#blogswelove

from robbi
I just wanted to take the time to say I love the blog -

Lexy has great hair, style and THE best recipes. For those who are avid TGI Friday's happy hour attendees, I'm sure you know about the BBQ chicken flatbread which is amazing. Recently, she posted how to make your own. Results?

 

Style Rendezvous | Week 3

Will we finally have a winning team? Tune in to see the wild responses to the teams' answers.

Style Rendezvous | Week 2 | Lover Style

Tune in to week 2 for the mystery location of the week. Learn what to wear (and maybe what not to wear on dates) and see if a team wins!

It's Our 1st Year Blog-A-Vers-Ary!

Style Rendezvous | Week One

Welcome to first full week of February! As such, Alumni Row has decided to make the month about relationships. Each week we'll post episodes of our specially crafted game show on style and dating called Style Rendezvous!

Tune in to week 1 for the mystery location of the week. Learn what to wear (and maybe what not to wear on dates) and see which team wins!



Outfits:

18

15

4

1

21

10

10

2

3

19

9

18

Exercise from A to G: Apps to Games

If there's something I tried that you never tried, please leave a review in the comments!

Apps: The following apps have either been tried by AR blogger, Robbi, or our readers. If you have a smartphone, mobile apps are super easy because they can be synced with music on your phone or you can challenge friends in your contacts. Plus, you never have the excuse that you don't have the equipment because most oft hese apps need little to no equipment for you to successfully complete the workout. Did I mention that each of these are free?

Alternative Exercising? What about 'em?

So I'm the worst person to talk about exercising because I simply do NOT do enough of it!  However when I do participate in the art of exercising it is in a non-traditional way.

Whit Ford (me) before I met dimple rock!
Don't let the gear fool you I WAS NOT READY!!!

Here is a picture of me, getting ready to go white water rafting in the middle of September in Ohiopyle, PA!  Only my friends know the events after that proceeded!  LOL!!!  So if you glanced at the title, you might have guessed, this post highlights some non-traditional ways to exercise while having fun doing so!!!   Some I have personally participated in, while others NOT so much!

Sittin' on the Row with Bianca

1. Introduce yourself to our bloggers (including name, major, school, year graduated, and anything else you want us to know).
Hey everyone! My name is Bianca and I am a 2011 graduate of Virginia Tech’s Mechanical Engineering department. I will be graduating with my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in May 2013.

True Life: I Hate Running

It's the New Year. Gyms will be packed for the next 4 weeks (or less). Therefore Alumni Row's theme for the month will be fitness!

2013 will definitely be my year to get in shape. I got workout gear and shoes for Christmas. Problem? I hate running. I want so much to become a runner. So much that I want to take off running on my first day. I realize this isn't possible since I'm not used to running at all. With all my years in marching band, I am trained to walk to a beat. Therefore music will be my motivation. I love making creative playlists (with names such as raspberry lemonade, popcorn randomness, crank, and discotecas) but now my playlists will have meaning . I found a workout plan that incorporates interval running. Now I need to convert those miles per hour (mph) to beats per minute (bpm). 6 mph is 150 bpm, that's 25 bpm per mile. Therefore the workout plan in terms of bpm is:

Dress Like Olivia Pope

So with ABCs Scandal season finale set to premiere less than 24hrs away, the writers at AlumniRow felt that it was appropriate to release a post about Olivia Pope, a character played by Kerry Washington.  One of the things that makes Olivia Pope's character so interesting  is her sense of style, while being in blue/blacks political town, Washington DC.  Join us as we take a look at the fashion behind Olivia Pope, the character that has everyone at awe with her choice of wardrobe.

*Note:  Photo source throughout post.

I Graduated. Is My Social Life Over?

Adults say college is the best four (to six) years of your life. In college, you think it can only get better. However, after you graduate you begin to realize that having all of your friends, bars and food within a 5 minute vicinity will never happen again. What do you do when your friends get their own apartments and live 20-30 minutes away, or even across the country? How can you get your social life back?!

1. MEETUP
One site I recommend is Meetup.com. No, it's not a creepy dating site and won't land you on Catfish. It's a site full of people with a wide range of interests from Salsa dancing to natural hair to thrifting to hip hop enthusiasts. You can search for meetup groups pertaining to your interests based on zip code, allowing you to find exciting new events in your area. All of the events are in public places, so it's not creepy. I met tons of new friends at the last hair meetup I've attended and still keep in contact with them. They're great sources for questions or advice about new hair styles and products to try. Start out with one meetup and see how you like it.

2. DOMAIN-HOP
Next, try not to hang with the same group of friends all the time. One, that could get boring and two,

TRUE LIFE: I've relocated now I need to find a place

The Alumni ROW - How to Relocate and Survive Series?

Article 3

If you are looking at this article you either relocated already and are in desperate need of a new place, you are planning to relocate pretty soon, or you just like our articles =).  Whatever your reasons, here are some tips that I have after moving to Sacramento, staying in a hotel for a week and finding my first place.  

FEATURED POST: How Failing a Class Made Me Learn More

Source

It was the end of December.

After struggling to find the motivation to complete monotonous robotic coursework in Comp Sci 153, the Data Structures class, it was time for the teachers to release the grades.

I had a ‘C-’ going into the final and felt great about what I’d done on the final. In fact, I’d used Data Structures the previous summer on my two internship projects (both of which Far Exceeded Expectations) and had helped the majority of the class finish our assignments.

Time for the moment of truth. I press reload on the online gradebook and it shows:
Statistics for Engineers A
Circuits II B
Circuits II Lab A
Physics II B
Data Structures F

That ‘F’ in Data Structures changed my life.

Sandy Made Me Shop

Ah, Hurricane Sandy has arrived. Instead of doing work, it's a perfect day for online shopping. If I go over my budget, I blame Sandy.

Because I am feeling so generous, I figure I'd share with you all my favorite shopping websites!

1. Forever21.com - everyone already knows about this, let me get a little more creative
2. ModCloth.com - retro clothes with a price tag, but the sale department isn't too bad
3. LuLus.com - LOVE LOVE LU LU'S! And they've recently gotten a little more affordable
4. Tobi.com - they have dresses for DAYS! I'm definitely getting a few today
5. Wanelo.com - they compile clothes and accessories from the above sites and others you probably haven't heard of (include Etsy) for the most unique pieces you could ever find

Enjoy! And remember, #SandyMadeMeShop

p.s. check out my fall favorites 1, 2, 3

Uncuffing Season

September marks the end of summer flings and the beginning of cuffing season. Cuffing season, when people start "experimenting" to try and find their cuddle buddies and 8 month mates.

FEATURED POST: Change Bringing NEW Opportunity

The Alumni ROW - How to Relocate and Survive Series?

Article 2

Courtesy of Google Maps

To continue with our Alumni Row Relocation series, we asked Shakira McCall to write a reflection peace on her road trip from Georgia to Arizona and transition.  Please read below to check out Shakira's reflection:

Our GO-TO Music this summer!

Summer's winding down and its time to do some reflecting.  This reflection is on music that we couldn't get enough of this summer.  So here is our list and if you haven't gotten a chance to listen to some of these albums, playlist, or songs go ahead and give them a hear.  

TRUE LIFE: IM MOVING TO A NEW PLACE!

The Alumni ROW - How to Relocate and Survive Series?

Article 1

Mid August is here and for most this is known as THE HOTTEST MONTH of the year.  For others, August is the transition month for NEW beginnings.   Well I recently relocated from the DMV (DC, MD, VA) area to Sacramento California (The Golden State) and after a month of being a California Girl I must say this transition has not been the smoothest.  Since others are thinking about moving far far away or may be getting ready to transition I wanted to share some lessons learned.

Courtesy of Google Maps

Tips + Tricks of Traveling on a Budget

Similar to another Alumni ROW blogger, Whitney, I was also on the west coast this summer. Although she will be living there permanently, I was there for an internship at a tech company in Silicon Valley. I was in California for a total of 11 weeks and tried to make the most of my time. I lived in San Jose but traveled to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Yosemite, Los Angeles and San Diego. Unlike states on the east coast, I began to realize how large California really is. I roadtripped with other interns, drove 9 hours and we were still in the same state. Amazing!

Exploring Religions

If you weren't born into a certain religion, though, you probably have no clue where to start. Andrew Bowen has developed a challenge of trying one religion per month for a year. Last year, he learned and practiced Hinduism, the Baha-i faith, Zarathushtra and Judaism to name a few. At the end of his conversion journey, he didn't choose one religion, as originally planned. Instead, he has become a new convert towards Immersionism. Overall, he became more spiritual.