Top 5 Tuesday: January Favorites

1. B&BW Slatkin & Co Winter Cabin Candle

Both my roommate and I love this candle! I'm usually all about the sweet/foodie scents, but this one is much different. I can't think of any other way to describe it except that is smells like a boy...a very attractive, cologne wearing boy haha!

2. Crystal Light Peach Iced Tea

I have been trying to cut WAY back on my Diet Coke consumption (I'm talking one or two a week!), and while Crystal Light Peach Tea has always been a staple in my house, I have been going through a ton of this stuff! I have a big Pampered Chef pitcher that holds 2 packets of this and it takes me about a day and a half to go through one. It makes drinking water much easier!

3. my365 iPhone app

I found this app after a blog I read did a post about it (can't remember which one...sorry!) and immediately went to download it! It's a really cool way to look back on the month and see what was going on. Some pictures are completely random but that's the fun of it! If you're on my365 please let me know so we can follow each other!

4. Dance Moms

This show is the most PERFECT example of a reality trainwreck! I can't really say much more but if you're looking for a tv show to get hooked on on Tuesday nights, here ya go!

5. Tiffany & Co. Return to Tiffany Heart Ring

I've had this ring since my 17th birthday, but it has always been the once piece of jewelry I can never keep track of! I can't tell you the number of times I've lost it. It's even fallen down my tub drain and I spent 30 minutes trying to fish it out with a hanger. I lost this ring for over a year and when we were deep cleaning my apartment, my mom found it in the old Vera Bradley bag I used for school! I was SOO excited and it hasn't left my finger since!

What are you top favorites of January??

xoxo

Natalie

Monday Q&A Linkup with Shasta and Megan!

***I know this is technically going up on Tuesday but I was having some issues uploading on Youtube!*** 

New Vlog! Makeup Collection and Storage

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you would like to see more vlogs!
xoxoNatalie

Top 5 Tuesday: School Supplies

Once again I am linking up with Rachel @ Just Peachy for Top 5 Tuesday! Thank goodness for T5T cuz it has been giving me at least one post a week! I am still adapting to a new mostly work/little bit of class "real world" schedule, so if you just bear with me fabulous readers I promise things will be more frequent here!

I'm also toying with the idea of starting up my own weekly link-up. I'm not sure what the topic would be, so I would LOVE some opinions and suggestions about what kind of link-up you would like to see! Name suggestions would be awesome too :)

Ok. So my top 5 school supplies. Since I did graduate in December, one would thing school supplies would be the last thing on my mind. WRONG! For reasons I plan to go into in another post, I am taking 2 online class and 1 normal class this semester while working. So while I haven't bought anything new for the semester (yet), I do have 5 years of trial and error when it comes to supplies and I've found some pretty great products that I love.

1. Erin Condren Planner

It is no secret that I am somewhat obsessed with my EC planner! I've recommended it to a number of people. During my years of college I have used Lilly Pulitzer planners and the large notebook sized planners you can buy at Target, Walmart, etc and this is by far my favorite! If you are a person who has a LOT of assignments or likes to write a lot, the Erin Condren planner may not be for you. I think I found the planner at the perfect time as a senior getting ready to enter the real world now that classes aren't the majority of my life!

2. Pens

I am still on the hunt for the perfect pens, but these 2 brands are some pretty good ones. I have tried all kinds of pens, and always end up coming back to some type of gel. The Pilot G2 pens (bottom) used to be my all time fave, but I think I've used them so much I want something new. My mom got me a 20ct color pack for Christmas last year, so they were really helpful for color coding things in my planner and drawing diagrams for my notes. My other current favorite are the uni ball singo pens in the micro tip. I LOVE pens with micro tips...the smaller the better! If these came in all the colors the G2 pens do, they could be my perfect pens, but a girl can't limit herself to just black, blue and red!

In reading the others who have linked up the Staedtler pens seem to be a big favorite! 

Have you uses these pens before? Where can you buy them? Do they bleed through the paper (pet peeve!)?

3. Highlighters

The fat Sharpie highlighters are my favorite. My handwriting is pretty big, so I have come to prefer the fatter highlighters compared to the skinny ones. If you don't have multiple colored pens, highlighting is a great way to section your notes by using one color for definitions, another for section titles etc...

4. Hand Sanitizer

USC has a lot of old buildings, so you can imagine that sometimes the bathroom can leave something to be desired. And if you're studying late night in the library, more often then not there are no paper towels in the bathroom! So I always like to keep one of my PocketBacs on hand. This is the one I kept in my backpack all semester...candy apple is one of my favorite B&BW scents! 

5. Binder Clips 

&

6. Sticky Tabs

I have to have my notebooks sectioned off. Sometimes if I have a notebook that I only used 20 pages or so for an old class, I'll use one of these binder clips and section off those notes and viola! a brand new notebook (Ok not really, but I gotta save money somewhere haha) And the zebra print is so cute! I discovered these sticky tabs a couple years ago and they are awesome! If you don't have dividers or need to sub-section a section, these are perfect! And once they are stuck on the paper, they will stay there! Plus they are made of thin little plastic so they are very durable!

What are some of your favorite school supplies? Any other kinds of pens I need to check out?

O, and in case you didn't hear...

ROLL TIDE!!! 

This SEC girl was pulling for Alabama and boy did they roll over the tigers! That defense was pretty amazing and made me thankful we didn't play Bama this year or in the 2012 season! They are definitely a force to be reckoned with!

Also, in case you're keeping count....that is SIX SEC National Championships in a row. If that doesn't show we are the best conference in the nation, I don't know what will.

xoxo

Natalie

Top 5 Tuesday: Jewelry Loves!

Happy 2012 everyone! Hope the first couple days of the new year have treated you well. I've spent the last couple days finishing up dog sitting for my aunt and DEEP cleaning my apartment, which has been WAYYYY overdue!! My baby cousin is moving in for the semester so I needed to get all of my things out of her room and closet as well as clean out my closet and throw away all the things that had piled up throughout the semester! Now that almost all the laundry is done and trash thrown away, now comes the more fun stuff....buying new organization things! Once I have everything situated how I want it I'm hoping to do an apartment tour post that has been overdue for about 3 years!! I'm also hoping to put together my first ever blog sale!

Once again I am linking up with Rachel @ Just Peachy for Top 5 Tuesday and this week's topic is jewelry! So here are some of my favorite pieces...

1. Michael Kors Multifunction Bracelet Watch in Tortoise - My parents got me this watch for Christmas last year and it hasn't left my arm since!! I absolutely love it and would be lost without it!

2. Sapphire Ring - This was a gift for my 22nd birthday and like my watch it has become an everyday staple! Sapphires aren't that delicate of stones (compared to pearls for example) so I feel safe wearing it. I usually don't go for this style of ring (more old-fashioned) but you all know since Kate Middleton came on the scene with Princess Diana's engagement ring that this ring has been popping up everywhere. I remember looking through all the jewelry stores' flyers and every single one had a similar ring.

3. David Yurman inspired chain necklace - I bought this necklace two years ago at Columbia's Junior League Holiday market and it immediately became a regular in my jewelry wardrobe. A lot of my friends have mistaken it for a DY piece and while the quality is not exactly DY, it's still a good substitution until I can afford the real thing!

4. Tiffany & Co. Return to Tiffany Heart Ring - I got this on my 17th birthday and it was my first piece of really nice jewelry. I wore it daily on my pinky finger and eventually the band molded to how it sat on my finger because I wore it so much! I thought I had lost this after I couldn't find it for over year but during this deep cleaning I found it my old Vera Bradley tote! 

5. Mabe Pearl Earrings - I think pearls of any kind are timeless, so when my parents gave me these for my high school graduation I was SO excited! These are my daily go-to earrings and I always feel more put together when I wear them. These also started the tradition of my parents giving me pearls for a milestone event (necklace on my 21st birthday, bracelet for college graduation). 

What are some of your favorite jewelry pieces?

xoxo

Natalie

Life via iPhone

On December 15th, a very important event occured...I FINALLY got the iPhone 4s! To say I'm a tad obsessed with it may be an understatement! I've had an iPod touch for a couple years so I already had some favorite apps, but have definitely discovered some new favorites these past couple weeks! If you have any apps you just can't live without, lemme know!

I know I have been slacking on the blogging lately, so I thought I would share some photos I've taken with my new toy!

I became a college graduate on December 12th!! It was very much touch and go for a while there but I made it! I decided months ago I wanted to bedazzle my graduation cap and I am SOO happy with how it turned out!  

This was the extent of my Christmas decorations. After finishing up finals, I ended up staying at my parent's house for about a week before heading over to my aunt's house to dog sit for 2 weeks. So there really was no time to bring out my tree :( But I absolutely love my Christmas wreath so I had to put it out, and it'll probably stay up until Valentine's day (it's pink and red...it works!!)

Couple graduation presents from my aunt...in case anyone was unsure what college I graduated from ;)

I told my mom I was so excited to start reading again. Since starting college I couldn't tell you the last book I actually read. I got this book for Christmas LAST year and could never find time to read it. I'm hoping in the new year I will be able to read at least one book a month!

Lusted just a tad over a pink mixer!

Admired my parent's Christmas tree

iPhone game obsession #1

New favorite earrings I ordered from piperlime

tracked Santa on Christmas eve!

Hung out with my favorite fur baby!!

Was spoiled on Christmas morning

Probably got most excited about this gift! Mom swore up and down she wasn't buying anything online, yet somehow this showed up under the tree ;)

Hit 50,000 miles on my car...meaning I'm no longer under warranty (much to my father sadness!)

iPhone game obsession #2

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to a fabulous new year!! 2011 was somewhat of a blah year so I am very much looking forward to 2012!

xoxo

Natalie

Versatile Blogger!

Adelaide over at Sweet, Sassy, Southern, and Classy awarded me with The Versatile Blogger award! I received this award WAY back when I first started blogging, so I thought it would be fun to revisit and award it to some of my new favorite ladies!

 Rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers or however many of your choosing

2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination

3. Share 7 random things about yourself

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5. Add the Versatile Blog award picture on your blog post.

7 Random Facts

1. I did not lose my first tooth until I was 8 years old. The teeth in my mouth are 'slow-developing' so that meant I had to pull 4 teeth just to get braces, and then it took over a year for those teeth to grow in! I'll have to get my wisdom teeth taken out eventually, but at this rate my 18 year old brother will be getting his out before me!

2. I have never dyed my hair. The only chemical process I have done is a perm when I was in 5th grade...which fell out 2 days later! :(

3. I spend so much money and have so many different skin care products, but I HATE washing my face at night! By the time I force myself to go to bed (usually around 2 or 3am), I am so tired all I wanna do is take out my contacts and pass out! PS- this is why they invented make-up removing cloths!

4. I am quickly becoming addicted to Bath and Body Works! I've always had their products in my cabinet from back in high school but never were my "go-to" items. But then came the candle obsession...and everything developed from there! I wish I was at home and could take pictures of my B&BW collections...I'm talking 15+ little PocketBacs (gotta have clean hands), 10+ candles, and countless bottles of lotion and body cream! Here is what I purchased at B&BW last week over a couple days....

If you aren't signed up for their emails, I definitely recommend it! They are always sending out coupons (which you dont even have to print off...just show them the email in the store!!) or $1 shipping codes. 

ANYWAYS....back to the random facts!!

5. I eat a Publix sub at least once a week! I am a lover of almost all sandwiches, but there's something about  Publix that is just so delicious! Plus it's super convenient considering I live just across the street from one!

6. I have decided to take a couple retailing classes in January, and I am SOO excited! All i have known my college career is biology, biology...and more biology! Like a total nerd, I was on Blackboard the other day and the lecture notes for my principles of retailing class were already uploaded, so like a total TOTAL nerd I was looking through the first lecture, and I can already tell I am going to be much more interested in this stuff than what I got my degree in! Here's hoping I may be one step closer to figuring out my life?!?!

7. This past week, if I'm not a work, this is the outfit I've been rockin...

Lazy Day Outfit by swtcarolinagrl featuring michael kors jewelry

...sexy right?!?!

I give this award to the following FABULOUS bloggers...
1. Turtles and Pearls
2. Just Peachy
3. Everyday AEM
4. Coffee at Nordstrom
5. Keep it Classy, Alabama
6. Let's Be Preppy!
7. Peaches & Pearls

Top 5 Tuesday: Finals Distractions

Once again I am linking up with Rachel from Just Peachy for Top 5 Tuesday! Of course this week's topic is something that is lingering on the minds of college student everywhere...finals! I am in the middle of what is hopefully my last week of *undergrad* finals EVER! My first true final is Thursday evening and then the one that I am most worried about is Friday at 2pm.

Since I have had 4+ years of finals experience, I am an EXPERT at procrastination and finding things to distract me from studying! Here are what I have as my Top 5 distractions this exam season (in no particular order)...

1. College Football

Even though the regular season of college football is over, this post-season is giving us TONS to talk about (I'm currently watching the Experts on ESPNU)! I spent all day this past Saturday watching the SEC and ACC Championship games and now there's tons of talk about the BSC National Championship game and the Heisman. I've always been a big college football fan but for some reason this year I am OBSESSED! I love hearing all the differing opinions and we all love a good rivalry or two! ;)

2. Youtube

O my goodness Youtube is a HUGE distraction!! Yall know I am a beauty junkie and Youtube does nothing but contribute to this obsession! I subscribe to 40+ "beauty gurus", meaning I have about 60 videos sitting in my subscription box ready to watch. This also does nothing for my spending problem...so many items get added to my beauty shopping list from these videos!

**Side note: I've been thinking about doing a post highlighting my favorite Youtube "gurus". Would yall be interested in that?**

3. Law and Order SVU

Yall know this had to make the list! It's not only the show itself that causes a distraction (hello Tuesday marathons!) but its going online to watch sneak preview clips and get updated on the latest news. And it doesn't help that Mariska Hargitay has been out and about all over NYC, meaning there's tons of photos to ohh and ahh over!

Sephora Wants by swtcarolinagrl on polyvore.com

4. Sephora

A beauty junkie's dream! As a VIB Sephora sent me a $20 gift card to use but you have to spend a minimum of $50. So of course I've spend hours trying to decide what I wanted to purchase and making sure that no new items have been posted that I just have to have!!

5. Pinterest

I think Pinterest would show up on any college girl's procrastination list! At first you don't really get it, but then you start filling up your boards and it becomes an obsession! Pretty soon you have 20+ boards with hundreds of pins and you can't stop! Here are a few things I have pinned over the last couple days (click here to follow my boards!)

Source: theamericanlegacy.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: media.photobucket.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: collegefootballstore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Some honorable mentions: Facebook, Twitter (I sorta don't count this cuz I have TweetDeck so all my tweets are directly on my desktop), Tumblr, Target

What are you Top 5 distractions? How did you get yourself to focus and actually get stuff done?!?

xoxo

Natalie

MIA and Giveaway!

I know I know I've been absent from my blog for a couple weeks, and trust me I have missed it! Everyone knows the last couple weeks of the semester can be MAJOR crunch time, and of course this semester was no different!

On Thursday I attended my last classes as an undergrad. To say that it was a bittersweet day was an understatement. I didn't really have time to focus on the fact that is was my last day because in one of my classes I had 2 'make-up' tests (teacher lets you take if you don't do well on tests the 1st time), so I spent all night Wednesday studying for those, only to get to class and see that the tests were NOTHING like what the professor told us! A lot of people in this class are like me and just NINE days away from graduating, and this class is putting us in jeopardy from getting our diplomas because this teacher does NOT teach during lecture classes and tests on the most random things.

So that has been a major cause of stress for me. My final for the class is this coming Friday, and I am set to graduate on Monday. I feel like it's almost pointless to study because it obviously has done me NO good so far! But I'm going to do my best to stay motivated this week and study my a** off so I can walk across that stage!!

I hope everyone else who is knee-deep in schoolwork can keep the motivation. Just keep telling yourself that CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!! That's what's keeping me going!!

xoxo

Natalie

PS - Make sure you head over to Rachel's blog Just Peachy and enter her 200 followers giveaway! I'm hoping to get together a giveaway myself once I finish up with school!

Top 5 Tuesday: Nail Polish

Once again I am linking up with Rachel at Just Peachy for Top 5 Tuesday! I missed out last week because I was sick so when I heard this week's topic I got really excited! Nail polish is something I have recently become OBSESSED with buying. This time last year I probably had about 10 bottles, now my collection is overtaking the drawer I keep them in! I can't help it...they're just so pretty! I looked at everyone else who linked up with Rachel and NONE of these colors were mentioned, so hopefully you will find a color you wanna try!

1. OPI We'll Always Have Paris

This color will always and forever be my number one favorite! When first discovering my nail polish obsession I quickly realized that a plain black polish was way too harsh for my skin. So naturally I have accumulated a TON of colors that are very dark but not quite black. I first bought this color when it was revealed this was the color Mariska Hargitay wore to the 2010 Emmys (are you really that surprised??) and once I put it on my nails I LOVED it! It makes me feel so sophisticated and I love the deep purple color (this coming from a girl who is NOT a fan of purple!).

2. Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It

This color is the perfect color for summer! Even if I change my nail color, this is the color that I keep applying to my toes. It's such a bright red-orange color that looks great against a tan.

3. OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

I bought this color back in September when I realized I did not have ONE garnet nail polish in my collection! I had a couple reds but any Gamecock knows that red will just NOT cut it for football season! This color is the perfect shade of garnet and has the prettiest shimmers...perfect for any sunny day at Williams-Brice!

4. OPI Teenage Dream

This is the color that started my glitter obsession! I know some people think glitter polish makes you look like a 5 year old, and I do agree it may not be appropriate for all occasions, but just look at it! This color became a HUGE hit when the Katy Perry collection came out and quickly became hard to find. A big complaint with glitter polishes is that it takes ton of coats to make it look opaque, but 2 coats of this and you're good to go!

5. China Glaze Skyscraper

I haven't actually used this nail polish yet, but it is the newest baby added to my collection that I can't WAIT to try! I think it's a great glitter polish that is a great color for the fall/winter.

So as you can see OPI is definitely my favorite brand (who can resist the cute names!) but I have been a little underwhelmed with their latest collections. I was all set to buy some of the polishes from the Muppets collection, but after reading blog reviews and seeing swatches I decided to pass. Reading beauty blogs is definitely a good way to see what new collections are coming out and making lists for your next shopping trip!

Are there any nail polish colors you just can't live without? Let me know...you can never have too many!! ;)

xoxo

Natalie