Fun (Free) Summer Activities

As a college student I know that money is always tight. Especially during the summer a lot of college students are trying to work and save money or are just short on cash in general.  But just because you might have little to no money to spend does not mean that you can’t have a fun summer. So without further adieu I have compiled a list of fun things that you can do that cost mostly nothing.

1.  Look for free activities in your town

 - A lot of towns offer tons of fun free activities, and they are often easily found just by googling the name of your city and free events. For example my city has a calendar with the different events and offers different things such as outdoor movie nights, and an art walk.

2. Have a girls night

- When I say girls night I mean a night in with some rom-coms, manis and pedis, and some good old fashioned junk food.

Picture Credit

3. Have a Netflix marathon

- Grab a couple of friends and some snacks or popcorn and spend the day binge watching a show. I would reccomened The Witches of East End or Nashville.

Picture Credit

Picture Credit

4. Get a public library card

- Nowadays having a public library card gets you access to a lot more than just books. Some public libraries now offer DVDs that you can check out and also eBooks.

Picture Credit

5. Go swimming

- Chances are you know someone that has a pool, or you live in an apartment that has a pool.  So take advantage of it! Go swimming, and get your tan on. But don’t forget your sunblock.

Picture Credit

You Need to Try: 2 Ingredient Pancakes

Personally i've never been big on things people deem "healthy recipes". This is generally because a lot of the time I find them to be lacking in flavor and I like my food to taste good. So when I initially stumbled across this recipe I was quite skeptical... But it turned out delicious, and it's boyfriend approved! Also I'm linking up with Katie Did What for her healthy habits linkup, so make sure and check that out for more healthy tips and recipes.

Now the original recipe is from Blogilates and you can check it out here>> 2 Ingredient Pancakes

After reading the comments I decided to make a couple simple additions to the recipe and I think that they were better with those additions. So all you need to make these pancakes are 1 banana & 2 eggs. Super simple right? And these are generally items that most of us already have on hand. I then decided to add a little bit of sugar and cinnamon to the batch I made. Now they already have some sweetness from the banana so I didn't add a lot maybe a couple pinches, and then a couple of shakes of cinnamon.

They were really delicious! And simple!

 Just a few other notes....

- They will not taste like a traditional pancake like most people are used to. Personally to me they tasted a bit like french toast, which is not a bad thing.
- Make sure to mash the banana pretty well, you don't want giant chunks of banana. Some people said they put it in a blender for a few seconds but that it makes them thinner and more like crepes.
- You want to heat your pan at about a 4 and after you make the first batch turn it down to 3.
- It won't bubble like a normal pancake before its ready to be turned, the key it to look for the edges to turn lighter then its ready to flip
-These are supposed to be about this size of your fist, any bigger and they will be near impossible to flip
- 1 banana and 2 eggs makes about 7 small pancakes, which is intended to be 1 serving.

For nutritional info check out the Blogilates link above, and they also have an instructional video!

Top with butter and enjoy the easiest pancakes you'll ever make!

Aprenda Español Con Duolingo

As you've probably noticed the title of this post is in Spanish. That is because I have found a great resource that I want to share with y'all. Whether you are a student that will need to learn or is currently learning Spanish, or someone who just wants to learn in for personal benefit this can definitely help you. I personally have struggled with Spanish. I took two years in high school, and another two in college and still only managed to pick up basic words and phrases. For me learning another language is extremely hard, and so far this tool that I have found makes it extremely easy and it doesn't feel overwhelming. I found this app because I am going to have to take Spanish again starting this upcoming fall semester and I want to go in to it with a decent amount of knowledge so that hopefully I won't struggle with it as much as I have in the past. Without further adieu let me introduce you to Duolingo.

Via Forbes

Let me say first off the Duolingo is completely and 100% FREE. And that is saying a lot when many learn on your own language programs can cost up to $400! Crazy right? (I'm looking at you Rosetta Stone) Along with being 100% free they also have android, iPhone, and iPad apps (along with the desktop version) that are also 100% free to use. So not only can you learn Spanish, or one of the other 4 languages they also offer, but I can do it from the convenience of my iPhone or iPad as well. 

Via Duolingo

This graphic above is from the Duolingo website and just shows a little bit about how the system works. I have used both the desktop site and the iPhone app so far and I think they both work great. In your lessons the way you learn things varies from you typing from english to spanish and vice versa, hearing phrases and typing them and even speaking a phrase to make sure you are pronouncing it correctly. Also you have the option to connect with Facebook and then you can connect and compete with friends, I think this is a great motivation tool because it makes it fun knowing you can compete with your friends and it motivates you to do your best.

Overall, I would highly recommend this app/ website for anyone trying to learn a language. The interface is great, its very user friendly and it actually makes learning a language fun. If something can make learning a language fun than it is definitely a winner in my book. 

Just so you know this is no a sponsored post, it is just a website that I found and love and I highly encourage you to check it out if it seems like something you might like too!

Btw - the title translates to "Learning Spanish with Duoliingo." Look you're learning already!

Color Coding Made Easy

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of BIC 4-Color pen for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

So I know that as a college student I am always looking for the best pens to take notes with. Personally I am super crazy about my notes and I love for them to be color coded because then when I go back to study I already have the important parts marked. The only hard thing about color coding is that I usually end up with 1 black pen and 5 highlighters on my desk, which takes up a lot of space and it isn't easy to keep switching between them.


Enter the BIC® 4-Color Pen. It has 4 Inseparable Colors in 1 Pen. Awesome right? I can have one pen that meets all my color coding needs, with out having a ton of stuff on my desk.

Also as a college student I know that I am always looking for cost friendly options for my notetaking as well and the BIC® 4-Color Pen is less than $6 for 3 for Amazon and Staples. That's less than two dollars a pen, and they come with four different colors EACH! That's such a steal for something that takes up less space while still giving you a ton of color coding options.

But let's be real here, as college students we don't just use our pens for taking notes. We like to doodle in the margins or spin them for fun. I know that as a former member of my high school debate team pen spinning was a huge thing even though I was never good at it. But there is a really cool video of the BIC® 4-Color pen showing how it is perfect for spinning in class.

They also have another cool video showing someone trying to use two colors at the same time, which be honest we've all tried to do.

Those were great right? Isn't it awesome how each different color has a different personality? Green is jealous of the others, but still has a soft side. Red is very punctual and likes it when things go his way. Blue is the guy in charge, and black feels left out because he thinks he is just as good as blue but doesn't get chosen very often.

Now I bet you are wondering what color I would probably use the most. It would probably be red, mostly because I'm a total english nerd. Red is perfect for making things stand out just like it's perfect for marking corrections on papers. It's bold and you know that when you mark something in red by golly it's important.

If you want to find out more about the BIC® 4-Color pen and the personalities behind them you can follow them on Facebook. Or if you just want witty updates from the personalities behind the colors of the BIC® 4- Color pen you can follow them on Twitter. Either way make sure you go snap one of these bad boys up because they are the latest and greatest note taking tool that every college student should have!

Mini Desk Makeover

So the other day I realized that my desk was a complete disaster and needed a quick refresh to make it more functional. My desk is really small comparing to some desks and while I like that it is small it also means that if I let it get out of control then it gets crazy. One textbook becomes five and then suddenly my keyboard is sitting in my lap and I'm trying to make sure nothing falls off while I'm working on something.

This is the before:

From the old Whataburger cup to the stack of books and my iPad my desk was just not working. Then there is the big pile of junk you see on the floor. Well less than 30 minutes later I had a clean more organized desk and no more junk just laying on the floor. 

This is after:

Like I said a little refresh makes a big difference. I also picked up this awesome basket from Target yesterday to corral my school books and binders to keep them from getting either left on the desk on strewn all over the floor. It's just so much better and makes me smile. Also if you can't tell by my school basket i'm obsessed with tabbing the chapters in my books #crazyaboutlabeling. Can't beat a clean desk and floor in under 30 minutes. Do you ever go on random little cleaning sprees?

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!

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!

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!

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!