advice – Rosie Culture

The Hookup On: Flossolution

I’m about to get pretty real here. After I graduated college, I went to the dentist and found out I had 7 cavities and my teeth were in pretty bad shape thanks to the college lifestyle and an old dentist who wasn’t treating me properly.

Ever since then, I brush my teeth twice a day, floss every day, and use mouth wash every day to protect my gums.

My teeth have always been an area of concern for me. I had the works of dentistry done to me when I was little – including getting a wrong tooth pulled, braces with lots of rubber bands, and more.

I recently got to try the Flossolution Mini and I think my dentist is going to be very happy with me. I floss every day, but let’s face it – I’m lazy. I don’t reach back far enough or wiggle around enough. This little tool is fast and painless and makes flossing so easy! It even comes with a little suction cup so you can attach it to your mirror and always remember to floss! They’re bogo right now at Flossolution.com

I’m trying to avoid the traumatic dentistry experience of my childhood by taking care of my teeth now. It seems so silly to have to stress it, but trust me start taking care of yourself so you don’t have to regret it later.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

PostGrad

Our Adopt Don’t Shop Story

I was supposed to go to Rhode Island this past weekend for a quick getaway, but plans changed fast.

My boyfriend and I moved in together a couple months ago. But before we even had the conversation about moving in, we were talking about getting a dog. I’m a huge animal lover and have wanted a dog since I graduated college. I had a couple of set backs on my journey to adoption.

One reason being that I didn’t have enough space, money, or time for a while and I knew it was unfair at that point in my life to get a dog. Another setback being, I’ve been bitten in the face twice by two separate dogs on two separate occasions that required a significant amount of stitches – really, that was just bad luck. And lastly, the dog I grew up with passed away not too long ago and it really hit me hard.

But still, we talked about getting a dog for a while and the longer we lived together the more and more we started looking at adoption sites. I had volunteered at a shelter when I first graduated and on Wednesday of last week the most perfect dog became available for adoption. We initially thought we would adopt her and come back to get her after the trip, but that wasn’t really realistic as we would have a hard time leaving her alone after falling in love with her.

I was a little panicky the first couple days, as seems to be the trend with big decisions. We are going to be responsible for this little pup for the rest of her life, I just was nervous we were taking a step a little too early. But we are finally beginning to get settled with her, even though we are facing typical puppy challenges that I will write about later on.

World, meet Kaya. She’s a little over 1 year old, the shelter thinks she is a chow/terrier mix, and she had puppies only a few months ago. She is a great dog and is already pretty well trained! We love her so much already! 🙂 Did you adopt your pet? I’d love to hear about your adoption experience in the comments!

travel

The Nervous Traveler

I’m pretty much always convinced something is going to go wrong when I travel. I get to the airport early, print out all my receipts, and check my luggage about 50 times to make sure I have everything.

Yet, I always get nervous. Even though nothing has ever drastically gone wrong, I always think that it will all go downhill for me.

I think this mostly stems from how much money I put into travel with very little insurance. What if I miss my flight? That costs money. What if the Uber’s are upcharging when we need a ride? That costs money. What if I forget something really important? That costs money.

Like clockwork, every time I have a trip the hours leading up to it include a nervous stomach and a migraine. My only tips for someone traveling with a nervous travel is to constantly assure them.

My boyfriend and I travel together a lot and I do 90% of the planning, when he assures me nothing will go wrong I have a hard time believing him because I planned it so I know the possibilities. But that’s his job, I plan and he makes sure I don’t go nuts.

But in the end, the travel is always worth it.

travel

How I Afford Traveling

I put off writing this post because:

I think every person who has traveled ever has written it
My advice really isn’t that groundbreaking

But I’m going to tell you anyway. I probably go on a trip every two months, usually only two big/expensive trips a year and a bunch of little trips scattered in between. To many, it seems like I travel a lot. To me, it’s never enough. But I do get asked a lot how I afford to travel.

The kind of trips I take play a big part in affordability. We use Groupon to book our big and out of country trips. The hotel and flight are usually bundled with some other perk and the savings are amazing. We only do these trips once, maybe twice a year, and it’s always during winter. Last year we went to Iceland and this year we went to Portugal. If we do another big trip it will only be because I’m tagging along on one of my boyfriend’s work trips.

I don’t do a lot on the weekends that will cost me money. I know some people enjoy going to the bar with their friends on the weekends, but that’s not exactly my idea of a great time which is where I save money. Instead of dropping $50 on drinks every weekend, that money is saved and put into tiny weekend trips every month or every other month. Traveling is what I enjoy so I choose to stay in most times. The only fun activity I ever really splurge on are concert tickets.

I have a cash back card. I get 1% back on purchases and 1% back when I pay. I take the money I earn from that and use it as spending cash when I’m actually on my trip.

I have two savings accounts. I put money away every month. One savings account is for the future – for a new car, new home, in case of extreme emergencies. The other savings account is for trips, things I want to buy in the future, and extra cash for my checking account which I use to pay my rent, bills, etc.

How I can afford to travel isn’t all that glamorous. I don’t make a lot of money, I don’t have a fancy book of budgeting, I don’t have a top secret website that scores me the best deals. I prioritize what I want to spend money on in my life and then I plan to get the best price – but it works for me so maybe it will work for you too!

PostGrad

My Plan To Becoming More Present

My word for 2018 is present because I find myself struggling to be happy in the moments I’m in. I wrote a post a while back asking for advice and a lot of you offered really manageable tips for me to integrate in my life.

So here’s a few things I am going to try to do to become more present. I don’t want it to be September of 2018 when I realize I’m just starting to get the hang of it, it’s something I want to happen now and be able to maintain for the rest of my life.

Continue with my gratitude journal.
I got a little off track with this so I will be writing, daily, the things I am grateful for.
Do one thing every day that forces me to unplug.
I am on technology constantly. I want to spend at least a half hour every day reading, painting, cleaning, taking a bath, or doing something offline.
Set an alarm on my phone that makes me stop and think about how I feel in the moment.
I’m thinking around 3:30 every day (around the time I am crashing at work) I will have my alarm go off and I will analyze my senses and feelings. It takes just a second to remind myself to snap out of the day dreams and enjoy today.

So far, that’s my plan! I think incorporating little things every day will help me get into a more present mindset on a large scale. I’m open to more tips if you’d like to leave them in the comments!

photo by: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarcio/

PostGrad

Do People Change?

I often see the worst in people. So when someone tells me they will change, I barely believe them. This is partly because I don’t want to be disappointed and partly because most of the time, they don’t change.

I think there are the parts of us that make us who we are and those are the parts no one should ever ask you to change. Whether it be your friends, a significant other, or family. They can’t ask you to change, but they shouldn’t be forced to deal with something they don’t like. So you can try to change for your significant other or you can let the relationship go.

If you’re asking someone to change and they’re unwilling or can’t see why they need to change, then it will never happen. You’re putting all your eggs in a basket that’s ready to fall apart.

If they can see the change that needs to be made, they may have a greater chance at actually making that change. But most of the time, relationship problems come from the core of someone. It comes from a part of their personality that has been there for years, something that is deep rooted. Can people really change those parts of themselves?

It all depends on your want or need to change and the recognition of the problem. I’m sure people can change, I just rarely see it.

Photo by: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerenzayuen/

PostGrad

Dealing With Disappointment

People are going to disappoint you in life, it’s just going to happen. They’re going to lie to you, lead you on, put in less effort, hurt you, or pretend to be someone they’re not.

You’re going to disappoint yourself in life, it’s just going to happen. You’re going to make the wrong decision, you’re not going to speak out when you should, you’re going to lie or hurt someone or be someone you’re not.

The only way to deal with it is to analyze the situation and decide whether it deserves your forgiveness or not. Because not everyone will. And dropping them from your life might be hard, but necessary. And some people do deserve your forgiveness. It might be hard to give it to them. It might be hard to forgive yourself.

The hard times in life end up being the times where decisions are made that can better your life. When someone disappoints you, only weigh your feelings on the matter. No one can tell you or convince you how to feel. Then take those feelings and make the best decision for yourself.

Disappointment hurts, there’s no way around it. But in these time, put yourself first and be a little selfish. You’re the one who hurts, so you are allowed to decide how to make yourself feel better.

Photo by: https://www.flickr.com/photos/babyowls/