Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all having a great week and soaking up these final weeks of August.
One of my goals for 2022 was to do better with recycling and using sustainable products. Besides using reusable bags at the grocery store, I have been trying to repurpose things at home, instead of buying new, I’ve been looking on ways to use things in other areas of my life.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has gotten small makeup bags or totes for free after spending so much on beauty or makeup products. Rather than just having these free little makeup bags sit on a shelf, I decided to find different uses for them. If you have some bags or totes that you don’t know what to do with anymore, here’s a few suggestions of how I use mine.
Makeup bags holding more than cosmetics.
In my purse to hold toiletries or cosmetics. I sometimes use a small makeup bag to catch a few essentials I always carry in my purse. This also makes it easier to move things from purse to purse, in a pinch. Here’s a few things I put in this bag: hand sanitizer, mask, perfume, and chapstick. Just a few essentials that all fit nice in one place and I don’t have to dig through my purse for things.
An inside look of things I keep in my purse.
In my desk to hold essentials so they don’t get lost. A lot of the things I keep in my purse, I also keep in my desk such as hand sanitizer, hand lotion, and chapstick etc. But, at work, I also have ear buds, memory cards, a jump drive etc. Rather than have them float around in desk drawers, I like have a place to put all my small things that can get lost elsewhere.
A look at what I keep in my desk drawer and how I keep it contained.
In my room to hold wires and chargers. If you are like me, my guess is that you probably have lots of chargers, wires or cords floating around your room, car, or house. Instead of always losing them, I keep them all contained in a small makeup bag.This makes it easier to grab my headphones, cell phone charger, watch charger or speaker cord. I’m not searching high or low for them and this tiny purse makes it easy to travel too.
My technology grab bag.
Those are just three ways to use or reuse bags, especially those tiny ones, you may already have around your home. Rather than buy new or lose things, it’s great to see what you have and how you can use it in a different way.
What are your favorite ways to reuse items you no longer use? Let me know in the comments below! Have a great day and happy recycling or reusing!
Well, that’s a wrap on my junior year of college! This year flew by, I can’t believe that the next time I will be back at school, I will be a senior. It seems like just yesterday I was walking on campus for the first time, now in August, I will be moving in for the last time. College is an interesting concept, it’s amazing in a few years how much we grow, change, learn, and live. I can honestly say that I am a completely different person now than when I moved in 3 years ago. I can’t wait to celebrate and enjoy my last semester of college in the fall.
My mood though Junior year…well most of the time.. haha!
Today’s post is my favorite types of posts. Another semester has gone by, which means it’s time for another recap. To see what I was up to last semester, you can read about it here. I love to do these recaps to show you what I have been up to, as well as reflect on how much I have accomplished both in an out of the semester. This semester was a busy one, but filled with so many fun memories. The best way to describe this semester is the fact, I typically go to the gym on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, I always had things going on during the weekends that it wasn’t until the last weekend of the semester in May that I made it both days, I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
As I was preparing for this post, I realized how many things I did, that I didn’t take pictures of. Although, I wish I had pictures to document the fun times and moments, it is nice just to be present in the moment and enjoy who I am with, without capturing it all for social media. So, let’s recap this semester…
First day of the spring semester…cold and quiet
January started out with freezing weather, a few cancelled classes (which was unheard of for our school) and lots of working weekends. The cancelled classes did result in some spontaneous adventures with my friends, whether it was brunch, going thrift shopping, or heading to the mall. I’ve learned this semester that some of my favorite moments were the ones that were unplanned and spontaneous, whether it was grabbing dinner with my friends, seeing a school musical, or shopping whether it was at the mall or the comic book store.
Heading into February, classes and work were on my mind, I spent a lot of time working on my Capstone biography video, which you can watch here.
Hard at work on my Senior Capstone
I also was able to have weekly lunch dates with my sweet friend Sharon, who graduated in December and weekly dinner dates with my friend Bailey, who spent this semester student teaching. It was so special to be able to see my friends even with their busy schedules.
SO thankful for this friendship
I love getting lunch with my sweet friend Sharon
I was able to sneak home for a quick visit before I left for Rome.
No shame in admitting this is my only photo that weekend at home…what can I say…I’m a dog lover
Moving into March, I spent the first several days in Rome. If you missed my recaps on the eternal city, you can read part one here and part two here.
Take me back to simpler days…
I came back to school after an incredible trip and got back into the swing of classes, work, and friends. I had one of my most memorable weekends of the semester with my friends at our Semi-formal dance, which you can read about here. The weekend included dinner, hanging out with friends, dancing, grilled cheese at midnight, sleepovers, hitting the gym and brunch.
One of the BEST weekends of the semester
I jetted home for another visit with my family which was much needed after returning from abroad.
Are we really surprised that my only picture from being at home is with my dogs?
April brought lots of the end of the semester activities. In between school work, I was able to head to a bowling outing with my friends, get dinner, go on some fro-yo dates, spend a day volunteering, and get Inducted into a Communication Honor Society.
A day spent volunteering with my best friend Danielle
Lambda Pi Eta
A more up close picture of the outfit
A quick picture with my parents who came out to support me!
I also got the opportunity to tour our Library at school which is under construction and interview our school’s president about the renovations. You can watch the interview here.
Interviewing the President of my school in the new Library
Our school also hosts a spring family weekend which as so fun, I got to see and hang out with some of my closest friends, watch a few bands perform and got pied in the face for charity…definitely a messy moment of the semester.
With some of my close friends Sharon and Bailey
Spring family weekend
It took a long time to get the whipped cream out
Like I mean three showers later…it was finally all out
April ended with Easter ended at home.
Surprise…not a picture of me and my dogs at home, but with my brothers for Easter
I finished out the last few weeks of April and May with end of the year dinners, from Honor Societies, to Department dinners, and senior celebrations as well as finals, I’m so lucky I was able to participate in these senior festivities since so many of my close friends are seniors. Next year will be different without them.
One last DQ and catch up session with this girl!
Laughing our way into Senior year…
Celebrating senior year with my friend Olivia!
Thankful for her friendship this year, my girl Bailey, always there through thick and thin.
It wouldn’t be the end of the school year without a trip to one of our favorite places, the SP…a hidden gem near our school
The year ended with working the last few days after finals and attending graduation. I was so happy I could watch all my friends graduate, although it was sad to see them move on I know they are going to do amazing things.
Gonna miss these girls next year!
Working graduation with my sweet friend Danielle, we are up next!
Whew…and that’s a wrap. Junior year was by far one of the best years and I think a lot of that has to do with a mindset. I called junior year my year of joy and I wanted to find joy in every day. Even on the days that were rough, emotionally and mentally draining, or I wanted to go home, I still looked for the joy in every day.
Although, it’s so good to be home and not think about school for a bit, I’m going to miss my friends and being at the same place with everyone. I do have some pretty exciting plans for this summer and next semester, so stay tuned!
To everyone who made this year and semester the best one yet…THANK YOU! Have a beautiful day friends! Sending love to everyone near and far…xoxo!
Happy Tuesday. I found this fun quiz/ survey from Mix and Match Mama’s Blog. I love learning things about other people, especially fun or unique facts and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do one for myself. I borrowed some from Shay’s blog and made up a few on my own. Let’s get to my three favorite things!
MOVIES (This one is soooo hard-but current favorites)
A Star is Born
Such a good movie
Life Itself
Again, another life changing movie
Love Actually
One of my favorite movies of all time especially around Christmas time.
BOOKS
Year of Yes
Another life changing book
Grace not Perfection
Grace Not Perfection- an inspiring book for all
Pride and Prejudice
A romance that never gets old
TV SHOWS (OF ALL TIME)
Bones
One of my favorite shows of all time
Grey’s Anatomy
Old photo but I can’t get enough of this show
This is Us
Another fantastic show
RESTAURANTS (FAST FOOD-ISH)
Chipotle
Panera
Chick-Fil -A
PLACES I’VE VISITED
Rome, Italy
Hershey, PA
Getting away for a bit at my favorite place-Hershey, PA
New York City, NY
One of my last visits from NYC, can’t wait to go back soon
PLACES I WANT TO VISIT
Paris, France
London, England
Dublin, Ireland
FAVORITE HOLIDAYS
Christmas
Christmas morning spent well, the tree all lit, a warm cup of hot chocolate and time spent with family
Thanksgiving
Forever thankful for family on Thanksgiving
Fourth of July
Rocking my Red, White, and Blue for the 4th
THREE THINGS I ALWAYS HAVE IN MY PURSE
A closer look at what’s in my purse
Earbuds
Phone Charger
Wallet
FAVORITE DESSERTS
My favorite fall dessert made by my mom
Warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate cake
Apple Crisp
FAVORITE WAYS TO MAKE TIME FOR MYSELF
Read
I always like to read after a long day
Do my Nails
Nothing makes me feel better than a fresh coat of polish
Watch a movie/latest tv show I’m binge watching
Such a good mini series that I just finished watching
Well there you have it, some of my three favorite things. If you guys liked it, let me know and I will do it again, this was so much fun and it really made me think about my favorite things. Pick a few things and add your responses to the comments below! Have a great start to your week!
Christmas morning spent well, the tree all lit, a warm cup of hot chocolate and time spent with family
It is good to be back. I have been posting a few looks to wear when you are out and about but today it is back to normal with blogging. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing breaks, whether you are still on break from school or you only got a few days off, I hope they were restful and filled with loved ones, good food, presents, and joy. It was so nice to spend some quality time with family, although I did work a bit over break it has been so refreshing not having to worry about school work and just be present in the moment. It’s crazy how fast my time home went by. I am headed back to school on Thursday, time to gear up for another semester. These past few weeks have been restful and rejuvenating and its time to get back to the school work.
Today, I’m sharing my New Year’s Resolutions with you. These were my goals last year. For the most part I accomplished them well. I was busy during the day at school so that snacked way less than normal. I also tried to eat much better at school. I’m going to try to do the same when I head back to school. I got a lot of reading done over the summer and over Christmas break. My Christmas book review will be up next week so stay tuned for that! I was more flexible and spontaneous towards the end of the year especially when it came to going out with friends but I am still very much into my schedules and being on top of things.
Heading into 2019 with the right mindset
I’m calling this year-2019- “My senior year”. Since I will be graduating next December, I thought it would be appropriate to call 2019, my senior year of college, with only two semester left of college, I hope to make lots of memories, try new things, and live up my senior year. I also decided to pick a word that I want to center around this year.
After a lot of thought, I decided to choose the word… “Patience”. I want to try and be more patient this year with others, myself, and life in general. I have often felt being rushed with everything I do and getting stressed and overwhelmed by it. I want to strive to be more patient this year, everything will get done, it always does, sometimes we just need a little more patience in our lives. I will keep you updated this year with how it goes.
My mindset for the new year….patience and positivity
Now, moving onto my resolutions. I have set three for myself, all pratical and easy to incorporate into my life each day.
Be more positive– I have often found myself complaining about the trival things in life whether it be about too much homework, being busy or having too much on my plate. This upcoming year I want to focus less on the negative and more on the positive, and if there is stuff bothering not talk about it all the time rather just find a solution.
Don’t sweat the small stuff-This goes along with the first one, I want to try to not stress over the little things in life, rather focus on the big picture. I am going to not let the little things get to me since they don’t matter in the grand scheme in life, I really want to work on bettering myself this year and not get overwhelmed with the small day to day things.
Be more social– This is going to be a more challenging one this year. One of the great things about college is making friends with people older and younger than you, however, it can also be really rough when all your friends graduate early/study abroad/ start work. This year will be an adjustment with so many of my friends leaving, I never thought I would have to make new friends as a junior in college, this year I am determined to step out of my comfort zone and still be social and see friends and do things on nights and the weekends. I’ll keep you posted on how this goes.
That’s an update about what’s going on with me these past few weeks and what’s to come with this upcoming semester. As I embark on my senior year, I want to thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. See you back on Thursday!
I hope you all had a restful holiday! On Tuesday, I will be sharing my New Year’s Resolutions, but for today, I have a fresh new look for the new year. Today’s look it’s all about turning a simple black dress into a full outfit.
A perfect winter outfit
I got this simple black dress from Old Navy. It is a great dress that can be dressed up for Church, or a formal dinner as well as dressed down in a jean jacket and boots. I wore this ensemble to Church over the weekend. I decided to dress up this simple dress with black tights and shoe boots. I love the wedge/heel that these shoes offer.
A warm scarf and cute purse for the winter months
I didn’t want my whole outfit to be dark, so I brought in some pops of color. I got this scarf this past Christmas. I love the dark colors of brown, deep red, navy, and black. These are perfect winter colors to compliment the black dress. This scarf would also very nice to pair with a pair of jeans or a simple t-shirt or even with a more casual look of leggings and an oversized sweater.
Up close of the accessories
I also couldn’t help but not share this new purse I got for Christmas. I love anything monogrammed and this is the perfect size to hold your cellphone when you don’t want to carry a big purse. I got this small purse from Marley Lilly.
Perfect place to hold your purse
That’s a look into my closet for the new year. I have a lot of fun outfits planned for you these next few weeks. Stay tuned. See you on Tuesday for my New Year’s Resolutions!
I can’t believe we are almost to the end of October. Last weekend was super busy, I worked a lot so I am looking forward to a slower week ahead and a fun weekend too. This month flew by, I think going home for Fall Break for a few days definitely broke up the month. Speaking of fall break. I had the best time at home. I unplugged and unwound which was much needed. It was so good to get away from school and work for a break and escape to my home for some down time. I also managed to get some fun fall time in. Here are some suggestions for some fall festivities as well as a recap from my time home.
Fall Drive
Take a fun drive to see the changing leaves, pumpkin patches or take the back roads instead of the highways. I always can clear my head best with a long car drive and some good music. The fall and right around Christmas (especially to see the colorful Christmas lights and decorations) are the best time to take a nice drive.
Yes, this may be from my backyard but can you blame me? The sky and the trees compliment each other perfectly
Pumpkin Patch/Farm
Pumpkins and October go hand and hand. I love picking out a pumpkin for my room at school and I can’t help but look at all the flowers, décor, and arrangements for fall. I also love to hit up some fall festivals and enjoy the changing weather. Plus there is nothing better than walking around a pumpkin farm with a hot cup of apple cider.
My two friends and I headed to a fall fest to kick off fall break. It was fun to relax and walk around and see all the fun booths and snack on tasty treats.
My sweet friends Olivia and Bailey and I hit up a fall festival and we had the best time. It was spontaneous and the best way to spend a Friday afternoon
I headed to a pumpkin farm while I was home and I loved this display. The colors scream fall.
I love all the shapes and colors gourds come in, they are always so unique!
So many pumpkins, this is one of the best parts about October. I love seeing all the shapes and sizes of pumpkins.
Here’s an arrangement I made up from things I bought at the pumpkin farm.
Warm Drinks and Dessert
Whether you are a pumpkin spice latte lover, hot apple cider fan or love some dessert than fall is the perfect time to enjoy some sweet and savory treats. I personally am a fan of everything apple.
My mom’s homemade apple crisp heated with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of caramel hits the spot. As far as drinks go, my favorite fall drink is apple cider with my own spin of it. I love to drink hot apple cider with cinnamon, some whipped cream and a pump of caramel. Yum! So sweet and delicious.
My favorite fall dessert made by my mom
Well, there you have it, some fun suggestions for fall activities and my personal favorite fall treats. Yes, I know I left out Halloween. I loved dressing up as a child and going Trick or Treating. This weekend there is a Halloween Dance at School, so I will be sharing my costume next week. Do you have any guesses? What are some things on your fall bucket list?
Today’s post is going to be a bit more on the serious side. Besides, showing you the latest trends and how to organize areas in your home, I like to be real and honest about what life as a college students is truly like. So, we are getting real about homesickness. What a fun topic for a Tuesday. In all seriousness, let’s get real.
Before I started college, almost two years ago, I was worried about being homesick. Many family and friends had assured me I would be so busy I wouldn’t be able to get homesick, or it would go away after a month, someone had even told me that by Fall break I wouldn’t even want to come home because I would be loving school so much.
They were all wrong.
Yes, I was enjoying school, and I was making friends and I was most certainly busy, but that didn’t change the fact that I was homesick. There would be times when I was lonely, or I craved a homecooked meal or I wished I was back in my own room. But, I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying college life. Christmas rolled around, and I was told that I wouldn’t want to be home for a whole month and I would soon get bored and I would be thrilled when I could go back to school.
Nope, it was still hard going back.
Spring semester brought more hope and more experiences. But I still had my moments of weakness and some tears. Once May rolled around, I was so proud of myself for making it through a full year. I thought, if I could accomplish that I could do anything.
A few months later, Year Two rolled around. It brought new experiences, new friends, new challenges and new beginnings. I didn’t get homesick as much, mostly when I was getting dropped off from being back home from a break. I had gotten used to falling back into my routines at home, it was hard to get adjusted back at school. There were times when I was overwhelmed and stressed and wanted a break from school and just to be home, but I had to push through. That’s the thing about homesickness, you can take a bad situation and make it better.
How can you handle those moments of weakness and homesickness?
Have a good cry (yes, we all need a good cry to let ourselves go and feel all our emotions that we keep buried deep within.)
Take that time to be alone but not too long, make plans to go out with a friend to grab dinner or go to study.
Share how you are feeling. It may be uncomfortable, but who knows you may find someone who feels the same way and doesn’t know who to talk to about it. You can be there to help each other through it.
Homesickness is different for everyone, others don’t have it all, some only have it until their first fall break, but for few like myself, it never goes away. As I close on my second year of college, I still have my moments where I am homesick. I don’t let that dictate my life. I push through the pain, sometimes I cry, sometimes I watch my latest binge show, sometimes a phone call homes helps. But, I carry on, and I keep on living life. As i look back on the past two years, I don’t remember being homesick or sad but rather the joy, the laughter, and the memories that came with friends and family.
Whether you are a first-time college student leaving home for the first time or you are gearing up to start your first job in the new world, we all miss home, it just means you feel so much love from home that it’s hard to be without it.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends. I know I spent my break seeing family, eating, and sleeping; refueling before its back to school and finals are upon us. While I was home, I did some decorating for Christmas. Today I am going to showcase some easy and affordable Christmas decorations that can work in a dorm, at home or even in an office.
Here are some home ideas:
These glass jars filled with bright and colorful candy and sweets and make a great centerpiece. They also make a great discussion piece. The jars are in different shapes and sizes. In my jars, I have peppermints, ribbon candy, marshmallows, red hots, and candy canes. Fun and colorful!
This sleigh was from an old floral arrangement but I am reusing it for decoration. I got these colorful ornaments from Target. Put them together and you have a great table decoration. The book behind it adds a child aspect to the arrangement.
I love making a home feel cozy. By pairing together a candle with a candy dish and a floral arrangement turns a house into a home.
Here are Dorm Ideas:
I got this stocking for sale last year and it was perfect to bring some Christmas Cheer in to my dorm room. I have it hung on my bed so it’s one of the first things my guests see when they enter.
I love dressing up a room with festive pillows and blankets, I got this pillow as a gift last year and it goes perfect on my chair.
Gel clings are inexpensive and can dress up a window. Not only does it dress up your window but people passing by can get a taste of Christmas Cheer!
I got both the Christmas Lights and Santa’s sleigh from Target for $1.00 each!
These are a few easy and affordable ideas for Christmas decorating. All these decorations can work at school, work, and home. What are your favorite places to decorate? What decorating tips do you have?
