Fall Bucket List

Happy Monday/Jewish New Year/National Mean Girls Day everyone, (#it'sOctober3rd)!

Today has been extremely boring, filled with college essays and homework. Ew. However, my immense workload is slightly lightened by the fact that it's officially Fall and it shouldn't get higher than 73 degrees for the rest of the week. It's not ideal pumpkin patch weather, but it's getting there, baby steps, guys.

 When I say that Fall is my favorite season, I'm really not messing around. I love the weather, the fact that you can't go outside with a sweater or jacket, the smells, colors, holidays, (guess who's turning 18 in November??) and the food. I am 10000% obsessed with autumn and anyone who says that they like Fall more than me is, in my opinion, delusional. I mean you'd be hard pressed to find anyone happier than me on Fall's rainy, chilly, overcast days.

Obviously I couldn't be more excited for the season's festivities, so I thought that even though we're only a few days into October, I should post my Fall Bucket List!

photo via 

I'll do my best to keep you guys updated on how I'm doing with the list, perhaps doing separate posts for each one I complete...? We'll see. I've already made some headway as I've gone to one of our high school football games, but the heat was sweltering so it doesn't really count as a Fall activity in my opinion.

What are you planning on doing this Fall?
xoxo, LC

Done With the ACT???

Hi there and happy October 1st! In honor of the SAT this morning I thought I'd  confirm the rumors: Spetember's ACT marked my completion of standardized testing (until APs of course)!! A year's worth of studying, two SATs, two SAT subject tests, and two ACTs later and I finally made it to the finish line, and boy does it feel good. I worked so hard and I am also happy to report that it all payed off! Even though I'm super pumped to have finished with this, it's only the beginning as I am 100% focused on college apps now. However, in honor of its completion and the understanding that not everyone else is done, I thought I'd share a few standardized testing tips that I found extremely helpful this past year while they're still fresh. Enjoy!

ONE//Take practice tests!! This is really the only way to do it. I can't even begin to explain how helpful this was, even though it sucked. Between my first SAT and my second, I took over 75 practice sections, and it was definitely worth it. Same thing for the ACT. I hunkered down, and took practice tests until my I thought my brain would explode. Don't kill yourself over these but at the same time, there were more weekends than I care to admit in which I stayed home to take more tests rather than go out with friends. It was worth it though and I can't recommend this enough. 

TWO//Don't study the night before. In my freshman year, my APUSH summed it up about as clearly as anyone could: If you don't know it the night before then you're not going to know it for the test. So at about 6:00 PM two nights before the exam I put away all my studying materials and accept that where I am in that moment will have to be good enough. Then do something fun the night before the test! I'm not saying that you should go party until 2 AM but get your mind off of the test. I went to my football game until half-time, and was then in bed by 10. It kept me distracted and my nerves in check until the next morning. 

THREE//Don't study, but do get your stuff together the night before. The night before my test I always pack my things in my bag, and write a checklist to be filled out the morning of. This usually includes my testing ticket, photo ID, calculator, at least three pencils, a pencil sharpener, and extra eraser, two snacks, and a 32 ounce refillable water bottle. The proctor may not allow you to keep the water bottle at your side but I like to drink a lot during breaks, I find that water helps me stay alert and focused. 

FOUR//Get to the bottom of your answers. I understand that not everyone can afford the hefty price tag that often comes with tutors. However, I do recommend asking a teacher or peer if you don't understand something. The most important thing about taking practice tests is learning from your mistakes. When you get a question wrong, try to figure out why so you can avoid making that same mistake on the real exam. If you can't figure out how to get to a certain answer, or simply want to know why your answer was incorrect, put in the work! Google it, ask a teacher/parent/friend, or re-do it until you get there. I promise you won't regret getting to the bottom of what may seem impossible at first.

FIVE//Stay calm. In the grand scheme of things, your score is just a number. It does not have to define you, and remember that in fifteen years, no one will care what you got on the SAT/ACT. Many great schools are also test-optional if you feel that uncomfortable with your score. As long as you work hard and put in the effort, your score will be what it will be, don't focus on it too much. Good luck to all of you who are are still in the vortex of testing, don't worry, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! 

What are your tips for standardized testing? 

xoxo, LC

My Top Five Makeup Products!

Less than a week until senior year officially begins! Wow, that went by faster than I could have ever imagined. It's crazy to think that four short years ago I was gearing up to start high school! I remember freshman orientation like it was yesterday, and now I'm leading it tomorrow. That's insane.

However, as much as I hate to admit that school is staring, (or already started for some of you) we can't hide from the truth. And for me, with the purchase of fresh notebooks, brightly packaged highlighters, and clean backpacks also comes the purchase of some new makeup as the bare-faced days of camp come to a close. So I thought that this would be the perfect time to share a few of my favorites and what I find myself refilling or re-purchasing! Here they are! 

Tarte Eyeshadow Quad// I have no idea where this eyeshadow quad came from, but one day it just showed up, perfectly packaged in my bathroom! I, being the courageous adventurer that I am, dared to open it and test it out, only to find that I absolutely loved all four colors! The light, sparkly brown on the top left is the color I drift towards for daily wear, however I have been known to try out the darker, (still sparkly) brown on the bottom right for special occasions. It's super convenient for travel and extremely versatile, I only wish I could tell you where I got it! 

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer// Funny enough, Catherine from Preppy by the Sea  did a blog post this morning on her summer favorites, and this made her list as well. I guess all bloggers think alike! While I do love this product for the summer, I use it all year round, and have been since seventh grade when I first starting wearing makeup on a regular basis. My mom had been using the regular version for ages and when it came time to buy me makeup, she discovered the oil-free version and I've been using it ever since! I've found that I go through about 2 or 3 tubes a year, depending on how often I use it over the summer and have yet to find a BB cream or lightweight foundation that works as well as this one does. As an added bonus, it has SPF 20 sunscreen! My mom's number one rule about face makeup is that it has to have some sort of SPF in it or she won't buy it for me, #palepeopleproblems, so it's a win-win in terms of coverage and protection. It's perfect for everyday use and I cannot recommend it enough, I've even gotten one or two of my friends hooked on it. 

L'Oréal Butterfly Mascara (Waterproof)// During the school year I am not very picky when it comes to mascara, almost anything I can get my hands on will do. However over the summer, waterproof mascara is not a want, but a need. Between lifeguard training, the surprise thunderstorm, or the tear-jerkingly meaningful program, at camp, threats to my mascara's wellbeing are never far away. It is for those reasons and a million more that I do not get on those buses each summer without arming myself with waterproof mascara. I often gravitate to this one for a number of reasons, it holds up both in the shower and in the pool, (or lake!) it's fairly inexpensive, and makes my eyelashes look amazing! I love it and have already repurchased it this summer. 

Stilla Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner// This is another one of those products that I've been using since the seventh grade. I'm pretty sure this was the first eyeliner that I ever used, and I still ask for a new one for my birthday every single year. If that isn't a testament to how great this is, then I don't know what is. While that also may be a testament to how little my makeup skills have improved in the past 5 years, I would prefer to look past that, and focus on how spectacular this eyeliner is! It goes on evenly  and smoothly in a matter of seconds, and always looks good. Plus it follows the same protocol as my waterproof mascara, it looks amazing and stays on just as well! 

*picture from nordstrom website*

NARS Blush in Orgasm// This blush is the absolute best! I've been using it since I was ten and only wore blush to my dance recitals and it's still a favorite of mine. So much so, that I have it in both power and cream! I tend to use the stick for everyday use and the powder when I'm dressing up a bit, but that's just me, they're both fantastic. My mom and I both use NARS blushes, they go on so well and are so easy to use so as to avoid accidentally making yourself look like you fell asleep in the sun. 

 

What are your favorite makeup products? 

xoxo, LC

Camp Recap

Hi everyone, long time no chat; it's been a couple of months so let's catch up! This may be a bit one sided but I'm willing to give it a try. 

How has your summer been? What have you been up to? Did you do anything interesting or meet any nice people since we last spoke? What was your favorite meal that you ate in the month of June? Have you developed a new favorite color since we had our last chat? Did you learn anything new or exciting since I left you?

Wow, that's awesome, thank you for sharing! Me? What have I been up to? Oh stop, you're too sweet. 

Well this summer, I spent seven weeks at my favorite place on earth, camp! I've been going to camp for the past eight years and this summer marked my ninth and final summer as a camper. Have no fear, I will be returning next summer as a staff member but having to say goodbye to my days as a camper at the place where I practically grew up was extremely difficult. Let's just say that I cried for hours and do not foresee any camp-related emotional stability in my near future. I had the summer of my life and as a counselor in training, or CIT, I met some amazing new people and learned so much about not only how to care for kids, but about myself as well. I also did some training as a lifeguard which was awesome and everything that I had ever dreamed it would be. I've wanted to be a camp lifeguard for as long as I can remember and actually getting the chance to shadow the lifeguards was an amazing opportunity for me.  

I loved spending the whole seven weeks rather than the short three week session that I usually attend, and it was so nice to have an extended break from not just school, but from the entire world. Camp is my safe place and second home, (click here to read my post from last summer about why I go to camp) but it is also a bubble and very isolating. I love it there and wouldn't trade these past seven weeks for anything, but I am happy and ready to be back. I need to get in the groove of things for senior year! I also have some exciting things planned for the blog so I'm stoked to get things rolling over here as well! 

I'll leave off with a few photos from this summer, until Wednesday! 

xoxo, LC

SADIE HAWKINS

For starters, I would like to begin with a formal explanation for where I've been for the past few weeks. It begins with an S and ends with a T. If you guessed SAT, then you'd be correct! I took the SAT (hopefully for the last time) on the 20th of February and needed some time beforehand to devote all of my attention to it, and then even more time afterwards to catch up on all the schoolwork that I had been avoiding whilst studying for a certain "stupid a** test." So, sorry for being MIA. 

Alright, now that I've gotten that off my chest, it't time to get down and dirty. Well not so much dirty, but definitely down. (Do you get it? "down," because it was a dance. Get down? Lmao I just crack myself up.)
  Last night our school had its first Sadie Hawkins dance in a few years. Unfortunately, my high school is known for our lack of school spirit and the year prior to my freshman year they held a spring dance on the same day as some big concert and almost no one showed up. So up until this year, homecoming in the fall and senior prom in the spring were the only dances all year. Fortunately for me, this year's seniors were determined to have one last dance before prom and convinced our principle to give it another shot. And from what I saw I think it went pretty well, considering the tickets were completely sold out. Anyway, I had an amazing time, and feel even more lucky than usual to have such supportive parents and really close friends. Despite how cheesy that may be.
In terms of what I wore, while I was excited about the dance, I wasn't about to go out and drop a lot of money on a brand new dress, so I did what any other rational person would do, I stole this one from an absolute stranger! (dress from free people.)

Nah, I'm just kidding, while I didn't actually buy a new dress, I did borrow this one from my best friend (with full permission,) which she had worn to homecoming in the fall. It was super comfy and if I'm being honest, with all the sparkles I did feel pretty spectacular walking around in it #princessstatus. I was not in the mood to repeat the homecoming debacle, during which I wore shoes to make me a normal height but was then forced to walk around my high school barefoot because of the lack of feeling coming from my feet after a few hours. So I ended up wearing a pair of super comfy wedges (from target of all places) and even though I wasn't super tall and they didn't exactly go perfectly with my dress, my feet thanked me and I was still shorter than my date. Overall, a pretty good decision in my opinion!
The whole night was really fun, because I'm on SGA and am responsible for a lot during homecoming, it always stresses me out. Not to mention that everyone goes all out at my school, fancy dress, party bus, fancy restaurant for dinner, etc. Overall a very stressful weekend. So sadie's was a more low-key and stress free homecoming, something I really appreciated. Enough from me, here are some pictures from the night!


owner of the dress, EHS


my date and me :)


#selfie


another date pic, how cute


night would not have been complete without a quick stop for late-night french toast and milkshakes, duh

xoxo, LC

Let's Chat About: Missing Out

According to urban dictionay, FOMO, is the "fear of missing out," a phobia that I know the better part of the teenage population suffers from. Missing out on events, especially those you didn't even know about until afterward for lack of a better word, sucks. Especially with the rising involvement of social media currently present in every moment of our waking lives, not only do you know that you missed out on something great, but you get to see it replayed over and over again from different perspectives of your friends who were there. 

Now I'm not here to trash social media, or take advice from those overprotective moms who politely require that "none of these pictures go on those internet websites you kids use because not everyone was invited!" I love social media, the internet, and sharing my life on the internet, (hello and welcome to my blog,) but that doesn't mean that it doesn't sting when I head over to check my snapchat stories and see a party that I wasn't invited or an awesome event I had to miss because of a previous commitment that I didn't even want to go to in the first place. It even hurts when I had to choose one event over another, am happy with the one I chose, but still see all the fun my friends are having without me. In that scenario it was my decision and yet somehow I still feel a sense of FOMO. How irritating is that?

This isn't random, this past weekend I was as the Washington Hilton for Georgetown's Model United Nations. It's kind of a big deal and almost everyone there is smarter than me and better than me at one thing or another, whether it be at diplomacy, or thinking on their feet, or even just writing position papers. It also happens to be the same weekend as this huge international convention for high schoolers that was located in Baltimore this year, and this year would have been the cheapest year to go because it was in Maryland. Every year they happen on the same weekend, and every year I want to go to both and know that I would have an unbelievably good time and get to see different groups of friends at both events. However, every year I choose to go to MUN because I know that in the long run it's the better option for me, as someone who wants to major in International Relations and perhaps even go to Georgetown for graduate school. And every year, I have a moment or two where I 1000% regret the decision that I've made. 

Last year it was brought on by the surprise artist at the convention, Hoodie Allen, my favorite rapper of all time. A bunch of my friends got to meet him and even though I had seen him in concert before, I was still so angry at myself for missing it. Then this year, my favorite vlogger/filmaker, who I've been watching since eighth grade, and is someone who I genuinely look up to, Casey Neistat was one of the guest speakers and I had no idea that he was going to be there. I was probably less than two hours away at the time and would have asked my parents to come pick me up and take me to listen to him speak had I known, but I didn't even think about it until I saw him on a bunch of my friends' snapchat stories. Then I watched his vlog and saw people that I've known for years screaming his name and getting a chance to meet him, now featured on his account forever. That's when I almost cried.

And it still hurts, regardless of how I got to miss it, the fact that I wasn't there sucks. Yet, while it's tempting to wallow and hate yourself for missing out, it's important to know that you are not alone. I can assure you right now that it happens to everyone. Almost every single person that I know has also missed out on something that they would have preferred to have been at, and were forced to sit through the play-by-play of everything they missed as they clicked through every social media account they owned. 

It happens to me (every year), and it happens to everyone else. The important part about missing out, is how you pick yourself up and put yourself together after it happens. While it's perfectly normal (and encouraged) to be upset for a little while, you have to take action. Last year after missing Hoodie, I bought tickets to his next concert the day they went on sale. I made damn sure I was free that time and got a chance to see my favorite artist. In terms of Casey Neistat, you can bet your a** that I'll be checking twitter for his next speaking engagement and might even go so far as to email/direct message him to make absolutely sure that I don't miss out again. So the way I see it, while missing out stinks, it's the perfect opportunity to see how much of a self-advocate you really are, and to take a risk that you might not have thought to take before, such as emailing one of your role models. :)

Thanks for reading, this brings the chat to an end, hopefully you made it this far because let's be real, it got way less depressing towards the end!

xoxo, LC

February Jams

Hey ya'll. If you've been keeping track ( I know I have) then you would know that it's been a week since I last posted and for that I am sincerely apologetic. Clearly I am going to have to plan better if I want to continue blogging regularly while I'm in school, which is something I really want to! However whether I've been absentee or not, I'm here now, with a new (kicka**) playlist, which ought to be worth something right? 

Anyway, lately I've been been super focused on kicking butt on not just my New Years Resolutions but on everything I do in life. I think the best word to describe my current perspective and how I've been approaching each day is with intention. Trying my best to make each day count and suck as much life out of them as I can. In a good way :)

 With that in mind, this month's playlist is much more upbeat and significantly better to jam to than last months which I did not blog about, but is on my Spotify account and is much vibe-ier. Actually, last month's is a bit all over the place, but definitely lower-key than February's.

WARNING: Hoodie Allen, my all-time favorite rapper to ever exist on planet earth, and the only artist who I will actually go see in concert more than twice (3rd time this March!) recently released his latest album and there are a few songs (to be read: more than 3) by him on it. So if you're not into him #sorrynotsorry you're gonna have to deal with it. Enjoy! 

Genghis Khan// Mike Snow
Victorious// Panic! At The Disco
Adventure Of A Lifetime// Coldplay
Gold// Kiiara
Hold Me Down// Halsey
Intro to Anxiety// Hoodie Allen
Are U Having Any Fun?// Hoodie Allen (feat. Meghan Tonjes)
So Close to Happiness// Hoodie Allen
The Moment// Hoodie Allen (feat. Travis Garland)
Let Me Down Easy// Sheppard
Silver City - Original Mix// Myrne (feat. Linying)
Wrapped Up// Olly Murs
Bang my Head// David Guetta (feat. Sia & Fetty Wap)
Give Me Something// Jarryd James
Cold Cold Man// Saint Motel
Shake It Out// Florence + The Machine
UGH!// The 1975
Kill Your Heroes//AWOLNATION
Cake By The Ocean// DNCE
Lush Life// Zara Larsson
We Don't Believe What's On TV// Twenty One Pilots
I Took A Pill In Ibiza - Seeb Remix// Mike Posner
Remind Me Of// Hoodie Allen

xoxo, LC