Blog — Windrose Magazine

Last Call

Last Call

There is absolutely no way I can sum up these past few years, so I won’t even begin to try. And maybe it’s because I’ve never been someone who has ever been able to make a decision, or maybe it’s because I spend more time running from things that aren’t after me in the first place than I could ever explain. But milestones like this do…not…sit…well…with…me. I was a mess over my first sleepover, my first driving experience (and every other driving experience after that), my high school graduation. But in some rare attempt at bravery, I put on my cap and gown and looked into the mirror.

GraduationAlyssa VottoMay 10, 2015ArchiveComment

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: 5 Books to Add to Your Bookshelf

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: 5 Books to Add to Your Bookshelf

I typically try to read at least one new book every month, but sometimes I can’t resist rereading the favorites. Finding books that encourage you to chase big dreams and to love the people around you well are worth reading…and rereading. I’ve curated a list of books that will translate to many of you in the midst of job hunting and your first couples years of your professional career. These are just brief descriptions to peak your interest — I could never do them justice in summary.

Our Favorite ThingsJulie BloomMay 8, 2015Good ReadsComment

So This is It

So This is It

The closer I get to my educational finish line, the more laughable it is looking back at my freshman year self: how I pictured these four years to play out, what my career goals were, the expectations I held for everything and everyone, the expectations I held for myself.

GraduationLane SasserMay 7, 2015Featured, ArchiveComment

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: Donald Miller's "Scary Close"

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: Donald Miller's "Scary Close"

Donald Miller's Scary Close is the kick in the pants you didn't know you needed. But it doesn't feel that way.

Written like a tell-all from your most trusted friend, Miller shares how he's managed to find true intimacy in his friendships, romantic endeavors, canine companion, and every relationship in-between.

Our Favorite ThingsKendall CherryMay 6, 2015Good ReadsComment

I Want to Live

I Want to Live

“How vain to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

My friend presented this Thoreau quote to me one evening as we sat at a sparsely-populated bar waiting for a band to go on, discussing life and the inevitable question of what exactly it is that we want to do with it.

Dreams, Career, LifeAlly WillisMay 3, 2015Comment

My First Week in Corporate America

My First Week in Corporate America

Well, I did it. I survived my first week in Corporate America, and I lived to tell the tale.

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be entering the Land of the Cubes after graduating, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m one week in and I still don’t think I would believe it.

Here are a few painfully true stories about my first week on the job for your entertainment.

CareerKendall CherryApril 26, 2015Comment

Don't Quit Your Daydream, Part II

Don't Quit Your Daydream, Part II

You see, in my day to day life I don’t get to create much. My job currently consists of polishing memos or creating communication maps. I like what I do and the people I work with, but I don’t get that hands-on feeling of diving into a project heart first… that feeling of falling asleep next to your project because you can’t rest until it’s right, eventually waking up the next morning with paint all over your hands and shouting “Eureka!” because you know what it’s missing to make it perfect. Though I don’t get that in my 9 to 5, I’ve been determined to find it again somehow. I can’t begin to express how excited I am to start learning and creating, but most of all, I’m keeping my motto alive, “Don’t quit your daydream.”

DreamsJuliette KibodeauxApril 19, 2015Comment

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: Top 5 Instagram Accounts for Daily Inspiration

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: Top 5 Instagram Accounts for Daily Inspiration

My morning is not complete without a cup of coffee and checking Instagram. Here’s my top 5 favorite accounts to spark your daily creativity. Keep daydreaming, my friends!

Our Favorite ThingsJuliette KibodeauxApril 18, 2015InspirationComment

Navigating Your First Job

Navigating Your First Job

You always remember your firsts: your first kiss, your first heartbreak and yes, your first job. And much like other firsts, your first job after college is one that will stay with you for the rest of your life. It sets the tone for the decisions you will make throughout your career. In other words, your first job is what prepares you for lifelong professional success.

CareerMegan RauApril 15, 2015Comment

I Don't Miss College

I Don't Miss College

I was under the impression that college was “the best years of my life” and all remaining years thereafter were a haze of settled, uninterrupted routine – a job in a cubicle begrudgingly working 9 - 5 every day, eventually marriage, the blessing slash curse that is offspring, spending the following 18 years raising said kids, having said kids move back home because they majored in the liberal arts and now can’t find a job, retiring with a decent 401(k), maybe taking one of those riverboat cruises around Europe that retired couples take and then finally dying (surrounded by my loved ones and with an aged-yet-still-talented Harry Styles singing me into heaven). To me, life after graduation seemed rather dull. To me, life after graduation meant the best years of my life were over. Done. C’est finit!

I was wrong.

GraduationAlly WillisApril 12, 2015Featured, ArchiveComment

A Head Full of Doubt

A Head Full of Doubt

Sometimes I take to the Internet to research my personality weaknesses, mainly in attempt to justify these tendencies. I’m an INFP. Reflective, but struggles to act. Good! This explains a lot! *doesn’t act to improve upon that*

Even this late in the game, graduation sometimes feels less like a reality and more like vague, hazy concept. Except it is real and it is only one month away. I should probably figure something out soon if I have any intention on being a contributing citizen of the world. LOL, this is my nightmare.

Graduation, CareerLane SasserApril 8, 2015Featured, ArchiveComment

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: TheSkimm

OUR FAVORITE THINGS: TheSkimm

So when another friend pulled out her phone one morning a few months ago and insisted that I must subscribe to theSkimm, I was intrigued. I gave the email a skim (lol I’m so punny!!!) and was immediately taken. It was like theSkimm founders had sat in on my AP Euro high school studying sessions and applied that “let’s make this fun” concept to today’s news.

Our Favorite ThingsAlly WillisApril 3, 2015Good ReadsComment

Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith

I worry about everything. Every. Thing. I say that I’m sorry when I don’t know what I’m apologizing for, I’m afraid of not knowing what I want, I’m afraid of knowing exactly what I want, and I’m so far in my head that I have no idea how to even begin to find my way out of it. The only reason I made it onto another continent was because going abroad was so huge for me, so panic-attack-every-time-I-thought-about-it-frightening, that I didn’t even know how to let myself deal with it until I was crying on the plane ride there. And I’m doing it again now with graduation, putting it out of my mind, ignoring the countdown, and the very real fact that it is happening.

GraduationAlyssa VottoApril 1, 2015FeaturedComment

7 Tips for Mastering the Apartment Hunt

7 Tips for Mastering the Apartment Hunt

Y’all, I’m officially heading to corporate America, where the sun does shine, but you can’t see it from your cubicle. I’ll be moving to Houston in two weeks to start my new job (and life lolz) and I needed to find an apartment. FAST.

This was the process I used to find the best “bang for my buck” when it came to moving to an area I knew nothing about.

MoneyKendall CherryMarch 29, 2015Featured, ArchiveComment

What Is Success?

What Is Success?

The funniest part is that I used to have a plan and would constantly stress about this "plan." I was going to be some badass executive or politician. I spent my college career trying to live up to everyone's expectations of me and my future. I put so much pressure on myself to make it seem like I had my shit together all the time. I needed to be successful...whatever that means.

Career, DreamsEmily YoungMarch 25, 2015FeaturedComment