Hygge first begins as an act of the soul and mind. While your atmosphere certainly influences your mindset, you don’t need a crackling fire to provoke a sense of harmony and gratitude. There are aspects of hygge that can last throughout the changing seasons. If you want to build an atmosphere that brings comfort and warmth at the same time, try incorporating some of these elements into your day.

Flowers

Bring the spring inside. Fill your house with sunflowers and hydrangeas – and not the artificial kind either. Get the real thing and let the scents of spring fill your home.

Backyard picnics/cookouts

Togetherness is after all one of the manifestos of hygge. Put a summer spin and invite your friends over for a barbecue. Cook together, eat with each other, invest in one another.

Detox digitally

Be in the moment. Call your friends over then turn the TV off. Go out and leave your phone behind. Remove the excess games and unnecessary time-consumers and find something worthwhile to fill your new freed-up time. Take pictures – but quit caring about the Instagram likes.

Bonfires

Burning fires are essential to winter hygge. For the spring, simply move them outside. Enjoy the weather and the warm and fuzzies all at once.

Sunshine

Take advantage of the seasonal change. Discard your socks and scarves. Put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Let your skin bask in the warmth of the sun. Break those freckles out.

Read a book by the pool

You don’t need a dozen lit candles or a cup of hot tea to reread your favorite childhood book. Trade them in for real sunlight and sweet tea. When your eyes need a break, take a dip in the pool. Relax.

Cook

Fruits and vegetables are blooming everywhere this time of year. Hit a farmer’s market, pick up some produce, dance around your kitchen while you whip up some of Mother Nature’s finest.

Sit outside at night

Pour yourself a cup of lemonade or glass of wine. Spend some time looking at the stars. Remember how big the universe is in comparison to you. Find comfort in that, not fear.

Take advantage of the summer rainstorms

April doesn’t exactly bring the winter snowstorms that allow us to curl up by a fire – but it does bring with it plenty of showers. Drink some tea while you sit by a window with a good book. Or, wrap up in your favorite blanket and take a midday snooze while you listen to the pitter-patter on your bedroom window.

Most of us are caught in the decision of hauling our high school bed and dresser down to the ’Boro or be left with the cheap, scuffed stuff from the tenants before us. Whichever choice you make, most likely you will still want to decorate your home in your own taste. I personally really needed a nightstand in my bedroom since my furniture package didn’t include one. I was gifted a hand-me-down one, thankfully, and not long after, creativity struck. This project was surprisingly cheap and it adds an extra flair of the dramatic to my bedroom. All you need is:

A plain table top

Stencil of your choice in design

Acrylic paint

Paint brush

Tape

While this table was a hand-me-down, it was originally from Ikea and is currently on sale. I got the stencil, paint and paintbrush all from Wal-Mart. The design of your table is entirely up to you but rather than paint the stencil directly, I chose to paint the center and four corners.

Step 1: Center the stencil on your tabletop and tape down the edges so it stays in place. I focused only on the center part so I taped off the rest of the stencil so the paint wouldn’t stray.

Step 2: Roll the paint container in your hands do not shake – it will cause air pockets. Paint one layer of the stencil. Wait about 10 minutes and paint another layer. Depending on how dark your table top is or how vibrant you want to color, you may want to do 3-5 coats. Let dry for a couple hours or overnight

Step 3: Based off the design I wanted, I decided to cut the stencil into four even quarters, assigning one quarter to each corner. I taped each piece down to minimize any slipping and risk smearing the paint. Again, do 3-5 coats and let dry for a few hours.

Depending how many coats you do, there may be some excess paint that flakes off once dried. I suspect I did one or two too many coats (full disclosure, I did more like 6-8 coats. I wanted to be thorough!), so once it dried completely, the white paint came off in a powdery substance when I ran my hand over it. However, once that top layer was brushed over, it was fine. I set my books and candles without any problem and voila! A side table was born.

The same concept could be done for nightstands, coffee tables, end tables, etc. There’s also a variety of stencil options available on Etsy or at craft shops like Hobby Lobby. Decorate it to fit your individual style. Get crafting!

1. “Who Let the Dogs Out?” – Baha Men

2. “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice

3. “Mambo No. 5” – Lou Bega

4. “Baby Got Back” Sir Mix A Lot

5. “Somebody that I Used to Know” – Gotye

6. “Bust a Move” – Young MC

7. “Story of a Girl” – Nine Days

8. “Achy Breaky Heart” – Billy Ray Cyrus

9. “Bad Day” – Daniel Powter

10. “Closing Time” – Semisonic

*In no particular order

While you may be thinking about future jobs, careers, employers, and the next phase of your life, remember it comes one step at a time. The first step is to build a resume. You’ll need it to show off how awesome, capable, and skilled you are when you finally decide to start applying for internships and jobs.

Keep this handy-dandy checklist with you to make the process a little less daunting.

Design

Some jobs want a very creative, embellished resume that shows off your individual style. Other jobs look for straight-laced resumes that detail professional development. Either way, you can create a well-designed resume that’s much better than a Microsoft Word template. If you’re the artsy type, try designing something yourself. If not, check out www.canva.com they have a selection of free templates you can use to reflect your personal style.

Fluff

Not all of us have a laundry list of merits to throw on our resumes. Most of us have never entered the professional world at all — that’s why we need the resume. Just because you don’t have a lot of experience doesn’t mean you can’t play yourself up a little bit. Any clubs, jobs, certifications, training, etc looks good on a resume.

Students are usually pretty tech and social media-savvy, which can set you apart from other candidates, so go ahead and add that as a skill! Any extracurricular activities you participated in outside of school could show that you have customer service or leadership experience. At the very least it shows you have work ethic, so spin the words the right way so that shows off to a potential employer.

Multiple Resumes

Most degrees, unless you specialize in something super specific, allow you to go into a multitude of fields. You don’t want to sell yourself short by not exploring all of your options. Usually you can tweak one or two aspects to fit a specific job option. Make sure you differentiate between an internship and a real life, “grown up” job. The skills and experience you should list can change depending on what kind of job you’re looking for.

Pairing

Resumes get your foot in the door. They are the bare-bones way of telling potential employers what they should know about you. You mention your school, major, experience, skills, and contact information, etc, on a resume. You always make sure to cover your bases.

However, a good cover letter is just as important. A cover letter is basically a sales pitch about why you would be a perfect fit at whatever job you’re applying to. Definitely make a new cover letter for each and every job you’re applying to. Scour the job listings for keywords or fun facts you can throw in to show you’ve done your research. If you can, try to find a former supervisor from a related field to the job you’re applying and see if they would be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you. Most jobs don’t require a letter of recommendation and sometimes they’ll look right over it, but it can’t hurt to have it. Sometimes it’s just the cherry on top.

The Game of Thrones season finale premiered on Sunday to anticipation, despair and collective awe of fans everywhere. Endless questions were awaiting answers. Will Cleganebowl finally happen? Will Jon’s parentage finally be revealed? Will Jon and Daenerys finally hook up? Are Cersei and Jaime finally going to come to blows? What will finally happen? And, of course, the blanket questions: who dies, who bonks and what plot twists await us at the end?

As my friends and I piled around a projector screen watching YouTube clips of previews and house histories throughout the Seven Kingdoms, we impatiently counted down the minutes until 9 p.m. hit. Then, slightly early, HBO Go released the episode and the “The Dragon and the Wolf” began.

Here’s what went through my head during the episode:

….

Here it is. LOAD DAMN IT. Ok, here we go

The previews better not pull that BS where they spoil it before it happens

God I hate Littlefinger

If this whole “Bringing a wight back” thing doesn’t work, can’t say I didn’t tell you so

How are there still that many Unsullied?

Look at Bronn being called “lord” – glow up

Ah, stay true to yourself babe

What a warm welcome home for the Imp

“Silver-haired bitch” has a nice ring to it

Bronn & Tyrion together again

Podrick sure has grown up

Oh yeah, Brienne did leave the Hound for dead…forgot about that.

Look at all the reunions. How sweet.

Cersei looks like Tim Burton dressed her

What is this, a high school lunchroom?

So when is Dany flying in on her dragon?

Now, I guess

Honestly if the dragon just breathed fire now, the whole show would just end

Euron, sweetie, that’s not how things go okay? Shut up.

“We are a group of people who do not like each other,” understatement of the year

Aw damn, so that was the Clegane Bowl preview we saw?

Creepy Maester = Frankenstein. He’ll make his own army of the dead. You heard it hear first.

How many times have we seen Cersei shook on this show? It’s so weird.

Alright well that was a good character arc for Euron. See ya.

Ew, even his farewells make me feel icky.

CERSEI ACCEPTED A TRUCE???

Oh okay, strings. There they are. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Jon is getting hotter to Dany by the second

There’s the Stark in him. Getting people killed and all. Nothing new.

I miss Jaime & Tyrion

Omg Shae flashbacks

Tyrion don’t go asking for things you can’t take back

There’s the alcohol abuse we’ve come to know and love

Does anyone actually believe Cersei is pregnant?

Jon + Dany = JUST KISS ALREADY

Wait what – what kind of BS is Cersei pulling?

When is Littlefinger going to die?

Sansa wtf. You just gonna tell all Arya’s secrets? What kind of sisterly alliance is that?

You can see Littlefinger fill with power when his schemes play out

Sansa, sweetie, you’re smarter than that

Theon – GROW A SPINE FOR GOD’S SAKE

Yara needed you episode 2 you jerkwad

Ok I could fight better than Theon

Theon right now – “GOT NO BALLS JACKASS!”

Wait I thought there was a boxing match last night?

“It took him four seasons to grow back the balls he lost”

Littlefinger is literally like:

FINALLY Bran becomes useful

WHERE ARE YOUR CLEVER SCHEMES NOW LORD BAELISH

There’s gonna be more plot twists right??? I mean, this is a GOT finale

Cersei is betraying everyone but herself. That’s not a plot twist @ Benioff and Weiss

Killing Jaime would certainly be a plot twist

Winter has come y’all

OH MY GOD IT HAPPENED

Time for some more incest

Aye Jon, cute butt

YOU KNOW NOTHING JON SNOW

Best quote of the season trailer finally arrives in the last five minutes of the season

Oh.my.god.

Oh.My.God.

OH.MY.GOD.

…what now?

Different tribes had different names for the full moons that appeared every month. The nicknames were used to mark the passing of time before modern calendars existed. August’s notable claim to fame is the “Sturgeon Moon”, dubbed so for the fish caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Other nicknames include “Wheat Cut Moon”, “Moon When All Things Ripen”, and ”Blueberry Moon”, all of which refer to the preparation of times to come, including the forthcoming harvest and winter months.

This year’s moon also featured a partial lunar eclipse, anticipated by the total solar eclipse on August 21, marking a beginning and an end. The astrology behind it calls for a doing away with the old and moving forward from the past. Although the Sturgeon Moon already passed on August 7th, the eclipse is still approaching, providing an opportunity to let the folklore magic of the full moons start you off on the right foot for the first day of classes. Welcome the new beginning.

The store provides home for a clothing line with an aesthetic that can only best be described as bohemian hippie at a garden party in the southwest. Carrying a wide selection of clothing, jewelry, accessories, plus more, it’s “a little bit of everything,” as owner and designer Emily Bargeron likes to put it.

A creative mind from the beginning, Bargeron began making her own jewelry as a teenager. She went to school to study fashion, majoring in fashion merchandising and apparel design at Georgia Southern University, while selling jewelry on the side. A couple years after graduating, she entered in an emerging designer competition at Charleston Fashion Week, which inspired her to create line for the first time.

She continued designing, manufacturing and wearing the clothes herself and noticed a lot of the attention they were getting, particularly at music festivals.

“If I wore a dress, they wanted it so I just started making more. I was sewing everything myself and started selling to just a couple stores in town and it just went from there,” Bargeron said, on the beginnings of the brand.

Named after Bargeron’s nickname for her grandmother, from whom she gets much of her influence as an entrepreneur and creative spirit, Mamie Ruth took off among the boutiques and music festival circuits. Eventually, Bargeron opened up a storefront studio in Savannah, but she hasn’t forgotten her roots. Bonnaroo was the first music festival where she took the opportunity to sell the collection and since then, she continues to travel to different festivals all over the country, setting up pop-up shops with her team of staff and interns.

“It’s really good marketing for us because it’s everyone we want wearing our clothes all in one place.” Bargeron said.

The clothes themselves are beautifully eclectic and despite maintaining the same “festival style” look, there’s a wide range of selection in them; rock ‘n roll T-shirts, sassy graphic tees, printed maxi skirts, mix and match sets. Everything is unique and varied. Many of the items are one-of-a-kind, like the coveted vintage boots Bargeron finds in thrift shops and decorates however inspiration strikes. There is only one pair in one size, sold only in the Savannah studio. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. These types of exclusive finds give the shop an air of hidden treasure.

The studio itself is only an extension of the clothes, trimmed with feathered dream catchers, colorful rugs and geometrically shaped wall art. There is a fireplace on one side, manned by two painted bull skulls. Outfits are constructed and hung near the dressing rooms for those looking for inspiration. It’s overwhelming and inviting all at the same time.

The studio creates a sense of allure around the clothing but it is only one part of Mamie Ruth. “Our main business is wholesale,” said Bargeron, “We ship to about 60 boutiques around the country and then we’ll also be selling in Belk in the spring of 2017.” Mamie Ruth’s largest sale to date, the clothes will be available in fourteen Belk locations and online, allowing shoppers from all over the country to shop.

One the main things Mamie Ruth as a collection prides itself on is being made 100% in the USA. “Everything is made and designed here in Savannah, and then our manufacturing is right outside of Atlanta. We are really proud of the fact that we manufacture here and try to keep everything local,” Bargeron said, “It’s really about knowing who made your clothes and knowing that the clothes didn’t have to take a trip across the ocean to get to you.” The local manufacturing adds a personal touch to the clothes.

Bargeron also chooses to hire locally. She hires between two and five interns a semester, usually from Savannah College of Art and Design or her own alma mater, Georgia Southern. She currently has two interns both from Georgia Southern.

Like the fashion industry itself, the internship experience is constantly moving.

“I try to have a very good round of all the departments, so like marketing, the retail store, the merchandising and window displays and stuff like that,” says Bargeron. All of these departments work together to become one whole, creating the business and the brand.

Bargeron takes a hands-on approach to all aspects of the business, from coaching interns to traveling to marketing. Her favorite part though is the design. She added, “I really think it’s just creating the lifestyle, with the music festivals and all of the different events and traveling; Incorporating those fabrics into the collections and really having the collections tell a story about what it inspired it.”

Bargeron’s down-to-earth spirit allows her to expand Mamie Ruth to different corners of the country while still keeping her focus on the heart of the brand. Music festivals provided a big influence in the inspiration of her designs, which is why she continues to travel every year and get back to that core. Bonnaroo was just the first; others such as Shaky Knees, Voodoo and Tomorroworld, soon followed.

Getting to travel the country, create a name and a brand for herself, and continuously be surrounded by art and inspiration are goals for anybody working in the fashion industry. She warns though that her job isn’t perfect. “Somedays it can be really stressful. It’s like any other job. I think a lot of times people think that it’s a such a dream job, because it is, but it’s a lot of work too.”

The hard work has paid off though so far. Bargeron has managed to create an entire lifestyle within a clothing line. The website boasts that it designs clothing “for the creative thinkers, the peacemakers, and the girls that just want to have fun.”

When asked to summarize Mamie Ruth in one word or phrase, Bargeron simply says, “Clothes with soul.”

“Our customer isn’t an age,” says Bargeron, “It’s a feeling. It’s someone who likes to stand out, likes to wear different things, someone that doesn’t mind people taking a second glance at them.”

Finals Week is always the time of year everyone dreads. The three P’s (projects, paper and presentations) all manage to culminate together is four days. No matter how far in advance you see it coming, it doesn’t seem like there’s ever anything to do about it. But because finals are such a significant part of our grades, they can add one final, significant boost or at the very least, maintain that grade you’ve worked so hard for. It’s make-it-break-it time. To make the most out of your last chance, here’s a few tips and tricks:

Get organized

Find out exactly what you have going on in each class. What’s your current grade? What is the final going to be like? Do you have a project, a paper or a two-hour cumulative exam? Check your syllabus for answers or ask your professor straight-up. Which brings me to…

Go to office hours

Your professors are there to help and they have designated times to do just that: office hours. Utilize them. Find out where you stand in your class. See if your professor can spot any struggle areas you may have. Maybe the problem is you and you can’t seem to take your Folio quizzes on time or make it to class every day. That’s not an excuse, but recognizing it and admitting can earn you some brownie points with certain professors. At the very least, stopping by to see them shows initiative on your part.

Take advantage of extra credit

Often times, professors will put extra credit opportunities in the syllabus that most students overlook in the very beginning of the semester. Go back and check. There might be a seminar or a workshop left that you can attend. There might be a study or a survey you can participate in for research. Ask your professor too during office hours. There might not be anything listed or something that came up after the fact. Extra credit gives you a chance to earn some points when you have the time instead of crunching last minute during Finals Week when there’s a million other assignments to do. It can’t hurt to load up beforehand.

Get prepared

This goes along with getting organized. Find out exactly what you need to do and see if there’s anything you can do beforehand. Spend an hour getting a jumpstart on the research for that project. Start thinking about paper topics and source material. Go ahead and make Quizlets so you don’t spend all your time making them instead of studying them. Save yourself some time ahead of schedule so you don’t have to scramble last minute. At the very least, it’ll just give you some extra studying time.

Halloween may have been in full swing all weekend, but if you’re looking to stretch it once more to the actual night, take a break from the costume parties and spend the night ghost hunting.

(Obligatory if you dare warning inserted here).

Harville House

Located on Harville Road, the property was purchased in 1862 by Samuel Winkler Harville, who was a delegate from Bulloch County sent to the 1861 Secession Convention in Milledgeville. He voted for Georgia to secede during the convention. His son built the house in 1894 as a small, one-story farmhouse. Additions were added over generations and by 1946, the Harville House was a self-sustaining farm. However, in the 70’s the house was abandoned.

The hauntings occurred when two women died in the house but their deaths went unnoticed and their possessions remained. It is said that the two women can be seen in their rocking chairs from the front porch.

There is an added bonus of the Harville Cemetery, which is located a quarter mile away from the property. While the cemetery is not haunted, it is known to be a rather spooky addition to haunted trip.

The Beaver House

The house was built in 1911 by John Alexander McDougald, a former mayor of Statesboro, and inherited  down the family line until it eventually became the The Beaver House Inn & Restaurant that we know   today. There is said to be six different ghosts that haunt the property, mostly from the family, including Ruth McDougald, who is one of the great-grandmothers, as well as two uncles and an aunt. There are, however, two ghosts in particular who are the most notable. One is Roy Beaver, one of the grandfathers, who stood at 6’6” weighing 480 lbs. The other is a girl named Annie who died on the same property that Pizza Hut now sits on,  when she  fell out of the tree she was climbing . Her spirit is the most prevalent of the six.

The ghosts are not harmful and many patrons only see them as glimpses or shadows, a blink-and-you-miss-it moment that is waved off. However, it has been known for small pranks to be played, locked doors to come unlocked and silverware to go missing.

Meat Packing Plant

The most notorious haunting in Statesboro, the former meatpacking plant was the sight of a gruesome mass murder during the Great Depression. The owner set fire to the building but not before putting chains on all the doors and blocking the exits, trapping 23 employees inside. The owner then shot himself in the head, committing suicide.

People have reported seeing shadows running towards exits and the image of a woman through a third floor window, stricken with fear. During a full moon, it is said you can hear the sounds of gunshots and screams.

Old Ghost House

One of the scarier hauntings in Bulloch County simply because not much is known about it. Robertson Road is located in Brooklet, just outside of Statesboro, and it is said that if one drives down it, an orange light will   begin to appear, followed by a man digging a ditch. After a certain amount of time, the man will begin to approach the car, but will disappear before ever reaching it. No one knows who the man is, why he is digging or what the orange light is meant for. However as a result, the road is been nicknamed “Ghost Road.”

The basic of all basics, while also being a great cop-out. Pick up a pair of cat ears from Wal-Mart, dab on some paint and you can wear whatever you want and still be in “costume”. Except it’s the same costume we’ve all been seeing for years. Try something a little more original.

Minnie Mouse

The poor man’s kitty costume, just slightly less basic. Points for being a little more cute and a little less sexy.

Mario & Luigi

Where sexy tries to meet edgy and horribly fails.

Pocahontas

It’s one thing to want to dress up as your favorite Disney character. It’s another to want to dress up as an actual Native American person who was put through hell and back because it already comes with a short dress and an abundance of fringe. Cue the cultural appropriation talk.

Celebrity Shenanigan of Some Kind

The year of the twerking Miley. The year of Jersey Shore. The year when Lady Gaga became a thing and everyone embraced face paint and blonde wigs. This kind of stuff is only cool when Ellen DeGeneres. Live vicariously through her, and quit trying to find something something “ironic” to be.

Cheerleader & Football Player Duo

Just because you’re one of the blessed few that enjoyed high school, doesn’t mean you need to try to relive it. Put the uniforms back the drawers where they belong and embrace the new stage of your life.