Summer is here and Tomily Hint #5

The last week of school was full of delicious but bad foods,

awful and more awful tests and projects,

and messed up sleeping patterns.

But it's OVER and i can officially welcome

summertime with open arms!!!

It really wasnt a bad last week of school...

We had a Raclette Party as you can see below...

I studied outside and was attacked by a baby spider...

which scared me enough to send me running inside....

It was such a nice day that i had to try again,

I got a nice right arm sunburn from sitting out here for like 30 minutes ;) 

During the week I tried to slowly pack everything up

so it wouldn't be me trying to pack EVERYTHING in my car the same day i'm leaving.

I did pretty good, i managed to fit most everything in my car.

We have officially left Dorm life behind us, we get shiny pretty apartments next semester ;)

 So i can't tell you enough how happy i am that it's summer.

My cup of care is sooooo empty right now, especially my school cup.

I have been in need of a nice long break and it's finally here.

And do you know what is happening this summer?????

hmm yes, i think you do know!!!

TOM IS COMING!!!!

In fact he's coming in 39 days...eeeeep

I can't wait!!!!

I came home to a pile of online shopping finds.

I'm pretty excited about most of it...there's only two pieces i'm wary of,

but i'm determined to make both pieces work.

In these packages was one pretty red dress that's nothing too fancy

but i love it, and it's my airport dress ;) 

I talked to Tom on the phone while driving today via Skype voice calling,

how freaking cool is technology...it's just amazing!!!

We stopped talking right before i drove into a monsoon...

good thing we had already hung up or Tom would have heard a terrified Emily on the phone...

I mean it was like i was driving under water...that's how hard it was raining.

Lesson learned, when mom says wait to come home, you should probably listen.

Oh i have a Tomily Summer Plans Hint like i promised the other day.

This one is from Tom and it's really good!!!!

Hint #5 - "You can count on this old geezer" 

See i told you it was good, he's so tricky!!!!

Good luck guessing what we're up to ;)

You can find the other hints here:

| One | Two | Three | Four |

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!!!

And congrats to all of my good friends that are graduating!!! :)

-Emily

1 more day!!

Finals week is almost over.

2 more tomorrow and then i'll be headed home to Texas!!

SUMMER IS HERE..

and Tom will be joining me soooooon!!!!

{eep}

 

I wasn't supposed to blog again till friday but i just love this quote

so much and i had to share it :)

 

Have a great wednesday evening, see ya Friday

with some hints about Tomily summer plans!!!!

 

-Emily

Finals Week!!!

It's finals week.

Which means i'm going to be taking a little blogging break

to focus on this week and finish things up.

 

 

 

If you're new here and are interested in reading more about me,

here's a few links you can follow that will represent

what Hopeful Wandering is all about!

 

Travel

>>Things to see and eat in Paris<<

>>Backpacking part 1<<

>>Backpacking part 2<<

 

Meet Tom the British Boyfriend

>>Meet Tom<<

>>50 Skype Dates<<

>>Tom&Emily<<

 

Hope you enjoy looking through the blog while i'm gone.

I'll be back this friday for regular postings.

 

-Emily

 

 

 

 



The {online dating} blog post!!!

Soooo...I'm talking about the controversial topic of Online Dating today.
whoooaa...Really Emily????
Yes, really...

You might not think it's that controversial, but some people do.
Which i understand, because i used to be one of them.
I always told myself i wouldn't hit up online dating till i was at least 28 and still single.

And now we're in the whole "Catfish" era.
Where people are being tricked online.
Which makes it even harder to have people understand it if
you are successful with online dating.

Well obviously most of you know that's how i met Tom.
No no, Tom didn't catfish me...

We weren't initially talking because we wanted to date.
We were talking because we were interested in being Pen-Pals.
Sounds silly i know...
It just turned into a something more than that.
Which is the best thing EVER!!

I mean honestly a year ago i would have laughed in your face if
you told me i was going to be in a Long Distance Online relationship with someone.
Especially someone from England.
Especially a cutie like Tom.

But here i am, 6 months strong and happy as can be with my british guy.

There are of course pros and cons to any dating experience.

Obviously not being able to be close to each other is the major con!

{But let me shed some positive light on online dating}
It's been so great to me, that i feel it deserves some kind words.

I've gotten to know Tom SO WELL just by talking to him.
We can talk for hours and hours about anything.
Silly, serious, sweet, awkward...we can talk about it.

That's one of my favorite things about this experience.
All we can do is talk to each other.
That's it!

We don't get to kiss, or cuddle, we get to talk.
As important as a physical connection is, talking is where it's at.
If you're not comfortable talking with someone for hours and hours,
then it's probably not going to work out very well.

Tom and I have talked for what i feel is thousands of wonderful hours.
And all i want is to keep talking to him...
I feel thats a good sign.

So would i trade my online dating experience for a relationship that's here and now?
Honestly, no!

Obviously I'll be ready when Tom get's here and we're able to spend more time together.
But would i change the way we met???? No way!!!

That might have something to do with the fact that i found
an amazing guy who thinks i'm cute when i snort laugh.
What can I say, we're perfect for each other ;)

There's always going to be people who don't get it.
There's always going to be people who think it's silly and judge it.
But, as long as you're happy, and know it's right for you,
then you don't need to worry about those people.
Because one day they will see that it is right for you.

Tom will be here next month!!
NEXT MONTH.
JUNE 19TH
:) :) :) :) :)

{Here's some things i'm most excited about}
Meeting him in the airport.
Having a real picture with him.
Having him meet the family for real not just over Skype.
Going on a trip {Hint}
There's just SO MANY exciting things!!!
I can't wait!!!

And who know's maybe one day we will make millions
being the spokespeople for eharmony or something like that ;)

But can i just be honest for a second?
My plea to everyone is this.
Don't judge what you don't understand.
What's right for you may not be right for someone else.
Be happy for people who are happy.
And share in the joy.

-Emily

I have a problem {online shopping}

Ohhhh boutiques, how i love thee!!!

These cute little clothing stores are starting to pop 

up here and there, especially in College towns.

I just recently found a boutique in my own College town,

which is super exciting, considering we have ZERO clothing stores here.

So basically what i'm going to be showing you today

is a few of my absolute favorite boutiques.

Today Tom told me that a few means two...so you're getting two ;)

The Red Dress Boutique is the cutest store, found in Athens, Georgia.

You can visit their site by clicking HERE! 

This boutique has some of the CUTEST clothes, i can spend hours on this site.

Check their sales and specials, get on their email list...

You might become a tad obsessed...so this is your warning!!

Next up is....

I recently Found Sosie, I have already bought 2 shirts and a dress from them.

They have some of the cutest clothes & really good sales and specials!!

You can visit Sosie by going HERE!

So there you have it.

Those are my two favorite boutiques at the moment.

Obviously i have an online shopping problem...

I'm not mad about it ;)

-Emily 

Backpacking Europe {Part 2} Packing

It's time to continue the Backpacking series!! :) 

If you haven't seen Part 1 then go HERE!

Also if you're looking for places to see and things to eat in Paris, Go HERE! 

This is all information from personal experiences.

It's not right or wrong, just my own opinions! :)

Packing for your backpacking trip...

Now i was packing for a semester abroad.

Which was 3 months so i brought more than a backpack.

I brought a suitcase and a backpack...

A broken suitcase...

Have you ever tried to get from Paris to London

while carrying a broken suitcase????

It's AWFUL!!!

So my advice is this...

Make sure you're bags/suitcases are working properly!!

It will save you so much heartache and looks.

Yea, looks...you get looks when your suitcase has 

stopped rolling and you have to start dragging it over the pavement,

and it's making an awful screeching sound.

You get lots of looks...

Overpacking is easy to do but also SO preventable.

First of all, know your climate..

OR you could end up in −20 degree weather

without proper winter weather clothing.

Which is miserable!! 

And realize that if you're staying a month or two,

it can, and will change so bring stuff for two seasons,

I like to call these two seasons Cold and Warm ;)

If you're traveling when it's cold,

I would suggest bringing some type of warm leggings and jeans,

long sleeve basic tops, gloves, scarves, hats!

Anything that you can layer is best.

Bring a jacket, like a columbia or north face.

They go with everything and are warm and you can layer under them.

If you're traveling when it's warmer,

Bring basic t's and jeans or shorts or skirts or dresses, or all of the above.

Dresses and skirts pack nicely if they are simple dresses that just fold up easily.

Bring clothes that don't wrinkle easily. 

Walking shoes are a must as you'll be walking a lot.

I would suggest sperry's or nice comfy sandals if it's warm enough.

Flip flops aren't really popular in Europe so i'd steer clear of those. 

The backpack I would suggest can be found HERE!

It's the perfect size to fit about two weeks of clothes in.

PLUS I never had any issues with it fitting in the overhead

compartments on european discount airlines like Easy Jet and Ryan Air.

They are SUPER picky about overhead bag sizes and mine was never a problem.

Which saved me a lot of money.

Well that does it for the packing part.

I'll be back again soon with Part 3.

Hope this helps those of you interested in backpacking!!

-Emily

Summer Essentials {Sandals}!!

Ok, so i've found the PERFECT summer sandal.

Please, once you've read this go out and buy them before they are gone.

They are from Target and are a Whopping $16.00...

Yeeeeaaaaaa, hop on this sandal train while it's in the station!!!

They are seriously THE MOST comfortable target sandals ever!!

I normally wear an 8.5 but i got the 8 and it fits perfectly!!

Also, a shout out to Sarah Tucker who led me to these gems!!

My feeties are going to be so happy and fun this summer!

 

I actually think this sandal is starting it's own revolution...

I can't even tell you how many blogs i've read that are featuring this shoe!!

get it while you can, or spend more than $100 on the J-crew version ;)

-Emily