Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Bean Boots & Barbour (mine is on sale) : My Fall and Winter Necessities

The weather for the past week or so has resembled the gloomy days you would expect in January although the temperature is no where near as cold! With so much rain and fog I finally got to pull out some of my favorite fall and winter shoes for the occasion…my bean boots! 

I have had pairs of Bean Boots ever since I can remember and before I knew they were popular and had a specific name we always referred to them as farm boots since we predominantly wore them at my grandparent's house which we call the farm. Up until senior year of high school I had only ever had the ones without laces (probably made my parent's lives a lot easier) and then I was given lace up ones that my aunt had when she was in college. These boots hold up so well and are a classic so you wouldn't know that they have been around for a while. I could rave on and on about Bean Boots but if I shared all of the reasons I loved them with you then there is no doubt that they would be sold out for the season on L.L. Bean's website since they are always a hot selling commodity. Duck boots are made by hand in Maine which describes why the company can't suddenly demand more boots immediately when they sell out. 

Seriously though, it never fails that right when you feel like you can finally start to wear your Bean Boots consistently the website sells out. This is why I am encouraging any of you even contemplating purchasing these shoes to go ahead and do so to ensure that you'll be able to snag a pair. Want them for Christmas? Make some sort of deal with your parents so that they go ahead and order them otherwise you may not have any wrapped up under the tree. 

For reference, I have a pair of 8'' tan/brown lace up ones and 6'' ones with no laces that don't seem to be sold anymore (similar to these minus the buckle). I definitely gravitate more towards the lace up ones which are perfect for rain, snow, and even just cold days when you want to wear extra thick socks! You can even get the boots with thinsulate or shearling lining if you live somewhere especially cold! 



Another fall and winter essential for me that is great to go ahead and have is my Barbour jacket! I have the Barbour Beadnell Jacket in the color Sage and wear it nearly every day when the weather gets cold.  When I was in London this summer I even got the Betty vest which is a fleece vest that can be tipped into the jacket to make it even warmer. 

I JUST REALIZED THE EXACT BARBOUR I HAVE IS ON SALE! GET IT QUICK! It's a whole $100 off which NEVER happens! Get it here! Nordstrom surprisingly has lots of Barbour styles on sale currently, you can shop all of those here!

Barbour offers a plethora of colors and styles in their jackets and although they can be a bit of an investment I definitely think they are worth every penny not to mention they are timeless and last for years!  If you are between sizes when thinking about purchasing a Barbour I would recommend going up a size since (sad reality right here) later on in life you will more than likely gain weight instead of loose it and a little wiggle room is nice to have! 

While Barbour is well known for their wax jackets they also make great quilted jackets too! Here are some great options from Barbour!



Here are some images of mine from past falls and winters featuring these items! 



 


Are either of these your necessities in the fall and winter? 

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Step Into My Week

I'm a little late on this weeks Step Into My Week but better late than never, right? I'll use my excitement for parents weekend as my excuse! I'm still going to only include pictures from last Friday to this past Thursday to make sure next week's Step Into My Week has stuff to post! Next week will be my busiest yet of the semester and then the week after that is midterms so I'll need to stock up on K-cups and keep my fingers crossed that I get enough sleep to properly function. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes...

Last Friday night a sweet friend from home came to stay with me since she is interested in Furman! We ate a delicious dinner downtown, went to the soccer game, and then enjoyed a fun apartment movie night to kick off a relatively laid back weekend. The next morning we met up with her mom for breakfast at Tandem, a delicious crepe place near Furman, and then they headed back home.

My little and I went to the Indie Craft parade downtown and loved looking at all of the great stuff that vendors had set up. I left with some macaroons and a pretty handmade mug and both have been put to good use!


Saturday night I hung out with some friends after an afternoon of attempting to work on some homework. Sunday I did more homework and took photos of some of our chapter members for our chapter's website (my super cute models made it easy peasy). Being on our executive council for PR has shown me just how much I adore that field, taking photos, and publishing content on social media! Here are a few of my favorite photos from each separate shoot! 





 

Then Monday morning I finally got to go to field work. For those of you who don't know, I am an Elementary Education major and at Furman for each education class you have you have 20 hours of field work in a classroom at a local school. I am in two education classes so I'll be spending many mornings with some kiddos to gain a better understanding of day to day school activities, this is by far my favorite part of my education classes. Monday I was with second graders and Tuesday I was with kindergarteners and both days were such a blast despite the early alarms I had set. Here is a look at what I wore from my instagram @prepinyourstep.


shirt // shoes // bag (my favorite tote ) // bracelets (1, 2) // watch

If you haven't already seen, I published a post last week all about my agenda organization and even included a video. If you're interested in seeing how I keep my life days on track then go check out that post here


How cute is this tray!? I adore it and the artist behind it even lives in Greenville! It is the perfect pop of color on my shelf and you can get your own matching one here


Wednesday was a busy one from a KD PR standpoint. Our chapter hosted yoga with Southern Pressed Juicery on campus to celebrate International Women's Friendship month and I took a bunch of photos from that event and then afterwards I went straight over to another chapter's philanthropy event before my night class. While it was busy I definitely enjoyed being able to work on our event and then relax and enjoy another chapter's event. 


 Our apartment LOVES Trader Joes and we LOVE fall so one afternoon pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes sounded like the perfect snack. We all took a break from homework for a bit and baked the pancakes together while catching up on life!


And lastly, a quick reminder that my giveaway ends today! Go to this post to find out how to win! The winners will be emailed tonight! 


XX!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Tips for Textbook Reading Highlighting, and Notetaking

One post request I've received a lot recently regards how I read chapters in my class textbooks and retain the information. I am a huge fan of highlighting and note taking during and after reading and thought now would be a great time to share some of the tips that work for me with y'all. I know a lot of people are in the time frame where their first round of tests are coming up and textbook reading is essential so I've included my tips for reading, highlighting, and note taking and what strategies work best for me!



reading

Don't ignore the headings! The headings give you an overarching idea of what you'll be reading about which will help to keep you on task and be informed about the reading. 

If you feel like you aren't retaining what you're reading try reading the text aloud. It takes longer but is a great way to make sure that you aren't wasting your time "reading" without comprehending. 

Don't rush through the information when you are aiming to thoroughly read it. If you're going to skim it then just skim it but don't expect to remember the information as well as when you fully read the text. 

Try reading the chapter before class so that you already have some background knowledge of the information discussed prior to when your teacher is lecturing!



highlighting

You should aim to highlight no more than 30 - 40 % of the text. Be sure not to get too highlighter happy!

Highlight important names, dates, places, and key facts so that you can easily locate them when looking back through the book.

Use the same color throughout the entire book to make it seem a little less chaotic. I am a yellow highlighter kind of girl and it is very rare for me to highlight anything with any other color!



note taking 

Label the page with the book title, chapter, and personal reading notes so that you don't confuse the information you find important with what the teacher lectures to you about.

Put the highlighted information into your own words to better retain what the textbook is stating. 

After taking notes on all that you've highlighted reread your notes and underline the key words and vocabulary. Try to explain different elements of what you have read as well.

When a test approaches having already underlined the key terms will help you to make a study guide or flash cards easier! 

So those are my tips when it comes to textbook reading, highlighting, and note taking and hopefully the tips will help some of y'all as you approach the first tests of the semester. If you want to see me talk through these different points I made this post in video form for y'all as well! 


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Apartment Room Tour: Anne Douglass

Yippee! I am so excited about this post! Hopefully none of y'all are too bitter that I haven't shared my room just yet but to lead up to that reveal (sometime next week, mark your calendars ;) ) I thought it would be so fun to share some of my friend's rooms here at Furman! To start I begged my roommate (Anne Douglas, we call her Dougie) to let me take pictures of her room to share with y'all and she happily agreed. I am positive that y'all will love what she did with her space. 

She used a lot of light coral and green and I love the way her room turned out. It was so fun to see it in person after we were texting each other options all summer! Dougie centered her bed on one wall and used two adorable mirrored night stands on either side. Above her bed she hung a wooden mirror to take up some of the white space and to the side hung a picture frame board filled with lots of pictures from last semester and summer adventures. 

My favorite part about her room is definitely her bed, it feels like a cloud! She used a duvet to cover her bed and put a coordinating quilt at the end of her bed for when our apartment feels like Antarctica which is all the time. She is definitely a girl after my own heart with so many pillows and the one on the front is actually a silhouette of her dog, such a fun way to bring a piece of home with you to school! 

I've included where you can purchase many of the items in her room below but if I've left something out that you're curious about be sure to comment it and I'll do my best to find out! For now enjoy her apartment oasis. 


 



(this next one of her desk was taken before school started and now has quite a few textbooks and notebooks on it)



 




 




I just realized y'all may not even know what she looks like! Here is a photo of Dougie and I from our function a few weeks ago! 


I can't wait to show y'all a few more of my friends rooms before revealing my own!

Monday, September 21, 2015

How I Organize My Agenda + Tips For Organizing Yours

If you've been around the blog for a while then you probably already know that I am an organization junkie. Because of that one of the most frequently asked questions I get is "how do you organize your agenda?" Well, I am so excited to be showing y'all that today and including a video of it for an even closer look. This is the method I have been using for the past two years of college and it is the best method for me currently. Everyone organizes differently so if my methods don't exactly strike your fancy then don't give up and instead implement some of my tips in a way that works best for you! 

This year I am using a jumbo Lilly Pulitzer agenda and it is perfect. I've used Lilly agendas in the past but the jumbo size is essential for the amount of tasks I have to do on a given day and I definitely won't be retreating back to the large one any time soon. As for pens, I love to color coordinate and the best agenda pens ever are Le Pens. They come in a fun assortment of colors and don't bleed through the pages! Instead of crossing through completed tasks I like to highlight them which is where these highlighters come in handy. 

Let's start with the tips and then I will dive into each with a little more depth and hopefully you'll leave this post feeling inspired to organize! 

  

1. Make a plan and stick to it.

This is the most important thing you can do in order for your agenda to appear organized. By writing things down in the same place or color each day your agenda is bound to appear more organized even if that isn't the case. For me, I write down what color pen I am going to use for each subject and activity on a sticky note and move it from week to week until the colors are associated with my subjects, don't worry it will soon become second nature!


2. Color coordinate by class/activity.

As I hinted at above, I have my assignments written down in a specific color that coordinates with one of my classes or activities (for example, this semester I have pink for Kappa Delta, grey for field work, blue for EDU 330, purple for EDU 225, green for REL 210, and navy for HSC 200). This is a great way for me to avoid writing the subject or activity by an event or assignment each time I have a meeting or something is assigned. I also find this helpful when looking at my monthly calendar since the colors apply both weekly and monthly.


3. Organize in a way that works best for you.

I can not stress this enough. If these tips don't work for you then it is very important for you to instead organize your agenda in a way that does! You won't be as productive or feel as organized if you are organizing in a way that is not convenient for your lifestyle or habits.


4. Write down assignments when they are assigned and when they are due.

This is most important if you struggle to meet deadlines or remember assignments. The first weeks of school when I am handed my syllabus for a specific class I force myself to sit down and write all of it down for the entire semester (I know this probably can't happen in high school but that is ok!) even if something isn't due until December. I have found it super helpful for myself to write down my homework on the night I need to do it as opposed to the day it is due. My reasoning behind this is that if I am just seeing the assignment on the day it is due then it is already to late to complete it. For big assignments however such as tests, projects, or papers, I write them down when they are assigned as well as when they are/due. This is one thing that I know varies from person to person but again, this is what works best for me!


5. Cross assignments off once they are completed.

This is without a doubt the biggest motivation for me to complete assignments and the reason I find to-do lists so productive! I love taking my yellow highlighter and crossing off an assignment once I finish it and I feel so accomplished when all of my tasks for a day or week are highlighted meaning they have been completed. For consistency, I've always crossed off the events on my weekly calendar with a yellow highlighter however, I do not cross things off on the monthly overview calendar.


6. Utilize your monthly calendar.

I never did this before coming to college and I honestly don't know how I survived. While it can be stressful to see all that needs to be completed or attended during the month it is the best way for me to get an idea of how to productively manage my time. It's great to get an idea of how your week looks with all of the miscellaneous events going on in order to better plan ahead!  I'm not going to lie, more frequently than not I get a little overwhelmed when checking the monthly calendar but I am convinced that it helps to motivate me.


7. Use Post-it Notes.

I am an avid user of Post-it notes. Flipping back through some of my weeks I have a post it note on each day as well as a few piled up on my weekend on my weekly agenda view. You may think this is excessive but sometimes it is the only way you can remember that something needs to be printed or that your laundry needs to be done otherwise you won't have any socks left. I personally don't want to write that on my days assignments directly in my agenda so Post-its are my perfect solution!


8. Make it Fun.

Stickers and fun paper clips are all it takes for me! I use super cute Kate Spade paperclips to mark where in my agenda I am clipping one side on my weekly view and the other on my monthly view. As for stickers, I adore using Lilly Pulitzer's academic and greek sticker sets and use them on both my weekly view as well as my monthly one. It makes the fact that you have an exam or chapter meeting coming up look that much more fun and colorful.


Here is a video I made for y'all summarizing all of these tips and showing you exactly what I do when it comes to organizing my agenda. 


Leave me any tips you may have below!

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