A Peek at My Week

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a nice week & enjoyed your holidays! The beginning of this week was jam-packed with Christmas festivities but after the holidays, it was nice to have a laid-back week with not much on my schedule. As much as I love being busy and having things to do, sometimes it's nice to just lounge around the house all day. 

S A T U R D A Y 

On Saturday I slept in until almost 10:30am as I didn't get home from babysitting the night before until around 1:30am. After I woke up I showered and got ready for the day even though I wasn't planning on going anywhere. When I got downstairs I was SO excited to find that it was snowing and quickly rushed to run outside and snap some photos. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon redesigning the blog and planning out some content for 2018. Later in the day my mom was making cookies and had leftover chocolate so I took full advantage and dipped some strawberries into the bowl. Around 7pm my Grandma picked me up to run out to pick up a few last minute things for our Christmas Eve dinner and then when I got home I changed into my pajamas and watched a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy before going to bed. 

S U N D A Y // Christmas Eve

On Sunday I woke up around 9:00am and went downstairs and made myself some hot chocolate and had a pretty lazy morning editing photos & working on blog posts for this past week. Around noon I finally started to get ready for Christmas Eve mass and dinner at my grandparents.

Mass was at 4pm but we got there around 3:15 in order to get a parking spot and seats since Christmas Eve mass is always so crowded. After mass was over we drove home and took some pictures and then headed over to my grandparent's house to meet my cousins for dinner and presents. We always do gifts on Christmas Eve at my grandparents so that on Christmas Day we can all just hang out and eat dinner.

We got home from my grandparents around 7pm and I was SO happy because it was finally snowing & the weather was predicting us to have a white Christmas which would be the first white Christmas since 2010. We took some more photos outside in the snow before heading inside to change into our pajamas. I stayed up until midnight watching Grey's Anatomy before finally going to sleep.

M O N D A Y // Christmas

On Christmas, I slept in until 8:30am and after washing my face, I headed downstairs to make myself hot cocoa and wait for my younger brother Ryant to wake up so we could open up our presents. We finally got around to opening gifts about 10am which was super fun and I'm so lucky to have received all the gifts I did!

After presents, I took a shower and did my makeup before coming downstairs to work on some blog posts. Christmas Day is super laid back in my family which I love because we aren't rushing around to different places. 

At 4pm we headed over to my grandparent's house for Christmas dinner. We have steak and lobster and I absolutely LOVE lobster so it's easily one of my favorite dinners of the year. After dinner, we ate some Christmas cookies before coming home.

Once we were home I changed into my pajamas and worked on some more blog posts while watching some Netflix before heading up to bed. 

T U E S D A Y

On Tuesday I woke up around 8:45 and quickly got dressed and washed my face as my mom and I had a few errands to runs. We had to make a couple of returns to Marshalls and I tried on a couple of new activewear items (I ended up purchasing the navy leggings & the navy top below) to try to motivate myself to start working out. We'll see how that goes.

After we went to Marshalls we went across town to TJMaxx to make a couple more returns and then we stopped by Costco to pick up a space heater since the weather here this week and next week is below zero temps and high winds.

The rest of the day on Tuesday was spent lounging around the house. I definitely could have been more productive but it's winter break so I'm allowed to be lazy, right?

W E D N E S D A Y

On Wednesday I slept in until 9:30 and after washing my face, I headed downstairs where I made myself some french toast from Trader Joe's which was SO GOOD. 10/10 recommend.

After breakfast, I organized our fridge. Fun stuff over here y'all. Later on in the day, I helped my mom take down the Christmas tree which makes me so sad because I love Christmas but it was nice to have the house back to normal. I spent the rest of the night watching Netflix, as always.

T H U R S D A Y

On Thursday I slept in until 10am which was nice but I don't like waking up super early because I feel like I've wasted half my day but sometimes you just need to sleep in. My mom had made apple cinnamon muffins so I went downstairs and had some of those while I worked on a couple of things for DZ and school. 

For lunch I made myself some rice with sweet bell peppers and ate that while I watched an episode of Greys. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on blog posts, watching YouTube videos, and watching Netflix because it's just too cold to go outside.

How was your week?

xoxo,

2017 Goals Reflection

At the beginning of the year, I sat down and made a list of six goals that I wanted to achieve throughout the course of 2017. I decided to set goals for myself rather than resolutions because I wasn't trying to change my lifestyle at all, I was just trying to find new things for myself to do and try new things. Granted, some of my goals can be considered a lifestyle change but I didn't go out of my way to change anything in order to achieve my goals. If you want to read my post from the beginning of the year, you can click HERE.

Read Books for Fun

I really wanted to get into the habit of reading books for fun but unfortunately, I only read one book in its entirety and I started another book that I have yet to finish. Granted I did have a fairly busy year but there were definitely times when I could have substituted an episode of Netflix for a few chapters of a book.

Drink More Water

This goal was something that I did really, really well with! I completely cut soda out of my diet and went up until October without consuming any kind of carbonated drinks. I did eventually cave in and start to drink them on occasion as I was having really bad stress headaches at school and my doctor suggested I drink them in hopes of the caffeine helping with the headaches which thankfully it did.

Start Running & Enjoy It 

I know that y'all can't hear me right now but I'm actually giggling to myself at this goal. While I'm sure my intentions were good, I never picked up running and am pretty sure I only ran on the treadmill a handful of times this past year (but that's going to change in 2018!).

Share More Outfits on Northern Prepster

Towards the beginning of the year, I think I did a really good job of having two outfit posts up per week which I was able to do because the second semester of my senior year was pretty laid back and I had a lot of free time. Once I moved to South Carolina for college, however, I didn't have access to the good camera and didn't have the time to go out and shoot outfits to share.

Focus on the Positives

While there were definitely times when I struggled to see the positives in some situations (getting rejected from colleges) but overall I think I did a pretty good job at remaining positive in most case scenarios.

Explore New Places

Moving 8 hours away for college definitely helped with this goal. I've gotten to explore Columbia and I've taken road trips to Asheville, North Carolina, Clemson & Greenville, South Carolina. I've also gotten to explore new coffee shops here at home and at school which has been super fun, too.

Did you stick with your 2017 goals/resolutions?

xoxo,

First Semester Recap

 M O V E - I N

My roommate Sophie & I both moved into our room a week early as we both went through sorority recruitment. Sophie & I met on South Carolina's class of 2021 Facebook and began talking for about a month before deciding to room together! Sophie is one of my best friends at USC and I'm so glad because it definitely made the transition easier. The night of move-in day after we had said our goodbyes to our parents was really, really hard for the both of us, lots of tears were shed but in a weird way, I think that brought us even closer together because we knew we had someone to talk to when we felt homesick. I'm from 8 hours away and Sophie is from 18 hours away so we don't have the option to go home on the weekends when we're feeling homesick so instead we turn to each other when we need a little pick-me-up. 

R E C R U I T M E N T

I've talked about it in a couple of posts but I did go through recruitment in August & recieved a bid from Delta Zeta! I'm so glad I went through rush because I've made so many friends within my own chapter but also within other chapters, too!

R O A D T R I P S

When Hurricane Irma was predicted to hit Columbia pretty hard & with Columbia being easily prone to flooding, USC cancelled class for the upcoming Monday (they cancelled class on the Friday before) so my suitemate Peyton was super sweet and let us go home with her to Asheville, North Carolina for the weekend. I had never been to Asheville before and it was fun to exlpore a new city and it was nice to have a weekend away from campus. While in Asheville we drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway and even hiked up Frying Pan Tower. The views were amazing but I'm terrified of heights and bieng on a metal tower up that high with wind definitely was not my favorite. Irma didn't hit Columbia as hard as predicted, we just got a lot of rain & some gusty winds but that was about it. 

F O O T B A L L  G A M E S

I wrote a whole post about Saturday's in South Carolina (click HERE to read) but coming from only attending Big Ten games growing up, my first season of SEC football surely did not disappoint. I attend every home game except for the Clemson game as that fell over Thanksgiving Break. We had our fair share of super hot football games and we also had one or two cold games, too. Overall South Carolina had a winning season & I'm excited to cheer them on in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day!

B I G  L I T T L E

I talked a lot about Big Little in my sorority photo update (click HERE to read) but to summarize, I'm a twin little (my big took two littles) and it just so happened that my twin is also from Ohio. My big, Meghan & my twin, Lynn have made my transition to not only USC but also Delta Zeta so much easier and I adore them both!

V I S I T O R S

My best friend Katie from Chic in Carolina came to visit me on her way home for Fall Break and it just so happened that the weekend she was coming I had a function for DZ that was themed "You Are What You Netflix" so of course, we dressed up as Blair & Serena from Gossip Girl. It was so fun to have Katie stay with me for two days and show her around my school & introduce her to my friends!

I N I T I A T I O N

I was initiated into Delta Zeta in October and since my mom was a DZ when she was in college, she was able to take part in my initiation process which was so fun! I'm so appreciative that my mom made the drive down to visit and it was super nice to eat some food that didn't come from the dining hall, too!

F A L L  B R E A K

I wrote a Fall Break recap post (click HERE to read) but my roommate Sophie flew home to Ohio with me and it was so much fun getting to show off my hometown! It was definitely weird being home as this was my first time home since leaving for school but it was much needed!

R O A D T R I P S (PART 2)

I visited Katie at Clemson in early November and shared a recap post about our weekend (click HERE to read) and it was so much fun! It was nice to get away from campus for the weekend and get to meet some of her friends at Clemson as well as explore Greenville, South Carolina with her. 

S E M I - F O R M A L

Our semi formal was the weekend before Thanksgiving Break and even though I stood outside most of the night as a sober monitor & it was actually cold in South Carolina, it was still fun to get dressed up & take some fun pictures with some of my sisters!

S O D A  C I T Y

Soda City is an event that goes on every Saturday morning in downtown Columbia with a bunch of local vendors & yummy food lined up on Main Street. The weekend before the last week & exams Sophie and I pulled ourselves out of bed bright & early to head down to Soda City. The Columbia Christmas parade was going on this morning which was fun to watch, too. We grabbed breakfast at a cute local coffee shop before heading to Soda City. We walked up & down the street looking at all the food & vendors and then we found the little Soda City holiday ice rink and rented skates and had SO much fun laughing and skating around. When we finally left we found this parrot in the street and the guy that owned the parrot put it on our shoulders and let us take pictures with it!

F I N A L S

Finals week is defintely not a fun thing to talk about but it marks the end of the semester so I figured I would touch on it. I only had two finals this semester, one of which was open note so I defintely had it easier than others. I had a huge history exam Wednesday morning and it was difficult for me to really focus while studying because I knew that once I finished that exam, I got to head to the airport to fly home. I ended up getting A's on both of my exams and as much as I enjoyed the classes I took this semester, I'm excited for the classes for Spring semester, too. 

R O O M M A T E  C H R I S T M A S 

Sophie and I got so tired of studying one night that we put on the most Christmas-y things we had (for me it was Christmas pajamas, for Soph it was an elf costume) and take a roommate Christmas card. The halls of our residence hall are painted red so we hung up the garland from our room in the hallway and snapped some fun photos.

How was your first semester?

xoxo,

Christmas 2017

Happy Tuesday! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas yesterday and spent the day with family & friends and ate a bunch of yummy treats! Christmas in my family is always super laid back which I love because we don't have to be rushing around from place to place. 

We had a white Christmas for the first time since 2010 which made me super happy! I slept in, had a lazy morning and had a yummy dinner later in the evening. Christmas is easily my favorite holiday so I wanted to share some photos we took on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with you all!

How was your Christmas?

xoxo,

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I'm going to keep this post quick so you can enjoy your holiday but I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and I hope your day is filled with lots of laughter, love & Christmas cookies!

From my family to yours,

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

A Peek at My Week

S U N D A Y 

Sunday morning I slept in until around 9am and then I got up and had to get ready for Christmas brunch with my family. We have brunch every year at The Faculty Club down on OSU's campus with my dad's side of the family. This year I wore a fun black velvet dress with plain black heels which I shared in Monday's post (click HERE to read). 

After we got home from brunch my mom and I quickly headed over to my favorite photo location to take pictures for Monday's blog post and then I came home and quickly changed into something comfier as my friend Edison was picking me up to head over to the mall to do a bit of shopping. 

I picked up a darling top from LOFT that was on sale for 50% off and I also had to stop by the Apple store to get an adaptor for my computer since I don't have a USB port on my laptop. I already had an adaptor but I left it at school by accident and since the adaptor is how I get photos from my camera to my laptop, I needed to pick one up. A bonus is that they aren't too expensive so I wasn't breaking the bank & it will be nice to have a spare one at home from now on.

After I got home from shopping with Edison I spent the rest of the night working on blog posts for this past week & watching Hallmark movies on the couch.

boots // boot socks // leggings // vest // rain jacket // similar scarf // earrings // purse

M O N D A Y 

On Monday I slept in until around 10am because I admittedly stayed up way too late watching Grey's Anatomy (oops). I had a pretty lazy morning as my parents were off running errands and Ryan was at school so I got up and made myself a cup of hot chocolate and watched another episode of Greys. 

Around 12:30 one of my good friends Brad picked me up and we went to lunch together which was super yummy and it was so nice to catch up with him. After Brad dropped me off at home I spent the rest of the afternoon watching more Greys (I'm addicted, I know) before heading down the street to babysit at 5. 

I got home from babysitting around 9pm and then ate some dinner and watched the 10pm Hallmark movie before heading up to bed around midnight. 

T U E S D A Y 

Tuesday morning I woke up around 8:30am and quickly got ready as I was going to do a bit of Christmas shopping with my mom and my grandma. We had to pick up a few things for Ryan and then we went over to the mall as Macy's was having a really big sale. I scored a new pair of black riding boots along with the Naked 3 eyeshadow palette and a couple of new pieces of jewelry. 

After we finished shopping we grabbed lunch at a restaurant nearby and then I quickly stopped home so I could remove my makeup and wash my face because I had a microdermabrasion appointment at 1pm. I started getting microderm done at the end of the summer per my dermatologist's suggestion & I love it! I get mini-microderms so the whole thing only takes 10 minutes so I'm in and out of the office super quickly. If y'all are curious to know more about microdermabrasion, let me know and I would be more than happy to share a post on that!

After my appointment, I stopped by home to pick up my mom as we needed to make a stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up a few books for Christmas gifts and then we picked Ryan up from the high school. It was so weird being back at my former high school and seeing some of the underclassmen that I'm friends with. When we got home I was so excited to find a package waiting for me on our porch! My sweet best friend Katie mailed me the cutest Christmas gifts which included Emily Ley's new book which I am so excited to read! 

After we got home I watched a bit of Netflix and also designed our family Christmas card. My parents had a dinner function to attend that night so I made Ryan & I pizza for dinner and then some chocolate chip cookies as a treat because Ryan was super busy studying for exams. 

W E D N E S D A Y 

Wednesday morning I slept in until around 9am and then quickly got ready to go next door to babysit my neighbors 18-month old for a couple hours. I babysat from 9:30 to 11:30 and then came home and made myself lunch and did a bit of behind-the-scenes work for the blog as well as watching some more Netflix. 

Later that night my mom and I made some Christmas cookies and then we ran to Target to pick up a few groceries. I spent the rest of the night watching Hallmark movies (what's new?).

T H U R S D A Y 

Thursday was a super busy day that began with me waking up at 7:15am to get ready to go volunteer at my former elementary school. I was SO excited to go to school to see all of my second graders (now third graders) that I worked with every Thursday during my senior year. I got to see almost all of my students during their lunch time and they all gave me big hugs and it made my heart oh so happy. 

After I finished up at school I had to quickly make my way over to my hair salon because I had a 12:45 appointment to get my hair trimmed and highlighted. I was there for almost 3 hours so I was pretty exhausted when I got home. 

I just hung out at home afterward before I had to get ready to go over to my friend's house for our Secret Santa gift exchange and our yearly dinner at her golf & country club. I included a bunch of photos below for y'all to see! My Secret Santa was my friend Rachel and she got me a bouquet of the prettiest fresh flowers and a Starbucks travel coffee mug which I was super excited about because I don't have one at school with me! I wore the same outfit that I shared in Monday's post which you can read HERE. 

I got home from dinner around 10pm and changed into my pajamas and just caught up on social media before going to bed around 11:30.

F R I D A Y

I woke up around 8:30am on Friday and quickly got ready as my mom and I were heading downtown to North Market to pick up a gift card for my Grandpa's Christmas gift and we also picked up some bubble teas for ourselves. 

After we left North Market we tried to go to this super aesthetically pleasing coffee shop that I've been dying to go to but the parking lot was packed and the line was out the door so we decided we would try to come back another day next week. We then has to stop by Marshalls to pick up a new cookie tray because one of ours mysteriously went missing (???) and then headed home.

I spent the afternoon planning out blog content for 2018 (get excited!) and then at 7pm I headed off to babysit. When I got home from babysitting I changed into my pajamas and headed up to bed but as you can already guess, I watched an episode of Greys before going to sleep. 

How was your past week?

xoxo,