September Favorites

Hello Dolls!

I would like to apologize for not posting a lot this month, school has taken over my life. Being said, I do have my monthly favorites that have been my savior during this crazy month! Without these products, I honestly don't think I would have been able to survive this month.

1. Botanics Rosewater Spritz Spray

I am in L O V E with this spray!! I use it every day for my "2 pm pick-me-up" and I don't know what I would do without it. You can find it at Target and this company has a makeup and skin care line that I reviewed, which I will link here.

2. Jamberry nail wrap

I did a review last month about this product, and honestly, it has become a September favorite. To see more about this product, you can click here. I really love this nail wrap because it is really perfect for the busy girl on the go! It takes no longer than 10 minutes to do your nails without needing to dry them!! What more can we ask for?

3. Up & Up Oil Absorbing Sheets

Let me just say that these have been my lifesaver this month! I use them right before I spray my face with the refreshing rosewater spritz, and it leaves me feeling fresh for the rest of my day.

4.  Lilly Pulitzer Agenda

Is anyone really surprised that I added this to my favorites? Yes, this has been a monthly favorite of mine, but honestly it has been my savior this month, because I would have been lost without it. If you need any help on organizing your agenda, you can click here. 

5. Lifeproof Phonecase

I am not one who likes to spend a lot of money on their phone cases, however, I couldn't afford to keep replacing the screen on my cracked iPhone anymore. So I went to Target and bought the Lifeproof case and I love it! I even personalized mine and got it monogrammed to make it more fun! This case protects your phone from water, dust, cracks, and it just absolutely amazing! Worth the $80!!

I hope yall enjoyed seeing my favorites for the month! I will try to post more often, I apologize for not doing so, school has been hectic!

XOXO,

The Californian Belle

How To: Organize Your Backpack for College/What's in my Backpack

Hello Dolls!

It is officially been one week before school has starts for me and I have been schlepping around and making sure I am keeping myself organized. I thought I would share what I do to keep myself organized in my backpack.

The main issue I have always had with organizing my backpack is after a month it fails because I am too lazy to keep up with it. Then once I realized my backpack is a mess I start to get discouraged about school (so weird but for me its the little things).

So I finally found a way that is simple yet so effective I can't imagine this one going downhill. I have learned to carry the minimal amount inside my backpack over the years. The more you carry the more of a mess it will make.

I am currently a "commuter student" which means I live at home and drive to my school, because I am a commuter student, my organization is a little different from those who live on campus. First off, I like to stack my schedule and then use downtime to go to the school library and study there. It is also a coincedence that I work at school, so I typically get to stay in one place all day.

Due to that, I keep a lot of my stuff in my car, and then just take out what I need thoughout the day. I keep all of my text/lab/notebooks in my car and periodically walk over to switch my books out as I need them. This eliminates all of the stress on my back of carrying a million books with me all day.

So here are the items that I keep in my backpack at all times (keep in mind that the items mentioned above go into my backpack on an "as needed" basis). The backpack that I currently have is a simple Jansport backpack that I've had since high school. I plan on getting a North Face backpack once I transfer and need to have more room in my backpack, so for now this bag works just fine for my needs.

Expandable File Folder:

This has been my true lifesaver in school. I absolutely love this system so much better than a binder and here is why: I don't have to punch holes into my paper. This sounds so silly, but in the past I would put my papers in a folder pocket inside my binder and then neglect to hole punch them. The idea and organization of a binder is a great method, it is just not practical for me. I'm also in love with the tortoise print on them and I got it at Target for only $8!

Laptop:

The laptop I have is the 13 inch Macbook Air and let me just say how much I love it! I also have an older Macbook Pro that I use as my home computer, but this Air is perfect for carrying around in my backpack when I'm on the go! Its very light and I don't feel like I'm breaking my back.

Pencil Pouch:

Yes, this one has definitely been overdone. Everyone has a pencil pouch and uses it, but doesn't always stick to it and keep their pens/pencils in there, well I keep mine in the front pocket so it is always handy when I need it. Taking a few extra seconds to put your pens/pencils back into here will help you out in the long run because you won't lose your writing utensils.

Supplies Pouch:

Yes this sounds funny because I also have a pencil pouch, but in here I keep any other type of school suppy that is not a pen/pencil. I keep this pouch inside the larger compartment of my backpack. Inside my supplies pouch I keep: sticky notes, white out, stapler/stapler remover, high lighters, clips, pencil sharpener, flash drive, pencil led, and an eraser.

Flash Card Expandable File Folder:

I love this folder because it keeps all my flash cards together when I am trying to keep everything in one place. This file folder fits perfectly in my front pocket, however I keep it in the larger section because I put other things inside the front pocket. Keeping my flash cards together is so crucial because it is mainly how I study for my vocabulary terms. Without this file folder I have no idea what my grades would have been like. Also purchased at Target, I think it was $4.

Survival Kit:

My infamous survival kit, as y'all know I take this with me everywhere, and school is no exception. If you want to see what is inside my survival kit, then click here.

Lilly Pulitzer Agenda:

This is my holy grail organizer. School hasn't even started yet and it has made me so productive already, so I'm beyond excited to use it! I keep this in my larger pocket as well, and if you would like to see how I organize my Lilly agenda, click here.

Miscalaneous:

This are all kind of "obvious" items that I keep in my backpack but I thought I would add them anyways. I have my iPhone 6, car keys, phone charger, J Crew water bottle, Tom Ford sunglasses, and I used to carry my calculator, but since I am done taking my math courses, I don't think I'll be needing it.

So this is how I organize my backpack, I like to keep as little as possible inside because remember, this is all stress on your back and you want to keep it at light as possible. Let me know what is the number one thing you MUST have in your backpack in the comment section below!

XOXO, 

The Californian Belle

How To: Organize Your Lilly Pulitzer Agenda

Hello Dolls!

Today is July 27th and you know what that means!! Today is the first official day we can use our Lilly Pulitzer Agenda!! This year is the first year I purchased a Lilly agenda and flipping through the pages has gotten me so excited!!

As I was looking through the first thing that came to my mind was: "how will I organize this?!" These agendas are so picture perfect the last thing you want to do is accidentally make a mistake inside them!

So I'm going to show you my organization tactics in hopes that they will help y'all out!!

I got the large Tusk in Sun print agenda from Lilly Pulitzer. Don't worry if you haven't ordered yours yet, because you can do so right here. (If that link did not work because agendas are sold out then you can also buy them here or here.)

1. Monthly Overview

The first thing you notice in the agenda is that there are two separate "full month view" options. There is one in the tab called "months" and another one for each monthly tab listed on the side. I love to keep my school and personal life all together in one agenda because it makes life so much easier! And writing everything in one monthly overview can become extremely overwhelming, so I use the "months" tab for my personal life and the one for each month on the side for school.

Months Tab Overview (used for personal)

Individual month overview (used for school)

2. Color Coding

This one might sound ridiculous to some people, BUT it is so useful if you take the time to actually do it! I found these great file tab markers from Target that assisted me with color coding!

Pink: Appointments/Meetings/Events
Red/Orange: Due Dates
Purple/Yellow: Homework/Things I need to do
Green: Family
Blue: Work

Then I took it a step further and used these tabs to cover over my plans for the month overview so my eyes can't miss that HUGE chunk of color! So I put the tab over the event and then when the event is over I take off the tab so I know it has been complete. (These tabs are see-through so you don't worry you can still see what you wrote down) I personally like this better than highlighting on my monthly overview because if I want to look back then I can neatly see what I did that month, instead of having scribbles all over my agenda.

Not completely filled yet, but here is a sample of my August monthly overview for my personal calendar overview!

3. Pockets

Inside the agenda there is a double-sided pocket there on the first page (very convenient and I love that they have that in there!). Inside that pocket I keep my colored tabs, so I can stay on top of it! I also keep my school schedule in there because even though I am a sophomore in college and should know my schedule by now...let's face it, I don't. (Better to be safe than sorry!) I also carry a shopping list on the back side of the folder as a "to-do-list" just in case I don't have room in the one provided in the agenda.

I made sure I put a "key" of what my colors mean in case I need it.

My "To-Do-List" which looks like a shopping list on the other side of the folder.

4. Sticky Notes

I use these for emphasis and as a reminder for when I don't have room inside my agenda to write in. Great for a reminder you don't want to miss out on!!


So that is how I organize my Lilly Pulitzer agenda. It is a system that works for me and hopefully can work for y'all as well!! If you do something different comment down below on what you do to make your agenda perfectly organized.


XOXO,


The Californian Belle

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Daily Routine-How to Become More Productive!

First off let me start by pointing out the irony in me writing this post when I should be doing some of my homework...but oh well this idea popped into my head so I decided why not write about it? I think after winter vacation one of the worst things for me was trying to figure out how in the world I am supposed to be productive after a nice relaxing vacation! I don't think I'm alone in this situation either. It makes sense that after having a break you realize how you don't want to go back to the daily routine of work, school, responsibilities, etc. I've tried many ways to be more productive for this semester like I was in the previous and I guess it is always up to personal preference but here it was I found works for me:

1) Keep a planner

I absolutely L O V E having a planner where I can write all my tasks I need to get done for the day and what time frame I can schedule my work in. I guess you can say it keeps me more on point and aware of the time. 

2) Reward yourself

Being on a tight schedule can be very difficult to maintain and requires a lot of self-discipline. Which is why I believe in rewarding yourself for doing such a good job on staying on schedule! (obviously by me writing this blog post I am not going to be rewarding myself anytime soon lol) But anyways you should reward yourself in what makes you happy whether it ranges from shopping, food, hobbies such as crafting, or spending time with loved ones. I personally reward myself with either or these choices except I try to make the food healthy because rewarding yourself with unhealthy food is a bad habit I don't ever recommend.

3) Make a to-do list that is separate from your planner

Our planners are designed to keep our days productive, but to-do lists are designed to keep ourselves motivated to reach goals in life. Having goals are very important because without a goal then what is the purpose of life? To keep a to-do list is your mini goal list for the day/week/month/year that keeps your eye on the prize (accomplishing the goal). 

4) Surround yourself with positive and productive people

This is probably the most important step in being productive because if the people around you are not having similar productivity goals that you are then it is really discouraging to continue your own. If your friends are generally productive it doesn't mean you have to throw them away, but maybe you should get them involved as well! The more productivity we have flowing throughout society the better! Remember no one ever said "oh you are too productive it is bad and needs to stop".

Anyways here are just some tips I thought I would share with you guys and even though they are very basic it doesn't change how important they are. January is always known as the "New Years resolution month" where we all pretend to be productive for the entire year but it typically starts to die out in February. Just because it can die out for some people doesn't mean you have to be one of them! Be different and make a change, even if it wasn't part of your New Years resolution to be more productive it doesn't mean you can't start now!

If I motivated at least one person today then I know that this blog post was indeed productive, but in order for me to know if I was successful in my attempt comment down below and let me know! Do you guys already use these techniques? Do they work for you? Any suggestions for other readers what else they can do? I would love to hear all your thoughts!

XOXO,

The Californian Belle