August is already here and gone. What. Or more accurately- WUT. School is back and this is my progress.

My February updates are in pink.

My March updates are in green.

My April updates in purple.

May updates are in blue.

June updates are in orange.

August updates are in red.

1. Buy a pair of TOMS.

Done! And they’re adorable!

2. Take a cake decorating or chocolatier class. Or both.

3. Get a pink or purple streak in my hair.

I did it. I actually and truly did it! I did a purple and pink ombre section. I just figured that if I’m not gonna do it at this point in my life, then when AM I? It’s faded out already, but I have pictures!

4. Go to Julienne Jewelery.

5. Reread Harry Potter.

6. Donate Blood.

I did it! Our campus was doing a blood drive last week and I walked by the bus a million times before I talked myself into it. It was a super cool experience though. The people on the sidewalk cheered for me when I told them I wanted to donate, and then the people on the bus were INCREDIBLY nice. They were playing good music, I got to just sit and hang out, it was pretty painless, and then they gave me a Gatorade, a bag of chips, and a t-shirt. One of my best friends, Sonia, met me outside of the bus with a muffin. I felt like a champ all day. haha

7. Switch my phone to Spanish for a full week.

8. Pay for a stranger’s order in the drive-thru.

9. Try archery.

10. Paint something. Anything!

Guys- I’m all set to start a brand new portrait this Friday and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ll let you know how it goes.

I did it! I painted a portrait of my grandparents, entered it in our county fair and I even won a ribbon. Hallelujah.

11. Upgrade my phone.

12. Go out frequently with the girls, specifically to a Karaoke night at some point.

Doing good! No karaoke yet but we’ve done dinner a couple of times so we’re getting somewhere!

We’ve done ice cream and dinner recently. Not doing too shabby for being so busy!

13. UPDATE: Go to General Conference in Salt Lake City. (I kind of like where I live. You can see the wish I replaced here.)

Did this too! My roommate and I took a day out of the week and road tripped it. It was probably the coolest trip EVER. So many memories, so much fun. I’ll never ever forget it. Here are some pictures of that adventure!

14. Read The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

Started this! Hopefully I’ll finish it by summer!

So I DID finish “A Study in Scarlet” but that’s as far as I’ve gone.

15. Go to Graham’s.

16. Do the Color Run Kaleidoscope Tour.

Did this! We went in January and it was a blast! (As always)

17. Set up and go on at least one double date. They’re so fun!

I went on a double earlier this month and it was awesome. Seriously though. But I’ll leave this uncrossed for now.

18. Start a letter album for Klara.

19. Finish my quilt top.

Getting to this- summer is a wonderful thing.

Ummmm I did not do this. haha! But I’m gonna try to do it over the next semester. We’ll see (:

20. Learn how to play Poker.

Not a lot, but I’m working on it! I can’t wait to see how your own wishes are coming along- and if you have yet to make a list, you still have time!

xoxo,

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Brita. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

It's that time of year again- where we all buy new packets of pencils and notebooks and head back to school.

For some of us, the must haves are things like erasers and craft glue and crayons (Um, hands up over here y'all. Coloring is underrated.) But as a college student, my must haves are a little different. When I was a freshman I had no idea what I was doing or what I needed. I bought about a million notebooks, I bought all of my books before classes started (that's a huge no-no) and I spent more money on groceries than was really necessary. But I'm not a freshman anymore and if the last few years have prepared me for anything –you know, besides graduating and eventually moving into a professional career– it's what I do and do not need to start the school year right. So here's a list of some of my college MUST HAVES for back to school.

 

A planner

Laugh if you want, but when you totally space on study group because you're six seasons into your latest show and don't know what day it is anymore, don't blame me! You need a planner. You NEED one. It'll help you remember all of the things you need to get done and will make sure you divide time more wisely, fun stuff included.

Good Pens

You might not be the kind of student that takes a lot of notes, and that's fine, but when you DO take notes it helps to have pens you enjoy writing with. Also, you're not in high school anymore. Pencils are obviously the better choice for math, but as a college student it just doesn't look incredibly great to be signing things or turning free-write assignments in that aren't in pen.

Pocket Folders

As a freshman, I purchased a separate one-subject notebook for every class thinking it would help me stay organized. It didn't. In fact, all of that paper and all of those notebooks caused me MORE trouble.  I would end up in algebra with my Spanish notebook, or I would write English notes in my algebra notebook, or I would stick a handout in my notebook and it would slip out and be lost and by the end of the semester I had a ton of notebooks with a TON of empty and unused pages. Pocket folders give you a place to put all of the handouts and assignments you acquire for each class while taking up a LOT less room. Use one or two notebooks that are more than one subject and you'll save yourself space, money, and time looking for lost pages. An added bonus is saving a little paper. Yay for not being wasteful!

A Brita®

Speaking of trying to save space, money, time, and the environment. I love my Brita®. When I started college and bought groceries, I would buy one or two cases of bottled water. It's not terribly expensive, but over time the cost of bottled water REALLY adds up. Really. If you're drinking the amount of water you need in a day, you're going through a lot of bottles, which means a lot of cases. A few dollars every few days turns into a lot of dollars over time. To make it worse, those water bottles took up a lot of room. The case in the floor, full bottles in the fridge, empty bottles in the trash can. That adds up too especially in tiny dorm rooms, and it's not incredibly efficient or environmentally friendly. But just like I did with my textbooks and notebooks, I wised up. My first roommate and I both loved our Brita® pitcher. It takes up a lot less room than bottles, and over time, it's a lot cheaper.  I pour the filtered water into a portable cup and take it with me. With the Brita® pitcher, I drink more water because one: it tastes much better than the stuff that comes just straight from the tap and two: I'm not worried about using all of my bottles before I can get back to the grocery store.

My roommate loves the water bottles for the same reasons with the added bonus of being able to take clean water on the run and filling up on campus. And you can pick up your own with no hassle at all,Brita® is available at Target.

Going back to school is bittersweet, and leaving home for college can be difficult, but it's a lot easier when you have the supplies you need to keep you on task and healthy. What's on YOUR must-have list for back to school?

So tell me- what's on YOUR back to school must-have list?

Hey there lovelies!! Another week gone already! In case you missed it I shared all about my #TLCVox Box from Influenster this week!

So now on to the features from last week’s Fancy This #183 party!

This week our theme is family fun activities you can do with the kiddos this summer!

First up, Kendra from A Proverbs 31 Wife shared a list of her Top 10 Family Activities for Cheap Family Fun. She’s got some fun ideas here you’ll want to check out when the kids start throwing that BORED word around… 😉

Next up, learn a fun Giant Bubbles Recipe from Stephanie at Spaceships and Laser Beams! GIANT bubbles… enough said.

And finally, you could plan a trip to the zoo! Amy from Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes shared her Ten Tips for Planning a Trip to the Zoo. Her post even includes some handy printables!

 
 

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you three mentioned above! Hope you’ll grab one and share it over at our own blogs! 😉 Don’t forget each of these features gets pinned to our !! Check it out for past features and some fun ideas!!

Now onto this week’s party!!!

Fancy This Fridays Rules:

 

Thanks for linking with us lovelies!!! Hope you have a safe and fun weekend!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

 

So I know that it’s June, but this is still technically May’s Progress… (:

My February updates are in pink.

My March updates are in green.

My April updates in purple.

May updates are in blue.

1. Buy a pair of TOMS.

Done! And they’re adorable!

2. Take a cake decorating or chocolatier class. Or both.

3. Get a pink or purple streak in my hair.

I did it. I actually and truly did it! I did a purple and pink ombre section. I just figured that if I’m not gonna do it at this point in my life, then when AM I? It’s faded out already, but I have pictures!

4. Go to Julienne Jewelery.

5. Reread Harry Potter.

6. Donate Blood.

I did it! Our campus was doing a blood drive last week and I walked by the bus a million times before I talked myself into it. It was a super cool experience though. The people on the sidewalk cheered for me when I told them I wanted to donate, and then the people on the bus were INCREDIBLY nice. They were playing good music, I got to just sit and hang out, it was pretty painless, and then they gave me a Gatorade, a bag of chips, and a t-shirt. One of my best friends, Sonia, met me outside of the bus with a muffin. I felt like a champ all day. haha

7. Switch my phone to Spanish for a full week.

8. Pay for a stranger’s order in the drive-thru.

9. Try archery.

10. Paint something. Anything!

11. Upgrade my phone.

12. Go out frequently with the girls, specifically to a Karaoke night at some point.

Doing good! No karaoke yet but we’ve done dinner a couple of times so we’re getting somewhere!

We’ve done ice cream and dinner recently. Not doing too shabby for being so busy!

13. UPDATE: Go to General Conference in Salt Lake City. (I kind of like where I live. You can see the wish I replaced here.)

Did this too! My roommate and I took a day out of the week and road tripped it. It was probably the coolest trip EVER. So many memories, so much fun. I’ll never ever forget it. Here are some pictures of that adventure!

14. Read The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

Started this! Hopefully I’ll finish it by summer!

15. Go to Graham’s.

16. Do the Color Run Kaleidoscope Tour.

Did this! We went in January and it was a blast! (As always)

17. Set up and go on at least one double date. They’re so fun!

I went on a double earlier this month and it was awesome. Seriously though. But I’ll leave this uncrossed for now.

18. Start a letter album for Klara.

19. Finish my quilt top.

20. Learn how to play Poker.

So that’s one more off of the list! If you haven’t joined us yet, you still have time! (:

xoxo,