A Little Collegiate Advise

Hello all! So as you know I started college this year, and holy cow has it been an adventure. I joined a sorority, took on some challenging professors, handled some rough roommate situations, and I’ve survived thus far. (cheers to me) Literally everything about your life and what you know changes in college. So here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned from my first semester as a college kid.

To start off with I’ve had to learn how to deal with people who I don’t quite understand all the time i.e. most of my professors. In high school, every assignment is clearly outlined and you know exactly what you have to do to get an A. College is not like that. College is more like, you’re handed a 40 page article that you have to analyze in a 3 page paper written with the literacy capabilities of a Nobel Prize winning author. It’s hard. So how I’ve learned and changed my approach is always asking my professor what he specifically wants for the assignment, and sending them my draft or sitting down with them during their office hour to discuss it. This is a lot more time consuming, but I mean I did manage to get a 4.0 last semester, so clearly it works. Knowing what your professor wants and discussing your interpretation of that can also help you grow as a student as you learn your own strengths and weaknesses.

Another thing I’ve learned is there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. That saying that “even when you think you don’t have homework, you do” is 100% accurate. It’s insane. You need to always know what you have coming up so you can be working ahead on it while also knowing what you have due currently so you can make sure to turn everything in. Life is hectic. I probably would’ve died without scheduling all my obligations in my phone with an alert attached so I wouldn’t miss anything as well as keeping an updated planner with everything I needed to get done, as well as upcoming due dates scheduled in with warnings. You life is going to be non-stop, so also try to schedule in things you enjoy doing, like hanging out with your friends to do something besides study. Managing your time and schedule well is one of the keys to success in college, and possibly beyond. (I don’t know about the beyond part yet, but I’ll let ya know when I get there.)

Your stomach doesn’t want to eat dining hall food all the time. It will tell you that, believe me. So try to have a couple meals a week that are easy on your digestive system. You can get little microwaveable servings of rice at Target that you can pop in for a minute and have a serving of rice ready to go. Grab a steamer bag of frozen vegetables to go along with it and maybe some frozen grilled chicken and bam. A healthy meal straight outta the microwave. And keep fruit and such in your mini fridge. Fueling your body with healthy foods will make you feel 100X better and help you keep up your energy levels with maybe just 2 cups of coffee instead of 10.

Not everyone you meet will be your best friend, and that’s ok. I think going into college I thought I’d find my best friend immediately but it took a little while. And that’s ok. It takes time to really get to know people, and sometimes things come up that make it hard to be friends or things that tear you apart. And that’s ok. Not everyone who comes into your life is meant to stay there for a long time. But keep being kind and respectful and your truest self you can be and you’ll find a bestie in no time, I promise. I found mine and it took a little trying, and I honestly didn’t even like her at first but now I can’t imagine my life without her.

My last little tidbit is that college has it’s ups and downs and you’ll find that out very quickly. I’ve cried a few times from stress or anxiety or life just being too much to handle. But I’ve laughed till I’ve cried with friends more times than I can count. And I’ve passed more tests than I’ve failed. I’ve been on time to class more times than I’ve been late. You’re going to have rough days, maybe rough weeks, but honestly college is my favorite period of life I’ve been in yet, and I’m excited to see what else it has to offer!

I hope this has helped you a little bit, or amused you at least. Either way I hope you enjoyed. (and side note, as you can probably tell this blog is going to be a little more life style based now that I don’t even have time to shower some days, so stick with me while I get everything sorted.) Thanks for all your love and support from the beginning of this until now, and let’s hope college won’t kill the blog completely!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

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Anxiety: College Edition

I have anxiety. Clinically diagnosed, daily struggling anxiety. It’s something I battle with on a daily basis. You might not notice it because I feel like it’s something I’ve gotten pretty good at disguising. Something an average bystander may not know about anxiety is that a person who deals with it can be completely fine and having a great day until something triggers it. For me, my biggest trigger is situations that I feel I have lost control over. So mystery bus tours, heck no. And if I am not as informed as possible about what will be happening or expected of me in a new environment or situation, I freak out. I have a hard time getting out of my head and just being present in the situation because my mind is whirling a mile a minute about all the possible things that could go wrong or what could be happening next. Throughout the past year I’ve learned some techniques to help ground myself and be present in the situation, but that doesn’t make these instances any less frequent. The reason I guess I’m sharing this so publicly now is that the start of college, moving everything I count important into a new place, having a new home base and place to sleep every night, and all new people, that is my worst nightmare. So adjusting the first couple days/weeks was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I did it. My roommates are amazing and have been there to keep me busy and laughing so I wasn’t in my head too much, they give me space when I need it and keep our suite clean, which helps me so much with not being stressed. And just when I thought I was getting settled into that lifestyle, it came time for recruitment week at my school. Being jam packed with school, recruitment week events, long nights, and homework for a week straight and never knowing what was coming on the Greek side of things was the second most stressful thing to have to go through within one month’s time. As stressed out as recruitment made me, I was able to get a bid from my first pick, the Alpha Gamma Delta’s at my school. I’m still a little stressed out from this week and all the newness Greek life brings, but I think I’m going to love all the support from the amazing girls in my chapter as I go forward in my college career. The reason I chose to tell you all this now, is that I have been MIA for several weeks, and I’m kind of challenging myself to start posting again, as hard as I’m sure that will be to juggle with all my school stuff. Blogging is something that is important to me because it allows me to have a creative output to get some stuff off my chest, and hopefully allows me to help guide a few of you, whether it be in beauty or fashion or life in general. And my next few posts will be my experiences throughout recruitment week at my school. And I guess I wanted you all to know that I had so much anxiety about it kind of throughout the whole process just because of how I am personally before I shared those posts with you, because I probably freaked out way more than was actually necessary. And for those of you who are struggling with anxiety, you’re not alone. Believe me when I say I feel you. I pasted out on a plane one time from being so dehydrated and anxious about flying, but that’s a story for another time. So with ALL of that being said, I hope you enjoy my next few posts on my experiences with the formal recruitment process! (ps, if you’d like me to do more posts on how I deal with my anxiety, I’d love to help if I can! You can always email me too, and we can chat that way!)

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Preferential Treatment

Hello loves! So something happened to me the other day while I was out shopping that upset me, and I wanted to kind of rant/write to talk to you about it. The other day I was out running one errands, going to the hardware store. I didn’t look my best, but I also didn’t look awful. I was wearing a crewneck and nike shorts with a little bit of makeup, so still presentable. I saw that a local boutique, in which I’d shop before, was having a sale so I decided to stop in and have a look. I walked into the store to absolutely no greeting from any of the 6 workers in the small shop, or question as to what I was looking for or if I needed any help. A woman at least 20 years older than me walked in a few moments later and 3 of the girls working immediately went to aid her in her shopping. I looked at some of the full priced fall items and didn’t see anything I liked so I moved to the sale section. Still no one approached me, if anything they dodged me. I found a dress in the sale I liked and wanted to try it on. I walked over to the area of the dressing room, and stood there waiting to be served. 4 of the girls were talking at the check out counter that was about 10 feet from where I was standing and continued to talk until I walked up to the counter, and still continued to jabber until I said “excuse me, I’d like to try this on” to which one of them stopped their conversation to say, “go right ahead, the dressing room is over there.” At this point I was extremely upset by the way I was being treated. I knew it was a higher end boutique, because I’d purchased a few special occasion dresses before from there, but that didn’t mean they could treat me differently. I had enough money from working this summer to buy a multitude of things from their store if I had wanted to. I tried on the dress, decided I didn’t like it and left. None of the workers reached out to me before I left or on my way out.

The reason I’m telling you this story is not to sulk in the fact that I was treated badly, but honestly as a note of encouragement and empowerment. I’m sure women, and men, sadly get treated like this all the time in stores they “don’t look like they belong in.” But that doesn’t mean you have to take it. You can do one of three things if you are ever treated poorly by the staff: The first response being, simply walk out. If they don’t have time for you, you don’t have to make time for them. They shouldn’t have your business, especially if it is a higher end store, if they don’t treat you with respect. The second response kind of goes off of that one in that after you leave, or after you’ve finished your shopping at that store, write this manager or store owner a letter about how you were treated and how rude their employees were. Hopefully a letter from a very dissatisfied customer will help them change their policy in the future. Lastly, one of the best in their face responses is to go in, find whatever you were specifically looking for on your own, and check out. If they ask if you received any help from anyone, be honest, tell them that no one helped you and you were a bit disappointed about that. Showing them that you are still in control of your purchases and your day is the ultimate wake up call for them.

I really just wanted to share this with you all to make sure that you are never treated the way I was in this particular instance, and that if you are you don’t succumb to anyone’s disrespectful behavior and get what you want out of the situation. Another quick tip, is if you expect this might happen in a store, bring a friend or family member along for moral support. You should never need moral support while simply out shopping for something, but sadly there are a handful of brands and shops that are still rude to cliental that doesn’t fit their perfect business mode. Be strong and be brave in your shopping endeavors, and have a fabulous day!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Life Update: August 17th, 2015

Hello loves! Happy Monday, I wanted to kind of update you guys on the blogging situation, because I know I’ve been less than consistent lately. First off I wanted to apologize for that! I took a few weeks off after finishing my summer job to just kind of relax and have some me time. I’ve also been running a ton of errands to get my prepared to move into my dorm/apartment in less than 2 weeks! (AHH) I’ve also been totally neglecting the blog, and honestly my main reason for that is I felt like I wasn’t bringing you guys good enough content. I’ve been reading blogs like Cupcakes and Cashmere since I was in middle school, always wanting to be as good as Emily immediately. And I guess I’m now waking up to the reality that I’m going to have to work my way up to that level of quality. I’m just a college student who uses her iPhone for the majority of the pictures you see. I am taking a photography class my first semester of college and I am beyond excited to learn as much as I can from that class for my blog. I also plan to invest in a camera once I have a better understanding of my ability to keep this blog going and my ability to actually use a nice one! I talked to my friend Jenna (who gets shout outs like none other on here, hi Jen.) and she really encouraged me to keep going with it, no matter how many people end up reading this or even really caring about it. So that’s where we’re at! I’m going to work on posting more regularly again and working ahead on posts as much as I can so it’s less of a burden on me, but give me a little bit of grace as I transition into blogging while starting college! I’ll definitely be doing some posts on dorm room hacks once I’m all moved in and actually feel like I am an authority on college things. Thank you all again for joining me on this journey! It’s definitely had it’s ups and downs, but hopefully we’re on an upswing now!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

The Rebecca Minkoff

Hello loves! Today I have for you a short story and a tale of a wonderful and beautiful purchase. For about 4 years now (yes, you read that right, 4 years) I have been lusting after a Rebecca Minkoff bag. The style that I have wanted has changed over the years as I did some in depth research on each style. First I wanted a Mini Mac, but then I realized that the entire front pocket is basically useless because the clasp is so hard to undo. So that one was out. Then I wanted the larger 5-Zip. I actually brought home a larger 5-zip from Nordstrom rack for an astounding $170 about 6 months ago, but I realized that it was too big and curved around my hip when I wore it, which made it very difficult to zip and unzip. So I returned that. I had just about given up on my hopes and dreams of finding the perfect, and affordable bag from one of my favorite designers, when this Tuesday I was at TJMaxx with my mom. I was wondering aimlessly through the purse section when I spotted a Rebecca Minkoff bag. I always at least pick it up when I see one at TJMaxx or Nordstrom Rack or Saks Off Fifth to see how pricey it still is or if it could even be practical enough for me to use. So I picked up this mini quilted maroon bag and put if over my shoulder. It was the perfect size and one of my favorite colors is maroon, and when I checked the price it had just gone on clearance for $70, which is unheard of for a Rebecca Minkoff Bag. I ran to show my mom and bought it within the next five minutes. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase and the long long wait made this deal that much sweeter. So today is a moment of history in my life, my first official designer bag. And I’ll probably keep it forever. So if you have your eyes on a specific designer, keep hunting. You’ll find a great bargain someday and it’ll be the sweetest deal ever.

  
xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Little Update

Hello loves! Sorry I’ve been MIA this week, I started my summer job and it was a lot more taxing that I had anticipated. I don’t know how my brain read “4 days of 10 hour shifts” as manageable and easy, but it did. And after my first day I completely crashed and almost had a nervous break down because I didn’t want to be that tired all summer. And I completely lost my voice (like I mean croaking like a frog sometimes words just didn’t come out.) What is this job you may ask? Well I’m a summer day camp counselor. I don’t really know why I thought this would be a good idea, but I know now that it is going to be one huge learning experience and a summer I am sure not to forget. My co-counsellors are all awesome, and we have the world’s best bosses. And we have some of the cutest kids I’ve seen in my life. That all being said, I still work 4 days a week 10 hours a day… Which is a lot. So as I adjust to this new schedule (and lack of energy and will-power) I think I’m going to cut back to 3 posts a week. I’ll be posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the summer, and possibly continuing into college. We’ll have to see if that’s more stressful than 10 hours with a handful of kids in my care. But for now, to make my life a little easier, and the posts more quality, I’ll be cutting back to just three a week. I’ll still keep most of the same series, but also adding in new posts when I want to. And on that note, I’m going to go drink a few gallons of tea and rest up for another 10 hour day tomorrow (being Friday.) So have a great Friday, and a fabulous weekend ya’ll!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

High School Graduation

Hello loves! Happy Tuesday, I took the day off yesterday since it was a national holiday and all, and to just relax after this weekend. Because this weekend… I graduated from high school! I’m so thankful for the four years I got to spend in high school, and the friends I’ve made but I’m also very excited to move onto the next stage of my life! So today’s post is kind of more of a life post that I can look back on, with photos and what I wore for my graduation. Let’s hop in, shall we?

   
  
           

{and yes, I do have girlfriends, but their mom’s brought actual cameras so all our photos are on there. I’ll add them to this post as soon as I get copies! All my guy friend’s moms were using their phones for pictures too, so that’s why I only have those for now.}

My dress is from Saks Off Fifth by the brand Kenzie (I got it for 40% off!) My necklaces are all from Ann Taylor, and were also 40% off, I layered 3 of them together and am obsessed with this stack. My gladiators are my new favorites by Vince Camuto which I found at Nordstrom Rack. I was super happy with how my outfit turned out, I didn’t have heels to trip on and my dress fit perfectly and was super comfy.

Tune back in tomorrow for a post about how I manage my curly hair! And thanks again for following along with me through all the fashion and beauty posts, as well as the more meaningful ones like this one. It really means a lot to me! Have a fabulous day!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Prom

Hello loves! This past Saturday was my senior prom! I had an absolute blast! Everything turned out perfectly, and I’m so pleased with how it went. Here are some pictures from the dance:

 
   

  

  

 
   

  

Since this is a majorly fashion based blog, I wanted to make sure I said where I got my dress and everything. So my dress is from Caché which is so sadly closed now. My earrings and rings are from Banana Republic and my bangle is from Express. I wanted to go for a more fashion forward look this year instead of your typical prom attire.

And here are a few pictures before dinner, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of the stage decor, which was super cool. But I do have one of me and my date walking through, so you can kind of get the idea of that.

   
 

  
I had a great time and got to see all my hard work come through to a great night that my friends and I got to enjoy. Have a fabulous day!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Prom Planning

Hello loves! I wanted to do a quick life post because tomorrow is my senior prom! How did we get to this time of the year already? I’m finally starting to get nostalgic about high school ending in less than 30 days… And also kind of freaking out about it. That being said, let’s have a little pre-prom chat about all the prom details for this weekend.

To start off with, I had to plan prom for my school. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, it was stressful, thanks for asking. But so far, with the help of many people along the way (special shout out to my mom) everything is in place. I chose the theme of Around the World, and let me tell you, it’s going to look awesome. We got large 3D versions of the Effiel Tower, Big Ben, a Japanese Pagoda, the Statue of Liberty, and a huge compas to use at decoration. To go along with this theme, I chose our color scheme to be royal blue, gold and white. The royal blue kind of ties in the ocean and the gold ties in the old maps look. For our centerpieces we got yellow and white daisies and are having flags in each flower arrangement as well. I chose our venue to be at a public gardens, in their beautiful atrium and banquet hall. For food, we’re having a buffet. I thought this would be simpler since, well high school kids can eat a lot, so this way no one will go hungry. We are catering in a choice of tenderloin in a bourbon sauce or chicken with a wine sauce served with sautéed vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, green salad, fruit salad and a chocolate fountain to top it all off. (SO excited for the delicious food.) To add some memorable moments to the night, I also found a little extra money in the budget to fund a photo booth! We did this last year and it was an absolute blast, I highly recommend it for any large gathering. Pulling this all together was not an easy task, but one I learned a lot from and am so proud of. Oh, and did I mention the invitations look like passports? I am beyond happy and thankful for the opportunity to be able to do this for my school and for my class! I will definitely be doing a post this coming Monday on pictures from the dance and details on what I wore. Have a fabulous weekend and tune back in Monday for that post!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette

Be Amazed: Part 2

Hello loves! We’ve finally made it to the middle of the week, and I am so very thankful to be almost to the end of this week! If you missed my post yesterday (here), you should probably read that first so you get a better understanding for today’s post. Sitting down for 15 minutes and getting your creative juices flowing, and turning off all your devices is actually crucial to keeping sane. I’ve just come to realize this through the being amazed challenge, so I really encourage you to try this challenge yourself and tell your friends about it. That being said, today I’lk be sharing with you some of my favorite pictures from my 15 minutes of being amazed.

   
               

I hope you guys have enjoyed sharing in this challenge with me! Have a fabulous day!

xoxo,

The Blonde Brunette