Next Stop: Germany

It's finally here! I've dreamed of studying abroad in Germany since eighth grade, and today I'm hopping on a flight to Berlin with two suitcases and a backpack. I'm spending this semester taking classes at Freie University in Berlin, with plans to travel and explore Europe during my convenient three day weekends. It's actually happening, but I still can't believe it!

Why Berlin? Since I'm part German and my dad travelled to Germany for business when I was little, I decided to start studying the German language in eighth grade. I stuck with it through high school and declared a German minor in college (to accompany my magazine journalism major). Traveling has always been a passion of mine and I knew I wanted to study abroad in college. Given my history with the German language, I didn't even consider studying abroad in any other country. And now here I am, waiting out a five hour layover in the Newark airport!

I'm taking four classes while abroad but have plenty of time to travel around. Through my program, I'm going to Prague and Nuremberg in September. I also plan to take advantage of the cheap travel expenses in Europe to visit neighboring counties like Switzerland and Austria, as well as other German cities besides Berlin. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know! My schedule is completely blank right now.

This won't be my first time in Europe. My dad actually took me for a week-and-a-half after my high school graduation, where we made our way to Germany (Berlin, Munich, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Trier, Rothenberg), Austria (Innsbruck), France, and Luxembourg. I had such a fun and memorable vacation, but we didn't stay anywhere for more than a few days. This summer I get to actually immerse myself in German life and culture, while hopefully practicing my language skills along the way. I couldn't be happier!

What does this mean for Meet Me In Midtown? I created this blog as a way to document my journeys and share them with others, so I'm going to be blogging about my study abroad experience! I'll also continue to post my typical lifestyle/college/inspiration posts in order to have a nice mix of content. I'm super excited to share my experiences on my blog!

Here are some pictures from my last trip to Germany:

Bloggers With Class Award

I'd like to thank Ellen from A Pop of Pink for nominating me for the Bloggers With Class Award! Ellen is a fashion and lifestyle blogger with great personal style and inspiring outfit ideas, so I highly recommend checking out her blog. You can also visit the Bloggers With Class community on their Google+ page. 

Rules:

• If tagged, please copy the rules into your post
• Please also link back to this post on Classy Cathleen
• Recognize the blogger that tagged you (share a little about them and their blog, and link back to them)
• Answer the questions that are a part of the award
• Tag 5 bloggers that you feel are classy to receive the award as well
• Let the bloggers know that they have been tagged!
• Be sure to include the link to the Bloggers With Class community (And don’t forget to join!)
• Include the image in your post

Questions:

What do you think it means to be classy? 

Being classy means putting effort into yourself and your activities in order to thrive. Classy girls don't settle, but rather work hard for what they want. They aren't afraid to express their thoughts and show off their personalities. 

Who are some of your role models? 

I admire the editor of the magazine I interned at this past summer. She had a vision for the magazine and stuck with it, even though her idea made some people unhappy along the way, and the result was spectacular. The editor showed me that the right things isn't always the easiest thing, and you have to be willing to stick with your own ideas no matter the consequence. Holding your head high in tough situations embodies class to me. In my personal life, my parents have always been great role models. My mom is my biggest supporter, and she does all she can to help me achieve my dreams. I also see the importance of hard work and discipline firsthand through my dad. He made career goals for himself at a young age and managed to accomplish those goals, and more, with his business-savvy mind and drive to succeed. He's not afraid to speak his mind and make risky decisions, and I admire him for that. 

Who are some of your style icons? 

Kerry Washington has been one of my style icons this year. Not only is she absolutely beautiful, she always dresses flawlessly. All of her outfits, especially her formal dresses, are classy and flattering without being too sexy. I'm also a fan of Kate Middleton's timeless style, as well as the styles of Blake Lively and Lauren Conrad.

Pearls or bows? 

I don't wear either, but I love bow details on my clothing!

Who/What inspires you? 

I am always inspired by other bloggers for their creative blog post ideas, impressive photography, or flawless writing. Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere is a one of the most inspirational bloggers to me. She started Cupcakes and Cashmere as a hobby but jumped on her success and made a brand for herself, complete with books and a clothing line. Her blog has its own personal voice, and I can't even fathom how she brainstorms so many great new ideas for blog posts every week. I also get inspired by anybody who isn't afraid to put themselves out there and ask for what they want. 

What is your favorite color? 

It's a tie between muted purple and baby blue. Very specific, I know!

Do you like the classy style? What are some of your favorite pieces/trends of the style? 

When I think of classy style, I think of timeless and elegant clothing that survives through generations. I think of the sleek dresses and put-together outfits worn by Kate Middleton and Aubrey Hepburn.These women always look flawless and confident. I love the classy style and tend to gravitate toward classy pieces for my own wardrobe. 

What are some of your favorite quotes? 

• "Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway." -Eleanor Roosevelt ... This quote reminds me to trust my instinct and be confident in my decisions.
• "If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be" - Maya Angelou... Again, being yourself is extremely important to happiness and success.   

Why is it important to have class? 

A classy girl is a confident girl. If you respect yourself and have faith in your thoughts and actions, others will have faith in you. Present yourself in a way that makes others eager to be around you.

Why did you start your blog? When did you start your blog? I

I started my blog in June 2014! I was interning in New York City for the summer and am preparing to study abroad this fall, and I wanted a way to document my experiences. Writing has always been a hobby of mine, and being a journalism major, I wanted a creative outlet to practice my writing and develop a voice. 

I nominate:

1. Arianne from Ayre
2. Sarah from Tulle and Trinkets
3. Gabriela from Gab Sessions
4. Mary from Crazy in Life
5. Michaela from Monogrammed Midwesterner

I love telling a little more about myself with posts like this. If you want to read more, you can check out my Liebster Award post. Thanks for reading!

How I Met My Boyfriend (And Kissed Him In Front Of 50,000 People)

One of the reasons I chose to study journalism is that I love telling stories about everything and anything. I created my blog to share my own story about a small-town girl navigating her way through college with the dreams of becoming a magazine journalist. Today I'm going to write about an interesting and somewhat personal chapter to my story: how I started dating my boyfriend.

I met Jake on the second day of school during our freshman year at Syracuse University. He lived right across the hall from me, literally two feet away. I was instantly intimidated: he was six-foot-four with the broad stature of a football player (I wasn't surprised to learn that he played center and defensive tackle on his high school football team). We were also complete opposites. I was a shy girly-girly who loved anything creative, and he was a friendly, outgoing, sports-obsessed man.
Nonetheless, we had an instant connection. We were attached at the hip for all of the "new student" orientation activities, like ice skating and parties on the quad. When school started, we did homework together, ate meals together, watched TV together, went to a concert together. He was my best friend, but nothing more since I had a boyfriend back home. I realize now how completely cruel the situation was – I friend-zoned him so badly that I'm surprised he stuck around. But he did stick around, and he was persistent without being pushy. I knew he liked me, and eventually I realized that I liked him, too.

Here's the tricky thing: I wasn't sure how to handle this unwelcome romantic drama. I had a couple of boyfriends in high school, but I certainly didn't expect to be involved in a love triangle merely weeks after coming to college. College is full of new and exciting guys – ones who didn't watch you go through puberty – and the situation was honestly quite confusing. Should I stick with a guy I'm comfortable with, or take a chance with this extremely social, super friendly football player? I even surprised myself, because I never, ever thought I'd consider dating someone who liked sports so much. Jake was even planning to study sport management!

After an excruciating weekend when my boyfriend came to visit and I had to decide between him and Jake, I followed my heart and wound up choosing Jake. Of course, dating him would be floorcest (dating someone on the same dorm floor, which usually ends in disaster and awkward encounters for the rest of the school year). That, combined with the fact that I had just broken up with my boyfriend back home, meant that Jake kept our relationship secret for a while. My dorm floor was extremely close, and everyone was friends with everyone, so keeping the secret was awfully hard. We still hung out like usual in public, but we started transitioning from best friends into a couple in private.

Our hush-hush relationship was finally exposed a couple of weeks later, and not by a conscious choice. Jake and I tagged along with a group of friends to a Syracuse Orange football game, painting our faces orange and navy blue. Everything was going smoothly at the game until the dreaded Kiss Cam. For those who don't know, the Kiss Cam is when the cameraman shines his camera on two people (a boy and a girl), who appear on the big screen at the game in front of the entire crowd. The two people are supposed to kiss, amid cheers and screams from the stadium. Well, there were 50,000 people at the football game that night, but Jake and I were the ones chosen for the Kiss Cam. What are the odds?!

The weirdest thing is, I knew we would be chosen. As soon as the Kiss Cam was introduced, I had this feeling that the camera would turn to us, and I was even preparing for the moment it did. But my intuition didn't stop my heart from jumping out of my chest when I saw the side of my head appear on the big screen over the orange-clad football fans in the Carrier Dome. Wide-eyed, I turned to Jake, who also looked like a deer in the headlights. And then we kissed. In front of 50,000 people. I remember looking back at our friends when the kiss was done and laughing – half of them were screaming and cheering, the other half just stared with their mouths open in shock. We were definitely popular on campus that night, considering we were stopped a dozen times by people who recognized us from the Kiss Cam.

And now here we are, almost two years later. I'm headed to Germany for a semester and Jake is staying back at 'Cuse, but I know we'll be ok. I guess the moral of the story is that when things are meant to happen, they happen. Or maybe it's that floorcest isn't always bad, or that the "unbreakable" friendzone can, in fact, be broken? Either way, my story is one I love to tell.