Back in Columbus & GAME DAY

Well, I'm not off to a very good start for the semester. I moved in yesterday which ended up being pretty chaotic, and it took me awhile to get settled in. But this morning has definitely not been the best of mornings, either. I forgot my required lecture slides/outlines for my 9 AM Stats class (which took forever to print out yesterday), and the girl who sat next to me in lecture this morning spilled her coffee all over my backpack. So like I said, not off to a good start.

On the plus side though, the big game is today. My Buckeyes against Oregon. The excitement is in the air here in Columbus, and everyone is decked out in their scarlet and grey OSU gear. ESPN and other news reporters were in the student union today, where I saw them setting up while getting my coffee this morning. All I can say is, I hope OSU wins tonight to top off an otherwise not-so-great day. 

I hope you are having a better day than I am!

Things to look forward to for 2nd semester

How did winter break go by so quickly?? I’m heading back to Ohio tomorrow, then staying at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house until moving back in at OSU on Sunday. And of course, I’m no where near done with most of the things on my winter break to-do list. I thought since I was going to be alone this week at home (since my siblings had to go back to school and most of my high school friends had to go back to college already), I would get a huge amount of stuff done. But with this crazy cold weather we’re having near Chicago, my brother and sister had a couple days off of school due to “cold days” and I wanted to spend more time with them before I leave.

So today, my Friday will be filled with finishing up my internship application (aka writing my cover letter that I’m dreading to write), filling out scholarship apps, and packing for going back to school. Fun. I’ll probably end up watching more Gilmore Girls on Netflix in between all those things, cause that’s been my latest obsession (and another reason why I’ve gotten nothing done over winter break in the first place…oh well. GG is worth it!).

This past week, I’ve been trying to think of things I can look forward to for spring semester, to get myself a little more excited in going back to school. Not all of them deal with school, but here are some of the things that will be exciting about spring semester (and hopefully a few of them will get you excited too!):

1.      A Fresh start. I don’t know about you, but this is what I’m most excited for. New classes, professors, and getting to start fresh with grades and my semester GPA. What makes the fresh start even better is the new school supplies I bought for the semester…and who doesn’t love new school supplies?

2. New opportunities. Last semester was my first semester of college ever, and I’m sad to say that I was a little to overwhelmed in the beginning to take advantage of the nice opportunities around me. From getting involved more, getting to know my professors in their office hours, to finding new study spots or using the gym facilities more, there are LOADS of new opportunities to take advantage of this semester.

3.  Change. This kind of goes along with the fresh start, but with my new schedule of classes, I’m going to have to change up my routine a little bit from fall semester. Change will be good though, I think. Since I have later classes this semester, I want to try to get more done in the morning.

4.  Spring weather = spring dresses. I know the spring weather won’t be here in the Midwest until at least late March (if not April), but spring clothes just edge out fall clothes for my absolute favorite. I LOVE wearing sundresses in the spring, and I also can’t wait to wear wedges and cute sandals.

5.  SPRING BREAK. Although I’m going to be just going home for spring break, I’m excited for it. It’ll be another 2 ½ months before spring break comes around, so I’ll be glad to see my family, anyway. I even bought my plane ticket home for spring break a couple days ago, so I’m all set. J

6.  January 12^th, 2015. Not only is it the first day of spring semester classes at Ohio State, but it’s also the day of the first ever College Football Championship game, where OSU is playing Oregon. Saying that it will be crazy on campus when I get back to school would be the biggest understatement of the century. I CAN’T WAIT. Oh, and this OSU hype video gives me chills.

7.  February 4^th, 2015. The day the OPI spring/summer Hawaii Collection comes out. You can see some swatches of the collection here. My two picks of the collection are Just Lanai-ing Around and Hello Hawaii Ya? I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I used to have a nail blog. I’m still into nails and have quite a nail polish collection, but now that I’m a college student, I don’t really have the funds to dish out on new nail polish for the blog all the time. However, OPI is one of my favorite nail polish brands, and I can’t help it this time…I need a couple of the polishes in their upcoming Hawaii Collection!

8.  April 19^th, 2015. The Lilly Pulitzer collaboration with Target comes out. I don’t know how I feel about this yet, but I’ll be going to my local Target or shopping at Target online when this Lilly collaboration comes out!

Anyway, if you're just about to start 2nd semester or have already started, I hope this maybe gave you a little more to look forward to! Have a great rest of your day!

And....It's Finals Week

I hope you all had a great weekend! I know I did. My school's football team won the B1G Championships by a landslide, and are now off to the NCAA College Football Playoffs. On Sunday when ESPN announced the top four football teams that would be in the playoffs, it seemed like literally everyone on campus stopped what they were doing and were crowded around their TV to see if Ohio State got in. It was absolutely silent right before they announced that we were the fourth spot in the playoffs, and then everyone went crazy. I was in my dorm room watching it at the time with a couple other girls on my floor, and you could hear the cheering and shouting from in the dorm and outside once we heard OSU made the playoffs. So I guess you could say that it was a good weekend to be a Buckeye fan! :)

Anyway, finals are here. My last day of school is tomorrow, and then finals start up Thursday and end for me the following week on Wednesday. Like a lot of people at this point of the semester, I wish I studied a little more and worked a little harder earlier in the semester. Now there's a lot of pressure on me to do really well on these finals.

I have 4 of finals in total (2 of my classes don't have finals thankfully), and I spent my lunch break today making a study plan for myself of when I should study what, and set aside study time for each class. If I didn't do this, I'm pretty sure I would feel really disorganized, unmotivated, and would probably have a mini breakdown by the time finals started.

So as of today I'm all set, organized, and ready to start studying and preparing for my finals. I only have 1 1/2 more weeks left of the semester...I can do this.

Have a great rest of the day and if you have any finals to study for, good luck!

Thanksgiving Break Recap

Happy December! I can't believe that Thanksgiving break has already come and gone, and that in a short 2 1/2 weeks it'll be winter break and the semester will be over...but until then, I still have a lot to get done including one more midterm and finals!

Anyway, I just thought I'd do a little Thanksgiving break recap. I didn't do anything spectacular, but it was so nice to finally go home after 3 months of being away at school!

Last Tuesday, I took a flight home to Chicago. I hadn't been on a plane since I was 2 years old, so I guess it was cool experience for me! Thankfully, I met and became friends with a girl on my floor who is from the Chicago suburbs as well, and we got to fly on the same plane together. Without her, I'd probably be a lost cause in the airport by myself (even though the Columbus airport is pretty small). When I landed in O'Hare though, it was another story. It took like 5 calls to my Dad in order to find him...man is O'Hare easy to get lost in!

view from the plane (over Illinois)

On Wednesday, I got together with one of my best friends from high school for lunch, and then met up with a larger group of friends for fro-yo. It was great to hear about all of their experiences in college so far, and I was relieved to see that most of my high school friends haven't changed. However, it was sad to find out about what happened to some of the people I knew in high school, and to hear that some of them already sort of "went off the deep end" with it not even being 1 full semester into freshman year yet. But other than that, it was great catching up with my high school friends. I didn't get to see all of them, but I can't wait to hang out with them more over winter break!

As for Thanksgiving Day, I went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house as usual. It was great seeing all my uncles, aunts, and cousins on my Mom's side of the family! Many of them didn't think I was coming in and that I was staying in OH with my Dad's side of the family, so it made it into a nice little surprise that I was there. I of course was bombarded with a bunch of college questions, which makes me a little nervous about future family parties closer to college graduation when my family is going to keep asking me about what I'll be doing with my life...But I'll just worry about that when the time comes. Other than that, the food was absolutely delicious as always, and I can't even believe how much I ate! :)

Black Friday was a day full of shopping with my Mom and my sister. We spent a whole day of it, and I got to pick out some of my Christmas presents from my parents. I also bought a new winter coat which was very much needed (even though yesterday when I came back to OH it was 60 degrees...go figure)!

Saturday my Dad and my sister drove me back to OH and we all stayed at my other Grandma and Grandpa's house for the night, before dropping me back off on Sunday. We celebrated my sister's Birthday (which is this Wednesday) and had a second little Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family in OH. We also watched the Ohio State (my school) vs. Michigan game, which was pretty exciting! Although I'm of course glad OSU won and will be going against Wisconsin in the B1G Championship Game this Saturday, I was so sad to see our quarterback get hurt! Hopefully OSU will still be able to pull off another win this Saturday! Go Buckeyes!!

The welcome arch into Ohio

And there you have it...that was my Thanksgiving break in a nutshell. It was great getting to see my family after not seeing them for 3 months! I was a little nervous about going home and feeling like an outsider in my own family, but thankfully that was not the case at all! And I was so glad to see that my friends haven't changed a bit. :) The break made me remember how grateful I am for having a great family and good friends!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Talk to you soon,

10 Thoughts I've Had Now That Winter Has Set In

The winter weather has officially set in here in Columbus, OH. The temperature was in the low teens today, and it was extremely windy. Although I should be used to the cold winters being from Chicago, I don't think I'll ever get used to the cold. 

View outside my dorm window. Sorry about the glare!

Here are 10 thoughts I've had now that winter has set in:

1. *looks out window* *checks temperature on phone*  Nope. Not getting out of bed today.

2. Walk to the dining hall? Nah, that involves getting out of bed. I'll order pizza for delivery instead.

3. Humans can hibernate too, right?

4. I deserve a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha for trudging through this blizzard to get to class. 

5 .YES! I can finally wear my Uggs without being judged.

6. Why on earth did I think it would be a good idea to wait until Thanksgiving break to bring my winter coat to school? Until then, I will now freeze to death.

7. After college graduation, I am officially moving down south.

8. Snowball fight? Snowball fight.

9. Should I go out with friends or stay in my cozy pajamas and watch Netflix on Saturday night? Netflix it is.

10. *Gets Snapchat of ocean from friend who went to school in Florida* -_-  --> :( 

Anyway, I hope you had a great start to your week! I have one more midterm on Thursday and then I'm flying home Tuesday for Thanksgiving! Now that I've been away at college for 3 months, I can't wait to finally go home!

Thanks for reading! If you're in a place where it's cold, stay warm!!

TheSkimm: A Great Resource for College Students

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I don't know about you, but I have a lot on my plate right now. I have two big midterms coming up on Friday, and I'm still not even finished with the reading for one of the classes. And then of course is homework and stuff for other classes, and a meeting to go to for one of the organizations I'm involved in. So to say the least, these next couple days are going to be long ones. 

Anyway, enough about me, I wanted to talk to you about a great resource for college students (or people of any age) called TheSkimm. For those of you who haven't heard of it, TheSkimm is an free email newsletter that is sent out Monday-Friday giving little blurbs about current events. Each newsletter is short and to the point, and the way TheSkimm lays out its content makes it interesting to read. 

As a college student, sometimes it's hard to keep up with what's going on with the world around us, and often times we don't have time to watch the news or tune in to see what's going on. When current events are sometimes brought up in class or by our peers, it can be a little awkward if we are hearing about things for the first time through them. 

For me, I'm in a Global Politics class where current events are talked about all the time, so it's been really nice getting to read a little bit about current events through TheSkimm before class. I usually find time to read the TheSkimm on my phone when I'm waiting in line at the coffee shop every morning, or even when I get to class early.

It never hurts to stay on top of what's happening in the world, so if you would like to sign up, there's a link up above. If you're not sure you'd want to sign up or not, feel free to check out today's Skimm (for Oct. 15) here.

I initially found out about this news resource from a girl I went to high school with, who also goes to the same college as me. She's a year ahead, so she's given me some great tips for college, such as telling me about theSkimm. 

Reading TheSkimm everyday and keeping up to date on current events really helped her in the long run, like earlier this year when she attended one of our college's internship fairs for the business school. While at the internship fair, she ran into some representatives from a company she had read about earlier that week in TheSkimm, who just underwent some great company merger. While talking to the reps, she mentioned what she had read about their company on TheSkimm, and they were really impressed. 

So honestly, you never know when you might need to know a thing or two about current events, and it never hurts to be informed, either! Whether you try it out or not, let me know what you think about it in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

*This post was not sponsored. These are just my own, honest opinions.

October Goals

Happy October! It's finally starting to feel like fall now that the the leaves are changing, and pumpkin spice everything is out in full force! [Oh, and for those of you who have seen Mean Girls, happy October 3rd! :) ]

Today I thought I would share with you a few goals for myself for the month of October.

View outside the window of my dorm room

1. Get outside my comfort zone. Now that midterms are over, I feel like I really need to put myself out there a little more. I think I really just need to relax a little and start enjoying the college experience more by hanging out with friends, meeting more new people, and maybe joining a couple more organizations. At my school, formal Sorority recruitment is in the winter, and the sign up starts this month. I'm still trying to decide whether I should rush or not...any thoughts about that from people who are in sororities?

2. Keep up better with school work. I always get my work done, but I have a tendency to push things off and procrastinate, which leads to me staying up really late to catch up. I need to do a better job at managing my time for my reading and homework, so it doesn't get too overwhelming for me.

3. Go to the gym more often. The first 3 weeks or so that I got to college, I was really good about going to the gym everyday. But now that the school work has piled on, I haven't been as good with it, so I'm setting a plan for myself to go the gym at least 3-4 times a week. I don't have an excuse either, because there's a gym literally right down the street from me.

Anyway, I really hope I can accomplish these goals this month in one way or another! I have a feeling this month's going to be a good one for me...between seeing Gone Girl tonight, having The Best of Me (another Nicholas Sparks chick flick) come out in a couple of weeks, going to more OSU football games (but this time with fall weather), and going to a Dan + Shay concert near the end of the month, I'll be keeping myself pretty busy!

Do you have any goals or fun things you'll be doing this month?

Thanks for reading!

What I Need to Survive Midterm Week

Well, this is it. My first ever college midterm week. I had one midterm so far, and thankfully it went well...but man, are they stressful. Unlike high school where your grade is padded by homework, most of my college grades are determined by two midterms and a final exam, so there is a lot bearing on doing well on my midterms. But of course, just like in high school, I haven't outgrown my procrastination tendencies. I guess I've just come to find that I work better under pressure, especially when I have to get things done. And yes, I'm procrastinating right now in writing this post while I should be studying for my econ midterm tomorrow....but hey, I need a little break!

Anyway, here are a few things I need to study my best and survive midterm week:

1. A quiet place to study. I get easily distracted when the people around me are loud, so this is a must for me. Currently, I'm in one of the designated quiet study rooms in the basement of my dorm.

2. Highlighters. Highlighters are my best friend while studying. I use them to highlight important content in my notes and for checking things off that I already studied.

3. My Agenda. I need my agenda to keep my life together, especially during stressful times such as midterm week when I really need to get things done.  

4. Food. For me, food = brain power. So when I need a little bit of a boost, or even a little motivation, this is what I use. 

5. Coffee or Diet Coke. For when I really need brain power or to stay awake, I drink coffee or Diet Coke to get that extra boost. 

6. Mini breaks. I try and divide up my studying into sections, and then give myself a little 5-10 minute break in between each section to go on social media, eat, go to the bathroom, or do whatever. This way, it'll motivate me to finish each section, and it'll keep me from constantly fooling around on my phone. It'll also keep my mind refreshed and less exhausted than if I studied constantly for hours on end.

If you have midterms coming up, good luck and I'd love to hear about what you need to survive midterm week!

15 Things I Learned My First Month of College

I've officially been at college for a month, and I can't believe that I haven't posted about college yet. But truth be told, this first month of college has been a blur. So much has happened, and it all went by so fast. It's crazy that September is almost gone already!

Anyway, I have a couple midterms this week, so I'll have to keep this blog post short and sweet. Here are some of the biggest things I've had to learn since I've been at Ohio State:

1. It's okay to go to places alone. Whether it be for lunch at the dining hall, or attending a meeting for a new organization, it's okay to go by yourself. Little did I know, no one cares if you go places by yourself. It's what a lot of people do, actually. Soon enough you'll meet people to go to organization meetings with, and even if your lunch or meal schedule doesn't coordinate with any of your friends, it's okay. There's a bunch of people who go to the dining halls alone.

2. It's important to communicate well with your roommate. I had one little incident where there was something in the room that I truly wasn't okay with (since we could get into big trouble if it was found in our room), and so I talked to my roommate about it. Thankfully she was really nice about it, and removed it from the room. So talking things through with your roommate before anything else is a great way to keep up a good roommate relationship.

3. Don't worry about what people think. It's okay to look like a bum sometimes to your early morning class. It's alright to eat that extra piece of pizza. And like I said before, if you want to go somewhere by yourself, it's okay! You only have four years of college, so it's important to make the most out of it and do everything that you set your mind to do.

4. Don't get behind in the reading for your classes. Ugh I've only been at school for a month and I've already gotten myself behind and procrastinated heavily on my Global Politics reading. I had to read 96 pages in one night + do my other homework, which obviously didn't lead to a very good night.

5. If you're going to decorate your dorm room, make sure you have a plan before you get to school.  I love to decorate, but didn't really spend any time over the summer planning any DIYs for my dorm room. So while my roommate had all these cute posters and stuff up, my side looked kind of bare. But thanks to my Aunt's DIY gifts she gave me and some binge Etsy shopping, my room finally (after a month) is starting to look pretty good and more home-y. It's not quite finished yet and I'm still waiting for some things in the mail, but I'll definitely show you some pictures when it's ready!

6. Keep a little food in your room. Odds are, you'll get hungry late at night at some point, and going to the dining hall just won't be an option. It's also quick and easy for when you really don't have the time to go anywhere else.

7. DO NOT wear your freshman orientation shirt to class/around campus. Please. You will get a lot of crap about it from the upperclassmen, and that's just not the kind of attention you want to get. (Just wanted to put it out there that I wasn't the one who wore it out, but I've seen some freshman wearing it get called out for it by people).

8. Use the buddy system. If you plan on going out at night, having a buddy system is important for your safety. Also, if your campus is in a city like mine, there can be some pretty sketchy people about so it's important that you try and stay in a group.

9. Don't start skipping classes. Once you start, it'll be the beginning of the end. Last week I decided to skip a lecture because I had a horrible cold and desperately needed cold medicine, which probably wasn't the smartest idea. But oh well.

10. Watch out for squirrels. On Ohio State's Oval (which is like what other college's call a "quad"), there are some pretty pesky squirrels. They're like so accustomed to being around people, that they walk extremely close to you when you walk near them. My roommate's friend from a different school had one jump out of a tree and nearly hit him, so trust me, be aware of squirrels.

11. Don't wear heels,wedges, or other uncomfortable shoes if you have to trudge all over campus. From having to wear black heels with my business suit, to stupidly wearing high wedges when I had a far walk, I'm sure my feet are not happy with me right now. I have a couple blisters that keep reopening, so unless you have to, don't wear those adorable heels anytime you have to walk real far.

12. Keep your door open. It's the easiest way to meet new people on your floor, and I wish I would have done so more during this first month.

13. Don't forget about your fruits/veggies/ways to get calcium. It's important to get your nutrients and vitamins, so make sure you still find fruit and veggies to eat in the dining hall. I haven't been eating the healthiest of things, so I need to start doing this more. Also, I've realized that I've hardly ever been drinking milk, and I usually don't get enough calcium as it is, so I'll have to start drinking milk more often in the dining halls.

14. Stay in touch with your friends and family back home, but don't overdo it. Don't be that freshman who is just constantly texting and Snapchatting their friends from home, and not making any effort to make new friends and meet new people. It's okay to talk to your friends and family from time to time, but being excessive about it is a real disservice to you because it will look like you don't want to make friends.

15. You're in college, so it's okay to have a little fun. It's okay to break out of your comfort zone, and have fun in college...just don't forget about your school work! ;)

Thanks for reading my list of things I've learned my first month of college! There'll be much more college-related stuff to come, and I'll make sure to include some pictures of my dorm room when it's finished!

And with that, I'll leave you with a lovely picture I took at an OSU game I went to:

Talk to you soon,

I hate goodbyes.

It's 1am as I'm writing this now, and I don't even know what to say. There's only 3 days left until I leave for college, and 4 days until I actually move in. My Grandma and Grandpa invited my family for over for dinner this past evening so that they could see me before I head off, especially since the first time I'll be coming home won't be until winter break in December. I'm glad they invited us over, and that I got to visit with them for awhile.

But the thing is, I'm terrible at goodbyes. I've never once left home for more than a couple nights, and I've never moved before. I've never had to truly say goodbye to someone. I know it's only saying goodbye for a few months, but it's just such a weird feeling. After seeing these people all the time during the first 18 years of my life, it's going to be so different going off to college knowing absolutely no one.

Anyway, now that one of my best friends has already left for college in Virginia and my Facebook newsfeed is filled with goodbye statuses and pictures of dorm rooms, it's finally starting to hit me that there are some major changes coming ahead, and especially in the next few days. I'm thankful that I got to see some of my friends before we all go our separate ways, but again, it's just so strange seeing people I used to see everyday for the the past several years leave for colleges in different states (and for one of my friends, a different country).

I'm definitely going to miss so many people, and I'm starting to realize that college is going to be quite an adjustment. However, I know that deep inside, I'm ready for it. I'm ready to meet new people, make new friends, and embark on new opportunities and adventures. Although I have to say goodbye to some people for awhile, I get to say hello to a whole new beginning.

Thanks for listening to my rambles,

15 Days...

Only 15 days until I....

....leave for college

....meet my roommate 

....will be on my own for the first time

....start my leadership program

....leave my friends of 7+ years

....leave my hometown until December

...have to go without Portillo's (my favorite Chicagoland fast food chain)

....officially finish my summer job

....turn in the paperwork for my new job on campus

....have to survive on college dining hall food

....embark on what hopefully will be the best 4 years of my life.

And this list can just go on and on. I know this is a really random post, but I was flipping through my agenda for August and was shocked to see that there are only 2 weeks left until I leave for college. In my head, it still feels like college should be a far way off...but it's finally starting to sink in that my days in the place where I grew up are numbered. I need to make the most of these last 15 days, and yet gear up for all the great things on the horizon. There's going to be lots of changes for me in these last 15 days, but I know I'm ready for them.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lilly Pulitzer 2014-2015 Jumbo Agenda Review

 All through high school, I was forced to use the plain, black and white daily planner that my school gave me. I could have bought my own, but everyone was pretty much expected to use the planners they gave us. So after 4 years of using a boring planner, I have finally upgraded to a Lilly Pulitzer Agenda, and I am SO EXCITED!

I first found out about the release of Lilly Pulitzer's new line of agendas from Dorothy's post on her blog Prep In Your Step. And after seeing all of the new designs and reading the reviews on last year's Lilly agendas, I knew I had to have one!

I ended up choosing the jumbo-sized agenda in the design Trippin and Sippin. And boy, choosing the design for my agenda among so many pretty ones was such a hard decison! I chose the jumbo size agenda to make sure that I'd be able to fit everything, especially since I have rather large handwriting and I'm sure that I'll have lots of stuff to write in it when college starts in the fall!

If you're wondering what the size of the jumbo agenda compares to, it's pretty much the size of your average notebook. It's about an inch thick, and it is a tad heavy for an agenda. But that's okay with me because I'll be caring it around with me in my backpack or bag, anyway.

So I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak inside the agenda if you haven't gotten one already, and share my opinions on it.

As I said before, I got my agenda in the print Trippin and Sippin. When I bought it online, I just thought there were the pink flowers and such on a navy background, and somehow didn't realize until I got it that there are seahorses and starfish on it, which make it even cuter in my opinion! The hardcover and spiral binding make it seem durable, and the pink strap I'm sure will help it stay closed when I have it in my bag.

On the inside cover, I wanted to personalize mine a little and put my monogram on there. I didn't really feel like buying a monogram sticker, so instead I made my own! All I did was print my monogram out in a cute font, cut around it with a specially-shaped scrapbooking sciessors, and stick it on with a piece of packaging tape. If you're wondering where the elephant sticker came from, it was my favorite sticker from the sticker sheet that comes with the agenda (more on the stickers in second).

The first "page" in the agenda is a page with a flap, sort of like a folder. I don't know what I'll stick in there yet, but I feel like it will come in handy!

Below is a little close up of the inside front cover.

And here's the sticker page!  I just love these cute little stickers. As you can probably see from the picture, I've already started using them!

Oh and here's the Christmas sticker I put together...the agenda came with the tiger and Santa Claus hat stickers separately, but I decided to put them together to make Christmas tiger. Cause why not, right? Who doesn't love a Christmas tiger?

Here are some of the front pages in the agenda. It includes some pictures of Lilly Pulitzer herself, the story behind the Lilly brand, a page to write in birthdays and anniversaries, a list of holidays, and a horoscope page.

 Next, before the monthly overviews and weekly calenders is a Lilly print for each month. I'll show you a few of my favorites:

Next after each monthly print is an overview of the month. Here's mine for August.

Then after the overview of the month is the calender by week. Here's a week in August. Dates and Holidays are printed in a pink cursive.

After all 18 months of the agenda are some pages of plain notebook paper. So far, I've used some of these pages to write down blog post ideas.

I also wanted to touch on the monthly tabs for a second. They're laminated, which makes them hard to bend or rip. This will hopefully make them durable, especially if my agenda is stuffed in my backpack.

 And there you have it. There's your little sneak peak of the new Lilly planner :)

Overall, I just love this planner! I didn't realize how popular the Lilly Agendas were until I bought my own. I had never seen anyone using them before until I came across Dorothy's post, but I initially thought that it was just because I'm from the Midwest. But I guess I was wrong because I've seen quite a few people I know buy a Lilly agenda recently. Anyway, August just can't come soon enough for me to start using it!!

Also, I just got a new laptop, and the picture editing program I used is a little new to me. So I apologize if the pictures above are a little blurry! I'll try to be better next time...

 Thanks for stopping by!

My College Orientation Experience

There are only 48 days left until I move into my college dorm room in Columbus, Ohio. Right now, I'm at the point where half of me can't contain my excitement, while the other half of me is terrified. I know most incoming college freshman deal with these mixed feelings, but it's starting to really sink in for me.

I just got back from my freshman orientation, and let me tell you, it was quite an experience. My orientation lasted two days, with the option of staying overnight. The first day was made up of breaking into small groups with the other incoming freshman, while parents went to there own separate information panels. In my group, we had to do a lot of awkward icebreakers, and we listened to our orientation leader talk about anything ranging from student life to talking about what there is to do in Columbus. Everyone in my orientation group was in the same scholars program I'm in, and since we have to live together in the same dorm, it was really nice to meet some of them! I did connect well with some of the girls in my group which was good!

I signed up to stay overnight in one of the dorms that night and go to the evening activities my school had offered, but at the end of that first day I decided not to because although my orientation experience was fine, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information I was being given and all the new people I met. So instead of staying the night, my parents took be out to a Mexican restaurant just down the street from campus. The food there was pretty great, I might add. Then I went back my Grandparents' house for the night, which is just about a half hour from Columbus.

The second day was basically just meeting with an adviser and making my schedule for the fall semester. Right now I'm not too happy with my schedule, but luckily it's still subject to change when AP scores arrive in a couple of weeks.

I didn't have time to take very many photos during orientation, but here are some of the ones I did take:

This first picture is of me at Buckeye Grove, a short pathway with lots of Buckeye trees near the west side of campus.

Next is a couple of pics of Ohio Stadium, otherwise known as "The Shoe." Pictures of the Shoe are pretty much obligatory if you visit Ohio State's campus, since football is such a big thing at Ohio State. The first pic was taken from the 12th floor of Morrill Tower (one of the residence halls), so sorry about the dirty window getting in the way of the picture!

The next couple pictures are of the Thompson Library, the main and biggest library on campus. It's too bad I didn't get any pictures of the inside of the library, because it looks pretty cool! But if you're wondering what the big green space is in the picture below, it's what Ohio State calls "The Oval."

And for the next picture, yes, I'm going to be that freshman.

So that's all I have about my orientation. As I'm writing this, there's a big thunderstorm in my area right now, so hopefully there won't be too much damage!

Talk to you soon,

♥ Colleen