Study Abroad in Reggio Emilia, Italy

This May, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad with the College of Education in Reggio Emilia, Italy! As an education major at Clemson, it's difficult to study abroad for an entire semester without graduating late due to field work and the way classes are structured so I am so glad that I was able to do a May-mester! I was there for nearly three weeks and had the incredible experience of visiting local preschools as well as shadowing in a third grade classroom.

In addition to shadowing in the schools, we learned a lot about the culture as well by taking Italian lessons, visiting a recycling center, and visiting a cheese factory! We also had free afternoons and weekends to visit different cities in Italy- we visited Modena, Florence, Parma, Cinque Terre, and Venice!

During our first week, we took a day trip to nearby Modena so the professors could show us how to ride the train. Modena was stunning and we had so much fun shopping, climbing up a tower to see the city, and, of course, getting gelato.

The program had a day trip to Florence planned for our first Saturday in Italy and since we had the afternoon before and the next day free, we decided to make a weekend out of it, which was so much fun! We had dinner in Florence on Friday and then walked around the Duomo, which is seriously stunning and you can't help but be amazed by it!

On Saturday, we grabbed breakfast before meeting up with the rest of the group for a tour of the city. Afterwards, we hit up the leather market and grabbed lunch before going on a wine tour. The wine tour was so much fun and we went to two different wineries with a stop at a stunning castle in between!

We went to the same breakfast spot Sunday morning and walked around for a bit before going to the Gucci Garden, which was such a cool museum. We then crossed the river and found a stunning rose garden with incredible views of Florence. We had truffle gnocchi for lunch, which was one of the best things I've ever eaten, and then did a cooking class where we learned how to make pizza and gelato before heading back home to Reggio!

We had the second weekend of the trip completely free so we went to Cinque Terre, which is one of the prettiest places I've ever been to! We stayed in La Spezia and took the train into the cities. We hiked, shopped around, had a beach afternoon, and took in all of the stunning sights!

During our last week, we took a day trip to Venice, which was absolutely stunning. We took a gondola ride around the city, took an elevator ride to the top of a building to see incredible views, and walked around and explored the city!

During our last full day in Reggio, we went to a parmesan cheese factory and it was so cool to see the process of how they make cheese! Plus, we got to sample some at the end of the tour!

We stayed with host families for the length of the trip and on our last day, my host sister took my roommates and I out for coffee and macaroons, which was such a fun way to end our time in Reggio!

Thanks for reading!

End of Sophomore Year Recap

After Thursday's post explaining why Chic in Carolina has been pretty quiet lately + my thoughts on blogging, I figured I should get y'all up to speed on everything that has been going on in my life lately. One of the major takeaways from my reader survey so far is that y'all love reading about what's going on in my life so grab a coffee and let's catch up!

The last posts on the blog were about Spring Break so a lot has happened since then!

similar sunglasses ⎢skort ⎢wedges ⎢hoops

Cookout for CASA

In early April, my sorority had our final philanthropy event, Cookout for CASA. I had the incredible honor of serving my sisters as Philanthropy Chair, meaning I was in charge of planning and organizing the event, and it was amazing to see the months of work come together for the event. We were able to raise over $23,000 for foster children in the Upstate of South Carolina and I am still amazed by my chapter's hard work alongside the support of our incredible alumni.

same style dress, different print (1 & 2) ⎢wedges ⎢similar sunglasses ⎢hoops ⎢apple watch ⎢bracelet

Clemson Spring Game

The day after Cookout for CASA was Clemson's Spring Game! My mom was in town for the philanthropy event so she treated my friends and I to brunch before she headed out of town that day. We then headed to the game for a bit before going to the baseball game and then to Chili's for dinner. My friends and I literally spent the entire day together and it's definitely one of my favorite memories from sophomore year!

this year's version of my top ⎢jean shorts (on sale!) ⎢cowboy boots ⎢apple watch ⎢bracelet

Theta's Last Ride

Right before my trip to Florida, I had my final sorority function (read this post for the back story on that). It was a two night function but I only went to the first night as I was in Florida the second night. The theme was Theta's Last Ride so everyone wore cowboy/western attire, which was so fun!

dress ⎢wedges (not pictured) ⎢apple watch ⎢bracelet

Easter in Florida

I took a quick trip to Florida to celebrate Easter with my family! It started off on the rocky side with my flight being cancelled and an unexpected night at home in Charlotte but it was great to see my family before the craziness of the last week of class and exams!

similar top ⎢similar shorts ⎢similar sunglasses ⎢jacks (on sale!) ⎢apple watch ⎢bracelet

Last Weekend in Clemson 

The last Friday before exams, my friends and I went to Smokin' Pig, the yummiest barbecue place near campus, and then went to the dikes to watch the sunset. We then went back to the hall to have game night and it was so fun spending time with my girls before we all had to leave for the summer!

Exam Week & Move Out

This year I only had three exams but they didn't start until Wednesday, which was a bit of a bummer (my roommate finished all of her exams before I even took my first one haha). Thankfully, I did well on all of them and it was soon time to head home to Charlotte!

I moved out on Friday and it was so bittersweet seeing my empty room (see it fully decorated here) and seeing the Theta hall for the last time!

leggings

Week at Home

After exams, I had exactly one week at home before my trip to Italy! I unpacked all of my stuff, put aside everything I'm bringing to my house for next year, nannied, worked out, and then packed for Italy!

Studying Abroad in Italy

I'll be sharing more on this but I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Italy for three weeks in May! It was through Clemson's College of Ed so I was able to shadow in local schools, which was amazing, as well as travel to different cities!

a mid concert, slightly blurry selfie haha!

Luke Bryan Concert

Just last weekend my roommate and I went to the Luke Bryan concert here in Charlotte! Rachel is from Raleigh so she came down to visit for the concert! I've been a Luke Bryan fan for years and he was amazing to see in concert!

Thanks for reading!

Long Time, No Talk but I'm Back!!

Well it's been a hot minute since I've last posted and even longer since I actually posted consistently on my little corner of the Internet. The last time we caught up was spring break, which honestly feels like a million years ago. This past spring semester was absolutely crazy for me as I took 18 credit hours (including 5 classes in a row on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and also was in charge of my sorority's philanthropy event for our final semester. When I got home for the summer, I planned on prescheduling some posts for while I was in Italy studying abroad and as luck would have it, my computer broke and had to be repaired at the Apple store (I had it on my bed, took a shower, and came back to the picture below...fun times!).

a snap from Italy! can't wait to share more soon

my outfit: similar tee ⎢similar scarf ⎢similar purse ⎢jeans (bought in Italy!) ⎢jacks ⎢similar sunnies ⎢watch ⎢bracelet

yeah this was fun to deal with

I'm now back from Italy and honestly, I've missed blogging so much. This past semester, I think part of my lack of inspiration to blog came from the pressure to keep up. We all know that Instagram engagement is down and honestly, it's so easy to get lost in the crowd of bloggers who seem to be doing the exact same thing and wearing identical sponsored outfits. That's not me at all but it's hard not to compare your blog and your work to others around you. It's hard to see others gaining followers (purchased or not) while you don't. In college, you have a million and one things going on and it's hard to be engaged on social media and come out with new content while keeping up with schoolwork, extracurriculars, hanging out with friends, and you know sleeping and eating. I also feel that my life isn't exciting enough to blog about it- I usually am wearing athleisure with no makeup on, which isn't exactly blog worthy!

I also feel like the girl who started this blog in 2015 during her sophomore year of high school is not the same girl writing this post in 2019. Of course, I still love my Lilly but I've definitely grown so much as a person (and more than simply including some Anthro and Free People into my wardrobe haha). In all honestly, high school Katie may have looked like she did it "all"- from working out to doing all of her homework to working to being super involved- but that came with a ton of stress that wasn't necessarily the healthiest. I've chilled out a lot since college (which may surprise some of my friends as I am still Type A) and honestly am so happy at college. I was at a Pure Barre class the other day and had not seen this instructor since I started college. She noted how much more confident I seem and I think that is just proof of how important it is to be somewhere where you're happy.

So I've come to accept that maybe I'm not the most inspirational blogger out there but that isn't why I started Chic in Carolina four years ago! Honestly, I try to write my blog posts as I'm talking to a friend about topics that are relevant to us- so maybe sharing what I wish I knew before college to a friend who is about to be a freshman or talking to my friends over coffee about a book I read lately or how much I love those new shorts I just splurged on. I hope that Chic in Carolina always comes off as real to y'all and not just a glossy version of my life!

So happy to be back and let me know if there's anything y'all want to read on the blog by commenting below or shooting me an email (chicincarolina@gmail.com) or slide into my DMs haha! If you could take a moment to fill out my reader survey as well, that would be amazing!

love always,

K