Friday Five

In anticipation of Barrister's Ball tonight, I bought these
dangly earrings, which will be the perfect statement piece

Ah, the week after spring break. It's been back to reality. Classes, daily readings, and getting caught up with outlining... oh the joys of law school mid-semester! It's been back to the grind, plus a bit. It's only March, but the prospect of end of the semester exams is looming in the background. So, it's definitely that time to step back from the fun and focus more on the books. But I don't want to go too stir crazy, so I did have a couple of distractions this week - St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday and Barrister's Ball tonight became the perfect reasons (or excuses) to take a break and enjoy myself.

I go to a school that associates itself very much with Irish traditions (we are the Fighting Irish after all!), and this year marked the first year in four years that St. Patty's Day would occur while classes were in session rather than during spring break. Students get so hyped up on the energy the holiday fosters that the administration purposely schedules spring break to fall the week of St. Patty's Day during the in-between three years. I wasn't sure what I was in for this week, since the law school is a bit more insulated from the going ons of the undergrad, but it lived up to my expectations. Students were decked out in green, playing music on the quad, and day drinking from noon. Me? The responsible law student that I am, I went to class, the library, and then took a study break at 6 pm to have dinner at one of the nicer on-campus restaurants with a handful of friends. I had some tasty shepherd's pie and a festive cinnamon apple cider.

Tonight I'm really looking forward to Barrister's Ball. It's the law school's formal spring dinner/dance. (In the fall we have a similar event creatively named Fall Ball.) I don't know any girl who doesn't love the opportunity to put on a dress and doll up, and I am no exception. I get pretty dressed up when we go out normally (even though this is not a fancy town at all), but throw a cocktail dress and high heels into the mix, and I am sold. Outfit post to come on Monday! Now, I just gotta get through some classes, some meetings, and then I'm off to Barrister's tonight.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a great weekend!

My love for crop tops is year round, and this option from Target is seasonally appropriate with its short sleeves and darker colors

I don't read magazines often because the price dissuades me at the newstand to buy a single issue, but I recently got a freebie 12 month subscription to Glamour (one of my favorites), which I'm excited to gloss over nights I'm too tired for anything but the lightest read before bed

Another variation on black bean pasta, this time with organic balela (chickpeas and black beans), chicken with thyme, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped almonds, and mixed with garden-fresh herb pesto

A piece of good really dark chocolate is just what I need to satisfy my sweet tooth after a meal, and I can even fool myself into thinking it is a semi-healthy alternative to the Ben & Jerry's I might otherwise dig out of the freezer