What a Week!

Yes I know it's been a while and I have a lot to catch everyone up on. I finished all the Lux books!! :D 

That was a total of 4 books read in 5 days. I got a little behind on my studying but I think it was worth it (for now). I am so in love with the characters Katy and Daemon. I love how I can literally picture everything in the book in my head and this is one book series I would LOVE to become a tv show or a movie. I would sort of prefer a tv show so that they have more time to show EVERYTHING. Like I think when they cast the characters and stuff they should just hand them the books and say "This is your script." I wouldn't change anything. I was almost crying a couple times cause I could imagine myself going through what Katy was feeling and everything. Now I have to wait for the last book to be released so now I can study in peace :) (until the 3rd Divergent book comes out)

Anyways, I've been exercising this week and actually consistently doing my pilates and stretches. 

It felt so good to have a good sweat and get back active. I want to introduce some cardio into my workout plan so I think weekly beach outings may be a good idea (or just using my neighbours pool). Even though working out feels really great, its had the opposite effect I've been looking for, I lost weight. Here I thought I only lost weight from losing muscle from not dancing so exercising would build more muscle and get me back to an acceptable weight. But here it is I'm losing even more weight. Yes I know there are a lot of you who are saying "Why is she complaining about losing weight??" For all of you, I don't want to exercise to lose weight. I do it to be healthy and to keep my shape seeing as I just bought a bunch of clothes in a particular size and I don't want to go back and buy everything over.

On another note, yesterday was Nick's sister's sixteenth birthday :). I was sooooo excited that I got to help out so I went and bought a pink table cloth and some balloons to put up along with some confetti and her own sweet sixteen helium balloon. 

We had cake and wine but the cake was the main thing. 

It was sooooo heavenly and rich. I don't usually eat a lot of cake but this one was just amazing. It was from Flindt which is where I think I should get all my birthday cakes from now on.

Oh I also got an email about setting up an interview for a job but here's the thing, now that I'm actually making great progress in my studying and I'm running the odd errands for my parents, I don't think I can take on a job now. It would be great if there just so happened to be more hours in the day but I'm so busy every day that I don't think It would be right to take on a job. So I have to call her and tell her :(. I feel really bad since I was the one who applied and they didn't exactly seek me out. 

Anyways, I have that to deal with later. Right now I want to get back to my studying and finish my week one assignments in my Kaplan Study week. I really want to fast track my studying so that I can take the test in November. Sometimes I think having this blog is a bad idea in case I don't get the score I want yet again but then I think what if I do get the score I want. At least I know where all my time went instead of studying. 

Carla :D

Finally got my Package!!

For the past two days the world has seriously been dead to me. I finally found a new book series to read which is so engrossing and riveting. The book series is called Lux and so far I've read the first two books, Obsidian and Onyx in two days and I'm now about half way through the third one Opal.

After reading series like Divergent and The Hunger Games, this series is just as good or maybe a bit more advanced. The story is so well developed with so much depth. And it does help that the descriptions of the male lead make him so dreamy. It is a really well written book and is seriously hard to put down. These books are so good I did nothing at all yesterday, not even talk to Nick, check my instagram, or my facebook. This morning I woke up with a bunch of unread emails and messages to respond to which I still haven't looked at properly. This adds to my long list of book series that I've read; Twilight (of course), Vampire Academy, Evernight, Percy Jackson, I am Number Four, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments, Divergent, and now this :) Oh and Harry Potter. 

Like all the days before, there is no reply from any of my job applications. I'm sort of over it seeing as I spend most of my days now reading and studying. Speaking of studying, I got my Kaplan package today!! 

The intense hardcore studying can finally begin!! I originally thought it was just going to be one workbook but it was actually the GMAT Premier course book (which is HUGE), a Pocket Reference which you can carry around everywhere, a GMAT Noteboard and marker and a MBA Admissions Guide. All of this stuff looks really interesting and its a whole lot more than I got from Manhattan prep the last time around. Now I can finally do my homework and move onto the next on demand session. The first Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) score was exactly what I got in my last GMAT exam so this program seems pretty spot on so far. 

Tonight I missed the premiere of The Voice but I raced downstairs to watch Sleepy Hollow just in time to see the beginning. It's going to be tough keeping up with all these tv shows but I'll make it work :) This morning I watched Dance Academy which somehow finds a way to bring tears to my eyes every week now. 

From watching this show for the past 2 years or so it really helped with my own dancing where I was dancing for me and not necessarily for any certificates or accolades. It also made me really want to go back in time and go to a dance school at the age of 15 or 16. The ballet in this is so amazing and the story line is seldom very predictable which keeps it interesting. At some points I have an "Of she's doing that" moment (especially with Grace and Tara) but I just love this show. 

Tomorrow I get to actually put all my planning into action and focus on me (with the exception of running some errands for my parents) and get some studying done. I can also work on my exercise routine which right now is once a week :( It's time for some last minute reading before bed. I need to finish this book ASAP so that I'm not distracted from studying.

Goodnight :) 

Carla 

The Return of Fall Shows!

I got out the house!! After a week of studying and running errands it felt sooooo good this morning to get out the house, even if it was only for an hour and a half. I got Nick's car on Wednesday but when I got it I realised I didn't really have anywhere to go -__-. I've only been picking up my cousin from school and carrying her to lessons or dancing (which kills me cause I just want to dance!). But today I got to go look at clothes I can't buy since I have no money -___-. 

Believe it or not I haven't been watching any movies! I'm as shocked as you are. Instead, some of the new tv shows I've been looking forward to have started. Like Sleepy Hollow :). 

The first episode of this show was really intriguing and interesting. I don't know why but  I've always liked the story of Ichabod Crane and as usual I'm always drawn to military or police shows so naturally I LOVE this show. The acting is well done and Tom Mison's (Ichabod Crane) accent is to die for! I also like to see once again a strong female lead. I have a feeling the coming episodes may be a bit darker and I'll scare myself watching it but we'll see how that goes. 

To my surprise on Wednesday when I was watching the X Factor, Mollee Gray from So You Think You Can Dance was auditioning with a group called Drama Drama. 

She was also in Teen Beach Movie on Disney but I didn't expect to see her on X Factor and for good reason, she sounded kind of bad. She's an exceptional dancer so I don't really understand why she was auditioning for X Factor. Of course I've still been watching my Smallville. I'm almost finished season 3 :). I kind of cheated and read ahead to see when Clark and Lana get back together for more than an episode and I have to wait until season 5!!!! 

And I know it only lasts for about 3 episodes :(. 

As usual, Barbados mail has let me down. My Kaplan course book has been in the island since Wednesday and I still haven't gotten it. I had to call UPS yesterday and give them to tracking number only for the woman to say that it would be delivered on Monday, after it was supposed to be delivered yesterday. This sort of puts my studying back by a day so shouldn't be a big problem. Until then I'll just continue with my math studying to brush up on my math skills. I haven't done a proper pure math course in like 4 years!

Anyways, I'm going to take a little nap as today is a scorcher of a day and then do some work later once it cools down. I might go in the pool later this week and do some cardio since I got a new swimwuit top today :) My exercise plan isn't going so well since I've been studying through the evening so I need to create a new one on Monday. 

Carla :)

Feeling Good and Focused

The past 2 days of my life have been filled with GMAT prep work. I started my Kaplan Prep on Monday which went well other than the part where I still don't have my workbook. So now I'm just waiting for that to come so that I can do my homework. I might be weird but I actually really like school. I don't mind the work but I just like the structure of it. Anyways, I still haven't heard back from any of the applications I sent out but with all the studying I've been doing I'm extremely busy so I don't really mind. 

Of course I've been watching something :D. Over the weekend (and yesterday) I got all caught up on Once Upon A Time :)

I really love how they're incorporating so many of these fairy tale characters and creating relationships between them that you would never expect. I still don't understand why Henry is still so attached to Regina since at one point he hated her. I also love how they do the makeup for the female characters. Like for Emma they only line her eyes at the top with a really nice cat eye but its still subtle. And for Mary Margaret her cat eye is a little more exaggerated which is what I've been trying to get my eyes to look like. And the costuming is wonderful :) It really looks like a modernized fairy tale.

The other show I've been watching is Smallville. 

Tom Welling in 2013

Now I know Smallville ended a couple years back but after watching 10 seasons of it I felt like I forgot everything that happened in the beginning. So I decided to watch over the ENTIRE series. I'm only in season 3 right now but I'm really surprised at how much I remember from each episode. This is another show that tried to bring in a bunch of DC Comics characters which I really liked. It's just so surprising that Tom Welling never seemed to age. Even now he looks the same

Tom Welling in 2003

I've also been continuing my collection of information about Pace University and the Lubin School of Business. Today I saw a picture from inside a Finance classroom and the students are all dressed very professionally so now I know how to dress for my classes once I get accepted :). I also have my own graduation coming up next month. I found THE perfect dress and it is BEAUTIFUL. That's all I'll say about it now cause I still haven't told my boyfriend Nick what it looks like. All he knows is that its white :).

Now its time to go back to my studying. I'm trying to speed up my study plan because right now I'm 2 weeks behind my goal of doing my test in early November. I also have the application deadline to think about so I kind of have to stay focused. 

Oh, I'm also starting back dancing this week!! I won't be with my usual ballet class so it won't be 4 times a week but I'm also doing my own workouts at home (yesterday's has me so sore right now). I've been doing pilates and some workouts I found online and on Pinterest which are really fun and not so repetitive and plus my workout clothes are really pretty :)

Anyways, back to work!

Carla :D

Girl with a Plan!

So I haven't gotten a response from anyone yet about a potential job but I'm ok with that for now. I've signed up for the Kaplan test prep program for my GMAT and I'm working on the diagnostic test. As much as I want to be hopeful that this test prep program will actually work, I thought the other one did as well and that didn't give me the results I wanted. Anyways, I've created a schedule of studying and exercising so that I don't get fat while I'm doing all this studying. After dancing 5 days a week I needed an intense at home workout to keep me where I'm at so I've been on Pinterest looking for at home workouts and stuff to keep me busy. 

As usual I can't help but watch movies and tv shows. I started to watch The Silver Linings Playbook but I fell asleep with like an hour left so I have to finish that. 

So far it's a good movie and the acting in it is really well done. I am a HUGE Jennifer Lawrence fan so watching any movie she's in makes me happy :) I still haven't watched Django Unchained and I really want to watch The Bling Ring.

Last night I killed the Superman of cockroaches. I was simply sitting on my bed when it just appeared on my closet door. At first I thought it would just crawl away but the IT STARTED TO FLY!! Of course I screamed my head off and ran out the room but when I came back with the spray ready to kill it, I couldn't find it! I spent like 10 minutes just spraying around my room randomly hoping it would come out from wherever it was hiding and die but as I said this was the Superman of cockroaches. The spray didn't seem to affect it much. I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that it got caught between the sheets on my bed so I was able to hit it without actually having to see it. I sprayed it quite a bit and hit it some more until I was sure it was dead. Then I had the task of getting it out of there :(. My sister and I stripped the bed and shook out the sheets and out fell the cockroach but then IT STARTED TO MOVE!! I mean this cockroach was just not going to die!! She smashed the heck out of it with an old swiffer we use to kill bugs and finally it died. I mean I don't even know how it got inside!! We have mesh or mosquito nets at all the windows. I guess I have to get used to killing bugs on my own since my boyfriend isn't here anymore :( Of course there aren't any pictures of this, I flushed it down the toilet as soon as it stopped moving!

We've been having some crazy weather here in Barbados. Right now the sun is out shining brightly and its hot outside but there is some crazy thunder rolling through. It's even setting off car alarms. There's just this one cloud that is carrying all the thunder.

And believe all around it is nice and sunny. This is another reason why I'm glad I'm home most of the day so that when it starts to rain I can curl up in bed and study. :)

As I said in my last post, I went to the virtual gmatch fair which connects you to various business schools. Right now I am obsessed with going to Pace in January so I've been reading up on articles on their website and I follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram :). It's so strange that at first I wasn't that excited about it because the program was only for a year but now I am in love with their program and the people. They're really friendly and helpful. That's a big one for me. At other universities they didn't seem as interested with helping me so I'm actually glad things turned out this way. 

By the way, in the time span of writing this the weather went from hot to cool. The sky is so overcast now and its suddenly very windy. This is some really crazy weather.

Anyways, I have some studying to finish that Superman cockroach interrupted last night and errands to run :) Have a good one!

Carla :)

Sick Days and Motivation

So it's been a while. I've been a bit under the weather but quite a bit has happened. Over the weekend I went to visit my boyfriend's family just to say hi and catch up. It was nice being back there but also a bit sad cause I knew he wasn't going to be there :(. Anyways, when we were leaving his mum up and offered me his car since they weren't using it and it was just parked in the garage for a month now. I kind of always wanted it to happen but I knew I obviously couldn't be the one to bring it up but how AWESOME would that be! All I need now is money to put gas in it lol. 

I've been sending out a bunch of applications for jobs and hoping for a response but until then I've been focussing on preparing for my GMAT exam and studying. I even went to a clothing store my mum shops at to ask if the woman there still wants a model or someone to help in the office. Hopefully one of these turns into a job. I haven't exactly started back studying but I've been talking to people at Pace University and I finished my application so I'm on my way now. 

While I was sick I got a chance to catch up on some movies. I finally watched The Great Gatsby which was an amazing movie. The cinematography and the costumes were spectacular and the acting was really well done. 

I hadn't read the book but in a way I felt like I didn't have to. It was easy to follow and understand the stories of each character and to follow the motives of their actions. I love the movies from a different era that are still so easy to relate to. Leonardo Dicaprio did a really good job in this movie with a complex character. 

Another movie I watched recently was Zero Dark Thirty.

This was such a riveting movie and I've been wanting to watch it for so long now. It's nice to see another movie that showcases a strong female without having to victimize her first. Its kind of ironic that I watched it last night considering the position the USA is in right now. The movie reminded me a lot of Green Zone with Matt Damon because it got the military stuff along with the politics behind it all. 

I seem to really like military movies and police tv shows. I guess its something about the togetherness they have or maybe its just the uniforms.

Now before I actually got sick I went to the cinema again with my sister to watch We're The Millers. 

Yes I had a movie filled weekend but these were all really good movies. We're the millers was hilariously funny but a little bit predictable in some parts. It was nice to see Emma Roberts in a different kind of film a bit more grown up. 

Now that all my fun is all used up in movies I'm feeling very ready to do some studying today. I went to a virtual gmatch fair yesterday which helped a lot with the motivation and I just really want to get to New York in January. I still don't know when I'm doing my test but it's looking like I'm going to take it in Montreal when I go visit my boyfriend :). All of that is fully dependent on how ready I am so I really need to get started on some studying! 

I was just thinking, with the amount of movies I watch I could as well make this a movie review blog lol 

Carla

Getting Back In The Swing of Things

So this is a very late night post. I've been thinking about how I want the next couple months to go and the different ways that they could go. On one hand I could get a 9-5 job and make some money while studying to retake my GMAT exam. On the other hand I may not find a job and have a lot of extra time on my hands to study and watch every tv show I could possibly watch. Right now my plan is to finish watching all these shows I could possibly be interested in by Monday. By Monday I want to be back in a routine. Right now my tv show addiction is Arrow.

I used to watch it when if first came out but I can't remember why I stopped. The main actor Stephen Amell is super good looking but I tend to get distracted with the fact that he barely moves his neck like if he either injured it or he is simply a robot. Anyways back to my plan. The new plan is to sign up to use the Kaplan this weekend for my GMAT studying all in hopes of going to Pace University in the Spring.

Then after studying for a couple hours a day I shall do some pilates and other at home workout stuff. Exercising the mind and body :). After being such an intense dancer not doing anything is making me feel fat or at least bigger than I want to be. This would be HORRIBLE as I just bought a bunch of clothes I want to be able to fit into for a couple years.

So as a way to also help kill time I am watching a bunch of movies as well as my tv shows. Last night my sister, my cousin and I finally went to watch The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones starring Lily Collins.

 Let me just say, it was AMAZING. It didn't follow the book exactly but it seemed justified in doing so when it did. It had great action so that made up for some of the predictable build ups to love scenes. Honestly when I read the book it did not seem that scary lol but the movie is pretty jumpy and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I think a really great thing to experience is watching this movie with someone who hasn't read the book. It has great twists which aren't all that expected and the look on my sister's face at times was worth not telling her about the movie.

As much as I would love to have a job, I've always had a fear of going into the work force. What if I mess up? What if I forget all that I've learned in school? What if I don't like it and the people there don't like me? As you can tell I'm a big what if girl and I tend to doubt myself a lot. I think this is why I'm preparing to do the GMAT for a third time now. Well the first time I knew I wasn't ready and the second time I was merely willing myself to be ready. This time I want to feel completely ready and exhaust all my resources and materials before I take the test. Hopefully I can work through all this doubt by the time I take my exam *fingers crossed*

Carla xoxoxo

Distractions

So today is supposed to start my new plan. Wake up "early" and get stuff out the way. Take an early shower and start some GMAT studying. As usual I have found a way to postpone doing anything at all. So far I've been watching the Carrie Diaries and talking to my boyfriend in Canada. The Carrie Diaries is my new addiction and I'm almost finished season one :). I'm realising I like fashion and clothes a lot more than I originally thought. Maybe after I finish season one I should go watch the ENTIRE of Sex and the City.

And of course right when I was about to start doing work, it became time to update my blog. It's been 2 days since I sent out job applications and I've been patiently waiting for my phone to make the right noise to tell me there is a chance in the universe that I have a job or a chance for a job. Once I decide its time to get off my butt and out of bed I want to send out a couple more job applications to cast a wider net and then hopefully get in a couple hours of studying. I have to look for a another website to study from. The last time I was using the Manhattan GMAT prep program but I've exhausted most of their work so its time to go on a search. Luckily I still have a few questions left in my handy guide book.

Its a really good book with a wide range of questions but it doesn't have any of the critical reasoning questions which so happens to be my nightmare and downfall. Hopefully the next time I take the test will be lucky number 3 and I will get the score I want which in a perfect world is 670 but I'll take a 620 to get into Pace University. Somehow Pace went from just a backup school to my DREAM school! How could it not be. It's in New York and it has an option for a work attachment for my program. And its close to Wall Street. Anyways I think I've stalled my day enough. Time to get going! :)

Carla xoxoxo

Let me introduce myself!

So I just finished my bachelor's degree (with honours) but didn't get into a university to do my master's for the fall which has left me with 3 months of figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my life. My grades were good don't get me wrong but switching education styles takes a bit more preparation and time than I gave it. Now I'm on the search for a job, cause everyone needs money, and I'm left with a little more time on my hands than I'm used to, hence a blog! :) 

Here goes the next three months on searching!

Carla :)