worldof20something

You’ve found the love of your life - that was the easy part.  Now you’re ready to pop the big question and you need to find the perfect ring to do it with.  Shopping in stores for an engagement ring can be a hassle (especially for men, who don’t usually like shopping to begin with).  You go into the store to find a very limited selection of rings and before you can even look at the selection for 3 seconds, sales associated begin to talk you into something that isn’t really what you had in mind.

You should consider shopping for an engagement ring online at Bluenile or Adiamor.  These are both credible sites and will provide more help and less pressure than pushy salespeople in an actual store.  You’ll find an endless selection of ring bands to choose from, with yellow gold, white gold, and platinum metals in a variety of different designs.  There are plain bands that let the diamond take center stage, bands with diamonds on them to accent the center stone, and bands with unique designs on them.  The website lets you see the bands from a variety of different angles so you can make sure you really like it.  You also get to pick the exact diamond you want to be in the ring.  You set the parameters, including shape, size, clarity, color and price; then they show you which diamonds they have that meet your criteria.

Bluenile and Adiamor really let you personalize and customize the engagement ring so that it’s exactly the way you want your symbol of love to the love of your life look like.  There are so many more choices online because you get to put any ring on any band of any color, rather than choose from one of the few, pre-set combinations in stores.  And online, you get to decide if you want help from one of the store’s associates: both sites have 24-hour customer service available by phone or e-mail.

My fiance and I have ordered jewelry from both Bluenile and Adiamor and can personally vouch for their credibility.  They offer fast, insured shipping, and they send diamond certification with diamond purchases as well as jewelry care instructions for other types of jewelry such as pearls.  I couldn’t be happier with the engagement ring that my fiance picked for me from Adiamor.

Take a look at Bluenile and Adiamor - you won’t be disappointed, and neither will she!  You’ve got nothing to lose as you’ll be shopping in the comfort of your own home.

The college years are such a unique point in everyone’s lives.  Before college you spend twelve years in elementary, middle and high school just waiting and wishing to grow up and go on to college.  After college you remember it for your whole life, sometimes wishing those years had lasted longer.  That being said, if you haven’t gone to college yet, you should really take the steps necessary to ensure that your college experience is the best it can be.

Having already finished college, there are 5 pieces of advice I have to offer you before you head off there yourself:

1. Don’t base your expectations of what college is supposed to be like based on TV.  TV and movies tend to glamorize things and you may end up disappointed when your college experience isn’t like what you saw on the big screen.  It’s okay to be excited, but just go in with the intention to learn and meet new people, and you’ll be fine.

2. Take a lot of time to get to know the schools you are thinking about attending.  After high school, just about any college will look like heaven.  And amidst all of the schoolwork in high school, you may feel to swamped to spend a lot of time researching different colleges.  But with so many different options out there, you really should make the effort to pick the college that is best suited to your needs.

3. Consider a school that offers a well-rounded list of porgrams.  You may think you know exactly what you want to study but most students change their minds at least once during college.  This being said, if you are at a liberal arts school and suddenly decide you might rather try science, a change of majors would mean a transfer of schools.  Schools with a lot of different programs also offer you great electives to take in addition to your major, because you’ll learn what subjects you like and dislike.

4. Don’t rush!  After college you’ll look back and wish that your college years lasted longer - so why not make them last longer?  Right after high school you’ll likely have the ‘get in, get done, get out’ idea, and if this is the case you may want to consider taking a year break between high school and college.  If I had to do it all over again, I would take only 9 to 12 credit hours per semester instead of the usual 15 to 18.  This would let me really enjoy my college experience as well as learn a lot from the classes I took instead of always having to worry about getting good grades and managing the heavy work load.

5. Consider going to a small school.  This will really help you get to know the people around you, including both the other students as well as teachers and faculty.  A smaller school means smaller classes where it’s easier to learn and do well.

Good luck finding your perfect college and don’t forget the advice I gave you! 

I may not have realized it when I was a teenager (in fact, I may have even said the opposite) - but one of the most important things in life is your family.  Family is the group of people that have always been there for you, will always be there for you, and will always love you unconditionally.  But if they are so important, why do Americans insist on moving away from their loved ones, often with a few hundred miles in between?

It has something to do with the American values we learn from the time we are very young.  We learn to be independent, have our own goals, and do whatever we need to do to get what we want.  And we learn what we are supposed to want, to - successful careers with high salaries.  For these reasons it has become a trend for kids to grow up, move out, and start their own families on opposite sides of the country.

But are successful jobs with high pay really what people want?  I mean, sure… money can buy some pretty nice things - but that’s not true happiness.  A life without close, personal relationships and enjoyable time spent with family is an empty one.

Maybe it’s time for a change of values.

Who said family is a group of people that you just spend holidays with, or that you only get to see once a year?  Take some time to re-assess the direction you are going with your “busy and important” life.  You could probably find a job and a life a little bit closer to the ones you love.  And just because you live in the adjacent city rather than 3 states away doesn’t mean you have to be attached at the hip; you’ll still have your freedom.  But you’ll also have the freedom to see the ones you love as often as you like without having to worry about travel plans.

When you think of a cruise you may think of luxury, ultimate relaxation, exquisite cuisine, fun activities, and exciting destinations, but what may not be the first thing to come to mind is AFFORDABLE.  If you’ve never cruised before, it may come as quite a surprise to you that cruises can actually be much more affordable then other vacation alternatives.

For less than $1,000, you and your family could very possibly afford a one-week cruise in the Caribbean.  Traveling by airplane to the port your cruise begins in could cost a lot, but few people realize how close ports are to them.  In the U.S. some of the places that cruises leave from are Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, California, Texas… so driving may be a more affordable option.

Many cruiselines let kids travel free, and there are even programs onboard just for kids so that you can really relax on your vacation.  And the price for the cruise includes just about all the food you could possibly imagine eating, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, room service, midnight chocolate buffets, and… well you get the point!  In addition to there being plenty to eat onboard, there is also plenty to do - swimming pools, jacuzzies, spas, gyms, basketball courts, shuffleboard, movie theaters, live entertainment, ice skating rinks, arcades, dancing lessons, and golf courses (to name a few).

This might sounds so great that you want to spend all your time on the ship, but you mustn’t forget one of the best part of cruising: these massive, luxurious and entertaining hotels take you from port to port to a variety of different destinations; every day you can wake up in a new, exciting place.

If you’re 20-something and have never planned a trip yourself, a cruise is a great way to go because it’s easy!  Go to the cruise sections of websites Expedia or Priceline, type in your desired destination and date, and scroll through the endless options of itineraries.

So you’ve always made little comments here and there about how it would ‘be nice to learn a new language.’  But the language isn’t going to just teach itself to you - it’s time to take action. 

 If you’re like me, you might have taken a couple of Spanish classes during high school or college, but most of the time those classes just aren’t enough - and if you don’t get any practice after the classes, your foreign vocabulary tends to shrink pretty quickly as the years go by.  Getting back into it may seem like a chore, and maybe it was; but now it doesn’t have to be.

Several games have been released that will help you freshen up on your foreign language skills or even learn a new language from scratch.  If you own a Nintendo DS (the most recent version of the Gameboy) then you’re in luck!  Games such as My Spanish Coach, My French Coach, My Chinese Coach, and my Japanese Coach make it easy and fun to learn a language.  If you’re familiar with Ebay, you may be able to snag a copy for under $25.

Knowing more than one language has many benefits: you’ll come across as a more worldly person to your peers, you’ll have an extra skill that makes you more likely to be hired than other candidates for a job, and you’ll be able to communicate with people in different countries if you go traveling (and not have to be paranoid that they are talking smack about you without you being able to understand).  Who would have thought that you could gain all of these things by playing a handheld game?

Now that learning a language has become so fun, you really have no excuse!  Start learning that language - I promise you won’t regret it!

Are you planning a wedding or some other type of large party?  It’s not a party without guests, so it’s important to take steps to ensure that they’ll come!  Formal invitations generally aren’t sent out until a month or two before the big event, and that leaves guests with way too much time to fill up their calendar with other plans.  That’s why you should consider sending a save the date card.

Save the what???  For those of you who have never heard of a save the date, it’s basically a very informal invitation that can be sent out as soon as your event’s date and location are selected.  This allows your important guests to make your special day their priority.

Save the dates can take many different forms: cards, magnets, postcards, or even e-mails.  Cards in envelopes are always a safe way to go, as they are traditional and more formal.  Magnets, though less formal, are so cute and practical because guests can have a constant reminder of the upcoming event on their refrigerator.  E-mails are the best choice for a small budget, but probably should be avoided if the party is going to be formal.  Postcards are great for a budget too, because both the postcards and the stamps are much cheaper than the price of sending cards in envelopes.

I found a great deal on postcards on Vistaprint’s website: 100 postcards for free! (plus shipping).  They have a wide variety of designs to select from.  While most of them are intended for business use, they have at least 2 intended to be used as save the dates.  I chose one that was meant for business advertisement, and after moving around the text boxes and customizing the font, I had created the perfect save the date for my wedding.  The glossy front, in full-color, had a tropical sunset scene with palm trees.  The text announced that I was getting married, on what date, in what city, and said that formal invitations were to follow.  I was even able to customize the words on the black-and-white back of the postcard to have my return address and a special message that showed how much it would mean to me if they came to my wedding.

Sending save the dates is an important step to planning a successful party.  It is a great way to make sure your guests will come, and it will get them excited about it too!  If you have selected your date and your location, it is never too late to send them - so start looking, and remember to check out Vistaprint for great deals!