Friday Five

Happy Friday! I can't believe we are nearing the unofficial end of summer. The weather in Nashville has been amazing and it's felt like fall all week. Which, is totally skewed now that I live down south. Low 80s is what I consider "fall weather", but it was so nice to have the windows open for a few days and get some fresh air in the apartment! I will not miss the humidity when it decides to go away for good, that's for sure. I also have no idea what to expect for fall and winter down here. I was told that people don't usually wear scarves and gloves - maybe for a week or two in February. What? I have 3 extra pairs of gloves in my car console and a shovel and can of sand in my trunk.... year round. 
Ponchos. I have been a little too eager for fall fashion (girl sweats a lot - I'm ready for some cooler temps) and have been scouring my favorite sites for some fall deals, and the one thing I keep going back to are ponchos. Which makes me laugh because I've had an unfortunate history with rain ponchos and one would think I would steer clear of any sort of poncho for the rest of my life. But, needless to say, I love them right now! My favorites are these from Nordstrom, H&M and this J.Crew cape. 

Shep Shirt. I love a good Shep Shirt, but have never bit bullet and actually bought one. I just can't justify spending over $100 on essentially a sweatshirt. However, I always browse the Vineyard Vines sale section, especially when they have an additional percentage off sale items. When I saw this one I was seriously about to buy it, but they only had and XXS and XS. Maybe it's being down south for almost 6 months or all of the hype around the upcoming Olympics, but.. 'Murica. 

Dr. Brandt. I received a BirchBox subscription for my birthday and was so excited to try it out (a little late to the game on this one). One of the first products I put to the test was this Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Exfoliant. I had heard of Dr. Brandt before and read great things about the products, but it's pretty pricey and never tried anything. This stuff is amazing. My skin has been a mess for some reason and I notice a different as soon as I use this stuff. 

Healthy Frozen Mocha. I can't wait to try out this recipe this weekend. I usually treat myself to a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee on Saturday or Sunday but I want to try this guy out instead with wayyy less sugar! P.S. Chocolate Covered Katie has the best healthy desserts. 

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Blue Bandana. I'm always surprised when this song comes on the radio and I like it, I've never been a huge Jerrod Niemann girl, but I love this song. I feel like it's a good end of the summer song. Follow me on Spotify to see what else I'm listening to! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! If you missed yesterday's post, I teamed up with Spongelle to try out some of their skin products! Thanks for reading! 

Day at the Pool with Spongelle

I don't know about you, but my skin gets so dry during the summer with all of the extra heat exposure and to top it off, I am the absolute worst at putting on lotion after I shower. I was so excited to team up with Spongelle and try out their Flower Buffer and Pedi Buffer. I was super excited to try out the Pedi Buffer because I hate how dry and calloused my feet get, especially in the summer, constantly walking around barefoot and in sandals. 
A little bit more about Spongelle: Their shower sponges are designed to moisturize, rejuvenate, and restore your skin. The Pedi Sponges are are infused with exotic extracts, rich moisturizers, gentle cleansers, and unique fragrances (they smell so good)- these seriously may be my new favorite product! 
I loved using these sponges. I personally love taking showers (I quite possibly may take the worlds longest showers...) and these sponges just made my showers feel so luxurious and relaxing and my skin felt amazing afterwards, especially the bottoms of my feet. And what better way to show off your glowing skin than a day at the pool?! (Disclaimer: There is a no glass at the pool policy I had to abide by, a wine glass had to be replaced by a red solo cup :) )

I hope you all check out Sponogelle (you can find their products at places like Anthropologie and Kitson, as well as a their website!) I'm so glad I got to work with them and will definitely be continuing to use these buffers!
This post was sponsored by Spongelle, but as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Friday Five: College Edition

Since I apparently gave myself a little summer vacation from blogging, I figured it would be appropriate to make this Friday Five back to school themed! Between being nostalgic (aka sad to have real life responsibilities) at the now dwindling "back on campus!" posts I've been seeing on social media and the slight hint of fall in the air, I thought I'd put together the top 5 things I learned in college. Also inspired from one of my favorite bloggers, Nicole, over on Pumps & Iron who recently did a similar post :) 

Make Your Assignments Fun. One of the best things I learned in college was when the opportunity was given, mold your assignments and projects into something enjoyable for yourself. Especially with a Communications major, we were given a lot of open-ended projects with a lot of room to be creative. I did an entire presentation on the Real Housewives of Orange County and wrote a 20+ page research paper on Ellen DeGeneres. I learned to be creative and stretch the boundaries a little which my professors really appreciated. Since I was working on something I enjoyed researching and learning more about, I ended up getting great grades and excelling in my classes. Plus, any paper where People Magazine is used as a legitimate reference is good in my book. 
Go Out On Weeknights.  I think my greatest memories from college come from Thursday nights and a little thing we UConn alums refer to as Nickel Night. Don't be afraid to go out on weeknights - in fact, DO IT. Because while I've had my share of fun weeknights post-college, more times than not I am in bed by 9pm and completely regret it the next morning if I went out the night before. Or stayed up past 10pm for that matter. So, enjoy it while you are somehow invincible to hangovers and ready to do it all over again in a few short hours.
Work Out. Staying active is way more popular now than it was when I was in school (a whole 3 years ago..), but I went from playing sports and going to the gym to not really working out my first semester, mostly because I was unfamiliar with the gym on campus. Don't be afraid to explore or take advantage of on-campus group classes. I definitely wish I took more advantage of the free classes, because those are completely unheard of anywhere else! 
Find Your Bridesmaids, Not Your Husband. This saying is so cheesy, but so true. I was talking to my best friend the other day, who I met in college, and were talking about how there have been so many weddings this summer and joking around saying we did something wrong where we didn't meet the loves of our lives in college. Luckily, we came to our senses rather quickly and came to the conclusion that we in fact did college right, and had so much fun spending every waking hour with our friends, which is something we would never get to do again. Don't worry about finding a guy, enjoy your time essentially being young and dumb ;)

Can you tell bodycon skirts with the thing to wear? 

Intern. I was fortunate enough to have three internships throughout college, and I started interning early - during sophomore year. There is no doubt that these internships helped me land a job right out of school. Take advantage of your school's resources as well as  your own resources and connections. Even if you end up interning in a field you realize you don't want to be in, you will learn professional skills, and help pave the road to figuring out what you do want to do! 
Well, that's enough of me thinking I'm wise and insightful. But it sure was fun going through old college pictures! I hope everyone has a great weekend, and thanks for reading!