March Reflection

(View February 2012 Reflections here!)

Not much really happened in March. To me, March is just that awkward month between February and April because it's between winter and spring. Some exciting things did happen though, which I'll share!

I was inducted into National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. | In order to get into the National Honor Society, a person must have an average of A- or higher in all classes for six consecutive terms and be in all Honors classes. So basically, you have to be halfway through sophomore year to get inducted! In order to get into the Spanish Honor Society, a person must have an A- average in all classes for six consecutive terms. I qualified for both of those, so I was inducted! If you follow me on my personal Instagram, you probably saw this picture of me and my best friend after we were inducted:

(I finally had something to wear my impulse buy dress to!)

I exercised more. | The gym in my town had a free trial offer where you could sign up and use their gym for free for a week. I love going to the gym, but I don't have a membership, so I thought this free trial was great! I was only able to go four days out of the week (on the weekends) because of school and sports, but I loved going. I'm not able to have a gym membership right now because I just don't have the time. I'm planning on getting a gym membership there in the summer, though! I've exercised a lot this month, which I'm happy about because that was one of my New Year's Resolutions.

I went on the highway for the first time. | I used to be scared of driving, but I've become so comfortable and at ease with it. I've already had seven out of twelve road lessons with my driving school! My driving instructor took me on the highway for the first time this month, which I thought would be horrible, but it wasn't bad at all.

I filled out a volunteer application at the library. | One of my favorite places is the library, which is why it's so important to me. During the summer, I make weekly trips there and come out with a stack of five to seven books. After attending Human Awareness Day at my school, I really wanted to volunteer at my town library. So I filled out an application! The librarian told me I would be doing things like dusting the shelves, filing papers, making sure the books are in order, etc. which doesn't sound too bad to me.

I bought Hunter boots using Amazon gift cards. | As some of you know, I have a slight obsession with Checkpoints. After saving up Amazon gift cards I got from there, I was finally able to buy my very first pair of Hunter boots! My boots should be here sometime in April, which is perfect because I'll need them for the rainy April weather.

What are some accomplishments you've had this month?

Latest Obsession: Meditation

As most of you know, I tend to stress out over a lot of things and don't really try to find time for myself. The fact that I don't set aside time for myself could be part of the reason why I stress out so much, but you never know. While reading through one of the blogs I follow (it's totally killing me because I can't remember which blog it was!), the blogger said one habit she got into was meditation. She said starting her day off with mediating helped her to be refreshed and decrease her stress level.

So, I thought to myself, "Since it works for her, would it work for me?" That's when I decided to try meditation. It started with me going into YouTube and searching for a quick mediation video. I did a five-minute one for my first time. I actually really enjoyed it, so the next couple of days, I continued to mediate at night and searched for longer videos.

Meditation not only set aside time for myself, but it helped me to de-stress. I chose to do the guided meditation videos, because meditation is really hard to do when it's guided, so never mind doing it on my own! If you need time for yourself and/or a way to de-stress, I strongly suggest trying meditation.

Do you meditate?

Blog Post Inspiration

When I was new to blogging, I used to email various bloggers from the blogs I liked about where they got their blog post ideas from, and they all said the same thing: everything that is around them. At first, I didn't think that was much help, but I thanked them anyways. It wasn't until the traffic to my blog and amount of followers/readers started to increase that I realized what exactly those bloggers meant.

When writing blog posts, don't try to write about what you think other people will like because then it's not showing your true self. Write about what you like. Take a look at everything around you and get inspired from everything you like. My planner is full of blog posts ideas just because I write down every single thing that I like. Get inspiration for your blog from your surroundings.

How do you think of blog post ideas?

What Today Consists Of

I've never done this type of post before, so I thought I'd do it today! Today is Holy Thursday, so I have a half day and no school tomorrow. Dismissal is at 11:15 today. I have track at 12:30, so I might go out for pizza with Tyler before practice starts!

I'll be home by around 2pm, so I'm planning on showering, changing into pajamas, and then reading! Six of my friends are coming over tonight for a sleepover, so I want to relax before they come over.

What are your plans for today?

Dropbox

Dropbox is a website that allows you to store files in order to access them from anywhere at any time. All you have to do is create an account! You can even share files with a different group of people, like if it was for a group project or a company. Also, you can download Dropbox to your computer so you can open a file more easily.

I use Dropbox almost every day. It's really helpful when I'm in the library at school during study while working on a document. I can easily just upload the document to Dropbox when I'm done or have to go instead of emailing it to myself like I used to do. Emailing things to myself never seemed to work out because I tended to either accidentally delete the email or not be able to find it because of so many other emails in my inbox.

Dropbox also has an app, but I don't think I'm going to get it because I don't really need to open files from my phone while I'm on-the-go. I'll probably download it when I get my new iPad because next year, my school is putting everything on iPads... so Dropbox will be a really handy thing to have!

Do you use Dropbox?

Study Tips 101: Studying for a Vocab Quiz

As a lot of you know, my grades and schoolwork mean a lot to me. I devote a lot of my time during the week to studying and doing homework, so I've developed multiple different study habits. So, I thought I would share one with you on how to study for a vocab quiz in English!

First I make flashcards of the words out of the recycled paper I have. The flashcards have everything I need to know - the word, the definition, synonyms, antonyms, and related phrases. I love having a hard copy of the flashcards because then I can carry them with me wherever I go and study whenever I have extra time in class.

Quizlet helps me so much with studying for vocab. I make a separate Quizlet for every part I need to know - one Quizlet for synonyms, one Quizlet for antonyms, one Quizlet for definitions, and one Quizlet for related phrases. The various sets really help me to memorize everything. Making the sets and studying them can be very time-consuming, but it's worth it to me!

Along with making flashcards and Quizlets, I also start studying about a week or more before the vocab quiz. That way the information can build up in my head, and I'm not just cramming everything in before the quiz in a short period of time.

How do you study for a vocab quiz?

What I Love: Lana Del Rey

I seriously love Lana Del Rey. Her voice is so soothing, and her music always tends to calm me down and put me at ease. Not only that, she's beautiful! I mean, just look at her. I would die to have her hair in that picture.

I found out about Lana in the summer through one of my friends from New Jersey. I liked her music before anyone else really knew about her (besides people on Tumblr!), so a lot of girls from my school started to like her this year.

Going to one of her concerts is definitely on my wishlist.

Have you listened to Lana Del Rey before?

Love Story

As all of you know, I don’t really talk about my personal life on my blog. Only a few of you know that I have a boyfriend, and as of today, we’ve been dating for a year and a half. So I thought today would be the perfect day to talk about him!

I met my best friend, Tyler James Bowles, on Thursday, September 1, 2011. It was the third day of freshman year, so I was still meeting new people because I go to a Catholic high school and didn’t really know anyone there. Tyler and I ironically had five out of seven classes together, so we were destined to meet at some point. We met in biology because we sat across from each other. He loved a rapper named Chris Webby (and he still does!), so we somehow got onto that topic. We were talking about some of Christ Webby’s songs, and I was making it seem like I knew so much about him even though I only knew like one of his songs because my sister listened to him. Smooth, right?

We started texting that night because it was the start of Labor Day Weekend. I remember texting him from the time he got out of football until 10:30 that night because I was practically falling asleep. I waited for him to text me the night day because I didn’t want to come off as annoying. He texted me at around 1:30 that afternoon, and we texted the rest of the day.

On Saturday, September 3, 2011, we were texting again. I was telling him how I really wanted to see “Shark Night” because I love scary movies! He told me that we should see it later that night, so I started freaking out. I obviously didn’t want to go with just him to the movies because a. I didn’t know him for that long and b. what if he ended up being weird?! Then I would be stuck by myself with him for the rest of the night! So I brought my best friend, Sam, and she brought one of her guy friends.

When I was getting ready to go to the movies, I tried to make sure that I looked my best. I was so nervous when I got there because I had started to like Tyler! I ended up seeing two of my friends from my middle school there, and Tyler kept talking to them before the movie started, which made me so jealous for some reason. Once the movie started, everything went well and we whispered during a lot of the movie. Halfway through the movie, I was dying for him to just make a move already and hold my hand, and I was so happy when he did.

Later that night, when we were texting, he told me he liked me, so I told him I liked him too. We had a thing from September 3, 2011 (the night of the movies) until September 24, 2011, when he asked me out.

We’ve been dating for over a year and a half now! Tyler and I have had a lot of ups and downs in our relationship, but I love him. He does make me happy, and that’s all that matters.

Since I probably bore all of you with that writing, I’ll show you pictures of us now! If you follow me on my personal Twitter and/or personal Instagram, you’ll see that I occasionally tweet to him/about him and post pictures of us.

Human Awareness Day

Every couple of years, my school has "Human Awareness Day." Human Awareness Day is something that my school created. It takes place in about March or April, and my school plans for a bunch of different speakers to come in. The week before Human Awareness Day, we have to sign up for three different seminars/workshops that sound interesting to us, and we'll be placed in two of the workshops. Basically, the purpose of Human Awareness Day is to help inspire students to get involved in communities and make the world a better place.

The two seminars I got were actually two seminars that I didn't pick... Just my luck, right? Anyway, the first one was called "The Vocation to Love." It was basically all about sex ed and not having premarital sex... yeah, I definitely didn't sign up for that one. I wasn't really surprised that "The Vocation to Love" was a seminar offered though, because I do go to a Catholic high school. The second one was called "Leadership 101." That one really inspired me.

"Leadership 101" was run by a girl who graduated from my high school in 2011. It was all about how she has been involved in so much volunteer work in her community when she was in high school and in her community at college right now. It really inspired me to want to start my own non-profit organization. Her talk even encouraged me to email my town's library (one of my favorite places!) about volunteering there this summer!

So long story short, I'm really happy that my school offers this day, even though it only happens every couple of years. I have a couple of ideas for non-profit organizations that I may just want to start up one day... :)

Has anything inspired you to do volunteer work and get involved?

Tumblr

One of the sites I like to go on when I'm bored is Tumblr. I got my Tumblr forever ago in July 2010 when it wasn't all that popular. Just like Pinterest, I look at Tumblr as a virtual journal. It shows everything that interests you and relates to you.

I'll admit that I don't go on Tumblr too often. I just don't have the time for it because I also go on Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram plus tons of homework! I do tend to go on Tumblr during the summer though, because that's when I have a bunch of free time. I've thought about making a Tumblr for my blog, just like I have other social sites for my blog, but I just don't think it's necessary. It's one less social media I have to worry about!

Check out my Tumblr!

Do you have a Tumblr?

Latest Obsession: ICE Sparkling Water

I'm seriously in love with ICE Sparkling Water. It's totally healthy for you - natural flavors, no sugar, no calories, etc. ICE is sparkling water, which means it's carbonated like soda. My favorite flavor is Kiwi Strawberry because it's just so sweet!

I usually don't like most sparkling water, also known as seltzer water, because they usually taste kind of tangy to me. The after-taste usually just isn't good. With ICE, it tastes just like a glass of juice! My mom buys tons of this drink because I'm always having my friends sleep over, and they're obsessed with this drink as well.

Have you tried ICE?

Organization 101: Coupon Organizer

I came across the coupon organizer shown above at Walmart a couple of weeks ago. I'm a sucker for organization, so I just had to buy it! It was located in the dollar section for $2, which is a really good price. The organizer comes with rainbow-colored dividers and labels by the alphabet and months.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to use this for yet, but I'm planning on using it for something. I don't really think I'll actually use it for coupons because I don't buy the food and stuff at my house. It's a good size too because it can easily fit in a bag!

If you have any ideas for what I can use this for, feel free to let me know!

Do you have a similar organizer that you use?

School Winter Uniform

As some of you know, and what most of you can tell from the name of my blog, I go to a Catholic high school. I so wish that I could do OOTD posts, but I really can't because then it would be the same outfit except for the color of the shirt and tights! So that's when I came up with the idea to show you all what my school uniform looks like!

Cardigan | At my school, you either have to wear a cardigan, vest, fleece, or pullover sweater. You can take it off in class if you're hot, but you have to have it on in the hallway. Either of those must be from the company that sells uniform pieces for my school.

Button-Up | The button-up can be blue, white, yellow, or pink. They can be from any store, except the freshman this year have to all have the same brand shirts from the company that sells uniform pieces for my school!

Skirt | Compared to other Catholic schools near me, the skirts at my school aren't bad. Girls can either way skirts or tan pants, but most girls wear skirts. The skirt has to be from that certain company, but the pants can be from anywhere. The highest the skirt length can be is two inches above the knee, but pretty much every girl disobeys that rule! The boys have to wear khakis.

Tights | The tights can be black, gray, brown, white, maroon, or navy blue. I usually only stick to black, navy blue, and maroon, though.

Shoes | We can wear basically any shoes as long as they aren't open-toed, open-heeled, or have fur on the outside (such as moccasins, but most people wear them anyways!). The shoes I usually wear are Sperry's (as shown above) and Toms.

We have to wear our winter uniforms from October 1st to until we get back from spring break, which is the second to last week of April. I think that time period is too long because in October, it's still kind of warm here, and it starts to get warmer in the beginning of April.

I actually don't mind wearing a uniform. It saves so much time in the morning because I already know what to wear, and I don't have to worry about anybody judging me on what I wear because they're wearing the same thing!

Do you have to wear a uniform for the school you attend?

"Pin It" Button

One of my favorite things about Pinterest is the "Pin It" button. The "Pin It" button allows you to pin a picture that you see on the Internet right then and there. It's so time-saving because then you don't have to save the picture, open up Pinterest, and then upload the pin!

The "Pin It" button is especially helpful for my blog. I use Pinterest to upload all of the pictures in my blog posts to help bring traffic to my blog. With the "Pin It" button, I can just click on my blog post and instantly pin the picture I used! Download the "Pin It" button for Chrome here.

Do you use the "Pin It" button?

Latest Obsession: J. McLaughlin Bag

About a month ago, I came across this gorgeous J. McLaughlin Medium Sailcloth Duffle Bag on College Prep. I instantly fell in love! I love how the bag is made of sailcloth because the bag is then durable. The strap and leather handles are great if you want to sling it over your shoulder or just hold the handles. Of course, the monogram adds just the right touch to it! This bag is perfect for a weekend trip.

The only two things that bother me about this bag are the color and the price. I love the colors, but I don't know how good it would be for me to have an all-white bag. Knowing me, I would get stains all over it, and stains drive me insane! The price is a little bit too much for me... $225 is too much for a sixteen-year-old girl to pay. But maybe I can add it to my next Christmas or birthday wishlist... :)

What bag do you love right now?

Latest Obsession: Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey

One thing I've been drinking a lot of lately is Arizona green tea with ginseng and honey. I have it every single morning on the way to school in a travel thermos. The taste at first took some getting used to, but after I got used to the taste, I started to love it. Green tea has some great health benefits, such as...

- It increases your metabolism, to help you lost more weight faster.

- It can prevent diabetes and heart disease.

- Green tea reduces the risk of esophageal cancer.

- It reduces bad cholesterol.

- It delays the deterioration caused by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

- Green tea destroys bacteria and viruses that cause tooth decay.

- It reduces the risk of high blood pressure.

- It makes you relaxed to decrease depression.

- Green tea is anti-viral and anti-bacterial, so it can treat certain diseases.

- It helps with wrinkles and aging.

These benefits give me even more reasons to love green tea!

Do you like green tea?

Book Club No. 2: The Karma Club

The Karma Club by Jessica Brody is a good book, but half of the book is kind of dry. There were times that I felt like I was forcing myself to keep reading. I’m glad that I did keep reading though because it turned out to have a good ending! Here is the summary of the book that is located on the book:

“Madison Kasparkova always thought she understood how Karma works. It’s that mysterious, powerful force that brings harmony to the universe. You know – do good things and you will be rewarded, do something bad and Karma will make sure you get what’s coming to you. A sort of cosmic balancing act.

            But when Mason Brooks, Maddy’s boyfriend of two years, gets caught tongue-wrestling with Miss Perfect Body Heather Campbell, and absolutely nothing happens to either of them – except that they wind up the hot new couple of Colonial High School – it seems like Karma has officially left Maddy in the lurch. That’s why Maddy and her best friends, Angie and Jade, decided to start the Karma Club – a secret, members-only organization whose sole purpose is to clean up the messes that the universe has been leaving behind. Whether they’re modifying Heather Campbell’s acne cream as part of “Operation Butter Face,” or righting a few wrongs when it comes to Angie’s and Jade’s own slimy exes, they know they’re just doing what Karma should have done in the first place. They’re taking care of one another.

            Sometimes, though, it isn’t wise to meddle with the universe. Because it turns out that when you mess with Karma, Karma messes back. Now Maddy must find a way to balance her life for good, even as everything around her seems to be toppling to the ground.”

For some reason, reading this book inspires me. It inspires me to want to go to a spiritual center for individual growth, it inspires me to read books about karma, it inspires me to meditate, and lastly, it inspires me to do another writing project in the near future… :-)

So, what do you think of Karma?

P.S. Check out the first book club on Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot!

Handwritten Cards and Letters

One thing I wish was still around is handwritten cards and letters. When they were more common, I was too young to have anyone to send a letter or card to. I just think it would be so fun to send someone a letter in the mail to open. I barely get mail, but when I do, I get so excited. It makes me feel like a little kid again!

If someone wishes someone a happy birthday, it's over text. If someone wishes someone else a merry Christmas, it's over text. Why can't we send birthday cards and Christmas cards in the mail any more? This really got me thinking during Thank You Card Week and when I read a guest post on Chloe's blog about the anatomy of a thank you card. I wish I could still send people cards and letters in the mail.

What do you think of handwritten letters and cards?

P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway!

Latest Obsession: Amazon

It wasn't until about a couple of months ago that I realized how much stuff you can get from Amazon. Seriously. You can get anything - clothes, office supplies, books, you name it and it's there. I have an account that has a huge wishlist of everything I want!

I really didn't get anything from Amazon until I started getting $25 gift cards to Amazon through Checkpoints. That's when the obsession happened. I realized that I had free money to get anything! So if there were office supplies I wanted, I didn't buy them in stores. I bought them on Amazon where I could basically get them for free.

Those Hunter boots I tweeted a couple of days ago? I got them off of Amazon! I saved up enough gift cards to buy brand new Hunter boots, so off I went and bought them! Amazon also sells items cheaper than they are in actual stores, which is a plus.

Do you use Amazon?

P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway!

Keep Calm and Carry On

As some of you may know, I get extremely stressed out and worried about my grades and any upcoming tests/quizzes. I want to get really good grades, so I worry that my grades won't turn out the way I want them to. Stress is seriously taking over my life, and it shouldn't. It does nothing except make a person miserable.

Whenever I get super stressed, I just remember this quote. It's so relevant to so many things. When I can feel an anxiety attack coming on, I just think to myself, "keep calm and carry on." My English teacher passed little cards out with this saying (which are now on my corkboard collage!) during her midterm, and it honestly made my day. It reminded me to just remain calm and keep going because if you're stressed about something, you don't have a high performance level.

So whenever your life gets tough, remember these five words: keep calm and carry on.

How do you deal with stress?

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway and Frannie's giveaway!

Study Tips 101: Quizlet

Quizlet is a website that allows you to make online flashcards for school. It's literally my lifesaver when it comes to studying. I make Quizlets for everything - people and places for history, vocab words for English, vocab words for Spanish, etc. I use Quizlet all the time. In my opinion, it's better than using actual flashcards. You can alter the settings so that you either have to type the word or type the definition.

Quizlet has an app, which is even better! I have the app on my phone so that while I'm on the way to school, I can be studying. Or while I'm in class, I can be studying for a quiz/test that's next period.

College Prepster Bracelet

As you may know, Carly Heitlinger is one of my many inspirations. While looking through her blog one day, I came across one of her pieces of jewelry. And I fell in love with it.

The College Prepster Bracelet. Isn't it adorable?! It's two of my favorite things in one: monograms and jewelry. I prefer the silver over the gold, but that's just me. The price, $198, is a little expensive for me, so I'm thinking of asking for it for Christmas or my birthday next year.

Do you like the College Prepster Bracelet?

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!
P.P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway as well!

Twitter

A great social media tool is Twitter. Twitter makes it easy for people to see what's going on in the world with friends, celebrities, etc. I love it. I'm always interested by what other people are doing, and I always find out so much information through Twitter.

Twitter is also an excellent way to spread word about your blog. With my Twitter for my blog, I post a link of each blog post every day so my followers can easily click on the link and read my blog posts.

Why do you love Twitter?

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!
P.P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway as well!

How to Outline a Chapter in a Textbook

A lot of the people at my school ask how I study for certain tests and quizzes. Since I shared my tips with them, I thought I would share my tips with you guys, too! I'm only going to share one tip with you guys today though, and that's how to outline a chapter in a textbook.

My history class is extremely difficult. The best way to study for my teacher's tests in that class is to outline the chapter and study from the outline. Chapters in the textbook I have for that class aren't broken up into different sections; it's just roughly 30-page chapters with little subtitles. I like to get the outline done right when we start the chapter so I can start studying in advance.

This is what my history textbook looks like. As you can see, it's just straight chapters. The green headlines, which you can see if you click on the picture, are the subtitles in the chapter.

This is what my history outlines typically look like. I print them on recycled paper because they tend to be eight or more pages. But now let's get to the goods on how to outline a history chapter.

How to Outline a Chapter in a Textbook

1. Write the chapter and class at the top of the page for organizational purposes.

2. Make each subtitle bold and number them with Roman numerals, which I didn't do on this outline.

3. Write the most important information from each subtitle. Stay away from writing too much because it will take you forever, and you'll end up including a lot more information than necessary.

4. Use capital letters for bullets and then numbers for bullets under the first bullets. (I also happened to not do that on this outline.)

Do you outline chapters in textbooks? If so, how do you do it?

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!
P.P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway as well!

Favorite Blogs

I'm always looking for new blogs to follow and read, so I imagine that other bloggers are doing the same! Because of that, I decided to post some of my favorite blogs.

Bailey | Bailey's Bulletins

Carly | College Prepster

Caroline E. | Cardigans and Chai

Caroline Y. | Citrus and Style

Chloe | Preppy Diaries

D | Prep in Your Step

Elizabeth | Coral, Stripes, and Everything Nice

Frannie | The Blonde Prep

Grace | Preppy on the West Coast

Liz | The Prep Diary

Maura | Polos Pearls & Bows

Megan | Bowtiful Life

Rachel | A Preppy State of Mind

Rebecca | Life with rMe

Royar | Young Southern Prep

Vina | Pretty in Prep

Maggie | Maggie Royce

What are some of your favorite blogs?

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!
P.P.S. Check out Frannie's giveaway as well!

Finding Time for Yourself

As mentioned in my Liebster Award nomination post, I care a lot about my grades and devote a lot of time to homework, studying, school, etc. Sophomore year is the hardest year at my school, so I've really tried to focus on my grades. It's getting to the point where I feel like I'm constantly doing things for school and never doing anything for myself.

So I've come to the realization that even though it's important to focus on schoolwork, it's just as important to find some time for yourself. You need a little break every once in a while to just relax, de-stress, and be happy. I've been working on making more time for myself, and I have to admit that I've become a lot less stressed and a lot more happy because of it. So, I decided to share ways that you guys can find time for yourself, too!

1. Meditate.

2. Read.

3. Work out.

4. Journal.

5. Do yoga.

Do you try to find time for yourself? If so, what do you do?

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!

Twitter and Instagram for the Blog

Every well-known blogger I've talked to about ways to get blogs to become more popular, they've all said the same thing - use social media. So I caved in and decided to get a Twitter and Instagram for my blog! I'm hoping that this will bring more traffic to my blog. Follow me!

Instagram - @privateschoolprepster

Twitter - @privateschprep

P.S. Check out Caroline's giveaway!

Liebster Award

On Saturday, my blog was nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Vina Smith at Pretty in Prep! I've seen many blogs who have been nominated for the Liebster Award, but this is the first time I've been nominated :-)

Once you get nominated for the Liebster Award, you list eleven facts about yourself, answer the eleven questions asked by the person who nominated you, write your own eleven questions, and nominate eleven blogs that are not that well-known. The goal of the Liebster Award is to learn about other bloggers and help promote blogs!

Eleven Facts About Me:

1. I consider the library as my second home.

2. I have an odd obsession with all office supplies.

3. I go to a Catholic high school (if you couldn't already tell by the name of my blog!).

4. I put so much effort into my school work because I really care about my grades.

5. My birthday is on January 4th, which makes my half birthday on the Fourth of July.

6. I play forward and midfield for the varsity soccer team at my school.

7. I have an amazing boyfriend that I've been dating for almost a year and a half now.

8. My favorite place to be is the beach.

9. I love living in Massachusetts because of the Cape, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

10. I'm only 5'1".

11. I'm really close with my mom.

Eleven Questions for Me:

1. What inspired you to start your blog? | I've always wanted to have a blog, but I never knew what to write about. I finally got this blog in September 2012 and wrote about random stuff. Then I came across Carly Heitlinger's blog through Pinterest in December 2012, and her blog was such an inspiration to me! I finally knew what I wanted my blog to be about and what I wanted the name to be because of her and her blog.

2. Who is your biggest role model? | My biggest role model is my mom. She is the sweetest, most generous, most forgiving, most amazing woman I've ever met. My mom has seen me at my absolute worst and absolute best, and she's one of the few people who has never left me. I can always count on her to make me feel better, and I have no idea what I would do without her.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? | I would go to Atlantis in the Bahamas. My family and I went there summer 2010, and it was seriously the best vacation ever! I loved all of the water slides (even the Leap of Faith!), getting my hair braided by a native woman, the amazing views, and just the relaxation.

4. What is your favorite season? | My favorite season is spring. It's just the right temperature because it's not too hot and not too cold. And it's always raining in the spring, and I absolutely love rainy days!

5. What was your most recent fashion purchase? | On Saturday night, I bought a pair of nude heels at Payless because I needed a pair to go with some dresses of mine. Maybe I'll do a post on them... :-)

6. What is the last book you read? | I read the Karma Club by Jessica Brody. It was very good! Stay tuned for a book club post on it ;-)

7. What can you never leave the house without? | I can never leave the house without my cell phone, planner, book, and chapstick!

8. How would you guide someone who is new to the blogging world? | I would tell them to follow all of the blogs that interest them, comment on a lot of posts, and post every day. I would also tell them to use social media to promote their blog.

9. What do you love the most about the blogging? | Definitely the amazing girls I've met. I've met so many girls that are around my age, and they're all so sweet and easy to talk to. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of them!

10. If you could be anyone for the day, who would you pick? | I would be Morgan Eastwood. I love Morgan Eastwood! She's my age and gorgeous. Morgan also seems to have such a fun life.

11. Describe yourself in five words. | Friendly, hardworking, organized, athletic, and happy.

My Eleven Questions:

1. If you could have any piece of clothing item, what would it be?

2. Where is your favorite place to be?

3. How did you start blogging?

4. What are your favorite stores?

5. If there is one thing about yourself that you could change, what would it be?

6. Why do you love blogging?

7. What do you want to be when you grow up?

8. If you were to be granted one wish, what would you wish for?

9. What is your favorite way to spend a rainy Saturday?

10. What is your favorite book and why?

11. What is your favorite type of tea/coffee to have?

The Eleven Blogs I Nominate:

Archaize

Bailey's Bulletins

Cardigans and Chai

Citrus and Style

Coral, Stripes, and Everything Nice

Life With rMe
Maggie Royce

Polished in Pearls

Polos Pearls & Bows

Preppy on the West Coast

The Prep Diary

Thank You Card Week

The week of March 3rd (today!) to March 6th is Thank You Card Week. Invitation Consultants, a lovely card company, gave the chance for anyone to get five free thank you cards! All you had to do was fill out a form with your name, address, etc. I ordered my free cards about two weeks ago when I saw that Carly Heitlinger posted a link to it on Twitter, but they didn't come in until today.

Unfortunately, Invitation Consultants is no longer sending out free thank you cards. If I got my thank you cards earlier, I definitely would've told you all about it so you could order your own! Make sure to bookmark this page though so you can check back next year :-)

Aren't these cards adorable?! I'm hoping to put them to use soon... :-)

Do you like sending thank you cards? Were you able to participate in Thank You Card Week and get five free cards?

Latest Obsession: Sprite Zero

I told myself that I would start to eat healthier food. I usually like to have a can or two of soda on the weekend, so I had to find a healthier soda to drink. That's when I found Sprite Zero! It has no caffeine, no calories, and no carbs. However, it does have 35 mg of sodium... *cringes*. But oh well. At least it's healthier than the other soda I had been drinking!

Do you drink soda? If so, do you try to drink soda that is healthier than others?

Inspirational Quote

One of the pieces of literature I read this year in English was Walden by Henry David Thoreau. A quote from that novel really inspired me, so I thought I would share it with all of you!

As Henry David Thoreau says, "Simplify, simplify." Get rid of things you don't need, and focus on the things that you do need. Don't waste your time dwelling on unimportant people. Spend your time dwelling on important people. Ask yourself, "Do I really need this?" before buying something. Focus on what is important to you.