All Posts By

Alli Santmyer

How To

How To: Maintain a Busy Life

May 30, 2017

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to my blog!  Today, I’m going to be sharing my tips for how to balance your busy lifestyle.  Whether you’re in high school, college, or a young professional, we all have so much to do and I’m here to give you some tips on how to keep it all together!

My first tip is to utilize your planner.  I’ve used a planner ever since my senior year of high school and it’s helped me immensely!  In college, you have a lot more free time than in high school, so my planner use really picked up once I got to JMU.  A planner is really helpful for remembering class assignments and lunch dates that might slip your mind if they’re scheduled a few weeks out.  I have an entire post dedicated to setting up and using a planner, so check out that post here to read all about it!

My next tip is to take things one step at a time.  I’m the kind of person who will get very overwhelmed if assignments and responsibilities start piling up and, over the past few years, I’ve had to constantly remind myself that everything will get done if I just focus and take my time.  When you rush through things, you run the risk of having to do it all over again, so it’s better to just do it to the best of your ability the first time around.

My final tip is to take time to do the things that make you happy.  When you’re insanely busy with school work or your job or other responsibilities, it might seem really immature to set those things aside and take a walk on the beach or go to the mall for an hour or two but your mind needs that.  At the company I intern with, the creative director is always telling me to take a break and give my mind a rest.  It’s important to let your body relax so your creative energy can build back up again.  Taking time for yourself will make everything you do after have more pep!

Those are all my tips for maintaining a busy lifestyle!  If you use any of my advice, post a photo on Instagram and tag me @allisantmyer!  See you next week!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Q & A

May 23, 2017

Hey everyone and thanks for visiting Allison in Wonderland!  Today’s post is going to be a fun one to mark the start of summer!  Woohoo!  Keep reading for an awesome Q & A sesh.

What are your three favorite movies?

This is such a hard one!  I think my top three, all-time favorite movies are the Sound of Music, the Breakfast Club, and the Princess Diaries but I’ve seen a few movies recently that I really loved as well!  The live-action Cinderella was amazing and I also really enjoyed La La Land and Priceless.

What book have you been dying to read?

One book I’ve been wanting to read ever since I first heard it was coming out was the book Chip and Jo from the show Fixer Upper wrote.  I finally got my hands on it a couple weeks ago and it was incredible!  I love them so much and reading their book just made me even more obsessed with them than I already was.  It was neat to hear their side of how their lives changed because of their HGTV show and see a little insight as to what they’re hoping comes of the future!

What’s something that amazes you?

I’m constantly amazed by how much creativity there is in the world.  In college, I’m in a major and minor where there’s no short of creative, inspirational people so I think that makes me a little bit biased, but I’m just so in awe every time I think about it!

What’s your all-time favorite town or city?

My all-time favorite city is Brooklyn, New York.  I didn’t think I could ever live in a city, but when I visited Brooklyn this past summer, it was the first place I’d ever been that I could really see myself living in.  I don’t think I could permanently live there, but a couple years would be so fun!  Brooklyn is so interesting and quirky and it has so many beautiful views – I don’t think you could ever get tired of it!

If you won the lottery, what would you do?

Cry.

Would you like to design your own home?

I would LOVE to design my own home!  This has actually been a dream of mine for a while.  I really love interior design and patterns and fabrics – I could design and re-design my home forever!  I think that’s why I love HGTV so much; they have so many house flipping and interior design shows, I could sit in front of the TV for hours and just watch and watch!

Have you ever met any celebrities?

Unfortunately, I haven’t met any celebrities but I was mistaken for Shailene Woodley in the airport once!  A few years ago, my mom and I were on vacation in San Francisco, CA and I was in line to get Starbucks before our flight home.  This was right around the time that Divergent came out, so I think she was on a lot of teen’s minds because all of a sudden I heard a girl behind me frantically whisper to her mom that Shailene Woodley was in front of them!  Once I figured out what was happening, I turned and looked at her so she would know I wasn’t actually Shailene Woodley, but it was kinda fun to be mistaken for her for a second.

In tic-tac-toe, do you pick the x’s or the o’s?

This is a funny question.  I always used to go for the o’s but now I’d say I lean more towards the x’s!

What is your favorite thing about the beach?

I really, really love the sound of the waves.  The beach is a very safe place for me – I think that’s because I grew up near the beach and now my Mommom and Poppop live right at the beach so I get to spend a lot of time there.  It’s so calm and I always go to the beach when I’m on vacation or not in school, so I don’t associate it with any stress or responsibilities!

Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest?

Instagram, for sure.  Follow me at @allisantmyer!

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I’m obsessed with learning about the five love languages!  Mine love language is touch!  What’s yours?

That’s all for today’s post, thanks for reading!  If you’re in the mood, have a girls night and ask yourself and your best friends these questions.  You never know what you might learn!  See ya next week!

 

Travel

Being a Tourist In: Alexandria, Virginia

May 16, 2017

Hi everyone!  Welcome to another “Being a Tourist In:…” post on Allison in Wonderland!  These are some of my favorite posts to spend time writing and I’m so excited to share my latest travel adventures with you.  Let’s get into it!

I went to Alexandria, Virginia with one of my good friends from college last weekend and it was my very first time there!  It was only about an hour and a half from my house in Maryland so not a bad drive at all to see somewhere so adorable.  We also were visiting on a week day so traffic wasn’t horrible and I got there in a good amount of time!  Even before I got out of the car in the parking garage, I could already tell it was going to be a place I’d want to come back to!  The townhouses reminded me of the townhouses I’ve seen in Brooklyn and Georgetown and it was so fun to walk up and down the brick and cobblestone streets.  They have a really developed main street in Alexandria where most of the shops and restaurants are and that’s where we spent most of our time!  There were a ton of cute, little boutiques that are unique to Alexandria but they also had some normal, mall-type stores like Anthropolgie and H&M.

 

Alexandria is also really nice because it’s located on the water – it’s actually right across the river from the National Harbor in Washington, D.C.!  At the end of the main street where all the shops are is a super cute dock area where they have some seafood restaurants and beautiful places to take photos!  We spent a good amount of time there, walking up and down the waterfront streets, looking at all the picture-perfect houses.  They were so cute!  Another thing that was cool was that they have a trolley in this city!  We didn’t have a chance to ride it, but it goes all around and stops about every two blocks so you can hop on and off when you’re shopping or walking around.

I really, really loved Alexandria – I couldn’t believe I’d never been there before!  I’ll definitely be going back in the future so be on the look out for another blog post about this beautiful place.  Check back next week for a post all about first date ideas!  Thanks for reading!

College

How To: Land An Internship

May 9, 2017

Hi everyone!  Thanks for coming back to my blog for this week’s post!  As you can tell from the title, today’s post is all about how to land your first internship.  Since the summer is quickly approaching and we’re starting to think about summer jobs, I thought it would be a perfect topic to tackle this month!

I got my first internship the summer after my sophomore year of college.  I’d say that’s relatively early, but I jumped at the chance to gain experience working in my career industry as soon as I could!  At James Madison University, my major is Media Arts & Design and my concentration is in Integrated Advertising & Corporate Communication so I was looking for positions either at an advertising agency or a marketing firm and, luckily, that’s exactly what I ended up doing.  After the summer was over, I was fortunate enough to intern again over my winter break and I’m so excited to be going back this summer as well.  It was one of the best experiences of my life and I have an entire post devoted to talking about my time at the firm linked here, if you’re interested in reading about it!

I’d say the hardest part about getting an internship is knowing where to apply.  Search engines like Google aren’t great for putting in random key words like “summer internship.”  You’ll get a lot of internship opportunities, but probably not in your field.  One of my biggest sources for internships has actually been my professors.  In my major, they’re awesome about letting students know what opportunities are out there and giving us the links to apply.  I’m also a fan of websites like themuse.com, especially if you’re in the market for a full-time job.  The Muse is full of employers looking for young, newly graduated candidates and they give you a nice little snippet of what it would be like to work in each company!

I got my internship through networking.  My dad is friends with a man who is in the c-suite of the marketing firm I talked about before and my dad mentioned my major to him and he offered me an internship right away!  It was so incredibly nice of him to offer that, and this won’t happen all the time, but the doors just opened for me because my family knew him.  Networking is so, so important so if you can just shake hands with important people and make some kind of connection, it will do wonders!

Another tip for getting an internship is making sure your resume is eye-catching and up-to-date.  I was taught in high school that a resume needs to be mature and clean and in only black and white.  This might be true for other industries, but it’s not for advertising.  I’m in a very creative major where graphic design skills are expected and if your resume doesn’t show your eye for design, then you’re off to a bad start.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine to have it in all black and white, but add something – like a personalized logo – that will make your resume stand out to the HR department.

Those are all the tips I have today for landing your first internship; I hope it helped you and your search for a job!  If you have any other tips, please leave them in the comments below for other readers to benefit from.  See you next week for another post!

Travel

Road Trip to Lake Norman, North Carolina

May 2, 2017

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog!  If you’ve never visited my site before, hi!  I’m Alli!  I hope you’re having a wonderful first week of May!  I took a weekend road trip to North Carolina a few weeks ago and I’m here to tell you all about our adventures!  I hope you enjoy!

I went with one of my best friends, Elyse, to her family’s lake house at Lake Norman and it was so much fun!  We got to the house on Thursday night, so we had the whole weekend ahead of us to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather.  We spent most of our time laying out on the dock and exploring the shopping area that’s right around the lake.  I was surprised at how much of a small town feel Lake Norman has considering there’s so much to do right around where the house is!

 

The weather was gorgeous on Friday and we got a good amount of sun to start the summer off right.  It was so nice to lay out on the dock and watch all the people who were boating and jet-skiing to kick off the warm weather!  Since it was so early in the season, there weren’t too many people around so that made it nice and peaceful to be able to spend the weekend away from the stress of school.  Later that day, we headed to a little shopping area and grabbed dinner at a little hibachi place.  We rented the movie Sully from Redbox and it was really good!  I’d definitely recommend watching it if you’re having a night in.

On Saturday, we started off the day by heading to Davidson, a little town that’s only about twenty minutes from where we were staying.  There was a little festival/farmer’s market going on when we got there so we couldn’t of visited at a better time!  There were so many cute little stands with art and fruit and jewelry!  The shops along the main street in Davidson were so cute too, we loved walking through them and looking at all the lake souvenirs.  While we were walking through the market, we came across a flower stand and they were selling the biggest, most beautiful bouquets for only $20!  It’s the best money I’ve ever spent – they are still standing tall in my apartment now!

 

Unfortunately, Sunday was the day we had to head home and get back to our responsibilities.  I loved visiting Lake Norman – I hope I’ll get to go again in the future!  Have you ever been?  Let me know in the comments below!  See you next week!

Relationships

First Date Ideas

April 25, 2017

Hi guys!  Thanks for visiting Allison in Wonderland today!  This post is going to be about just what the title says – ideas for your first date!  Although I’ve been in a relationship for a couple years now, a lot of my friends have been going on first dates recently and I wanted to compile some ideas for those of you who might be trying to think of something fun!  Let’s get started.

Outdoor Arboretum/Park  My boyfriend and I’s first date was actually right here on campus at James Madison University.  It was our freshman year so I wasn’t allowed to have my car on campus so we had to make do with what we had.  Luckily, I lived in a section of campus that was right across from JMU’s arboretum, which is a beautiful, outdoor garden type place that has a walking path through the woods and a pond.  At this point in my freshman year, I hadn’t been to the arboretum yet so it was the perfect first date!  He planned it all out and it was so fun!

Amusement Park  Something I’ve wanted to do for years with my boyfriend is go to Hershey Park, our nearest amusement park.  We’re finally getting to go this summer and I can’t wait!  Amusement parks are a really great first date location because there’s so much to do!  You can ride the rides, eat cotton candy, people watch, and you’ll never run out of things to talk about.  It’s also a good environment to be in if you decide you’re not that into him because it’s still a fun thing to do even if you end up just being friends!

Boardwalk  If you live in or near a beach town, this one’s a given.  Boardwalks provide so many fun things to do!  You can play arcade games, ride the ferris wheel (ferris wheels are my favorite), browse in the souvenir shops, and even take a walk along the beach!  I live relatively close to the beach and at our boardwalk, they sometimes have bonfires on the beach at night.  It would be so cute to grab dinner, walk along the boardwalk, and then watch the sunset by the fireside!

Those are all the first date ideas I have to share today!  Which one was your favorite?  Let me know in the comments.  See you next Tuesday!

Relationships

Long-Distance Relationship Survival Guide

April 18, 2017

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to my blog.  In this post, I’m going to be diving into the topic of long-distance relationships!  I’ve been in a long-distance relationship since my freshman year of college so I’m here to tell you a few key tips that have helped us make it this far.  Let’s jump into it!

Have a good foundation.

In any relationship, you need to have a lot of trust for one another.  But in long-distance relationships, that importance is even more apparent because chances are, you’re only seeing each other about once or twice a month (if you’re lucky).  You need to really know the person you’re dating and know that they respect and love you enough to treat your relationship with confidence and respect.

Make your time together count.

Making your time together count doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be out-and-about every time you see each other, it just means that when you’re with them, really make sure you’re with them.  Try not to be on your phone or doing other work when you get to see them.  I know I’m definitely guilty of loving social media, but I try to keep my scrolling to a minimum when I’m with him.

Plan the next time you’re going to see each other when you’re together.

Something that’s really helped me throughout the past couple years is planning the next time I’ll see my boyfriend when we’re actually with each other.  That way, when one of us has to go back to school when the weekend is done, it’s easier because I know that it won’t be long until I see him again.  If you don’t plan for the next time, it makes the weeks seem so much longer and you’re schedule is left up in the air because no concrete plans have been made.

Utilize social media.

My last bit of advice is to utilize social media and other apps.  My boyfriend and I really like to use Snapchat because it makes texting feel so much more personable!  You’re still asking how the other’s day was and sharing what you’re doing, but you get to see their face and their surroundings.  Another thing we like to do is FaceTime!  We like to use FaceTime for the same reasons we like to use Snapchat, but it’s just a little better because it’s real time and you feel like you’re in the room with them!

That’s all for my long-distance relationship tips; I hope it helped you!  Let me know what other posts you’d like to see from me in the comments.  Talk to you next week!

 

College

College Tips & Tricks

April 11, 2017

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to Allison in Wonderland!  Today, I’m bringing you some of my best tips and tricks for college.  Over the last three years that I’ve been in college, I’ve learned a thing or two and I wanted to share it with you!  Let’s get started.

  • Join clubs and organizations.  During my first semester at James Madison University, I must have joined at least eight clubs.  I wanted to try everything and it ended up being a little bit too much, but I’m so glad I put myself out there from the start!  By the end of that first semester, I had found a really wonderful fellowship on campus that helped me secure my place at JMU and I’m so grateful that I was able to be surrounded by great people so early on.
  • Get an internship!  At some schools, it’s a requirement that you do an internship before you graduate, and I’m 100% supportive of that!  I got my first internship the summer before my junior year and it was incredible.  Not only did it affirm the industry I want to work in when I graduate, but I got to work with so many terrific professionals who were more than happy to talk about my future career!
  • Move off campus.  This is a big one for me!  I lived on campus my first and second years and now I’m living off for my third and fourth.  My college experience really changed when I switched from living in a dorm to living in an apartment.  It allows you to feel so much more independent and it gave me the separation between school and home that I was looking for.
  • Live with people you know.  It’s really important in college to live with people who you know and trust.  Bad living situations can affect every aspect of your college life and it can so easily be avoided!  If you have to live with people you don’t know, be sure to ask around about them and see what kind of people they are before you commit.
  • Have fun!  Don’t get me wrong, academics have to come first but it’s also important to not let yourself get too stressed out.  At JMU, we have a really great gym that does all different types of workout classes and they’re such a great stress relief.  Once you find a couple hobbies, you’ll be good to go!

I hope you enjoyed these college tips and tricks!  Let me know if you’d like to see another post like this closer to my graduation.  Have a great week!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Top 2 Starbucks Drinks for Lactose-Intolerants

April 4, 2017

Hey everyone and thanks for coming back to my blog today!  As you can tell from the title, this post will be all about my favorite drinks to get at Starbucks if you’re lactose-intolerant (or lactose-sensitive like me).  I’ve known that I am very sensitive to lactose since the beginning of high school so I’ve had a good amount of time to find my go-to drinks.  Let’s get into it!

My favorite Starbucks drink year-round is the classic chai.  I’m not a big coffee person, so teas are what I go for a lot of the time.  Sometimes I order the regular chai, but most of the time I order an iced vanilla chai latte with soy milk. Usually, it’s just what I need to get my day going!  Adding the vanilla syrup to the normal mix makes the drink just a bit sweeter and you don’t taste as much of that spicy kick.  In addition to the vanilla being added, I think what makes me like it so much is that it’s iced.  I’m not much of a fan of warm drinks, so the fact that I can get it iced makes all the difference!

My next Starbucks favorite is their hot chocolate.  I go to college in the Virginia mountains, so it gets pretty cold and windy here during the wintertime and sometimes you need something warm to drink to keep your hands from freezing off while you’re walking to class!  Typically, I don’t do anything crazy to it so I just stick with a hot chocolate with soy milk.  If I’m feeling like I need something a little bit extra, I’ll add 2 pumps of peppermint syrup.  Starbucks also has a hazelnut syrup that I’ve been dying to try!

Since I’m already talking about Starbucks, I thought I’d mention another favorite of mine… their pumpkin bread!  I’ve been getting Starbucks’ pumpkin bread for years and I absolutely love it!  I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in the market for a quick treat.

Those are my top 2 Starbucks drinks to get if you can’t have milk!  Let me know your favorites by commenting below.  Have a great week!

Travel

My Trip to the Grand Canyon

March 28, 2017

Hey everyone, welcome to my last Arizona travel post!  I’m so sad to be almost done writing about such an incredible trip but I’m excited I got to share it with you all!  This one’s going to be about our day trip from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon so let’s get started.

From where we were staying, it was about three hours to the Grand Canyon, so not a bad drive to see such a cool and memorable place!  Even though the drive wasn’t too long, I was driving a huge pick-up truck so I was relieved when we finally got there.  We parked in the parking lot by the visitor center and got started on the main trail of the South Rim Visitor’s Center.  The trail goes for 12 miles but it’s paved and you can turn back at any point.  Because we were there on a week day, there weren’t a ton of people around so we got to see some wonderful views without feeling crowded!  We also had the perfect weather!  It was about 60 degrees or so and the skies were completely clear.  We lucked out with such a great day!

 

 

We spent a good amount of time on the trail because there are benches every once in a while and wonderful look-out points!  We brought a blanket with us because we didn’t know how cold it would end up being and it was nice to be able to warm up if we needed to!  When we were finished on the trail, we went inside the visitor’s center and the gift shop and they actually had some really cool souvenirs!  I found a really cool tin hiking mug but, unfortunately, they were under a park-wide power outage while we were there so we weren’t able to bring anything home with us.

If you’re traveling from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, I would definitely recommend stopping somewhere along the way, like in Flagstaff!  We weren’t able to on our trip but it seemed like a nice stopping point to walk around or grab some food.  I hope you enjoyed my Arizona travel posts; I can’t wait to write some more in the summer!  See you next week!