. Since I’ve been at home and not on campus for the past month, I’ve been doing a mixture of the two depending on whatever is most convenient.

For at home practice, I’ll typically set up my mat in our family room and put on a youtube video to follow along with on the TV. Lately, I’ve been loving Yoga with Adriene because she has lots of videos, each a different length and with a different focus. This helps vary my practices and increase my skill set. You can check out her videos here!

I also found a wonderful Yoga studio in my area called Spark Yoga. There are two locations: Arlington and Mosaic District/Fairfax. The studio itself is bright and inviting — and so are the instructors! You can also sign up for classes via the MindBody app, which is super helpful. I wasn’t able to take as many classes as I wanted to while I was home for the Summer, but I will definitely be back.

Beauty

I chopped my hair again!! I definitely prefer how it looks when it’s shorter, so I’m really happy that I did it. It will be perfect for Summer :’)

At the beginning of the month, I went to the nail salon with my grandma for a mani/pedi. I picked out a color I had never tried before and ended up falling in love with it immediately! The funny thing about it is that basically everything I own is this exact shade of light pink. Perhaps the last frontier was my nails!

Anyways, the color is called “mod about you” (from OPI) and you can get it on Amazon!

I’m a representative for Pura Vida, a jewelry company founded in Costa Rica that gives millions of dollars to charity and provides jobs for artisans around the world. Plus, they were kind enough to send me a free set of bracelets to thank me for making a sale using my rep code. BTW, I’ve been wearing them non-stop!

You can use my code EMMASOPHIEMOORE20 for 20% off your purchase at their website!

Food/Drinks

My favorite restaurant in the world is True Food Kitchen in Mosaic District. My mom and I went here mid-May for some good eats and boy, did they provide.

My mom got the Korean Noodle Bowl with chicken (pictured, on top) and I got the Sunrise Bowl with chicken sausage (pictured, on bottom). Both were amazing and I would definitely order again. Yum yum yum yum yum.

TLDR: The way to my heart is True Food Kitchen.

I’ve also been loving Poké Bowls lately. My girlfriends Tori and Anna brought me earlier in the month to Poké Bar, also in Mosaic District. I got the Sunset House the first time I went, then I started to make my own bowls.

Typically I get white rice, ahi tuna, salmon, seaweed salad, crab, pineapple, edamame, and a few other fixings. I love how light and fresh the food is — it fills me up without making me feel heavy or bloated.

Decor

I went to Target a few times in May…and by a “few” I really mean an embarrassing amount. Anyways, the last time I went I picked up a few really cute items from the dollar section. After all, I am only human.

There’s a cute wooden box to hold my mason jars that says “lemonade” on it because ~wooo summer~ as well as a rose-scented candle and a coin jar with lemons on it. I couldn’t resist, especially because the grand total was a WHOPPING $5. How was I supposed to say no to that?

Also, my mom and I decided to revive our patio garden as a cute mother-daughter bonding activity! We took a day trip to Merrifield Garden Center and bought both herbs and flowers to plant.

The plants brightens up the patio, which is perfect because my family loves to drink our morning coffee and have wholesome convos out there whenever the weather permits. Also, we love to cook so the herbs will definitely come in handy! (After all, homegrown food always tastes better.)

Memories

I made a lot of wonderful memories during the month of May, even despite the fact that I was not on campus with my friends for the vast majority of that time.

My last exam was on May 1 (Calculus 2), so I started off the month with a feeling of weight being lifted off of my shoulders. Then, I had a few days to relax and hang with my friends before the end of the semester.

Here are some of the highlights: Picnics on the beach, smoothies, doing the Triathalon, late night Wawa runs, Blue Talon Bistro, cutting up t-shirts, sun-tanning on the Sunken Gardens, coffee dates, and formals!

After that, I packed up all of my belongings and drove back to Arlington. While I’ve been in town, I’ve been making it a priority to spend time with my hometown friends and family. I’ve made so many wonderful memories here and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Summer has in store for me!

It feels so good to be home, but next month I will be right back on the W&M campus to conduct Neuroscience research and take a class in Psychopharmacology. I am also posting this a bit early because I will be ending the month of May with a trip to the beach in Stone Harbor, NJ — which will have a post of its own!

Now, I’m off to the beach — sea ya later!