I'm back!

I cannot believe it's been just about a year since I have last updated my blog. It's been quite the busy time and SO much has happened and been accomplished this past year! For instance... 

○ I graduated college. At this point last year when I stopped blogging, I was so busy with final projects with school and student teaching where it was taking over my life! I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. I am so happy that all that hard work has finally paid off!

 My handsome guy and I.

My lovely Father and Mother, who I couldn't have done this without!

○ Tom and I got an apartment for ourselves. Although I don't have a picture of our new apartment, here is a picture of us at our favorite frozen yogurt spot (that we frequently go to now that we are so close to it...)

By the way, I apologize for the iPhone photo quality...

○ I got my first full-time, big girl job. I work as a preschool teacher at a private preschool, and I started right after I graduated last May. I am still currently working there, and it has been a fun and crazy ride! The children have certainly kept me young, and I have some of the best co-workers who have become great friends. Just a few months ago I was rewarded "Apple of Our Eye" for the month of December, which is similar to employee of the month. So that was pretty neat. :) 

I can't post pictures of me with my kids, but here is one of a couple of my fellow teachers and I from our fall festival dressed in our DIY owl costumes (that yours truly created)!

○ I gained a LOT more fashion sense. Promise. Looking back from my old fashion posts, I chuckle a little. At the time I was just beginning to get into fashion, so cut me some slack. ;) Proof to come later. 

○ Last month, I turned 24 years old, and on the same day, got engaged to my favorite person in the world! It was perfect! We are SO excited and I have been pinning on my wedding board and have had my eyes glued on wedding planning magazines and articles since. We are shooting for a wedding in September 2015, so we have some extra planning and saving time. :) I absolutely, positively, cannot. wait. ♡

Celebrating with drinks and dinner on the best birthday yet!

What I cannot stop looking at. 

So there you have it. A little jumble of my life this past year in one blog post. WOO! Although I am staying busy, I do hope to update my blog as often as possible. I have been dying to get this post up, so I am taking full advantage of my day off (perks of working 4 10's). 

I started my blog on one of my college breaks, and kind of did it all at once. Which is another reason why I stopped updating. I almost became burnt out, because I was so excited and put so much work into putting this blog up in one day. Almost like when you find that motivation to start a health-kick to eat better and go to the gym 5 days a week. You get so obsessed and into it that it just doesn't even end up working because you get sick of it. Not that I don't love a new health and fitness routine, but starting everything all at once is exhausting. One step at a time, friends! 

Combat Boots

 I just got these Steve Madden combat boots this past weekend at DSW and I am absolutely in love! They are so adorable, and can be worn tied all the way up or untied halfway down, to give that relaxed/slouched look to them-- which is my favorite way to wear them! You can dress them up or down, pair them with skinnies, shorts, or a dress... I am officially obsessed with combat boots. 

Here's how I rocked them in my OOTD from yesterday: 

  

The best part was that I got them on clearance for $40 bucks in the store! I looked online, and they were still selling them for $60... so I am verrry happy with my purchase. :) I am cheap, so I love a great deal. 

I am also quite obsessed with this cute polka dot top I got from Forever 21. It has a cute tie in the back that ties into a bow too! 

polka dot top: f21. black jeggings: love culture. jacket: h&m. sunglasses: old navy.

cuff bracelet: ae. combat boots: dsw (they just recently sold out of the taupe color online that I'm wearing, so check your local store!).

Leopard Print

I LOVE leopard print lately. I just think it's so cute! At least when it's styled in a non-Jersey shoreish way... (don't get me wrong on hating on it, that show is one of my guilty pleasures). I got these cute and comfy leopard print slip ons at Target on clearance for only $5. Such a freakin' steal. I love them! They are super versatile, and have found many different outfits to wear them with. 

This is what I wore them with recently. I think they look especially cute with some skinny's.

Leopard flats and slip ons seem to be everywhere these days, so if you can't find these ones, you're very likely to find another great pair! 

similar: HERE | HERE | HERE

top: tj maxx. black tank: express (old). jeans: ae. shoes: target. necklace: target.

The Best Thing You'll Ever Purchase

Coconut oil!!! The organic, extra-virgin kind. It's the new thang. Actually it's been around for quite a while, but I had just recently discovered it about 3 months ago. Let me just say, it's the bees knees.

I first found out about this gem on Pinterest. It was getting pinned by multiple different people. I had to look up what was so great about it... and let me tell you, I ran and got some and my local Whole Foods right after reading that super long list of great uses!! I use it at least once a day. Usually more. The best part is that it's cheap, and a little goes a long way. At Whole Foods it was about $12, or you can get it from Amazon for about $7 HERE!

How I use Coconut Oil:

+ Washing my face (just a little goes along way!)

+ Makeup remover

+ Shaving cream

+ Body moisturizer

+ Facial moisturizer

+ Lip moisturizer

+ Night eye cream

+ Supplementary for daily energy (by the spoonful or in my smoothies)

+ Preventing stretch marks

+ Natural SPF 4 sunscreen

+ Frizz and static tamer for hair (just a little rubbed on palms of your hands)

+ Cuts or scrapes

+ Replacement for vegetable oils for cooking

+ Fixing zippers that split at the end. For reals. I put it on Tom's wacky zipper that hadn't stayed zipped in months, and it was fixed. He was upset that he could no longer wear one of his favorite jackets, so I decided to hop on google and see what I could do about fixing it. Putting a little of this bad boy on the zipper teeth and it really did the trick. Who woulda thunk? 

+ Hair treatment!

I do this hair treatment about once a month. The outcome is amazing! It makes my hair so healthy, shiny and and soft. The trick is to saturate your hair enough where it looks damp, but not soaked. I put in too much once and it was dripping off my head. 

Not a good look or feeling. 

You can leave it on as long as you want! I leave mine on for usually 30 minutes to an hour. You can even leave it on overnight too, but I found that it made my hair just a tad oily still after I shampooed it out the next day. It might work better for more dry and damaged hair. 

So this is me yesterday with the coconut oil in my hair, working it's magic. 

I like it tie my hair up in a little bun while it's in so it stays out of my face. 

I forgot to take a before picture, but I swear I can tell a big difference in my hair after I do this! Especially with how shiny my hair turns out (but not greasy shiny, promise!)

And seriously, this is just a subset of all the uses for coconut oil out there. Just google it! 

If you don't have some, go get some. 

Keep Calm And Leprechaun On.

In the spirit of the holiday, I decided to wear a little green for this outfit of the day. The minty-green color of my sweater is one of my absolute favorite colors, and it has became quite the trend. From mint green pants to mint green nail polish (yes, I have both...), I have definitely been sucked into this trendy color.

We celebrated the holiday by having a small gathering at our place yesterday instead of today. We can't Sunday Funday these days- duty calls! It was a lot of fun hanging out with some old high school friends of ours. Whatever you did yesterday or are doing today to celebrate this holiday, play safe! Cheers. :)

I am in love with these BC booties. I can't wait to wear them with shorts & dresses!

sweater: express. pale yellow tank: american eagle. jeans: ae. 

nude & gold glitter booties: bc footwear. big gold & mint bracelet: f21. 

humanity bracelet: buckle. small gold bracelet: express. sunglasses: h&m.
nail polish: bare bones by revlon.

OOTD

I actually wore this outfit yesterday to run a few errands, and it's very comfy-casual. Tom unfortunately wasn't around to take better pictures, but I thought this shall do for now! I live in the midwest, so it's still pretty chilly here. I love scarves for the fall-winter-early spring seasons, and the scarf I'm wearing is one of my favorites. Target has been coming out with such cute clothing and accessories lately!

I'm currently obsessed with baby blue nail polish!

Hooray for mirror pics!

shirt: nordstrom. scarf: target. black bullhead jeggings: pacsun. wedges: target. 

bracelets: express. nail polish: blue away - sally hansen (target)

Gotta get dat.

Is it just me, or does anyone else repin a hundred different workout moves and videos on Pinterest and think, "Yeahhh, I can do this!" I know I do, and if you're anything like me, you don't get to doing half of those pins. Maybe not because you don't want to, but maybe because you just don't get around to picking one to do, or you just get too overwhelmed with all the workouts you have pinned on your board!

In hopes of making this easier myself and any readers, I recommend doing these 5 workouts that I personally liked. They aren't too difficult to do, and they prove to work by making those muscles sore! Being sore from working out can definitely suck, but personally, I actually love that feeling. Call me crazy, but it makes me happy knowing that those moves I did the day before (or two days before...) actually are doin' my body good. No pain, no gain, right? 

1. Victoria's Secret Model Workout: 10 Minute Fat-Blasting Circuit via FitSugar

2. Shameless Booty Workout via See Jane Sweat

My booty is hurtin' today from this one! 

3. 5 Minute Ab Workout via PopSugar

4. The 100 Workout
If you're up for a really tiring and tough work out..

5. Minka Kelly's Tredmill Workout via Self
This is mine and Tom's personal favorite way to do cardio. If you have access to a tredmill, you're set! We like to repeat the workout 2-3 times. Minka Kelly suggests 5 times, but I think that's a little too much for me!

"1 minute at 5.0

1 minute at 5.5

1 minute at 6.0

1 minute at 6.5

1 minute at 7.0

1 minute at 7.5

1 minute at 8.0

2 minutes at 4.5" (I go down to 3.0 at this point!)

I hope this is helpful in your workout search! ;)