My Goals for the Semester [A College Girls Blog Tour]

Hey y'all! Today, I'm trying something new. I wanted to share this post about my (mostly) academic goals for the semester and I also thought that there were a couple other college bloggers who might want to join in as well! So we decided to make a mini blog tour out of it. If you enjoy this post, please visit Gina, Jordan and Aly and see their semester goals!

I'm already two weeks into my semester and already I can tell it's going to be a good one. I'm settled in with friends and into the swing of classes and I'm ready to make some great things happen. Here are my plans for the semester!

1. Get all As. Last semester, I came sooo close and ended up with one B+ (which happened to be my first ever--it was a sad day). I'm in some tough classes this semester (chemistry, agricultural genetics, intermediate french...) but I'm seriously determined to show that I'm as sharp as always. 

2. Follow my planned sleep schedule. Because I'm totally the kind of person to feel proud of myself for getting in bed at 10:30 and then to watch Netflix until 1 or 2 am, I've set goal bedtimes and technology-free times for each day of the week, depending on what time I have to get up in the morning.

3. Invite people to the lunch/study/the gym/events with me. I meet all sorts of interesting people in class but the hard thing for me is taking those acquaintances out of the lecture hall and making them into actual friendships. I think making a study group is an easy first step and then maybe following some studying with some burritos (because yes please) and then we'll pretty much automatically be best buds. Maybe. 

4. Go to office hours. I'm actually really, really bad about going to office hours. I think I've been to maybe two office hours, ever. That's pretty bad, This semester, my goal is to visit my professor's (or TA's) office hours in the first month-ish of classes. But I may get tripped up by the fact that one of my professors' offices is more than two miles from me. Two miles! That's a long way to walk just for office hours. So we'll see about that one...

5. Set aside at least two hours a day of non-schoolwork-related technology-free study time. That means no social media/blogging/texting/Trivia Crack for two hours a day. I did this a few days during exam week in the fall and it was amazing! I'm going to try to make this a near daily habit.

What are your goals for the semester (or next few months)? Please go visit the other girls' blogs! :)

Weekly Goals #39

(Death to the Stock Photo)

The big week is here! I've tried to keep it on the down-low a little bit, because sometimes it's weird to be below the average blogger age, but this week I'm moving to Florida for college! Obviously, that's super exciting and brings its own set of concerns and expectations--I can hardly think about anything else!

So naturally, this week's goals are allll about college. But first, let me recap my goals that I made for August.

August Goals Update:

+ Stretch myself for school, socially. School hasn't started yet so I haven't reeeeally done this, but I've been chatting with some people so I can hopefully jump right in!

+ Finish all design projects before move-in. I'm close but definitely not done. I finished one design (Salt and Sweet Sugar--to be featured soon!) but I still have one with a little bit of work left. But, we've nailed down the real mood of the design + the rest should be easy peasy! I plan to take the first month of school off from design, but if you would like to book a spot for a Blogger design starting towards the end of September, email me!

This Week's Goals:

+ Go out of my way to introduce myself to new people. I usually totally suck at this + just wait for people to approach me, but I'm gonna get out of that stupid comfort zone and say hi to everyone! 

+ Find at least one organization/activity/thing to be involved in. It doesn't have to be a super long-term thing but I at least want to go to events and such this week.

+ Remember to blog! I know it's silly to blog about remembering to blog but I'm sure I'll be busy + I want to put it on paper (/the internet) that I'll still be blogging this week!

What are your goals this week? Any advice for college students?

5 Back-to-School Essentials for Studying

This post first appeared as a guest post (by me) on the Duchess of Plumewood.

So y'all probably know that my blog is mostly centered around design, productivity and my lifestyle, but what you may not know is that I'm a microbiology/cell science student. And as I get ready for classes to start up again this fall, I'm getting ready for all the studying and work that comes along with being a student.

I'm all about finding ways to make sometimes tedious things (like studying or work) suck a little bit less. I love taking care to brighten up a desk--because if you work at a desk all day, then those things brighten up your life. 

So these are my essentials for a bright, happy study session. A sunny print to remind you to keep working. A plant to keep your desk feeling fresh. A chic backpack for when you need to relocate to the nearest coffee shop. A poppy calendar to keep track of everything. Unique pencils for writing down all your genius thoughts.

Calendar Notepad / Positivity Print / Fabric Plant Bucket / Striped Backpack / Wood Pencils

What are your study essentials?

Weekly Goals #38 + August Goals

(photo)

I've said it before and I'll say it again--I can't believe it's already August. I know I say that every month, but this month it's even more of a shock since for the last six months or so, college has felt so far off--"in August". But now August is here! I move in two weeks from today which is just crazy exciting and scary and I'm going to stop writing about it right now because I'm freaking myself out. 

How was your weekend? I spent my weekend with family, sailing and rollerskating with friends (yes, that's actually something people do regularly in southwest Michigan). On Sunday, I leave to go back to NC (aka work is over!!) and then less than a week later I move in! Lots going on around here.

Last Week's Goals:

+ Exercise 120 minutes. I think I got this one. I went for an hour long walk one day, swam one day and rode my bike one day, but I'm not positive on time. Just so you guys know, I'm aware that two hours of exercise a week isn't adequate (especially when it's half walking!) but for now, I'm choosing to spend more of my time working and with friends. Once I'm home and settled into school, I'll be exercising a lot more (hopefully). I chose not to run the 5k because all of my friends were working + I didn't want to do it on my own. No worries, though.

+ Find a new podcast. I fell back in love with This American Life and started listening to NPR's All Songs Considered and Scientific American's 60-Second Science. Both are great!

+ Comment on three blogs a day. Again, I didn't reeeally keep track and I know I missed a day here and there, but I generally did a good job of keeping up with my feed.

Last Month's Goal:

+ My big goal for June was to continue my lettering so that I could sell some pieces at the fair in my town. I did some lettering this month but the pieces I chose to sell were largely digital art and so I didn't spend as much time on hand-lettering as I planned. But really, I'm fine with that. My goal more morphed into getting pieces ready for the fair and I did that!

August Goals:

+ I'm choosing not to make goals for this week since I'll be wrapping up work + my time with Michigan friends and I'd rather just go with the flow this week. So...August goals!

+ Stretch myself for college. Figuratively of course. I'm definitely an introvert and while I can make friends pretty easily when I try, it's hard to make myself try sometimes. By the end of August, I'll have been at school for two weeks. At that point, I hope I've settled in a little bit with friends, activities, classes and etc. 

+ Finish all design projects currently open before school. This could be tough since I'm still at the beginning of some projects, but I'd like to finish those up soon so that I can take the first month or two of school off from design.

What are your goals for this week/month? Any tips on getting ready for college?

Weekly Goals #34

(photo by me, San Francisco)

Hey y'all! Happy Monday! I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who has left comments on my post the other day about why I'm choosing not to schedule my blog posts anymore (for the most part). I know scheduling posts is super convenient at times + it's certainly a good idea for some bloggers! But I decided that it's not the best thing for me or my blog right now.

I've got a fun but pretty relaxed day today. Earlier today, H and I went out for lunch at one of my fave Italian places in town. They're famous for their Nutella Pie! Yummmmm. This afternoon, my mom and I are getting our nails done--they need sooo much repair after two weeks of hiking and rock climbing and whatnot. So that really needs to happen. And then tonight I'm flying to Florida for my orientation! I'm super excited about seeing my future school again and meeting future classmates but I'm also a little anxious about it so we'll see how it goes.

Then as soon as I get home, I have to pack for Michigan (for the whoooole summer), which naturally takes forever. So I'm kind of really dreading that. Anyways: weekly goals.

LAST WEEK'S GOALS:

+ Have fun in California! Duh, I did. I'll post a recap...someday. No clue when. Life's crazy right now.

+ Take pictures! I did pretty well at this! The first week or so I was a bit shutter-happy and took sooo many pictures. But towards the end of our trip I got lazy and just told myself that someone else would take the pictures and I'd get them later. But I still have lots! I'm thinking about picking the best and offering them as a free stock photo pack. I know I'm not an expert photographer or anything but I thought I'd put them out there! The post photo from this post and the post before are both from my trip. 

THIS WEEK'S GOALS:

+ Give my room a thorough cleaning before leaving for the summer. If there's one thing I hate, it's coming home to a mess. It's gonna be tricky finding time before I leave, since I'm home for, oh, approximately 24 hours in the next week. But it needs to be done.

+ Write thank you notes. I feel like I'm drowning in thank you notes...but kind of in a good way, if there is a good way to drown. I received soo many lovely gifts + checks for my graduation and need to, ya know, thank people for giving me their hard-earned money. I've written like 25 but still have 15+ to do...so yeah. There's that.

+ Practice hand lettering at least twice. I absolutely love practicing my lettering, whether it's with a pen + ink or a brush (even though I struggle so hard at brush lettering). I'm hoping to start making some projects out of my lettering + I need to keep practicing even though life is kind of crazy right now. Even in 45-60 minute chunks, I can feel myself improving and that's exciting!

+ Respond to comments! Okay so my cardinal rule of goal-setting is to make sure I don't make too many goals...but I just have so many things to get done this week! I haven't responded to any comments since I left for my hiking trip (sorry everyone!) and I feel so bad! I've been reading them all but I want to get back to all of you ASAP!

What are your goals for the week? How do you stay sane when traveling a lot?

Long Term Goals + Dreams

As I'm getting ready for a big new stage of my life (college), I've been thinking a lot about my future. These days, it feels like every choice I make is going to determine the rest of my life. Where I chose to go to school, who I choose to live with, what major I choose to study. To make these choices, I'm having to look to the future + know towards what destination I want to aim my life. It's not something I do very often, but it's been really eye-opening + I think valuable. I find that I have a lot of dreams that just aren't compatible with each other. But I still think they're worthwhile dreams to maintain, since any one of them could be in my future!

I also think there's tremendous value in sharing your dreams with others and so I thought I'd share my dreams with you. If you'd like to share your long-term dreams with me, please link up below! I'd love to read them.

+ Graduate from college first! My plan is microbiology or biotechnology with a concentration in botany. 

+ Get an advanced degree, at least a masters, maybe a Ph.D. I wanna be smarttttt. 

+ Work in a research field for a little while or pursue graduate teaching. 

+ Grow this blog until I earn a little income off it. I don't dream of making blogging a job, but I am inspired by the idea of getting financial encouragement to continue this hobby. I haven't decided whether I will offer sponsorships in the future, but it's definitely an option. 

+ Grow a family. Whether it's just a husband or a husband/child (I can't handle more than one!).

+ Do freelance design part-time. I don't want to get a degree in design but I'm motivated to use the skills that I have, particularly for new + smaller bloggers to have an option for custom designs.

+ Open a stationery shop with my own designs. This one's a big one + might just be a dream (I've never confessed it out loud/in a post!--but that's okay). I keep coming up with ideas for cute cards with confidently quirky-cute designs and want to make them so badly! I am very interested for now in getting to make some cards for myself, just for fun. If anyone has any tips on designing for print/where to print things like that (I've heard StationeryHQ), give me a holler!

+ Become a master calligrapher and do a little freelance calligrapher for friends or family. At the very least, I'd like to continue the practice and become comfortable with (pointed pen) gouache, brush and india ink calligraphy while experimenting with different papers.

+ Write a book on science for the average person that doesn't include "cliche" science facts. I want to talk about technicalities in fungi and genes and proteins. I want to teach anyone, especially people without a science background, that the biggest beauty in our world is not because of it's colors and aesthetics, but because of its complexity. 

Now link up your dreams, pretty please, so this link up isn't all lonely!

Snippets 02.

ONE. I really, really like gardening...in theory. I've tried my hand at keeping up this little window box with some pansies and some kale and for awhile, it was going really well. My kale was growing tall and blooming with these pretty yellow flowers. My pansies were blooming and making me feel like a successful old lady. But then these big ol' bugs showed up and I have no clue what to do about them. I can't even figure out what they are, for are my googling. Like this is 2014, I should be able to do anything if I google enough. Anyways, my pansies are dying, thanks to these poopers. Sad day. 

TWO. Last weekend, I paid a visit to my future school! I'm not sure if I'm going to share exactly which school it is, but probably at some point. Anyways, it was really nice to scope out the whole living situation and trek through campus. This (very bad iPhone picture) was taken in a walkway through a ravine that cuts through from my future room to the student union (and food court, so you know I'll be walking this stretch often!). I just thought it was such a gorgeous little area tucked away in a busy, urban campus and I'm so excited to have this near me next fall!

THREE. H and I have had a series of lovely dates lately. Last week, as a particularly belated birthday dinner, we made fancy pizza. H picked up some fancy mozzarella and pesto and freshly-kneaded dough. We cooked up some chicken and fried up some quality bacon (YUM). It was just a really good-tasting and good-feeling meal and a genuinely good time with my main man. On another note, I'm a notoriously picky eater and H took me to a local Cajun place today and I tried approximately four new things. Which is about how many new foods I usually try in a year. Please be proud of me. 

What's been going on with y'all lately?

New Series // Snippets 01.

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my vision for this blog and how what I was currently doing didn't line up with that vision. I realized that I didn't just want to teach on this blog, though I truly believe that everyone has something to teach. I realized that I also wanted to show life through this blog. I want to read about what's going on in your life and though it may sound self-centered, I want you to know what's going on in my life. I believe it's a deep human instinct to want to share life with others. Why not do that through my blog?

I want to start a fairly regular series on my blog called Snippets, just about my thoughts in my daily life. I'd love your feedback and thoughts in the comments!



ONE. Some of you know that I'm going through the college selection process (yes, I'm that young). Lately though, it's been full of rejection. In the last week, I got rejected by one school, waitlisted by two others, and turned down for a women in science scholarship that I had sort of been banking on. It hasn't been easy, but I've been proud of myself in the way that I've handled it. I'm trusting that those colleges weren't the right ones for me and that there is something better in store for me. It's been a lesson in strength, in patience and in faith. I'm feeling encouraged that I still have two great schools that I like to consider (UVA is one of them!)

TWO. I love love love plants but I admit that I'm not the greatest plant mama. I've had my kale get attacked with some moldy-fungusy thing and my pansies are just getting all shriveled and brown because of all of our freezing weather. I spent some time today nurturing my little babies, pulling off the dead blooms or moldy leaves and clearing out the soil. I found it deeply therapeutic to spend time picking out the things that were suffocating my poor plants so that they can (hopefully!) live and thrive a while longer.

THREE. On a more lighthearted note, I've been using an app called Argus over the last week or two to track my steps every day. The recommended goal is 10,000 steps per day, and I find I don't even get close to that if I don't schedule in a good run or a session on the treadmill. It's ridiculous the kind of satisfaction I got when I hit 17,000 steps after a long day walking around UVA. Little victories, y'all!

5 Money-Saving Tips for (Already!) Broke College Students

hello, call me sassafrass readers! my names victoria, i live in the suburbs of los angeles and i have a little blog called poverty luxe, where i talk a lot about crafts, clothes, cooking, and learning to love living the broke life. im really, really happy that allie invited me over to guest post, because ive got some goodies that i dont think you want to miss out on. 

spring is just around the corner, which means time for college acceptance letters and time to start freaking out about how expensive EVERYTHING even remotely college related is. well lucky for you, i have LOTS of experience in being a broke college student (actually, I'm going back to school next month), and while i dont have any advice on how to make the college itself any cheaper,  i  do have a few (five, to be exact) tips to make all those little expenses a LOT more manageable. 

lets get started, shall we?

1. skip the school bookstore at the beginning of the semester. 

basically, your school bookstore is THE MOST EXPENSIVE PLACE ON EARTH to buy textbooks and you should avoid it at all costs. as SOON as you get your syllabi (yes, thats the proper plural of syllabus), head over to addall.com, and search the isbn numbers of the books you need to find the best price (actually, you may need to make a stop at the bookstore to get those numbers). the great thing about addall.com is that it not only gives you price comparisons on the book youre looking for, but it ALSO FIGURES IN SALES TAX AND SHIPPING so that you know that youre getting the absolute best price on all of the internet. 

2. talk to your professors about what books/supplies youre actually going to use. 

i know professors are sometimes scary (especially if youre at a new school), but if you really want to save yourself from buying a $100 textbook that wasnt even necessary (which, im pretty sure you do), ask them about the booklist. sometimes the book isnt very important and theres a reserve copy in the library, sometimes an old (and therefore MUCH cheaper) edition is ok, sometimes the book is on the syllabus but its not even really part of the class. any one of these things could end up saving you some money (and all of these have happened multiple times in my college career), but youll never know if you have other options book-wise unless you ask. 

3. bring your own lunch/snacks/water. 

i really shouldn't have to tell you that fast food/convenience food is way expensive (and way unhealthy) and that buying bottled water (or soda) every day adds up to a LOT of money. this gets even worse when you get onto a college campus. fun fact: i briefly attended usc (one of the most expensive colleges in america) and you know how much a bean burrito and small soda at the campus food court cost? $9. simple things like packing yourself a sandwich or an apple and investing in a reusable water bottle can save you TONS of money over the course of a semester, with the added bonus of helping you to eat healthier and avoid the dreaded freshman 15. 

4. actually, skip the school bookstore at the end of the semester, too. 

so, you know how at the end of the semester you can sell your books back to the school for about .5 percent of what you paid for them and it makes you want to cry? well, selling your books yourself on half.com (selling used books on amazon requires a merchant account, half.com doesnt) will get you a LOT more money (actually, there were times that i made a profit flipping my used textbooks). pro tip: look at the current selling price of your book and price yours one cent lower, chances are your book will be the first to sell. 

5. buy your supplies at office stores. 

at back-to-school time, the big office stores have ALL the basic supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks, index cards, etc) on sale for SO CHEAP (sometimes even just pennies). it may not be the cutest stuff, but hey, why spend $5 on a notebook when you could get one for 50 cents? 

i hope that youve found these tips useful, they helped me immensely while i was in school, so i can personally attest to their effectiveness (and i plan on using every. single. one. this time around). 

do you have any tips for saving money at school? 

p.s. if youve enjoyed hanging out with me today, please stop by the blog and say hi! and dont forget to follow along on bloglovin, Facebook, and twitter, hope to see you soon!

Weekly Wishes #9

Hey all. Today, I'm linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes. The Weekly Wishes is where we all can share our posts about goals, challenges, and wishes for the week! Last week, I had quite a few goals! Here's how I did.

• Get through my Bloglovin' feed? Ah no. But I did make significant progress! I'm just barely under two hundred!


• Get a new sponsor?? Nope, not this week. I do have a super awesome guest post coming up from Crystal at The Happy Type and I'm so excited to share! If you ever want to guest post/sponsor CMS, check out the sponsor page.


• Brainstorm topics for the first week of school posts? Yessirree sure did! Get excited!


• Make progress on school reading and college apps? Yep! I started my apps and am just waiting to hear back from my counselor before I finish!

I'm finding that my goals are just too vague so it's hard to really make progress. So I'm making a goal to make my goals more concrete (yes, my goals involve goal-making).

Now, for this week's wishes:

• Keep on truckin' through my Bloglovin' feed! I'd like in <100 ideally. Work on it a little bit everyday!


• Try to comment more on blogs! Make at least one thoughtful comment everyday--more is great!


• Plan two posts and write out one for the first week of school.


• Go home!! By this time next week, I'll be home in Charlotte! I get to see the boy eeeeeeeeee.

Now head on over to The Nectar Collective and join the Weekly Wish link up.

What were your wishes this week? If you have a blog, tweet me, or comment to motivate me and help me reach my wishes!

Weekly Wishes #8

(Isn't this gorgeoussss? It's in Norway, somewhere.)

Hey all. Today, I'm linking up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes. The Weekly Wishes is where we all can share our posts about goals, challenges, and wishes for the week! Last week, my goals were to run once, get through my Bloglovin' feed, connect with bloggers, keep my bedroom clean and learn something new.

• Ran once? Sure did! Five miles.


• Get through my Bloglovin' feed? Oh man, no. I'm closer to 300-350 now. I'm so sorry for commenting on everyone's posts from two weeks ago. I'm working on it.


• Connect with bloggers? A little bit but not as much as I would have liked. You're a blogger? Tweet @CallMeSassBlog or comment or comment on my Facebook! (See buttons above)


• Keep my room clean? Did pretty well! Not perfectly, but it was a good try!


• Learn something new? I learned about the colors you see when you shut your eyes!

Now, for this week's wishes:

• Go through my whole Bloglovin' feed (take two)! This is getting pathetic. Share your blog with me below!


• Get a new sponsor! Want to help me out? Check out my sponsor page! Starts at only five bucks!


• Spend some quality time brainstorming posts for my first week of school--it's gonna be crazy busy!


• Make progress on my school reading and start college applications!

Now head on over to The Nectar Collective and join the Weekly Wish link up.

What were your wishes this week? If you have a blog, tweet me, comment or sponsor to help me reach my wishes!