Chloe + Isabel: Shop for Baby Eden!

In retrospect, choosing to schedule "moving week" during "finals week" was definitely a bad planning choice on my part. Lesson learned, Life. Lesson learned. 

As the semester goes on, we sacrifice time... sleep... money... sanity... so when it ends, I am always sure to celebrate by doing (or buying) something really awesome! If you watched the video I posted on Monday, you know that it's even backed by science that we should reward ourselves after working hard! If you need suggestions on how to reward yourself for all of your incredible work this semester, I have just the thing!

Team Eden Trunk Sale

Jennifer Jacot of Chloe + Isabel is having an Online Trunk Sale May 9-11! Not only that, but 100% of the proceeds will go to help this sweet 3-year-old Memphis girl named Eden battle her Leukemia. That's right. I said 100%.

Isn't Jennifer beautiful? And isn't this such a beautiful thing she's doing? 

I'm so grateful to live in a world where people like her exist!

It's not everyday that we get to show love to others by doing something that we love! Pick up some cute jewelry for the summer, reward yourself for your hard work this semester, and bless baby Eden and her sweet family! I'd say those are some pretty justifiable reasons to buy some gorgeous jewelry, riiight?! :)

If you want a little preview before you actually commit to heading to the website yourself, no problem! I'll walk you through it!

Collections:

Natural Luxe

Estate Vintage

Bestsellers

Latest Arrivals

And the price range is so broad that you can find something adorable whether you're looking to spend $20 or $200! 

My faves:

But seriously, y'all, this is less than 10% of what's in her collection! Go check it out for yourself! You deserve it after kicking butt during finals! 

Happy shopping! :)

Which piece is your favorite and how would you wear it for summer?! 

4 Rules for Effective Studying

Finals are coming! Are you ready? This is the time of year when we see start to see a bunch of hilarious memes, read a bunch of panicked tweets, and basically just do all that we can to make it to the end of the semester with our sanity still (sort of) enact.  Last semester’s finals really, really nearly killed me. I cried. I panicked. I cried some more. I stayed up till midnight. Do you know what I wish I had known?

This. I wish I had known all of this:

Now, I’m not a crazy person. I know that you looked at the length of that video and immediately glossed right over it. I know you don’t have any ambition to watch an hour-long lecture because:

a.) you’re busy and b.) it’s an hour long lecture.

Sooooo, I watched it for you! And let me tell you, it was totally worth it because this guy has some great rules for how to study less and study smart!

RULE 1: Break up study time

Most of us have a focus time of about 20-30 minutes. Every person is a little bit different so, as soon as you feel yourself starting to lose momentum, STOP! Go do something you enjoy for 5 minutes! Get up. Walk around. Go stand in the sunlight. Only for 5 minutes, though! After you’ve taken this time to “recharge” your efficiency is nearly filled up to 100% again and you’re ready for Round 2!

And don’t forget to plan to do something special when you finish your studying! A glass of wine, an episode of your favorite show, an Instagram binge. Whatever you know you’ll look forward to doing! This will reinforce your good study habits!

RULE 2: Create a study space

Obviously, we can’t all have a personal office for studying. But try to find (or create!) a quiet place to work! This is preferably a place with no distractions (like food, entertainment, or a bed). We are controlled by our environmental queues whether we realize it or not! So when you’re looking at your bed, you’re going to want to get in it! When you’re working in your kitchen, you’re going to want a snack.

If you do have to study in a bedroom/kitchen/living room, try to turn your back to the thing that will distract you the most! Another way to stay focused is to create a "study lamp”. This is literally a little table lamp that you use ONLY for when you’re studying! When you sit down with your book, turn it on. When you get up 20/30 minutes later to take a break, turn it off! Do not use it for anything else!

RULE 3: Form a study group

The only thing more annoying than trying to get through finals yourself is hearing people (who aren’t in school) complaining about all the people complaining about finals. Try to become friends with a couple of people in your class! It’s always nice to have other people who understand what you’re going through.

Plus, did you know that others can help you learn when they’re close to where you are in learning? This is why sometimes your classmates can explain something to you better than a teacher can. The teacher knows it so well that some things may be obvious to him/her. However, if you have a classmate who just grasped the concept, they may know what’s holding you back!

RULE 4: Attach Meaning to Material

Ask yourself what am I learning? Is it a concept or a fact? Concepts stick with you. Facts easily get mixed up. Make the material meaningful to you. Try to attach stories and examples to the different concepts that you are learning! Remember that if you can reexplain it to yourself without looking, you know it!

Also, make sure that you’re sleeping enough. Because if you don’t sleep enough, your brain won’t store all that information accurately. We all have 168 hours in a week, you’re responsible for how you use them!

I hope these tips can help you out with your Finals’ Week!
Most of all, just focus on one thing at a time and know that you can get it done! :) 

How are you preparing for finals? What strategies work best for you? Where do you study best? 

(And seriously, if you find the time, watch as much of that video as you can, even if it’s just the first 5-10 minutes. I promise you will get something out of it!)

BIC® 4-Color Pen

This post brought to you by BIC 4-Color pen. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you have been reading this blog for longer than 5 seconds, you've probably noticed that I have a thing for color-coding. I color code my class notes, my binders, and my calendar. But, the problem with color-coding things while you're on the go is that you have to carry around multiple pens... Which can get a little cumbersome. 

Luckily, BIC has dealt with that problem for us! The BIC® 4-Color Pen is 4 Inseparable Colors in 1 Pen! The color choices are black, blue, green, and red and would be perfect for calendar organization, rewriting class notes, organizing your thoughts with a graphic organizer, or even just expressing your current mood in a journal. 

BIC® even gave each color a personality, just in case you need some help deciding which ones to use for what:

Black: The one that wants to be the undisputed master of the world

Blue: The bossy one who really likes himself. 

Green: The jealous one who also feels the need to Instagram every meal. 

Red: The OCD, grammar-correcting one who likes for everything to be in perfect order. 

{obviously Red is my soulmate}

I recently switched my color-coding system around so that it would line up with the colors associated with different Feng Shui elements. I think it’s really interesting that each of the colors has a different personality in the commercials, because the personalities kind of line up with the Feng Shui elements of each color as well. 

This is how I’m currently using these 4 colors in my calendar:

Black: Work

Blue: School 

Green: Workouts

Red: Social

You can buy the pen at Amazon and Staples. 

Also, follow them on Facebook and Twitter for giveaways and other fun things! 

Do you also feel the need to color code everything? If so, which colors do you use for which things? Do you think having it all in one pen would be more helpful than your current system? 4 Inseparable Colors in 1 Pen