Graciela: Dear Girl, Embarking On A New Journey

New beginnings. Unknown futures. Exciting journeys. Lots of "news" seem to be floating around the air as graduation season approaches for both high school and college campuses. With this, comes finalizing college plans for high school peeps and for soon to be college grads, real life full of work and responsibility will soon hit with full force. But before you start grabbing for the tissues thinking about those in your life who fit these situations, or maybe yourself. Let's chat a bit about a few key tips to keep in mind, that I personally think make for a smoother transition when it comes to a new phase in life.

Dare to dream ahead.
This is your time to set no limits. Dream big dreams for the next month, year, five years and basically those things that you want to be able to add to your life story. I like to keep my "bucket list" so to speak, with me everywhere I go. I used to do this by keeping some goals written in my notes app on my phone and just add to it whenever. But I have recently started using this fun little notebook from Minted that is actually called "My Bucket List." It's small enough I can easily add it to my purses without taking up to much space. And it's just kind of fun being able to dream up crazy adventures that most definitely have the capability of coming true if you get your brain thinking about it ;)

Say goodbye to comfort zone.
Now, I don't mean this is your opportunity to go wild and not make smart choices. What I mean is that sometimes the best experiences and life lessons and those not planned or expected. These unplanned gem moments happen when you say yes to opportunities that challenge and grow you. Most likely if it scares you (in a good way) then it's something that needs to be accomplished.

Thank your mentors/influences along the way.
Many people and events made you into the person you are today. It's easy to just keeping moving forward in the hustle of life and exciting changes without taking stock of how you got there. Who breathed positivity and opportunity into your life? As you venture onto a new chapter in your story, stop and take time to be obsessively grateful for those iconic figures in your life. Write a short little note to send off and thank them for being a witness, role model, life mentor. Mentors don't often get thanked or even know how much of an impact they really were.

Take time to connect with others.
You are headed off to new things, whether that be school, career, location. But you will always have a home-base, which comes with friends that have known you before you were this accomplished world traveler. So again, take some time to write little hello, what's up cards. These little touches will go so far in your friendships, because no matter how busy or accomplished you become, you are still grounded with who you started out with. Okay, so I wanted to share my recent favorite cards to send out. Minted has the cutest notecards, stationary and notebooks! I have the Simple Springs & Welcoming Foliage Foil-Pressed thank you cards. They are so gorgeous and make writing little notes so fun for both the giver and receiver!

Okay, and while I'm sharing some fun Minted items, I've gotten some questions about where to create some grad announcements that are classy looking yet not to time consuming to create. I would recommend checking out the Minted 2017 Graduation Announcement Collection. I had the chance to design a few cards and wow! Super easy, GORGEOUS designs and they have GOLD foil! So yeah pretty obsessed with the whole collection. Here are some of my favs!

One | Two | Three | Four | Five

In addition to all the announcements and stationary that Minted provides, their are some super unique grad gifts to choose from. To give you an idea of the options you have, here are some of my favorite ones that I would love to give as well as receive.

Map | Collage | Stationary | Pinboard

I have always wanted to create a gallery wall, so I was super excited to see all the beautiful prints from Minted. I'm going to have one full gallery wall!

This post was done in collaboration with Minted.com but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Graciela blog possible!