If you didn't know already I'm in a long distance relationship. Ky and I have been dating for about a year and a half now. Which is totally crazy!! He lives in Chicago-- where I'm from-- and I'm at school in Indiana. I do get to see him on breaks and I often go home for a weekend to see him and my mom! Summers are great though cause I get to see him for 3 whole months!! Since the semester just started... I'm back at school. I'm also going on a trip to Florida over my spring break so I'm not sure when I'm going to see him next since nothing is planned yet. I've been scrolling through my feed on Pinterest the other day and saw this amazing idea for long distance relationships! Open when letters!! For those that don't know what that is.. it's a bunch of letters that say "Open when... [insert feeling here]" I thought this was a great idea so I decided to make some of my own! Here are a few examples of mine!

All you need to use to make these are...

• Envelopes- I got my super cute ones from Staples
• Pen/pencil
• Markers
• Paper
• Your own words
• Anything else you think would be fun to include!!

Open when... you first receive these letters

This one is going to be the first letter that he reads. It is basically the reasons why I'm doing this because I'm sure Ky's going to be beyond confused about why he's getting a bunch of letters.

Open when... you're missing me a lot

This one is pretty important. Being away from each other for long periods of time is hard and we tend to miss each other basically 24/7. This is a bunch of reasons why I miss him and I also included a few pictures of us so that he can look at when he needs to see me!

Open when... you need a laugh

Every now and again we need a little pick me up. I included a hilarious, corny joke that I wrote on a handmade card and also included a bunch of jokes in the letter as well!

Open when... you want to know more about me

Since Ky and I have been together for almost a year and a half we know a lot about each other. However, you still learn a lot about the other every day for years! I included a long list of things that I think he might not know about me. And if he ends up knowing some of them already then he gets bonus points in my book!!

Open when... it is the day before you get to see me again!

This one is a very exciting letter! The day before we get to see each other is one of the hardest, longest days because you just want to get to the other already! The excitement is almost unbearable and this letter shows how excited I am to see Ky! 

I made a bunch of other letters as well and will probably keep continuing to think of more ideas for open when letters! I ended every letter the same.. "Love, Liv"and sealed it with a kiss. Literally. I actually put a light pink lipstick on and kissed the signature in the letter! It actually made the letter look even more adorable and personal!

What ideas can you think of for open when letters?!

xo

Olivia

I'm Back!

Wow has it been forever since I've written on my blog! I'm soo sorry to have been missing the past few weeks but have been crazy busy with finals and then the holidays. This post isn't going to be a normal size but I wanted to catch you all up on some things that I've been up to with pictures! And I am super excited for some of my new ideas to show with you guys! I love you all!!

Hanukkah party with my cousins

Christmas Eve dinner with Ky's family

Hanukkah party with Ky

Night in the city with my best friend since preschool

Christmas Eve lunch with my cousins

xo

Olivia

Fall Break

This past weekend was my Fall Break at Indiana University. Like always, it's a chance for me to go home and see the family and Ky. I had a great weekend with everyone! Kyle's sister, Dani, drove me home because she is a senior at Indiana University! I love going home with her because we get to catch up and we get along really well! She's the best! Her friend from Georgia, Shayna, came with us like she always does for Fall Break. We got home super late on Thursday so I basically just went to sleep to prepare for the rest of the weekend. Driving sure does tire you out!

Friday I spent the day catching up on some stuff for my blog. I don't think I've told you guys yet but I was offered to write for this awesome blog called Grad Guard! You should all really check it out! My first post went live this past week! It's great for college students, high school students, or recent college graduates! It is basically all about making yourself a better person and being healthy while spending your lives! How awesome is that?! After I finished my post for this coming week I went to get my eyebrows waxed. Let me tell you, they for sure needed to be done. I don't know how I went 2 months without getting them done! I only waited that long because I don't trust anyone else to wax them so I had to wait until the next time I was going home. After that I took the train into the city to spend the night with Ky in Chicago. We had a lot of fun and basically just relaxed the entire time. Of course we watched some Seinfeld (they're obsessed) as well as some baseball. Does anyone actually enjoy watching baseball on TV?!? We went to our favorite restaurant in Wrigleyville which was obviously sushi. We're both extremely obsessed with sushi except we have to watch what we chose with me being allergic to gluten and Ky allergic to tuna (as well as everything else you could think of). The sushi was once again amazing and we are excited for when I come in town again to go back to Oh Fusion!

Saturday was a lot of fun as well. After waking up, Ky and I went to breakfast at one of our other favorite cafe's called Horizon Cafe. I got a Mediterranean skillet and Ky got eggs and hash browns. It was their 10th anniversary so they went back to the prices that they had when they opened in 2004. Our entire meal was 13 dollars!! How crazy is that?! We were shocked because we had soo much food for only 13 bucks! They also had my favorite tea to drink (Tazo Zen)! After making our way back to the suburbs around 3ish, my mom picked us up from the train to finish getting ready for my family event. We drove about 45 minutes to a farm called Richardson Farm. It the largest corn maze in America! It's awesome there! You basically rent out a bonfire area and bring food and just have fun with your friends or family! This was our 2nd year going back and we will continue to in the future. This year we finished the corn maze in an hour and a half (last year it was 2 and a half hours....). The corn maze is different every year. Last year it was shaped as the Beatles and this year it was shaped for the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner! It's pretty amazing! This also means that I accomplished one of the things on my October Goals list! Yay!! We had amazing food and had a lot of fun! I love spending time with my cousins and it's great to get to see them when I'm home from school!

 Sunday morning was pretty hectic making sure that I had everything that I needed before heading back to school. I got to spend a little more time with Ky and his family because we all went to Walker Brothers for breakfast. I was amazing! My mom was also invited so she got to, finally, meet Kyle's dad! We all had a blast and I had amazing chocolate chip gluten free pancakes! I had a great weekend and wish I could've stayed home for a few more days. 3 days at home is such a tease when I'll be home for a little over a week for Thanksgiving break in a little over a month! I can't wait to see everyone again for that! How was your weekends?? Did you do anything exciting??
xo
Olivia

Back To Long Distance

Kyle and I have been dating for almost 1 year now! YAY soo exciting!! However, when I'm at school (most of the year) we are in a long distance relationship. When I'm not at school we live just a train ride away from each other (he's in the city and I'm in the suburbs). The school year is starting up again on Monday and that means it's time for me to leave. I know super depressing. But it seriously is!
            Last night was our last night together. We had a great time! We went to Flat Top Grill for dinner. If you haven't been there before it is kind of like a stir fry kind of restaurant. It's super yummy and has these amazing Roti Prata Bread which is their signature item!! (I'm gluten-free and can't eat this but Kyle loves it)! What is also great about this place is you can keep going up for more food and only pay a flat fee!! 
           Anyways... after we had dinner at Flat Top Grill we went to see a play with his family friend. We saw the play Intimate Apparel at the Athenaeum Theatre. I've only gone to a few plays (I wish I could go to more) and this happens to be one of the plays I have seen before. I took a theatre class my freshman year of college for my gen eds and this play happens to be one of the plays that was mandatory to see. How crazy is that?! The 2nd time seeing the play was sooo much better than the first time! 
            After seeing the play that was 2 1/2 hours long (yes, it was that long), Kyle and I went back home to his apartment because it was late and he had work in the morning. I was completely fine when I went to bed... waking up was when it all hit me. Kyle had to get ready for work and we had to say our goodbyes. Let me tell you, I've never cried as much in the past as I did this morning. I literally had tears streaming down my face and Kyle just held me until he really had to leave (stayed home a little longer than normal and was getting late for work). It was a super hard goodbye knowing that I wouldn't be seeing him for 2 months!! I'm sure I'll see him sometime in between that time but that's the only planned break that I have on my schedule so far. Now that I'm back to long distance I'll start posting tips about how to make long distance work as well as other random relationship stuff!!

xo
Olivia

Surviving A Long Distance Relationship

 LDR... the relationship idea that everyone thinks will NOT work. However, those people are wrong. I am in a long distance relationship. The only difference between long distance relationships and regular relationships is the distance. Regular relationships might not work and long distance ones might not work. The key to keeping a long distance relationship is trust. While being in college it might seem harder because there are always the well known "frat boys". Then there is the well known "slutty sorority girls" (Just noting the stereotypes). If you trust your boyfriend or girlfriend then it should be easy not to worry if they are doing anything with anyone else.

Communication is one of the most important ways to survive an LDR. Texting your significant other in the morning when you wake up is a great way to say "good morning" without being in person. It also helps the other to know your weekly schedule.

Visiting each other is of course important as well. My boyfriend and I try to see each other every 3 weeks. While there are times when it is hard to travel to the other with work and school work (not to mention travel expenses), it is important to keep visitations pretty regular.

Doing things together is definitely a large part of the relationship. I know its hard when you're far away from each other. However, there are many ideas you can do while apart. My boyfriend and I watch TV shows or movies that are on TV together. At commercial breaks we call or Skype each other to talk about what is going on on the show. Its a great way to spend quality time together thousands of miles away.

Creativity is also a key aspect. Something that I have done in the past is writing letters. I know it is very old fashion to do this but it seriously is great. I would randomly write a hand written letter and send it in the mail to his apartment. It's always a great thing to read when you're really missing your significant other. I also have written letters for different situations. These are some ideas for what to write.

I hope these ideas help!! Feel free to write me for more advice!

xo
Olivia

Start Of My Junior Year

Today I thought I'd share some of the fun things I've done so far in my junior year of college at Indiana University (go Hoosiers!!). The slideshow above shows a few of my favorite things that I've done. The first party that I went out to this year in August was at a Fraternity. The theme was jersey themed so I obviously am repping the Chicago Bulls. It was a lot of fun and I got to see all of my friends that I haven't gotten to see this past summer since they live all over the country. 

I threw in the picture on the left from this past summer at Country Thunder. It was the end of the summer and was a blast! Basically it is a 4 day concert filled with tons of famous Country stars in Wisconsin. I got to see Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Brantley Gilbert, Thomas Rhett and soo many more. My friends and I camped out in a tent the entire weekend and I kid you not I've never felt soo dirty in my life. The showers consist of a hose and the shampoo and conditioner that you bring.  The entire weekend I only showered once. I know it sounds disgusting but it was soo hot and everyone didn't shower if you were camping out. We played football (I got better the more I drank) and played a TON of drinking games. If you're not a fan of country music but you're friends are still going, there is an after party that plays more electronic music. That's fun too!

 Most of the other pictures are from different parties. The pics that I'm wearing a red IU shirt and jean shorts are from the tailgate. It was soo much fun! We don't go to our football games because we're not good. Except that we beat Mizzou this past weekend!!! Our tailgates are crazy and huge. They're a lot of fun and can be intimidating. Pregaming for tailgates are probably one of my favorite parts because everyone wears crazy IU clothes and just has a ton of fun drinking and dancing!

This past weekend I went home to see Ky. We had a great weekend together. We lasted a month without seeing each other.. A whole month!! That was the longest month ever and I'll have to make sure that we don't wait a month to see each other again. My mom came down to Chicago on Saturday to hang out and she gave me a ton of presents. Gotta love moms for giving you presents when you're home! On Sunday I went to the Cubs game with Ky and his parents. It was my first baseball game ever!! I know I live in Chicago, we have 2 baseball teams and I've never been to a game. Everyone freaks out when I say that I've never been to a game. It was a great time going to the game even though it was kinda rainy and cold. We stayed until after the 7th inning stretch and then left to make sure I didn't miss my bus going back to IU. Great weekend!!! I'll keep posting more fun things that I get to do periodically!! Have a great day everyone!!

xo
Olivia