My September 2016 Favorites! + Life Update

Please note: This article was published Sep. 30, 2016.
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Hi all! I feel like I haven’t been updating in a while (probably as a result of school starting back up again)—and I’ve missed you guys! I’m back today, though, with a quick life update, plus a round-up of my favorite products (and more) from the month of September.

September has been crazy, in part because of my birthday, which I spent with my boyfriend Ryan and my family. It was wonderful—I got a bunch of cute clothes (some of which made it onto this favorites list) and everyone made it a super special day for me.

It was also the first full month of my junior year of college, and I finalized with all my advisors and the registrar and such that I will be graduating with my degree in English a year and a half earlier than expected!

Finally, a bunch of us college bloggers have been talking about our troubles with balance this month, so much so that our last #BloggingCollege chat on Twitter (which I was honored to host) was all about how to balance school, work, relationships, and blogging! For me, between working three writing gigs, keeping up with my own blog, running our student newspaper, and my new job as a social media manager for an online company, plus taking the maximum number of credits I can, I was really running myself dry.

Unfortunately, that means I had to cut some stuff, and I chose to say goodbye to the things that weren’t paying (or were barely paying). It was really sad to leave a lot of those opportunities, but I feel a lot better and more relaxed because of it!

It’s been a crazy, hectic month, but with these five things, I got through it:

Favorite song:

“Vacation” by Thomas Rhett. If you know me, you know that I love country music. It just gives me a good feeling, and no matter where I am, it makes me feel like I’m home. This is definitely a party song, but it’s still got that home-grown vibe that I love so much. I only wish it had come out while Ryan and I were at the beach this summer!

Favorite fashion item:

This blue and pink cardigan! If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is. This was one of my birthday presents from Ryan (basically, I picked it out and he swiped the card, but it was super sweet of him to do that), and I literally can’t stop wearing it. I probably should stop, because I bet people are starting to notice, but it’s perfect for those days where it’s starting to feel like fall but you don’t quite need a jacket!

Favorite beauty item:

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Pressed Powder. What can I say? I’ve fallen in love. I needed some new makeup badly a few weeks ago, so I took a trip to Target and I found this powder and I bought it on a whim, without knowing anything about it—but let me tell you, it’s perfect! It’s totally a full-coverage powder, and I hate spending a lot of money on make up, so the price tag is awesome, too. It lasts so much longer than what I was using before, and I really can’t complain!

Favorite book:

A Moveable Feast (Restored Edition) by Ernest Hemingway. Yes, I confess—I had to read this for school. But let me explain! For a while, I’ve been buying books that seemed good and not actually reading them, and all the books I’ve had to read for school are so dull, but this book reminded me why I love reading, honestly! To hear about Hemingway’s writing process as he roamed the streets of 1920’s Paris was inspiring and, quite frankly, motivating to me as a writer. He locks himself away from the world and practically starves himself in the name of art! If that’s not aesthetic goals, I don’t know what is.

Favorite blog post:

7 Lady Bosses Share Their Best Career Advice by Julia Millay Walsh on MyDomaine. Us college students can never get enough career advice! I love these tips from successful college-grad women, because they remember being exactly where we are (since they were just in our place just months ago)! The tips range from “find a mentor” to “don’t do anything for the money”—and so, so much more. I found this blog post on Pinterest the other day, and it really is genius and super insightful—make sure you give it a read!

That’s all I’ve got for this month. See you in October!