How to Decorate Your Dorm for the Holidays

People all around my residence hall have begun decorating their doors with fun decorations for the holidays (my roomie and I included!), so I thought it might be fun to do a post all about ways to make your room a little more festive for the best season of the year. This can definitely apply to people not in college too - making your room cozier for winter is appropriate no matter if you're in college or not! 

+ Decorate your door 
Caroline and I thought it would be fun to put a pretty white garland on our door to keep it simple but still festive. Our neighbor has a giant red bow on hers and we're thinking this is a must as well - any excuse for a giant bow, right?! Decorating your door is the best way to add a little Christmas spirit to your floor - wrapping it in wrapping paper would be cute too!

+ Hang up lights 
We already have 2 strands of lantern lights hanging up in our room, but adding some twinkle lights or any string of lights in general adds a nice cozy vibe. Let's be real, does it get better than falling asleep with Christmas lights on?

+ Add furry accents to your bed 
Whether it's a fluffy white pillow or a warm blanket, treat yourself to a fuzzy accessory to make your bed even more snuggly. I just bought a giant white fur pillow for my bed and it surprisingly makes my dorm feel a lot more cozy. A cableknit blanket would be cute too!

+ String a tassel garland 
I already have a pink, white and gold tassel garland hanging above my window, but putting up any sort of garland by a window or on a wall is the prettiest touch. A little gold, white, green or red on your wall makes a huge difference.

How are you decorating your dorm for the holidays?

Share some fun ideas below!

xoxo

What I'm Excited to Eat at Home

(Just a disclaimer, I'm writing this post while extremely hungry at the library, so get ready for lots of food inspiration!)

Eating from a meal plan seems like it would be great, but after a while, you get really tired of having the same thing over and over. It seems like everyone at IU lives off of yogurt parfaits, burrito bowls and smoothies, which, don't get me wrong, are really yummy most of the time. However, after eating them very frequently for a few months straight, you start to crave real food! I was taking a little study break a few days ago and found myself buried deep in Pinterest food boards mentally making a list of things I couldn't wait to eat when I'm home. I plan to cook a ton when I'm back because I don't have a kitchen at school, so I thought it might be fun to share what recipes I want to make when I leave school (this Friday!!). Check out what I'm craving below **insert the heart eye emojis here**.

Breakfast Pizza with kale pesto and sun dried tomatoes 

Lemon chicken with asparagus 

Ice Cream waffle sandwiches

Tomato basil pasta 

Pear Almond tart 

How good do these all look?!

I can't wait to feast on Thanksgiving and make all of these things the other days of break :)

To all my college girls: what do you crave while away at school?

xoxo

How to Master Napping

I've never been a big napper. My whole life, I've lived by the idea that you should just stick to the sleep you get at night - I thought sleeping during the day would mess up your body more than it would help you get energy. I would also get super disoriented after waking up from a nap and would be in a weird mood for the rest of the day (anyone know what I'm talking about?!). Recently, though, I got really sick and physically couldn't get through the day without taking a little nap. I felt so guilty laying down for an hour with everything I had to get done, but it was insane how much better I felt after just sixty minutes of rest. Now, if I'm ever tired and have even 45 minutes free, I'll take a quick nap to refresh my mind! It's seriously the best thing ever (I just have to be careful to not take too many and get too used to sleeping in the middle of the day :).

I came across this article about napping the other day and thought I would share some different amounts of time you should sleep depending on what you have going on. I try to limit myself to an hour, but apparently even 10 minutes can be enough to energize you!

*via

+ The Power Nap: 10-20 minutes

This one is the best amount of time to sleep if you want to get right back to work. 

+ The Nasa Nap: 26 minutes

These 26 minutes are proven to improve pilot performance and alertness by 54%. It's best for a day when you know you'll be working late. 

+ The Slow Wave Sleep Nap: 1 hour

60 minutes is the perfect amount of time to help your memory recall places, faces, facts, etc. If you have a big presentation, this is the one to do! 

+ The Full Sleep Cycle Nap: 90 minutes 

Helps creativity, emotional memory and procedural memory. This nap is best before an exam or project you have to work on.

Another fun fact is that it's best to nap between 1:00 and 4:00, dim the lights and sleep in a room that is between 60 and 70 degrees. 

Are you a big napper? 

xoxo

How to Do a Smartphone Detox

Lately I've been noticing that I'm more addicted to my phone than ever. It's gotten to the point where I have to have my friends take it from me in the library so I actually get work done without getting distracted every 15 minutes. In my defense, you actually really need your phone for a lot of different things in college - it's essential for communicating for group projects, checking syllabi on the go, responding to emails, etc. Either way, I've decided I need to do some sort of phone detox for a few days. For the past few classes I have been keeping my phone in my backpack the entire class (rather than Snapchatting, oops) and I have to say, it's kind of refreshing. As I was thinking about this idea, I came across this graphic on Pinterest and knew I had to share it with you. I think I'm going to try to do it over Thanksgiving Break when I don't have to constantly be checking my phone!

*via

Have you felt addicted to your phone lately?

Comment below!

xoxo

Finding the Balance

If someone were to ask me what was the most valuable thing I have learned so far in my first semester of college, it wouldn't be how to make an Excel spreadsheet or how to reduce a matrix, but rather how to balance a crazy schedule. After a few weeks of school, it quickly became apparent that you have to always be on top of everything going on, from syllabi to meetings with advisors to even sorority events. Having a planner really helps in scheduling out every minute, but there are only so many hours in the day to have things going on before you start going crazy.

*via

Last week in particular I found myself really stressed out, not being able to focus on one task without panicking about another coming up. I was staring at a Finite problem for nearly 20 minutes before I realized that my brain was too fried to even understand what it was asking. Even though it's definitely important to prioritize getting all of your work done every day, taking enough time to sleep and eat well should be high up on your to do list as well. It got to the point where I would barely get enough sleep and would run on mochas in order to get everything accomplished. While part of that is how college goes, I definitely could have done a better job of balancing sleep with studying and being social. Trying to get everything done efficiently here is a struggle, but it's all about finding the balance to make sure you don't go crazy. It took getting a really bad cold for me to realize that I had to slow down and prioritize my health before staying up way too late to get everything done. 

All of that being said, you can probably imagine why I've been a little MIA in the blogging world lately. Producing new content for citrus & style is one of my favorite things in the world, but unfortunately academics have to come first right now. It kills me to not be constantly Instagramming, posting new Snapchat stories and shooting new outfit posts for you guys, however staying on top of school has to be my priority. After all of these weed out classes are over, I definitely will have more time to focus on my blog! Until then, I hope you can understand why things are a little slow over here. 

How do you balance it all?

Happy Halloween!

xoxo

Lucky U Box Review

Yesterday I got back to my dorm after a long tiring day and saw that I had a delivery notification. Let's be real, there's nothing that brightens up your day then hearing you have a package! I had no idea what it was, but was so thrilled to find out that Lucky U had sent me one of their college care packages. If you're unfamiliar with Lucky U Box, it's a website where you can subscribe for a few months of curated care packages or simply order one box like their adorable Birthday one. They're a tiny bit pricey, but are seriously so worth it considering the delicious things that are included. 

They sent me the cutest October box stocked with both healthy and more indulgent goodies (aka the perfect combination for a college girl that is trying to eat well the majority of the time but likes some real candy here and there!). I loved the pumpkin themed stuff (call me #basic) and was so excited to try out some brands of food I had heard of before, but never got around to testing out. Let me tell you, I will definitely be buying a bunch of these things on my own once they're gone! 

 I now have the best supply of little study snacks built up - and it's even more fun because so much of it is seasonal! 

Have you heard of Lucky U Box before? Definitely check it out if you are in college or have friends that are - it would make the perfect surprise or birthday gift for someone! 

xoxo

How to Survive 8 am's

If you're like me and went into college thinking you'd loove 8am's (seriously, what was I thinking), then you're most likely having some trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I have dreaded 8 am classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday this semester, so I can tell you from personal experience that they are pretty difficult to deal with. I've finally started to accept the fact that they won't get any better, and luckily I've come up with some ways to make them slightly less painful.

Set multiple alarms
I have somehow never fallen back asleep after my first alarm at 7, but I know plenty of people that have slept through both their 8 am's and 9 am's on a regular basis. To make sure this doesn't happen to you, I highly recommend setting multiple loud alarms to ensure you get up when you need to.

 Have you backpack already packed
I made the mistake of having to get everything into my bag while getting ready a few weeks ago, and I ended up forgetting my Spanish textbook for class. Needless to say, you'll sleep a lot better knowing everything is ready to go when you wake up.

Eat your breakfast on the go
Belvita bars are my new obsession, and I have one sitting out every morning to grab and eat while I walk to class. As much as I would love to have the time to sit down and eat a big breakfast, I would much rather get the extra 15 minutes of sleep. Keep a stash of quick breakfasts to eat on your walk to class and it'll make life 100x easier.

When in doubt, take a 90 minute nap
I personally am not one to nap because I always wake up super groggy, but everyone in college seems to swear by naps. Sammy informed me that 90 minutes are the perfect amount of time to get in some good rest, so if you find yourself falling asleep in the middle of the day, take an hour and a half to get in a quick snooze.

Any other tips for surviving 8 am classes?

xoxo

My Dorm: My Bed

Happy Wednesday! I'm so happy to finally be back with another "My Dorm" post - this time sharing pictures of my bed at school. To be honest, I have to say that I think I like my bed in my dorm better than my one at home. It has a 3 inch Tempur-pedic mattress pad so it's really thick and squishy, and the duvet insert has cooling gels in it so I don't get too hot when I sleep (this really came in handy during the first few months of school!). Even though it's really bold, I absolutely love my bedding and I always get so excited to curl up in it every night while I fall asleep. 

One of my favorite parts of my bed is this blue and white striped pillow from Annie Selke Fresh American. You can never have too many pillows to curl up with and this one in particular is so nice because it's huuge. It adds the perfect pop of blue to the space, bringing out the pretty color in the bedding. Doesn't it just look like it belongs along the wall of my bed?!

String lights were a must for us so we have one set hanging above my bed and then another above our closets. We love turning off all the lights and then keeping these on while we watch Netflix before going to sleep. 

My white fuzzy boyfriend pillow is another piece I love about my bed. Sometimes I'll use my bed like a couch because we don't have a ton of seating, and people always love using this pillow as a backrest or to lay on on the floor. My roommate and I coincidently even got the same one! 

When it was 90 degrees outside, I made this little stand on top of our microwave so my fan would point at my bed. Not only is it great for cooling down the room but it also works well as a noise canceller (living with 40 boys on your floor tends to get a little loud!). 

Shop all of the products right here:

Bedding (Lilly Pulitzer, discontinued) / boyfriend pillow / Annie Selke striped pillow (c/o) / string lantern lights / bed light / Tempur-pedic mattress pad 

Stay tuned for another post about my tips for being on the top bunk - I've discovered a lot of must-haves for sleeping up there! 

xoxo

How to Make an Exam Study Guide

Now that I have four college exams under my belt (one in Finite, one in Spanish and two in Psychology), I can finally say that I am starting to get the hang of preparing for them. While every exam obviously covers different kinds of concepts (ex. my Computers in Business class is very different from Spanish), I thought I would  break down my basic routine for reviewing information before an exam. I used my Psychology study guide as an example because I felt it was the closest to a traditional exam that a lot of other college students might have (aka based on information from readings and lectures). 

The first thing I do to start studying is go through all my lecture notes and figure out what I need to know. My Psych professor often gives us "study notes" with key concepts to review, so I'll go through and read over that information. I write out a bunch of terms and general information regarding that topic, referencing both my lecture notes and the textbook to be sure I have accurate definitions. 

After I write everything out that I have to know, I make a Quizlet with all of the important terms. I study these like crazy until I know all of them. Take advantage of the test setting if you have a multiple choice or True/False exam!

Finally, I recently started talking through all the material with someone. I've never done this before but I did it before my last Psych exam and it was actually really helpful. You aren't aware of things you don't know until you talk to someone else, so talking through it with another student in your class will benefit you more than you think! It also makes you think more about the big picture rather than little terms here and there. 

Remember: the key to doing well on exams is starting early! In high school you could usually get away with starting one or two nights before, but that is very rare in college. For your first exam in a class especially..... make sure to get ahead! 

I love reading about tips for studying, so if you guys want me to write more study related posts let me know! With midterm week coming up Monday, I'll have lots of material to share :)  

How do you study for exams in college?

xoxo

5 College Wardrobe Essentials

Now that it has finally cooled down outside and I can wear something more than an oversized tee and Nike shorts outside without sweating to death, I've come up with 5 key essentials that are wardrobe musts for college girls. I swear all 5 of these very often and highly recommend investing in them if you're in college (or high school too!). 

pullover / baseball hat / blazer / flip flops / leggings

+ baseball hat
For days when your hair is driving you nuts or you didn't have time to wash it, I always throw on a baseball hat. I wore these a lot in high school but even more so now that I'm in college. It's always so humid here so my hair puffs after being outside for too long - trust me when I say having a few to rotate through is a lifesaver!

+ neutral flip flops
A ton of both boys and girls wear Rainbows here and at first I was really skeptical to purchase a pair because they didn't seem like something I would wear. After realizing that I didn't want to be wearing my Jack Roger sandals all the time, I caved in and have literally worn them daily ever since. Whether you're walking around on your floor or running to the dining hall for a quick bite, having a comfortable and versatile flip flop is really handy. I wear these to my heavy class days all the time and they're actually super supportive!

+ cozy pullover 
60 degree weather means I can fiiiinally take out my cozy sweatshirts and pullovers! I've honestly never been happier that it's colder outside - I need to stock up on another pullover or two because I already know I'll be living in them for the next several weeks. I adore my Southern Proper one - highly recommend if you want something more unique than the classic Patagonia snap t version.

+ blazer
If you're going into business or are planning to join any clubs that involve networking, having a blazer in your closet is a MUST. Investing in as much business casual/ professional is very helpful because you don't realize how often you'll need it until you get to college. I love my J.Crew one but would say any good quality blazer would work.

+ leggings
This is quite obvious but it didn't hit me how much I would be wearing leggings until this week. I lived in my Nike Shorts for both going to class and working out, so now that it's cold outside, leggings are my go-to. I have yet to pull the trigger and buy a pair from Lululemon, but I think that will have to happen in the near future! I prefer dark gray ones so I can wear them with my navy bean boots, but having a few pairs on hand would be a great idea.

What are your college wardrobe essentials?

xoxo

How to Move on from Mistakes in College

Rather than share a blog post about something fashion related today, I wanted to be real with you guys and vent about something that has been on my mind these past few days. This is going to be a long post, so prepare yourself :)

It took me a few weeks to realize it, but college can be really cruel sometimes. There are many aspects of college that this can apply to, but recently I've suffered from it in an academic way. I've always been a very conscientious student, never missing a homework assignment and studying as hard as I can for every assessment with which I'm presented. Of course there are those few occasions where I slip up, but in the past, my teachers have seen that I'm a hard worker and usually give me the benefit of the doubt if I mess up on one assignment. In college, however, there really is no room for error. Late work is very rarely accepted, and it's usually quite hard to recover from a bad exam or even quiz because they count so much for your overall grade. I constantly feel like I'm playing a game of operation, tip-toeing around different traps that will set off an alarm if I accidentally touch them. 

Everything was going really well the first few weeks of classes. I had a good handle on my homework, I developed a routine of when I did what homework, and my grades were right where I wanted them to be. Then, course loads really started to pick up. I'm in a couple "weed out" classes (which are basically difficult entry level courses that determine if you're able to handle certain majors or not) that I knew would be difficult, but that I guess I underestimated. In high school, I was used to going to my teachers a few times if I was having trouble understanding a concept, then practicing them and ultimately figuring it all out. In college, though, a lot of my classes deal with things I've never even heard of, much less understand right away (ex. Access queries, Finite intersections and unions, etc). A lot of people who were once in my shoes told me that everyone has trouble in these classes, but I just assumed that with my motivation to do well, I would be fine. Now that these classes have significantly picked up, I have discovered that it takes a lot more than a desire to do well to actually receive good grades. In college, you have to put 100% of your effort into most classes, constantly doing practice problems, going to office hours for help and going above and beyond to complete your assignments. With everything going on from academics to clubs to social events all while trying to get a decent amount of sleep, I thought I was doing a good enough job of balancing it all. 

Out of no where, I realized I completely forgot to submit a normal Spanish assignment online. We're expected to complete the homework, submit it online and bring a printed out copy of it to class to go over. I went through the homework thoroughly, printed it out to bring to class, reviewed for my Finite quiz and went to bed thinking I had done everything on my to do list for the day. A few days later, I got my grade back for the homework and saw that I received a 0/10 on it. I was shocked thinking it had to be a mistake since I always did my Spanish homework at a certain time each day, and remembered doing it too. Then it occurred to me that I never clicked submit on it. Knowing the policy that late work is not accepted, I still went to my professor and explained the situation to him. Deep down I knew he wouldn't give me credit, but I thought it was worth a shot because I tried super hard in his class. Unlike high school, rules are rules and he said that there was nothing that could be done about it. I was so upset not only because it isn't like me to not turn in homework, but because it dropped my overall grade that I worked so hard to earn, all over a tiny mistake. 

That was a pretty long rant to share a simple point, but I thought I would share it with you because I always want to be honest with you guys about things I've learned at every point of my life. As frustrated as I was after making a little mistake here and there, I've come to realize that even though it's hard not to get worked up about these sort of things, I just have to accept them and move on. Things are going to happen and you really can't do anything about them but try harder the next time. This applies to college, but also life in general. Don't sweat the small stuff because you can't go back and change them, but you can make a stronger effort to do better in the future. 

With that said, I hope you all have a great week! 

Have you ever been in a similar situation in high school or college?

xoxo

10 Dresses for Formal (or Homecoming)

Happy Tuesday! I took off for Labor Day and am back today with a requested post - formal and homecoming dress ideas! I seriously miss the days of having to find a homecoming dress in the beginning of September. After 4 years of hunting for the perfect dress every fall, I think I've finally found some awesome websites that always have great options for whatever occasion you might have. I always make sure that the dresses are a) perfect for the dance, b) able to be worn for other events and c) at a reasonable price point. My two favorite places to find pieces that work with those three ideas at the moment are Tobi and ASOS (I bought most of my homecoming dresses from ASOS in the past!). Check out the guide I've put together of 10 dresses I love from these two places below. Shop any of the dresses by clicking on the links or using the scrolling widget. 

one / two / three / four / five 

six / seven / eight / nine / ten 

Have you been having good luck with dresses anywhere in particular?

Happy shopping!

xoxo

My Dorm: Closet Organization

I've been waiting for so long to be able to decorate my own little dorm at school and now that I've finally been able to, I'm so excited to share it with you! So, today I'm starting a new series called "My Dorm" where I'll share how I put together specific parts of my room (and I'll have a full dorm tour at one point as well, obviously :). First up: my closet organization!

Surprisingly, my closet was one of the first things that really came together well in our room. It was the part I was stressing about the most because I didn't know what it would look like until I arrived on move in day. Luckily, there is a Bed Bath and Beyond 5 minutes away so I was able to stock up on more storage drawers at the last minute. My roomie and I are really lucky to have so much storage (our closet is basically one entire wall of our room) both in the closet itself and then above it in compartments as well.

For shoes, I highly recommend some sort of shoe rack or, in my case, a giant bin to toss all my shoes in. I love this large Scout bin for storing all my shoes because a) it was so easy to throw everything in and pack it all in the car and b) it makes my shoes look a lot neater in the actual closet itself. Not to mention, they have so many color options to match your room color scheme! How cute is my blue and white striped one?! They also have a smaller size if your closet isn't as wide.

Since we don't have a dresser, I bought 5 giant plastic drawers from Bed Bath and Beyond and stacked them in one side of my closet. (For some reason I can't find them online, but they will most likely still have them in stores for a long time!) I brought a ton of tees and nike shorts (my new uniform #socollege) that obviously can't be hung up, so I didn't really mind losing the additional clothing rod space. They are super sturdy and work really well - plus they're not crazy expensive either.

As far as hanging the clothes, I bought 50 of these skinny hangers from Bed Bath and Beyond and they are such lifesavers. I thought 50 would be too many but I'm actually already running low! Take my advice: find the skinniest hangers you can and you will save a lot of space! The lady at the store said she wouldn't buy any other hanger and I'm so glad I listened to her.

I was concerned about my purses being stolen, so I used a command hook to hang them up in a spot that is pretty hidden in the closet. I don't use them that often so this is the perfect little place to put them. For baseball hats, I did a similar thing and hung another command hook on the other side to store them. It looks kind of cute, don't you think? These pink and white striped storage bins are the perfect pop of color that my closet needed, and store so much stuff in a cute way. Thank you to the Annie Selke Company "Fresh American" for such a fun addition to my otherwise boring closet! 

Then to dress up our plain doors a little bit, I hung my custom made prints by the adorable shop A Mint Macaroon. Rebecca reached out to me and we worked together to create the prettiest prints for my dorm. She was so fun to work with and her prints are at great price points for college girls! Highly recommend checking her out if you want to create some art pieces for your space. (Isn't the bottom one that says "happiness is chips and guacamole" too funny?)

For all my college girls out there: how did you organize your dorm closet?

xoxo