Galentine's Day Link Up

Hi y'all,
It's been a hot second since I've last posted. Quite frankly, life caught up with me.
But, I have a great post to bring to y'all tonight.
Back in January, Michaela from the shore life of m, asked me and a few other bloggers if we would participate in a Galentine's Day link up. I immediately said yes because not only was this a great opportunity to give a gift (one of my favorite things), it also meant getting to know another blogger!

I was lucky enough to get to send goodies to Michaela! You can click here to check out her post.

Jenny from Breakfast at Lilly had me, and boy did she hit the nail on the head!

Aren't these adorable? I absolutely love mugs and notebooks so these two were absolutely perfect! It's been super cold in Virginia lately, so I'm about to get a lot of use out of this mug with all the hot chocolate I'll be drinking. I honestly think this little notebook is too cute to use, but I'm sure I'll use it for something fun (blog planning, maybe?).

I'm off to go study for a microeconomics test I have tomorrow (wish me luck!). Don't forget to head over to Michaela's blog to check out some great Galentine's Day posts.

 with southern grace,

Lindsey

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New Semester Prep

Hi Y'all,

It's one of my favorite times of the year: a new semester!

I decided this past fall to go back to school for a post-bac in elementary education. I have a B.A in Communication Studies from CNU. I'm slowly making progress towards this goal of becoming an elementary education teacher, and hopefully I'll be able to teach in the near future!

Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick post about how I prep for a new semester.

1. Write down important dates. I normally write them down in my agenda, this year I'm trying the assignment document to see if that helps me more (especially with half my classes being online).  The dates can range from midterms to finals, to spring break. Basically, anything of any importance goes in my agenda. I also have an application due in April and that is in my agenda as well.

2. Create an assignment document. I created mine using excel. Essentially, I made a column for date, class, assignment, and complete. That way, I can check them off as I complete them. I put the assignments in chronological order to help me as well.

Here's an example of what I have so far:

3. Prioritizing time. Every week, I make a to do list with everything I have to get done that week on it. This includes my work hours (I work 40 hours a week), blogging, etc. I try to get as much stuff out of the way as possible so I'm not running errands (and losing precious time) all the time.

4. Deleting unnecessary apps. Ok, this sounds silly, but I lose a lot of time going through apps I don't need on my phone and iPad, especially time wasting games. I try and delete them before a new semester starts.

5. Getting enough rest.  I'm constantly tired because of work and trying to accomplish a lot of things with very little time. This also means allowing myself to sleep and knowing when I have to get stuff done.

I swear by all of these things and they all seem to work for me.

What do you do to prep for a new semester?

 with southern grace,

Lindsey

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Goals vs. Resolutions + Achieving my Goals

Hi Y'all,

Today's post is all about goals, resolutions, and how I plan on achieving my goals for 2016!

First and foremost, the difference between resolution and goal:

Resolution: n. the act of finding an answer or a solution to a conflict, problem, etc. or the answer or solution to something

Goal: n. something you are trying to do or achieve, the end toward which effort is directed.

Obviously, the biggest difference is for a resolution you think there is a problem, which a goal is just something to work towards. Most people fail at their New Years' resolutions because they don't know how to achieve them.

Personally, I plan on achieving my goals this year!

I already did a blog post on my goals, but here's a quick recap for you:

I definitely sat down and thought about my goals for a while before just jumping into what they were. I also gave myself benchmarks to help myself reach them. You can find them here.

I already have a post planned for April to update y'all so we can all keep in check with our goals for the year!

What goals have you made?

 with southern grace,

Lindsey

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2016's New Year's Goals!

Hi Y'all,

Sorry for the few posts, but I ended up spending a lot of time at work and a lot of time with family this holiday season.

I originally planned on doing a Holiday wrap up post today, but instead I'm going to save that for Thursday's posts. I've decided I'm only going to blog twice a week instead of every week day, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I want my posts to be the best they can be. Second, I simply don't have the time to blog every day. I'm not a full time blogger, and I'm going back to school (full time) in January, while still working 40 hour weeks.


Anyway, tonight I sat down and really focused on my goals for 2016. I personally don't believe in resolutions, because mostly they're there for people to forget about.

I only have three because I'm all about quality of quantity.

1. Fitness
  --Workout 3 times a week.
  --Drink more water.
       How do I hold myself accountable?
         --Tracking with apps
         --Online programs like Blogilates and ToneItUp
         --Going to the occasional class
2. Happiness
  -- Incorporating more fitness.
  --Write down three things that make me happy at least three times a week.
  --Blog more--2 times a week.
       How do I hold myself accountable?
         --Writing it down.
         --Blog posts are public for the world to see.
         --Planning ahead
3. Career
  --Take classes toward teaching license.
  --Take and pass tests (VCLA and Pracis Math).
  --Apply to post-bac program (by end of April).
  --Volunteer at elementary school.
  --Apply for TA position.
       How do I hold myself accountable?
          --Studying (for classes and tests).
         --Working hard to be able to afford said tests and classes.
         --Finish everything for application far in advance (hopefully by the first week in March).
         --Setting small goals to help reach the bigger ones.

with southern grace,

Lindsey

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A Day in the Life

Hi Y'all,

Somehow it's already mid-December and the 12 days of Christmas are here.

As you probably noticed, I didn't blog much last week because I hit a very stressful period of time at work which led to a stressful period in my personal life. However, it led me to a great blog post idea! (Spoiler: It's a Day in the Life Post).

Anyways, this is what I do on a daily basis:

6:30-6:45 a.m. // wake up and start my day! AKA check Twitter, Instagram, play solitaire, etc.
6:45-7:30ish a.m. // Get dressed, eat breakfast, get ready to leave my house for the day.
7:45-9:30 a.m. // volunteer at elementary school. I'm going back to school to be a teacher, and I volunteer in a 5th grade classroom every day Monday-Friday. Since I work retail, I sometimes have days off during the week, and on those days I'm there until 1:00.
9:45ish a.m.-6:00ish p.m. // Work. I work in retail, so our hours are a little flexible (we stay open until the last customer leaves).
6:30 p.m. // dinner. I head up and dinner is usually ready or just about ready.
7:30- 8:00 p.m. // bath/get ready for bed. I get ready for bed super early so I don't have to worry about it later on when my parents are getting ready for bed.
8:00-9:30 p.m. // spend time on social media, blog, etc. I spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos and reading others' blog posts.
9:30-10:00 p.m. // turn on Netflix and fall asleep. I always fall asleep watching Netflix (it's kind of a problem).

with southern grace,

Lindsey

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Covergirl

Hi y'all,
Last week we covered everything about Maybelline, and now we're on to Covergirl.

Kicking it with Kiel James Patrick

Hi Y'all,
Today's post is literally coming at the perfect time, because I just got my latest purchase from Kiel James Patrick. I absolutely adore KJP and their business model. The basic idea is "made in America". KJP and team create as much of their product in the USA as they can. They obviously outsource materials, but everything is made in the good ol' USA. While I've never tried his apparel or shoes, I love his jewelry. It's super durable (a lot of his products are made out of rope, so they do stretch a tad bit).

They also create their own advertisement using their real life situations and use Instagram, Snap Chat, and Twitter as their primary outlets for advertisement. I personally follow Kiel, his fiance Sarah, and a few of their employees. A personal favorite of mine is Sean Gale Burke. His social media accounts are great, and it's very obvious he lives "the KJP lifestyle" all the time.

You'll probably notice they don't advertise their products on their social media accounts in the normal sense. They're wearing their products, but they never tag them unless it's about a discount code. You can often find them during the various holidays.

What is the KJP lifestyle?
Very New England. Classic, fun, East Coast, elegant, all American, "preppy".

Where can I catch up with them?
Various social media accounts, including Twitter, Instagram, and Snap Chat.
You can also check out Sarah's blog, Classy Girls Wear Pearls.

Want a chance to work with KJP?
Every summer they take interns, it's the Summer Adventure Program, and it looks so fun!

Kiel James Patrick and his crew are re-creating the American dream, one bracelet at a time.

with southern grace,

Lindsey

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*All information from various interviews, including Mimosas & Profiles