Vera Bradley Haul

So this post has definitely been a long time coming! If you didn't know I lovelovelove me some Vera Bradley. So S got me three vera items for Christmas, and then I bought myself a couple more because their after Christmas sale was INSANE. Anywhoo, here it goes.

This is one of the items that I purchase myself, and it is a holder for my kindle. I love the print, and I love that it is super easy to just pop my kindle in here and then just toss it in my bag.

This is the other item that I bought for myself and it is a lap desk. I got one of these to replace one that I had previously purchased from Ikea. Personally I like this one better because it has a comfy cushion on the bottom that makes it comfortable to use. It's also large enough that if I want to use it to work on homework I would have plenty of room to have paper spread out.

 The next three items were Christmas gifts from S. This is actually the second one of these that I own now, and they're great! It's a wristlet, and inside it has a zipper pocket and card slots. I like these because they are great to grab when you need a few more things than just a wallet, and my phone also fits in it with room to spare. 

 This is also the second one of these that I own, and that's because it excels in being functional! I like to attach my keys to this and then just carry it around. It has room for some change or a small amount of cash, and your ID and a card. The card holder is actually made so that you don't even have to remove your card in order to swipe it. Super functional!

The last item, and the most used so far, is this large vera tote. Trust me when I say it is LARGE. In fact I had no idea how big it really was until it was in my hands. I use this bag right now to carry my stuff around at school on my class heavy day, and there is still free space! Honestly this would also make a great overnight bag. You could probably fit a few days worth of clothes and other stuff in this bag. It has a small zipper pocket on the inside, and two pockets on the outside (where the design is). The outside pockets I use mainly to hold my water bottle, but you could probably fit 2 water bottles. Seriously, this bag has tonnnnssss of space!

So there you have it, my most recent Vera haul. Do you have any favorite Vera items? 

Tell me about it in the comments!

"It's a-me, Mario!"

Good Morning everyone! I'm so excited to be here today sharing some fun and exciting things from this weekend. First off, I created this cute little graphic to add to all my weekend posts from here on out. I just wanted something that made it easy for you to know when my post was about my weekend, and would be easy for me to find (tagging wise). I know that a lot of my weekend posts all have random titles and I wanted to make everything a little more streamlined.

So on to the actual reason for this post. The weekend itself was great in a low key, didn't do a ton of stuff but everything that we did was fun. S spent most of the weekend relaxing and catching up on his video game time, and I worked on a little project that I hope to unveil really soon, so stay tuned for that! But the other exciting thing that S and I did this weekend, was purchase something.

YUP! We bought a Wii U this weekend, and then had a blast playing it!

We actually got this bundle here which was a great deal. It came with the system, and then 2 games, Super Mario Bros. and Super Luigi.

Then we also purchased this little gem, which was literally just released a few days ago, but we both love donkey kong so it was our game of choice to buy separately. 

If you don't know a lot about the Wii U basically it comes with a game pad, and the game pad is not only a controller, but you can also you the game pad to play by yourself without actually needing to turn on the tv since it has a built in screen. You could also play in a different room from someone if you wanted, but most people like to play together so that's not really that big of a bonus. But on the other hand you could sit in bed, and play and that is pretty cool. Overall so far I like it, and I think S does too, (even though I kinda suck at Mario, but i'm going to keep practicing, haha) Also another note is that the Wii U system is backwards compatible (though i'm not sure if they would support the game pad) so you could pick up some of the earlier Wii games pretty cheap online through ebay or amazon. 

So that was my Wild Weekend. Do any of you have a Wii U or have considered getting one? 

Tell me about it in the comments!  

How to Create Your Own Binder Cover

Hey guys! So for those of y'all that saw my instagram post yesterday, I posted about a cover that I created for my binder for my classes this spring. It looks a little something like this:

So I thought that I would do a little tutorial and show you all how to create your own personalized binder covers! I used PicMonkey for my tutorial >>here. Which is online and free for everyone to use.

So the first thing that you want to do it go to resize, uncheck keep proportions, and then set the size to 1100x1700. 

Next you want to go to the overlay tab, and select Your Own at the top, then add whatever image that you would like to be your background.

Then just drag the image until it covers all the white space.

Next you are going to add some overlays. So click on geometric, and then add a rectangle, which you then need to drag to create the size that you would like. Then add another smaller rectangle, change the color to white, and then resize to look more like a line. Then just right click and duplicate that so you don't have to worry about creating another that is exactly the same size.

This is what it looks like with the overlays in place. Obviously since you might want to do something a little different feel free to play around and create your own combination of overlays!  

Next I added some text (again feel free to personalize however you want!) A good trick when adding text that you want centered it to actually click the button to center the text in the box itself and then drag the edges so that they are at the edges of your design, then you don't need to worry about making sure it's centered.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT! So now you want to save that bad boy that you just created to your computer. MAKE SURE that you save it as a .png file!

Next you want to copy that image from wherever you saved it on your computer.

Then open up Pages, if you have a mac or it should work just fine in word as well. If you are using pages make sure to zoom out to 75% then paste your image.

Drag it to fit the size of the paper, and adjust as needed. TADA! You just learned how to create some super awesome custom covers for every binder that you own! On the other hand if you just really really like the one that I created, then you can download your own copy right HERE. Just right click and then save the image. Enjoy!

A Little Update

Whew, it is hard to believe that it is only Wednesday. Sorry for being a little absent around these parts lately, but with the weirdo Texas weather that we have been having, and being a little sick last week I have been trying to get caught up. The hardest part has been catching up with school. Mainly because I have two hybrid classes and one online class, so that means I spend a good portion of my time teaching myself. A hybrid class, in case you didn't know, is where a class meets one day a week and then the other day is online. So Tuesdays for me are jam packed one class after another, and then I spend Thursday's reading the online version of the lecture and completing that weeks assignment. Honestly even though this is my first time experiencing this type of class format, for me it is the perfect combination. It gives me face time with the instructor, and it also gives me free time on the day when I don't have class. I would highly recommend this type of class, and you should try it if you have the chance.

So that was a quick little student session, just to share with you some advice about a class type!

Anywhoo, I should be back soon with an update on Valentines day with S. Soon I will also be talking about a little project that I have recently undertaken that I am SUPER excited about!

Recipe: Simple Shrimp Pasta

Ok so I have a recipe to share with y'all today! Now I am going to be totally honest this is not exact by any means but I can provide you with enough information that you can get the gist of it.

So there you have it, easy peasy, and actually pretty healthy. We had it with a side of steamed vegetables to get our veggies in, but next time I make this I think I might modify it and all them in with the pasta. I really like how I came up with this and the fact that it doesn't require too much cooking skill, it's pretty healthy, and it was still yummy. I am slowly learning that "healthy" doesn't mean it has to taste bland, and that makes it easier to work toward my healthy eating goals!

A Fun Announcement!

Hey guys! I'm excited to share today that I am officially a part of the Her Campus Blogger Network! EEK. I was so excited just to get accepted and then it was just a plus that everyone in this group is so friendly and it is just a fantastic community that I am excited to be a part of!

I am just so excited that even though my blog is a mere three months old I'm doing a great job at getting the word out there about it. I just want to say thank you to all my wonderful followers, and I hope that I can keep writing the great content that snagged your attention!

Friday and a Target Haul

It's Friday, yay! Even though I have basically had two lazy days in a row (thank you professors for deciding to have online class!) i'm still excited for it to be Friday because it means that S doesn't have to work. I do want to say welcome to those of you that are over here visiting me from Avoiding Atrophy! I hope you'll follow along and stay awhile.

So today I wanna share a quick little target haul with y'all! I did a little bit of shopping yesterday (obviously) and found a cute new purse (which i'll probably share at a later time, cause it's great!) and I found the cutest things in the dollar spot at target that I just had to share.

 First of all I love this little dot pattern, its super cute! So I picked up a little flip journal, and these adorable note cards. 

 I also found this pack of paper. I wish the sheets were a tad bigger but i'm sure that I can find something to use them for. It comes with also those designs that are in the right picture. 

I also picked up these two packs of sticky notes, the dot pattern, and a to do one. I though the to do one would be great for making little lists. I also picked up this awesome liquid chalk marker, which I plan on using for this chalkboard that I made S last year for his birthday. 

The best things is that all of the items were only a dollar each! That is always a win in my book.

Last but not least its time to #backthatassup with Whitney.

Dressing Classy for Classes

So I think a question that lot of college students want to know is: "What exactly should I wear to class?" I think a lot of people get confused on what to wear because of freshman orientation. Generally at freshman orientation someone at some point will say something like, “Now make sure that you don’t wear pajamas to class because it looks bad to your teachers. You need to wear nice decent clothes all the time.” But from there that leaves us to decide our personal definition of “nice decent clothes”. So I wanted to share my personal opinion of what to wear to class based on what I have experienced from what people wear at my college (and by things that I have worn).

THE BIG WHAT NOT TO WEAR: PAJAMAS (By pajamas I literally mean anything that looks like lingerie, cartoon printed pants, footy pajamas, ect.) They make you look sloppy and unprepared, and they can even make it hard for you to focus because you are TOO comfortable. Professors love to pick out the student who wear pajamas to answer questions because they are generally the less prepared, not focused students, and they are also more likely to fall asleep in class. 
Bottom Line: NO PAJAMAS.

What to Wear Instead: Yoga Pants with a tank top and sweatshirt, also sometimes sweat pants(this depends on the pants, there are so many nicer looking options nowadays that sometimes sweatpants are a viable option). Yoga Pants are acceptable classroom wear, but I would stick with just basic black ones and then pair it with a tank top and a sweatshirt, or a t-shirt. Sweatshirts are a good choice, especially during the winter (because it’s cold), but also all of the time because class rooms are generally freezing. Sweat pants and a t-shirt are also acceptable most of the time, as long as you look decent, not sloppy, and don't look like you literally just rolled out of bed.

I wanted to focus mainly on Pajamas because they seem to be one of the biggest things not to wear. Then I decided to make this nifty little chart here to show you some comparisons on what is appropriate vs. what is not.

WHAT TO WEAR	WHAT NOT TO WEAR
Jeans	Leggings as Pants (Unless you legitimately think you can pull them off)
Shorts (of an appropriate length)	Pajamas
T-shirts	Shirts with holes in them
Tennis Shoes, Boots, Flip flops, ect. (almost any shoe is appropriate besides heels)	No shoes (Please wear shoes…PLEASE.)
Business Casual Dress (Polo’s, khakis, blouses, ect.)	Any dress that might be worn for a night out, a prom dress, or to the club
Yoga Pants, Sweat pants	Heels (Unless you absolutely must, and if you do be smart and take a pair of flats)
Jackets, Sweatshirts, Cardigans	Crop tops (Without a tank underneath)
College themed gear	High school themed gear (Dear freshman, this means NO LETTERMAN JACKETS.)

 And now some pictures of college appropriate dress, for inspiration and reference!

A great outfit for those days when you want to dress comfy but not look like you just rolled out of bed. Original Photo Victoria's Secret

A great simple outfit for a cold school day. Original Photo here

 This would be a great spring outfit for school! Original photo here
 
I think this Lilly Pulitzer popover would be great to wear when its just a little chilly out.
Original photo here

And then every girl should have a great statement hoodie that will get some laughs, but keep you warm. Original photo here. It's also great to have a watch so that you can always get to class on time. I'm loving this turquoise one from Modcloth. Original photo here.

Do you have a favorite item or go to outfit for class? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!