Must Haves!

Everyone has those few items that you can't leave the apartment without! For me, that includes 5 things that I can't survive without. For some reason, it always seems as if I need those things whenever I go out. 

eos Lip Balm

Disney Princess Laynard 

Vera Bradley Key Chain ID Holder

Emi Jay No Crease Hair Ties

iPhone with bird case

eos Lip Balm: I seriously can not live without this! I used to use Burt's Bee's, but this chap stick just makes your lips nice and smooth. I have tried the Strawberry (pink), Summer Berry (red), and Lemon (yellow).  My personal favorites are the Strawberry and Lemon.  My roommate loves her Sweet Mint (light blue), but I personally am not a huge mint person, so I've never tried it. 

Disney Princess Lanyard & Vera Bradley Key Chain ID Holder: When I'm running out the door, I love to know that my keys and my school ID card and a little bit of spare cash is with me.  It's nice to not have to take my purse and everything in it if I just want to run to a friends apartment. Plus, who wouldn't want a Disney Princess lanyard and a very cute Vera Bradley accessory?

Emi Jay No Crease Hair Ties: Okay, I seriously LOVE these things! I love how you can buy them in such cute colors! They even have animal print, sparkily ones, everything you can imagine. They have different sets for each season on their website. And each hair tie lasts for a very good amount of time.  I try to only use one at a time, but I currently am using two. I have a spare one just in case.  

iPhone with bird case: I really can not live without my iPhone.  It is wonderful because I can do everything on it. I can check my email, check Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and everything else.  I also just love the case. It's cute, happy, and the birds are just adorable. I'm not a huge bird person, but I couldn't pass up on not getting this adorable case. I've actually dropped my phone for the first time this week on cemente (well, 3 times to be exact), and my case has done an amazing job at protecting my phone. It just bounced right off the ground!

So, what are those few things that you can't ever leave the house without? 

Productive Saturday

Today has been a very productive Saturday. I've done all my laundry and I even washed my sheets and made my bed! I cleaned up a lot of things and organized everything as well.  I thought that I would share a few pictures of what my part of the apartment looks like.  Currently, the rest of the apartment is a huge mess, but once it all gets cleaned up (hopefully soon!) I will post pictures! I must say though, I love being able to do laundry in my apartment as well as not having to do dishes by hand.

That's my bed, with of course, all my pillows and friends.
It looks like I don't have a lot of leg room, but I probably have a good
2 feet from my bed to the bed above mine. We've tripled our beds. It looks really cool.
 I'll post a pictures once my roommates make their beds. 

I finally figured out how to keep all of my purses and totes organized!
They are now in a bin right next to the dresser and it goes under my bed, a little bit.
You can also see that my hamper is finally empty!

I put all my clothes away and they are now organized.
And yes, that is a giant storage bin of shoes.
Shoes are my weakness...

You can actually see my desk! And it is being used too.
I have photos from the past couple years at APU as well as photos of my family
and my girls that have been in my cabin at Mt. Hermon the past two years. 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can continue to keep my bed, desk, and closet organized and clean?

Vera Bradley

So, this past week and a half has been a crazy week trying to get everything organized for the school year and really getting my routine solidified. Well, anyway, last night I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The College Prepster, and started getting ideas of how to organize my life. I somehow ended up wandering onto the Vera Bradley website and found out that they have a 50% off sale on one of my favorite patterns! So, if any of you like Vera Bradley or don't even know what it is, go look at her website! She has some of the cutest things.

This is the laptops sleeve that I ended up getting for $19.99.
I'm so excited for it to come in the mail.
It's cute, it's my favorite color, and there are little flowers on the inside. 

The Vera Bradley duffles have been standing out for years!
Now that it's in a pattern that I love and it's 50% off, I'm really debating on if I should just get it or not.
It's a great price on sale...

So what's your favorite brand that you can't pass up on when there's a huge sale?

Moving Back to Azusa

I'm a JUNIOR now! What is this?! I know it's been awhile since I've done a post, but then I realize that it's been awhile since I've really done anything on the computer. The past two weeks have just been full of craziness.  The first week, I was slowly moving into my apartment with my roommates and we were trying to figure out where things would be going. (I must admit, it did take us about two weeks until we finally did get everything cleaned up and put away.)  This past week, has been keeping me very busy. Thanks to choir camp, which I loved, I was getting up about 6:30 AM and coming home around 10 PM and falling asleep around midnight.

I loved getting to know all the incoming freshman that would be in choir and I loved just being able to sing with them all for the very first time.  My voice now, is completely tired and I know for a fact, that I am fighting a cold. Or a sore throat that has now turned into a cold.  School is starting on Wednesday, so I am trying very hard to take it easy and drink lots of fluids and get a lot of rest. However, my body just won't let me sleep in past 9 AM.  I guess that's a good thing since I will be having 8 AM classes every single day this semester. However, I am kind of bummed out when I look over my shoulder to see both of my roommates fast asleep and it's after 10 AM, and I know they won't be getting up for another hour and a half.

I am hoping to post some pictures of my apartment soon, but right now, as my apartment is for the most part dark, and everyone else is sleeping, I can't even take the pictures. So for now, I'll just include some of my favorite photos from this past week of choir camp!

95% of the returning Bel Canto ladies
(Photo Taken at Huntington Beach)

End of Choir Camp Redneck BBQ dinner at our directors home

I am really hoping that I will be able to update you more as this school year continues! Until then, have a wonderful day. :)

At a Bookstore

I started writing this post as I was sitting in Barnes & Nobles at the Pruneyard. However, I am posting it a day later. Hehe, whoops!
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There is just something about being inside of bookstores that calms me. Maybe it's the fact that bookstores are quiet and you can actually hear yourself think.  I love just wandering through every aisle of the bookstore, even if nothing really ever changes. I love looking at all the different sections and seeing if a book pops out at me.
The two sections that I stop and look at, without fail, are the Christian Inspiration section and the Children's Section. I love seeing if there are any good Christian books that I think I would like to read and I also love looking at picture books. In my room at home, I have a huge bookshelf, just of picture books. I don't look at them often, but when I do, they smell the way I remember them smelling as I was a little kid and they bring back memories of my mom and dad reading them to me. Some of my favorite picture books are Miss Bindergarten Goes to Kindergarten, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Love You Forever, Jesse Bear, and so many other ones. I think that if you haven't heard of these or read them, you have to go to a bookstore and just sit there and read them. They are just wonderful children's classics!
What were some of your favorite children's books while growing up?

Feeling Good with my Summer 2012 Playlist

Have you ever woken up just not feeling like you can take on the things that life throws your way? I know that I personally learned that I have to have my morning routine to make sure that I have a good day. I learned that this past year, it can be hard to feel good and also be productive if you don't look like you can make it through another day. I can totally see a difference in the way I feel and act if I don't follow through with my morning routine.  

1. Get out of bed (Probably the hardest thing to do!)
2. Shower
3. Put on a cute outfit that makes you feel good. 
4. Do your hair and make up
5. Put a big smile on. A smile can make your day as well as someone else's day even better. 

Oh, and of course, you can't forget about the music! I love music. I always have to have music playing in the background while I'm doing homework or just cleaning up my apartment. I have to have music when I'm driving around in my car running errands. It's just something that makes me feel good and happy.  I love all different kinds of music. From Christian Worship music, to Pop Music, to Country Music, to Soundtracks. So, what's been on my "Summer 2012 Playlist"? 

Some of the songs that have been playing nonstop on my computer and iPhone are the ones listed above. Now, when I find a songs that I just absolutely love to listen to, I listen to them nonstop. I'm pretty sure that whoever is around me, gets tired of my music. I will listen to one song on repeat until I get tired of it, which usually won't happen until about a week or so later. (My poor roommates who have to deal with that!)  

So what songs have been on your Summer playlist? Any good songs that I should listen to? Maybe add them on since summer doesn't end until school starts! And what things do you do to make sure that you have a good day? Any tips? I'd love to hear them all!

Packing Up

I've come to the realization that packing is just so hard for me. And I guess it doesn't help that I have a lot of stuff too.  However, I've come to realize that while packing up to go back to Southern California for college, there are some things that I just can't live without.  Of course, I'm a girl, and I've got to have my clothes and shoes and purses. But office supplies is something that I just can't live without.  I've always been that girl that loves back-to-school shopping, just for the school supply shopping. I've always loved just wandering down that section of Target or going into some office supply store with my parents.  So, I've decided that I would make a little list of some things that I see as 'back-to-school essentials'.

1. A Planner
All the time, I am trying to become more and more organized.  But let's face it, it's not easy.  I always have to have a planner. One that I physically can write things in, and yes, people have told me that it's 'old fashioned' to actually use a planner that you write in. But I like to see all my assignments written out.  I also tend to use my calendar on my phone, but I know that I need to start just using one. I love going to Barnes & Nobles or Target to get my planner. This year, I got mine at Barnes & Nobles. It's not too big and it's not too small. It's big enough to write out my assignments, but it isn't as big as a notebook. Which I love, because I know that I can fit it in my purse (Yes, I do carry a large purse. I call it my 'mom bag'.) but it will also fit with all my school things.

2. Bright, Colorful, Fun Pens
What is more boring, than looking through your notes as you're studying for a test, than seeing your notebook full of just black/blue pen and pencil. Don't get me wrong, I love using black pens, but sometimes it is just nice to add some color to my notes. I love boxing important things my professor says or writing the title of the lesson with colorful pens in different handwriting than I normally would use.  I love using the Pilot Gel G2 (05) pens. I used to use the (07) ones, but somehow I would always end up smearing the ink and it would just get all over.  Plus, I like how it makes my notes look all clean because it is thinner.

3. My North Face Backpack

I am not a backpack person. I love being able to have different totes that match my outfit, but I have come to just LOVE my backpack. Yes, North Face backpacks can be fairly pricey. Well, North Face is pricey in general. However, this backpack is the perfect size. It has pockets for everything I need, and it manages to do the job by carrying my books, binders, notebooks, and anything else that I might possibly have to carry around with me.  Plus, it even has a buckle that goes around your waist which I love to play with as I am walking to classes or just standing and talking to friends. Yes, it does start to drive my friends crazy, but playing with that buckle is just so much fun!  So although North Face backpacks can get fairly expensive, depending on the one that you get, you have to remember that North Face backpacks have a LIFE TIME GUARANTEE!  Now, I'm the kind of person that had always gotten a bright colorful backpack, but this time I got black. And I love that it does match with everything. And plus, by having a back backpack, it made me feel just a tad bit older. It was like I didn't need that bright colorfulness. But, I do have a little color on there still, anyway. Now, I've had my backpack for a few years now, but as I was looking online for a photo, I noticed that they have all these different colors! Now I kind of wish that I had a colored one... But hey, now I match with all my friends who have black North Face backpacks.

So I've narrowed my list down to 3 things. But believe me, there are so many other things that I can't live without for school. But for now, those are my top 3 things. Oh well, and of course my phone, which is attached to my hand at all times.

For style advice, and to know if your closet is "Trendy or Not" for this upcoming school year, check out my friends blog, called "Trendy or Not".  Believe me, she knows what she's talking about when she talks fashion.