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March Playlist

Something I started doing this year is making a playlist for each month. At the beginning of each month I go through my Spotify Discover and add any new songs to that months playlist and then throughout the month, whatever songs I like or listen to a lot get added to the playlist, too.

Even though I'm only 3 months into the year, I really like going to my playlists from previous months and seeing what songs I was obsessed with at the time. I'm excited to go back and listen to all my monthly playlist at the end of the year and see how my favorite songs changed throughout the year. I'm sharing my March playlist today so you can listen to what I'm loving and maybe find a new song or two that you like!



What songs are you loving right now?

xoxo,

How I Became a Morning Person + How You Can Too!

I love early mornings. It's something about being awake before the majority of the world that I just really enjoy. I love waking up and opening my blinds to let in the natural light and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. I would consider myself a morning person now but a year ago, I never would have thought of myself as a moring person.

I used to sleep in until 10 or 11am on the weekends and while sometimes I do find myself sleeping in a bit, I hate when I wake up and feel like I've wasted away half of my day. I'm someone who is always more productive in the mornings so I made the decision to train myself to become a morning person. Last summer, I set an alarm every day. For 7:15am. I know, that's early for a student on summer break but 1) I did nanny every day so I needed to be up for that & 2) I love the feeling of being productive and mornings are when I'm able to get the most done.

If you're thinking that I just woke up at 7:15am the very first day and hopped right out of bed, you're wrong. It took me a solid two weeks to be able to get out of bed at 7:15 without hitting snooze or pushing my alarm back an additional 30 minutes. I also learned what makes me love mornings and started to incooperate those things into my daily routines. Want to learn what those things are? Keep reading below to find out!


Waking up at the same time every morning
Consistency is key. There were definitely mornings that I didn't want to get up but I still did and once I was actually up and moving around, I felt good and was glad I got up. Whatever time you chose to wake up, make sure you wake up around that same time each day. You're not going to train your body to like mornings if you wake up at 8am one day and then 10am the next day. Again, consistency is key.

Putting your alarm somewhere that requires you to actually get out of bed
I know you've probably heard this tip plenty of times before but it really does work. I sleep with my alarm right next to my bed now but when I was first starting to wake up early, I would charge my phone across my bedroom to force myself to have to get out of bed to turn off my alarm. Once your physically up and out of bed, you're so much less likely to crawl back into bed.

Opening the blinds to let in the natural sunlight
This is one of my favorite things to do each morning! I love natural light so as soon as I turn my alarm off I head over to my windows and open the blinds to let that sunshine in! Natural light puts me in a better mood so I make sure to do this as one of my first things each morning.

Playing a playlist made of my favorite feel good songs
I made a Spotify playlist filled with my favorite feel good songs that I like to play in the mornings while I'm getting ready and just waking up. Music helps me wake up and playing happy songs instantly puts me in a better mood. If you don't want to create your own playlist, you can listen to mine HERE!

Making my bed first thing & instantly feeling productive
Like I mentioned above, I love feeling productive in the mornings and making my bed is an easy way to do so right after waking up. It takes only a minute or two and I think it makes my room look so much cleaner and put together and when my room is put together, I feel more put together.

Learned to love being awake before the rest of the world
I love being awake before the majority of the world. I don't think I can really explain this but it's just something about knowing that so many people aren't up yet that makes me feel so happy. I can get so many things done without having to worry about distractions from others, my favorite coffee shops aren't too crowded yet & the world is just quiter which I love.

Being able to sit down & enjoy my coffee instead of taking it to-go as I run out the door
It's no secret that I love coffee (currently on my second cup as I write this, oops) so I loved being able to head downstairs and make myself a cup of coffee and actually be able to sit down and drink it without having to run out the door with it in a travel mug. I usually like to catch up on my social medias while I drink my coffee and sometimes I'll browse Pinterest or reply to some emails.

While I've learned to love mornings and being a morning person but I do still love sleeping in every once in a while. Mornings aren't for everyone so if it's just not your thing, there's no problem with that. To my fellow morning people, why do you love mornings?

xoxo,

The Girl Behind the Blog: Get to Know Me!

I've been blogging for over four years and while I think that my audience has a pretty good understanding of who I am as a person, I thought it would be fun to share a bit more about myself to allow y'all to get to know me even better! I, personally, love reading posts like these on other blogs so I'm exciting to be doing this over here on Northern Prepster, too.

I searched all over the internet and found a bunch of questions that I thought were a little different than your normal "get to know me" questions and did my best to answer them all honestly and thoughtfully to give you the best sense of who I am when I'm not behind-the-scenes of Northern Prepster!


1. What's your favorite candle scent?
I'm obsessed with this Peony scented candle that my mom gave me! Peonies are one of my favorite types of flowers and I love burning this candle because it makes my room feel so homey and it smells like Spring! I also love the volcano candles from Anthropologie, I will defintely be investing in one of these for my future apartments.

2. Can you do a split? Cartwheel?
I've never been able to do a split and I honestly don't really want to try either. As for cartwheels, I could do these when I was younger and did gymnastics regularly but if I were to attempt one now I don't think I would be able to kick all the way up and over.
*UPDATE: just tried to do a cartwheel. The answer to this question is a big NO.*

3. What would your name have been if you were the opposite gender?
Ben.

4. If your friend gives you the AUX in the car, what's the first song you would play?
It depends on the mood I'm in but a couple of my go-to's are Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift or any songs from old Disney movies like High School Musical or Camp Rock (#NoShame). If I'm not feeling the Disney songs, God's Plan by Drake is a go-to.

5. If you could travel anywhere in the world right now where would you go?
Within the US, Nantucket! Outside of the US, Bora Bora!


6. What's your biggest fear?
Heights. Not really sure when I developed this fear but I am not a fan of heights. At all.

7. If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, which would you watch?
This is a toss up between Breakfast at Tiffany's and Endless Love. I love Audrey Hepburn but I also love the soundtrack in Endless Love so I don't know that I can pick just one.

8. What's your favorite comfort food?
Buttered noddles with parmesan cheese.

9. How fast can you run a mile?
In 5th grade I could run a 6:05 mile (I held the record at my elementary school for one of the fastest mile times. I thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread) but now my mile time is right around 7:30.

10. If you had the option to change your eye color, would you change it & if so, to what color?
I wouldn't change my eye color! I have blue eyes and love them!


11. What's your favorite vine?
I love vines and if you're friends with me you know that I quote that a little too often (seriously ask my roommate, it's kind of an issue). I can't pick just one so here's my top 3 HERE, HERE, & HERE.

12. Do you have any nicknames?
My family calls me "Ri" but they're really the only ones that do. Not going to lie, I can get a little irritated if people that aren't my family call me Ri just because I'm only used to being called that by family.

13. What is one food that you refuse to eat?
Olives. My mom made me try an olive on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago and it was so disgusting so I don't think I'll ever be eating another olive.

14. Can you whistle?
Nope.

15. Do you usually remember your dreams when you wake up in the morning?
Sometimes! I usually remember the ones that are really weird.


16. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?
This is going to sound weird but bare with me on this. I hate it when I do a load of laundry with sports bras in them and then when you go to take them out of the washer, the padding has fallen out. I know it doesn't take more than a few seconds to put the padding back in but I just really hate it when I go down to get my laundry and see that they've fallen out again. It's the little things that irritate me.

17. Do you sleep with your closet door open or closed?
Closed. Always.

18. If you could have any pet (besides a dog or a cat) what would you pick?
A seahorse! I always wanted one when I was younger and I still want one now. I just think they're so cool and would honestly sit and watch it swim around for hours if I had one. Maybe when I have my own apartment I'll get myself a seahorse. Stay tuned for an update on this in a couple of years.

19. What's your favorite holiday?
Besides Christmas, I love the 4th of July! The 4th is a really big deal in my hometown so it's something I grew up with and still love to this day!

20. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
The right!


21. What's your go-to order at Starbucks?
A grande iced coffee with caramel and cream.

22. What phrase would you consider to be "your phrase?"
I asked my mom and said that I say "literally" a lot and my friends would probably say that my phrase is "you're kidding?" which I would agree with because now that I think about it, I do say both of those quite often.

23. What did you use to wear that you thought was cool, but now you realize it isn't?
In middle school I would wear headbands that matched the color of the shirt I was wearing each day. I wore my hair in a ponytail every single day and my headbands were so tight that they would leave dents in my hair at the end of each day. It was bad. My friends still tease me about my matching headbands.

24. If you could learn how to do anything right now, what would it be?
I have a guitar in my room at home that has been sitting there for probably 5 years. I think it would be so much fun to be able to play the guitar so I would really love to learn someday. I also would like to learn how to braid my hair because I love all the braided styles but I'm a lost cause when it comes to actually braiding my hair.

25. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Both! I love early mornings and being awake before the rest of the world but I also have a bad habit of staying up way too late. Sometimes my late nights are because I'm finishing up school work but other times it's because I'm up late watching Netflix or even working on blog posts.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about me!

xoxo,

Lilly in Greenville

If this doesn't show how crazy my life has been these past few months than I don't know what will: I shot this outfit back in November. 

November. 

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and share this outfit, even though it's slightly (or way) late because it is an outfit that I love and is perfect for chilly spring days. To update this outfit for spring I would probably swap out the booties for a pair of gold sandals. 

I visited Greenville, South Carolina during the first semester when I visited Katie at Clemson. We took a day trip over to Greenville and explored the city, did a bit of shopping, and had some yummy food. I wrote a post recapping our weekend road trip which you can read  HERE!











xoxo,

Shopping Sunday: Shades of Pink

With last week being my spring break, I had my fair share of time to visit some of my favorite sites and see what new products were out. I'm really into the color pink right now (when am I not?) especially the blush pink color. I found 1o of my favorite pink pieces and linked them all below for another Shopping Sunday for y'all!


Happy Sunday!

xoxo,

Favorite Beauty Products

Being a full-time college student, makeup isn't something that I wear everyday. If I'm being honest, it's mostly because I'm just too tired to wake up in time to actually put more than some mascara on before heading off to class. 

That being said, I do have a couple favorite products that I always gravitate towards when I do wear makeup. As always, I'll link to all the products shown below in case you're wanting to try any of these products out for yourself! To shop the products, just click the bolded product name!





Maybelline Fit Me! Matte + Poreless Foundation
I came across this product because my roommate, Sophie, uses this foundation and it also looked so good & lasted all day so I caved over winter break and bought it for myself and wow! This foundation   never looks caked on, lasts me all day & night, and really does keep my skin looking matte. It's also not a bad price for a foundation compared to higher end brands.

Maybelline Fit Me! Matte + Poreless Powder
I've been using this powder for almost a year now and love it! Especially when paired with the foundation I talked about above, my face is left looking matte all day and this product hasn't caused me to break out which I've found to be a problem with other matte powders.






Urban Decay Naked 3 Eyeshadow Palette
I received this eyeshadow palette for Christmas and I love it! I'm not one to go for a very bold eye so I really like that this palette has a lot of warm & light tones so it still looks like I have eye shadow on but it isn't very dramatic or bold. This palette is definitely worth the price, in my opinion!



Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara
This mascara is hands down my favorite drugstore mascara! It is waterproof so it lasts all day and makes my eyes look so much bigger and more awake (a true blessing as a sleep-deprived college student). I would 10/10 recommend this mascara if you're looking for a cheap mascara that still has a big effect on your makeup look.



Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish in Mauvin' on Up
This is one of my go-to nail polish colors because it's a very subtle pink but it isn't too light to the point where you have to hold your hand right up to your eye to tell you're wearing nail polish. If I don't have white nail polish on then you can almost bet that I'll have this shade on!



Mario Badescu Rosewater Facial Spray & Cucumber and Green Tea Spray
I also was introduced to these products by my roommate and after hearing her rave about these two facial sprays when I was home over winter break I headed to Ulta and picked them up for myself. I always spray the rosewater one on before applying my makeup and then I'll use the cucumber & green tea spray at night after I've taken my makeup off and washed my face.



What are your favorite beauty products?

xoxo,

Shop my Instagram: Spring Break

Hi friends! Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a great week so far and that you can finish off strong before the weekend! This week is my Spring Break and I'm spending it down in Orlando, Florida with my family as USC's break matched up with my younger brother's high schools break. 

If you're following me on  Instagram then you've probably seen the outfits I've been sharing this week. My style is definitely not as preppy as I used to be (four years ago I never would have guessed that I would be wearing cutoff jean shorts) and I think that's been reflected in my outfits recently. 

I've gotten a TON of questions from y'all about where the pieces in my outfits are from and while I did do my best to answer all those questions over on Instagram, I wanted to share it here on the blog, too. In all honesty, a lot of the pieces in my closet are from TJ Maxx or Marshalls so I don't have the ability to link to the exact clothing item I'm wearing. I will always do my best to link to similar items that are the same style and look so I apologize if you ever are directed to a piece that isn't the same thing I'm wearing in one of my pictures. 




xoxo,

Dance Marathon 2018

Hi friends! Apologies for my little break from blogging, this semester has been tough but now that I'm almost through midterms & Spring Break is just 1 day away, I finally have some time to sit down & blog!

Last weekend, I participated in USC's 20th year of Dance Marathon. I signed up for Dance Marathon back in the fall after a couple of older girls in DZ highly recommended it and wow, I am so glad I did. 

Being the 20th year of DM, the motto for this year's event was The Power of One. We set out to raise $1 million to benefit Palmetto Health Children's Hospital here in Columbia. For those who may not be familiar with Dance Marathon, it's a 14-hour no sitting, dance party and all the money we raise is all FTK (for the kids!). DM started at 10am and went up until midnight.

I was on Delta Zeta's team and our color team was pink so we got all decked out in all the pink we could find. I sported a pink tutu, pink knee-high socks, pink beads, pink head boppers, and a bright pink fanny pack. DZ also got team tanks that I loved and will definitely continue to wear it even though the main event is over.

We ended up raising $1,025,171 and words can't even begin to describe my emotions when we flipped the numbers to reveal our fundraising total. As sore and exhausted as I was the following morning, my heart was (and still is) extremely full and Dance Marathon already holds a very special place in my heart. Throughout the day we got to listen to a handful of our miracle kid's stories and getting to meet the kids was really what kept me dancing for 14 hours straight. Even though I'm awful at dancing, it was so much fun to laugh alongside some of my best friends, scream the words to middle school throwback songs and know that we were making a difference in people's lives.

If you ever get the opportunity to participate in your schools Dance Marathon, I highly recommend you do so. It's an event you'll never forget and I can almost promise you that you'll leave with a heart so full you don't know what to do with all your happiness and you'll have a smile on your face that you just can't seem to wipe away.







Keep dancing & as always, FTK!

xoxo,