SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, October 31, 2016

My Skin & Hair Care Routine

Something I try to be really strict about is my skin and hair care routine. I try and follow a firm routine that I abide by each day and night. Taking care of your skin is so so important and using products that work for you is essential to having beautiful skin! I have dry skin so I have to moisturize a lot to maintain my skin. Also, taking care of your skin is only one thing to ensure glowing, radiant skin. Eating healthy and drinking tons of water will make your skin so much more beautiful from the inside out! 

I try to use pretty affordable products because I am a college student and understand that not all of us can afford a $70 moisturizer. I try and use products that I know will last me a long time and also work for my type of skin. 
Skin + Hair Care Products
As far as body moisturization goes I swear by the Aveeno skin lotion with a kiss of coconut. This works wonders and is the only lotion I've ever found that actually maintains moisturization all day. I love that this one in particular has a coconut scent because everything else from Aveeno is unscented. Also, living in California has changed me to actually apply sunscreen every day. Here it's sunny on the regular so it's very important to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. I use the Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch sunscreen in SPF 15. It's super light on the skin and smells amazing. For my face I use Aveeno positively radiant moisturizer. This has SPF 15 in it and also helps maintain clear skin and gently moisturizes. 

As far as other skincare items go I use the L'Oreal pure clay mask each week along with Biore pore cleansing strips

As far as hair goes I absolutely love the it's a 10 miracle leave in product. At first I thought it was all hype, but once I purchased it for myself and began using it I noticed my hair was so much softer. Now I don't think I can live my life without this product! 

I'm eager to hear...what are your favorite skin/hair care products? 

Xo 
Thursday, October 27, 2016

My Go-To Going Out Style

I think one thing most girls are the most lost about when headed to college is what to wear when going out. I had a sister go to college before me, but even that wasn't even that helpful. In high school, parties for me were an "anything goes" kind of situation. Whatever you felt like wearing was pretty much okay. I can honestly say I've worn sweatpants out before #noshame. But, in college going out seems to be a little more formal than high school. Every school is different, but I think the generally idea of getting a bit more dressed up when going out is pretty uniform across the board. I can't even imagine going to school where it gets super cold (God bless California weather) because snow and ice make going out a whole other deal. 

When it comes to going out I keep my style pretty simple. For tops I go: cropped, low-cut or off the shoulder. This might sound a little scandalous, but in all reality it's what the majority of girls wear at LMU when going out. Because we can't rush until second semester themed parties aren't a huge thing right now. What I often end up wearing is either black ripped jeans or Levi cutoffs, a top of some sort and either white high top Converse or Steve Madden sneakers. It's a simple recipe for the perfect going out attire. Here are a few looks I love that are similar to what I like to wear!


Going Out Style
These jeans are always my go-to. They're seriously so comfortable and so versatile for day to day wear and also going out! Because they're pretty high waisted I love wearing them with crop tops. Bodysuits are all the rage and I actually love them. They're so easy to wear with things because there's no need to tuck them in! My friends and I have an olive colored lace up body suit that we all share and it's seriously so cute!

Remember my favorite iPhone case? I'm still absolutely obsessed with it. During the summer it was helpful to hold my driver's license, but now it holds everything I need when going out: my student ID and debit card. It's so convenient not having to worry about losing my ID because I know it's snug in my phone case. If you're a college student and don't have a jimmyCASE I highly recommend getting one! It's so worth it.

If you're in college...what's your go-to going out style?

Xoxo
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

10 Fall Sweaters Under $100

The one thing that I don't like about living in southern California is the fact that fall is pretty much nonexistent. Had I grown up here my entire life I think I would be pretty accepting that seasons here aren't really a think. But having experienced fall and having my family send me pictures of the beautifully colored leaves makes me so sad that I'm missing out on such a great season. Although I know I will be extremely happy come January and the weather here is especially mild (instead of temps below freezing in Chicago)! 

Dressing for fall here is really something else because you can't exactly wear lots of layers, boots and scarves. It's only recently become cool enough to wear jeans/jackets. Nonetheless, I can't help but imagine of cool, crisp fall weather with changing leaves and pumpkins galore. Here are ten fall sweaters under $100 that I'm absolutely lusting over!

Xoxo
Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A Weekend in My Life

Hello! Long time no chat...ugh I know I'm the worst. I'm super eager to get back into blogging though because honestly ever since I moved to LA my life has been so much more interesting than it was back in Chicago. What I really love about where I go to school is that it's not a city campus, but it's centrally located in such a bustling city. What's different about LA is that there's no one "city" location. In Chicago there's a specific downtown which is where most of the action occurs, but here there are so many different areas of Los Angeles that there is just so much to explore! 

California is also a unique state because you can drive a couple hours and be in somewhere totally new! Santa Barbara is only two hours north, San Diego only two hours south! With so much to do I love being able to take advantage of all the different places nearby. Here's a recap on my fun weekend!

On Wednesday my roommate basically forced me (LOL) to go to a Troye Sivan concert in West Hollywood. I didn't have a strong desire to attend, but ended up absolutely loving it!! Troye was seriously incredible live and his opening acts were so good too. Let's just say, he has a new fan! After the concert we were starved so we hit up Shake Shack. I was so happy to take my roomie here because she had never been. As good as In-N-Out is, Shake Shack will always be my favorite and a nice taste of home. 
Thursday nights my friends and I typically go out to dinner so we tried a new restaurant our RA recommended called Urban Plates. Omg. SO. GOOD. All of their food is super fresh and their menu is extremely vast so we'll definitely go back and try a few other dishes out. I got a barbecue chicken salad and it was absolutely amazing! 
Friday night was pretty uneventful, but during the day it was extremely hot. Southern California is pretty predictable, but it was high 80s instead of the usual mid 70s. One of my classes was cancelled so I didn't start class until 3 pm. I headed to the beach with a friend for a few hours before class and it was so nice to just soak up the sun and relax for a bit. Living within 3 miles of the beach definitely has its benefits!

Saturday I went to Newport Beach with my friend Meghan and it was quite possibly the best day ever. Her sister lives nearby so she picked us up and drove us down to Newport around 10 am. Newport is only an hour south of LA, but it feels like a world away. It's a cute little beach down and is definitely an endless summer down there. We met up at her sister's friend's apartment and enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the patio. It was so refreshing to not eat dorm food, but also not eat out. I've been craving an actual home cooked meal! We spent the day out on a boat and it was so relaxing and fun! Not to mention how beautiful the area is!

Saturday night a few friends from USC visited and it was so fun to show them around LMU! I've visited USC a couple times for football games or to go out and it was nice to finally show my friends where I go to school for a change. It was also fun introducing them to all of my new friends here at school. 

I had such a fun weekend, but now I need to catch up on my studies and finish everything that I didn't over the weekend LOL. Let me know if you like more lifestyle-ish posts like this or let me know what you want to see on the blog! I'm all ears!

Xoxo
Thursday, October 13, 2016

19

Wow, it's crazy to say that I'm officially nineteen years old. It seemed like I hit a huge milestone last fall when I turned eighteen, but nineteen is so wild. There's just something about being that close to twenty that makes me think "Wow, I'm old." This is my first birthday I've spent away from home so it's a super weird experience. It's definitely difficult being so far away from my family, but I have tried to create a new "family" of friends here at school and I'm hoping to celebrate the day with them! I feel so old, yet I still have my entire life ahead of me, which is so thrilling. I'm only a freshman in college and I have the power to make my life exactly what I want it to be. Cheers to the final years of being a teenager!
Eighteen Things I Learned At Eighteen

1. Do what you think is good for your future self. For me biting the bullet and moving to 2,000 miles away from home was extremely scary, but Los Angeles has so many opportunities that I'm sure my future self will thank me for. 

2. Save your money. This is something I'm still continuing to learn, but tucking away little bits of money can be extremely beneficial for the future.

3. Don't burn bridges. As I've learned from being at school, it's a small world. Never end on bad terms with people because you never know when you'll need a favor or connection in the future. 

4. High school is not the end of the world. It's so easy to get caught up with the little things in high school, but one bad grade or one lost friendship is not the worst thing ever. High school is only four years, you've got your whole life ahead of you.

5. Wear sunscreen.

6. You're mom is always right. For the most part. She pretty much always is.

7. Friends are the family you choose for yourself. Choose to be around people that lift you up, rather than tear you down.

8. Be thankful for everything you have. You are so incredibly #blessed it's time to start realizing it!

9. Treat yourself! I'm a firm believer in rewarding yourself when you deserve it! So you got an A on the paper you slaved over for weeks, buy yourself something fancy! You deserve it!

10. Spend time outside.

11. You don't look like a loser if you're not sitting on your phone while waiting for something or someone. Take a look around! There's so much to see and you could miss it if you're on your phone.

12. Tell people you miss them. It's worth it to you and to them.

13. That zit you're so concerned about will not matter in about a week. And I'm sure no one notices it more than you do.

14. Apologize when you do something wrong. It's okay to make mistakes, but own up to them.

15. Don't try to be exclusive. Life is so much more fun when more people are included. Truly, the more the merrier!

16. Remember people's birthdays.

17. Do one thing a day that scares you. That thing you've always wanted to do but have been scared to do? Yeah, go do it.

18. Don't sweat the small things. Everyone says it, but it's so true. Don't let yourself get stressed out over something small. Everything will fall into place.

Xoxo
Tuesday, October 4, 2016

October Playlist

October is by far one of my favorite months and my birthday is this month too! But seriously, how did it become October? I've been at school for well over a month now and time is seriously flying by. I actually cannot believe it is already the month of October. Living in southern California has been especially confusing, season wise, because the weather here never will really fully cool down. As much as I might miss wearing puffer vests, bean boots and riding boots, I will definitely not miss Chicago weather come January. Here, fall is just a little different, but it's not necessarily bad! And trust me, I love the warm weather.

These are my current favorite songs as far as October goes. Atlas Genius had a little concert at my school last week so I've been kind of obsessed with their music ever since. Also, Hamilton has been my recent favorite thing ever. A kid performed "Dear Theodosia" at open mic night and ever since I have been hooked. My absolute favorite from the musical has to be "Satisfied", but I just recently became obsessed with it--hence why it's not included on my list.

I'm always looking for new music...

What are your current favorite songs?

PS stay tuned for a dorm tour later this week!

Xoxo