College Series Day 2: Backpack or Satchel?

For me, this was a trial and error kind of thing. I started my Freshman year off with an across the body satchel, but I very quickly figured out that my shoulder wasn't prepared to carry the weight of my text books, laptop, and everything else I had for that day all the way up the hill to my classes. I gave my dad the across the shoulder bag because he said he'd use it for work, and I grabbed a tote bag from my closet. This gave me the same problem. So, I went to Target looking for a backpack, and I found one for $7. It was a steal, but it only lasted me one year and my trip to Europe. So, this year I opted for another backpack.

Usually, I want something purple since it is my favorite color, but I found this one at Office Depot. It was $15 off. It's a JanSport, which is nice and big and lasts forever! I know it's kind of blinding on camera, but it's probably as blinding in real life. It's a neon coral and I love it. I joke that now people can spot me from Google Earth walking to class! I don't know why I didn't go with purple, but something about this color makes me happy every time I see it.

I definitely think that a backpack is the best way to go, but that's my personal opinion. I might just be too wimpy that I don't have enough upper body strength to have a tote bag to go to class with. I dunno. I do know that my marketing book and pysch book are wicked heavy, and I'll need them on the same day without being able to go back to my room, drop one book off and get the other one. So, I'm going with a backpack. No question there. But a lot of people in college use a backpack. About an equal number have a shoulder bag or tote bag. It's just up to the individual. But there are definitely a lot of mature colors and prints for backpacks that you can buy for college students.

Let me know in the comments what you carry your books to class with!

College Series Day 1: School Supplies Haul

I may be a Sophomore in college, but I still need school supplies! Here's what I've bought so far from Target and Office Depot:

I know it's not much. Most of what I need (Pens, pencils, spirals, etc.) I've bought from previous years when Target does their supplies clearance at the end of August. Everyone is pretty much in school by then, and Target severely discounts their supplies to get ready for the next season. I bought a bunch of stuff last year when they did the clearance, but one thing that I really didn't buy because they didn't have any of was binders, and I found so many uses for binders last year but I didn't have any. So this year, I've stocked up. 

I have three 1 1/2in binders in aqua blue, black (this is for theater), and green. I got these from Target on sale for $3 a piece. The different colors were the same price as the black and white ONLY if you bought Target's Up and Up brand instead of the name brand, which I have no problem doing to save some money.

I also bought four 1in binders in black, lavender, light blue, and light green. I got these on sale at Office Depot for $2.50 a piece as well, and the Life Touch brand was MUCH cheaper than the other Wilson Jones binders that were the same size. Again, the colored ones cost as much as the black and white, but I still got a black one for theater. 

Lastly, I got 2 purple 14 pocket folders from Office Depot. These things are so much better in my opinion than individual folders. All of your papers for your different classes are in one place. I don't know what I would do without them. I bought one for each semester, because they do get pretty beat up. These were not on sale, but they are my holy grail for back-to-school. 

My best advice for school supplies is this: Stock up while you can and buy on sale. I may not need all of these binders this year, but I got them while they were on sale and I can save them for the next couple of years. If you can, stock up at Target when they clear everything out. You can get some cute things for MUCH cheaper than normal. 

I would also suggest not getting your school stuff from just one place. I know it's easier, but you'll save money if you buy from different places. Target didn't have the 1in binders on sale, but Office Depot did. Just compare prices before you commit to buying. If you need to go to Target for something, take a list of things that you need for school and write down the prices at Target for those things. Then you can take that list to Office Depot, Staples, Office Max, Walmart, or wherever you go, and if you find something cheaper, get it there. If not, head back to Target and get it there. 

Hope this helps! Buying school supplies is one of my favorite parts of going back to school, and it should be as stress-free as possible. Have fun with it, and buy yourself some fun colored binders, pens, or something that will make doing your work so much more fun!

College Series Launch!

College Series is a GO! I've decided that I wanted to do this college series to help out anyone who may be headed off to college for their freshman year, or just for people who want to start thinking about going to college. College is an exciting time in someone's life, and I for sure am excited to go back to college!

I thought I'd start out by fully introducing my situation: 

I am going to be a Sophomore in college this year with a double major in Theater and Communication. Theater pretty much eats up my life, from rehearsals to performances to experiencing as much theater in the community as I can. Last year, I lived in the First Year dorms on our campus. I had a roommate and shared a bathroom with two other girls (which is called a "suite style" dorm room). Our room was pretty big last year, and the way we had it organized, my roommate and I had a lot of open space for ourselves. Each year, everyone randomly gets a lottery number, and the lowest numbers get to pick rooms first. There are only 3 Sophomore dorm options to choose from. If you don't get in one of those, you are put on the wait list, and when people start dropping out for various reasons or getting cleared to go abroad, rooms start opening up for the people who are on the wait list. My roommate and I were put at the top of the wait list, and we recently found out that by our lucky stars we got into the best Sophomore dorm available, and we have no suitemates. The whole place is to ourselves. OMG. So, when I haul things, tell stories, etc. just keep these circumstances in mind. I'm buying things that my roommate and I will share, packing things that my roommate and I will use, but with full knowledge that we will have extra bathroom space without suitemates.

And now, without further ado, let the College Series begin! It is beginning on August 5th and will end when August ends. Hope you enjoy, and let me know if there are any advice posts/things that you would like to see/know!

What's In My Beach Bag/Pool Essentials

I've seen all of the YouTube gurus posting videos about their "essential" pool bag needs. To be honest, I find some of these videos kind of silly. I mean, if you take 20 things to the pool, then you are taking 15 things too much. This is what I think needs to be taken to the pool:

The bag is from Bath and Body Works if anyone was wondering. It's from the Mothers Day VIP bag.
Anyways, in the bag, I have 2 magazines that I need to catch up on, a towel, flip-flops (which would probably be on my feet), and sunblock (the one shown is the Hawaiian Tropic lotion sunscreen with an SPF of 30.I also think that it would be a good idea to have a snack if you were planning to spend the day at the pool or beach, as well as some hand sanitizer, but I have some on my keys, so I wouldn't have it in my bag. You might also consider bug spray, because I know West Nile Virus is a big concern right now.

Last but not least, feminine products would be a good idea as well, if you know what I mean ladies. The little purple bag has a couple of Tampax Tampons in there just in case. The bag is super cute, and it lets me be discrete while I'm on my period. No need for the whole beach to know if my bag spills open that I have tampons in there, especially since most beach bags don't have pockets in them to hide tampons! I also put a couple of hair ties in there so that I can easily find them if I need to pull my hair back. This purple bag is just perfect for those feminine products, and it's girly too. (Alway's new line of tampons work wonders too. They are super discrete and there won't be any leaks to worry about with your bikini! If you are interested in checking out their new line, visit here and here.)


Lets be serious though: The only makeup you need is MAYBE a waterproof mascara. You don't need anything else, because it's just going to wash off in the water. :)

Let me know what you bring to the pool in the comments below!

Disclaimer: The Hawaiian Tropic sunblock and the tampax bag with tampons was provided for review by Influenster. I am not being paid for this post. All opinions are my own.

Top 5 Current Favorite Songs

My favorite thing to do in my car is sing along with the radio and there have been a couple of songs that I'm addicted to recently:

• What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. I know this song is by a boy band and somewhat juvenile, but it gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. It's just so happy and pop-y that I love it. Don't judge. 
• Eyes Open by Taylor Swift. I love Tay Swift in general, but this song was made for the Hunger Games movie, which I am obsessed with right now. Tay Swift+Hunger Games=great song. Well, not necessarily, but in this case that equation stands true :) I just love the lyrics of the song, and the message. I feel like Katniss when I sing it with my Katniss braid in my hair!
• Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. This song gets stuck in my head too. It's just a happy song, and I just love it. I can't explain it. 
• Payphone by Maroon 5. Again, the lyrics get me on this one and I'm a hopeless romantic, which doesn't help. Love it though :)
• Starships by Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj is the bomb.com in my mind right now. Her songs are always super catchy, and I can't help myself when I sing along to this song.

These songs are my top 5 songs of the moment (in no particular order). I like pop songs that are super catchy as well as ballad like songs that have pretty lyrics. I'm getting ready to make a mix CD for my car, and I thought that I'd share my favorite songs with you. I still have some room on the CD, so please comment down below and tell me what your favorite songs are!

Julep Maven Boho Glam August Box

I got my Julep Maven box in the mail yesterday! Here it is:

I changed my profile this month to Boho-Glam (I took two quizzes to see if they really did do a style profile of an individual. The e-mail that I ended up ordering my first box was with the It-Girl profile instead of what I believe I really am, which is Boho Glam, and what my first real style profile said I was.) and I'm very happy that I did.

I received the featured nail polish remover, as well as the polishes Piper (the green metallic) and Isla (the pearly white metallic). I fell in LOVE with these colors, and if it weren't for these two colors being in the same box, I would have skipped this month only because I have a lot of metallic colors already in my collection. I'm very excited to wear these polishes. They are super unique, and just downright gorgeous.

Also in the box was a Julep Maven mini tote bag, which is coming to college with me. It's the perfect size for taking a lunch in, if you aren't in college yet, or even if you are in college and you don't have time for lunch, just throw some food in there and you are good to go! The boxes don't usually come with a tote, but they made them for their birthday month, which I thought was cute :)

Hope you are having a great day! I'm off to dinner with my family, and then to paint my nails!

If you want to try Julep Maven boxes, but don't know if they are worth $19.99, try your first box for a PENNY with the coupon code: PENNY at checkout. Visit HTTP://JULEP.COM/?R=22336094 .

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen

This is the Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration SPF30 Lotion Sunscreen. I wanted to do a quick post about this sunscreen because it was a life saver when I was working at the theater camp that I've mentioned. I know what you are thinking "Theater camp and sunscreen don't go together" but they do. We would take the kids outside for breaks and let them run off a lot of energy, not to mention that a lot of the construction that we did for the set was done outside. So, I was outside a lot, and this sunscreen was a lifesaver. It left my skin moisturized but also didn't make my skin smell like sunblock, which was the most important thing. I smelled instead like a caribbean oasis (which is the only thing that I can think that it smells like), which is infinitely better than smelling like sunscreen. I also didn't notice that sticky feeling that you get from putting sunscreen on. It just felt like I had lotion on my body.

If you are going out in the sun soon, I'd highly suggest using a sunscreen so you don't get burned, and if you are looking for a sunscreen, definitely pick this up and try it!

Disclaimer: I did receive this product for review from Influenster, but my reviews are honest.
Picture Credit: Amazon.com