The Life of Katie!

Recently, life has been busy but in a good way! If you follow me on Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee), then you have probably seen all of the excitement going in on my life recently. One of my best friends, Bryn, moved to the Washington, DC area for the summer (and has been here for almost TWO months now!), I have gone into the city for a few day visits, and I have enjoyed essentially the dog days of summer before I head off on an almost-month long adventure through 10+ different states.

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

  • Visits to the city – Recently, I have been enjoying quite a few visits into the city. If you have been following the blog for quite some time, my local city is Washington, DC! I have LOVED going into the city that I truly love and am proud to call my home. Funny story – I went to a picnic at the gorgeous Glen Echo Park – located just Northwest of Washington, DC in Maryland – and my Mom and one of my family friends who works at my company were joking about how I didn’t want to leave my college state of North Carolina post-graduation to move up to Washington, DC. And, well, here we are – one of the BEST decisions I EVER made was moving to the Washington, DC area and out of North Carolina!! My recent visits have involved going to Dupont Circle, the National Mall, Metro Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Here’s to many more memories exploring my gorgeous city!
  • Local walks – One of my goals of the current moment or *I guess* dog days of summer is to go on MORE WALKS! Especially with my recent health and fatigue, I want to be able to enjoy the moments and the little things in life, which I feel a walk allows me to do. I can admire the gorgeous flora, fauna, and the stunning beauty that is around me. I have gotten a lot of walking in on my day trips into Washington, DC along with the near-to-me Heron Pond in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Personally, Heron Pond feels like a fairytale cove – some photos below!
  • Planning for my upcoming trips! – On my Instagram the other day, I shared a bit about the planning process for my upcoming travel over the next 6 weeks. Yes, you heard me right – I will be on the road for the majority of the next 6 weeks! Papa and I are going to visit 10+ states on 2 road trips together and I will be visiting *yet another* state on a third trip on my own with some friends from college, too. Currently, we have been in the process of booking hotels, planning out snacks and other meals, choosing activities to do, mapping out our routes from place-to-place, and listing out what we need to pack. And, for me, I am *ALSO* planning out my content for all things The Pink Chickadee! Some of the states that we are going to include: Maine, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Indiana. In addition to 10+ states, we are going to Canada for a few day trips as well. Needless to say, I am SO EXCITED for it all!
  • Healthy eating – Along with walking, I am also making it a dog days of summer goal of mine to focus more on healthy eating. Recently, I have been striving to eat more in and less takeout. While, at the same time, exploring some healthy meal options, such as: baked tilapia with roasted veggies, veggie bowls over rice, egg bowls packed with vegetables, and baked feta pasta with veggie-based noodles and broccoli, onions, and mushrooms. There’s A LOT of great healthy eating options, and I am more than excited to explore what the world of healthy eating has to offer to me!
  • Breaking open my brand-new Lilly Pulitzer agenda – It is July 31 as of the day that this blog post goes live, which, well, means that tomorrow is August 1! August 1 is Day 1 of breaking open my brand-new Lilly Pulitzer agenda (!!!!). I always buy the jumbo-sized agenda, since my handwriting is HUGE. I use my Lilly Pulitzer agenda to map out: what I plan to eat, when I plan to workout, what professional development activities I plan to do, what blogging tasks I plan to accomplish, and what activities I am going to be doing for the week/month. As my best friend Shivani says: ” I get my every penny out of my planner” (she owns an Erin Condren planner!!). And, just like Shivani, I do (and plan to do!) the exact same thing. In the meantime, shop my favorite planner here and my favorite Lilly Pulitzer planners and accessories below: https://rstyle.me/+cJphmW-md5iOOQEFMkMggQ

XOXO – Katie <3

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DIY Lilly Pulitzer Notebook Cover!

Call me crazy, but I have been a major major major notetaker at work, especially since starting my new job. I have seen myself channel a brand new intern look so much since it all began. That being said, I have discovered the bargain notebook section at Target and have been going a bunch, too. On a recent trip to Target, I needed to purchase a bunch of notebooks, and I found some for 69 cents. As great of a deal as these notebooks were, they also had Target’s logo sprawled all around them and I knew I wanted something different for mine.

I love love love some adorable and fun notebooks. I have found some at Target and Walmart, but am not willing to pay even $5 for a notebook that I will only use for a week or less to jot down information at work, whether it be from meetings, acquiring new project information, or trainings. At the same time, I cannot justify the price of the oh so adorable Lilly Pulitzer and Erin Condren notebooks of a Whooping $15+. So, I set out to create my own notebooks straight from my crafting bin! These notebook designs can also be used for the Back to School season, too, along with a variety of other purposes.

DIY Lilly Pulitzer Notebook Cover

Materials

  • Lilly Pulitzer planner paper (or your favorite Lilly Pulitzer print straight off of the printer – a Google image search can do just that for you)
  • Solid colored construction paper in the color of your choice
  • Stickers/embellishments (I went with rhinestones that I probably purchases during my tween bling-loving days – haha!)
  • Scissors
  • Tape/Glue (I have found tape as simple as Scotch tape to be very effective)
  • Black Pen

Steps

  1. First, I cut the construction paper to be the size of the notebook cover, then I taped it to the notebook cover.
  2. I cut out an old Lilly Pulitzer planner sheet into a square and then taped it over the construction paper.
  3. Then, I cut out a small rectangular piece of the construction paper and taped it over the center of the Lilly Pulitzer print. Its purpose is to serve as a label for the notebook.
  4. With a black pen, I wrote on my label what the purpose of my notebook is.
  5. Lastly but not in the least, I added a few rhinestones to bedazzle my notebook!

The best part of it all?! My notebook makeover costed $0 for me to do. That way, I could save and still have what feels like a $15+ notebook without even paying the hefty price tag!

XOXO – Katie <3

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DIY Laminated Placemats

Being on a budget, I always wanted to have cute placemats in my apartment, but did not want to pay the price for them. The majority of placemats that I see are around $10 each, which can be a hefty price tag for one placemat. That being said, I really wanted to find a way to DIY a placemat into something super cute yet practical. Today, I will be sharing how I made my own laminated placemats!

First Up: Pick Your Poison!

From wrapping paper to scrapbook paper to collages and everything in between, the base paper for your placemats can be pretty much anything that you wish. Using wrapping paper and cutting it into equivalent sizes (like I did) was the way that I DIYed my placemats. I purchased my wrapping paper from Paper Source for $10. You can also use fabric squares or cut pieces of fabric into squares to your liking. If you want to use pre-cut pieces of paper, there is always scrapbook paper which can be purchased at stores such as Michael’s or Hobby Lobby for 25 cents-$2.00 a piece. All still at a fraction of the cost!!!

On the custom made end of things, I have thought about printing out my favorite Lilly Pulitzer prints onto 8×10 sheets of paper. At the same time, you could easily put their favorite Lilly Pulitzer prints from their old Lilly Pulitzer planner into a collage and then laminate that as well. Moreover, you could easily custom design each placemat with a unique painting or with a customized monogram/saying on each placemat. A custom-made placemat will definitely brighten your tables!

Second: Get It Laminated

Now that you’ve picked your poison, it’s time to get it laminated! If you have a laminator at home, that is definitely the way to go. However, luckily, places like Staples and Office Depot offer lamination services that are affordable and easy to use. I got mine done at my college’s library, but I would definitely hit up a local Staple’s if I were at home. However you choose, to laminate your placemats, they will be done on the affordable side!

Third: Enjoy!

Now that you’ve laminated your poison, you now have your very own set of placemats AND at a fraction of the cost!!! The best part about laminating your own placemats is the practicality of it – they are easy to clean and super light. As always, you can customize your placemats to your liking! Hopefully, your placemats get a lot of love out of them for many more meals and years to come!

XOXO – Katie <3

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DIY Monogrammed Lilly Pulitzer Notebooks

Hey y’all! As a new school year approaches, it just may be time to upgrade your typical notebook to start it off fashionably strong. This past semester, I decided to spice up my notebooks with my own preppy twist that I wanted to share it with y’all!

Materials

  • 1-5 subject spiral notebook (I usually buy mine at the cheapest price from either Walmart or Target)
  • Modge Podge (I got mine from the Dollar Tree)
  • A computer with Microsoft Word

Directions

  • Look up your favorite Lilly Pulitzer prints online and add them into a Microsoft Word or Google Docs document and create a collage out of the prints online the size of a page or one print per page (whatever your liking may be!). I decided to use Postcards From Positano, Peel N’ Eat, Hangin’ Around, & Who Let The Fronds Out.
  • Add a text box into an existing document and place it over each printed page (or create text boxes in a new document if using old planner pages). Proceed to type your information in the text box and customize the font and size of the font to your liking.
  • Print the pages and prepare each page to place on each notebook.
  • Using modge podge, seal each page onto its corresponding notebook.
  • Place each monogrammed decal on each notebook; I purchased mine from a classmate of mine Destiny Eudy). However, there are many great deals on Etsy too!
  • Enjoy!

Bravo! You have made your own monogrammed Lilly Pulitzer notebook! I hope you enjoy going back to school/class in a bright and bubbly fashion.

XOXO – Katie <3

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How I Juggle College Life!

The socials, the hangouts, the study sessions, the meetings, the positions, the classes, and even jobs, OH MY! College is an exciting time, yet it can be one of the craziest most robust times of our lives as well. Most of us, like myself, are typically balancing a lot of various commitments and activities each day. Life at college is fun but it can also be extremely stressful if not properly managed. With the school year approaching us, I am going to be sharing how I juggle college life and the many things that I do on a regular basis.

Planners Are Your BEST FRIEND!

Establishing some sort of planning system is definitely going to help you to stay on top of everything that is going on. I have used both paperback planners, like those from Lilly Pulitzer and Erin Condren, and Digital planners through Google Calendar and Apple’s Calendar. Over time, I have come to prefer having everything on a digital front, as I have been one to forget to write everything down in my paperback calendar after the first week of classes *not gonna lie*! However, I do know that paperback planners are best for others and that is great. The most important thing is that you find the planning system that is BEST FOR YOU! Once you do, make it apart of your daily ritual!

To-Do Lists Will Become Your Best Friend As Well!

Along with having a planner, creating a to-do list is an excellent way to ensure that you conquer that many things that you have to do on the daily in your college life. I put things as simple as putting together a grocery list for the week to things for my blogging platform to things as complex as a Programming project or studying for a test. It helps me to break everything down into what I need to do each day or over the weekend. For instance, if I have a big test on a Wednesday, then I may write on my to-do list the week before and the Monday and Tuesday the week of to take some time and study for that test. The same idea of breaking to-do list entries down goes to a big project, paper, or even a homework assignment. Having everything together on one list helps me to conquer all of the things that I have to do, and I know it will help y’all too!

Use Syllabus Week as Planning Week!

Although syllabus week may feel like a major treat in the college world, it does not does any of us any justice to simply attend class and use the afternoon as a time to do anything but focus on our new courses. Typically, college syllabi come with a calendar of important dates to remember for your courses – test dates, project due dates, assignment due dates, etc. Once you have those dates in hand, I would highly suggest breaking out your planners and to-do lists and writing everything down. Come up with your plan for how you will complete each of the tasks that come with your classes the moment you get that syllabus.

At the same time, as someone who is involved in clubs and organizations as well as my school’s events, I always jot down the important dates that I need to remember for these commitments along with my academic one’s. Usually, clubs and organizations will either send out their meeting dates via email or have it posted somewhere online like a school website. Like a syllabus, I would write down all of the dates that you are committed to attending a meeting or event. If you have anything that you know you need to do before any of those commitments, then I would add them to your to-do list. Social commitments are just as important as the academic commitments in the college world, as both shape us into the people that we are and will become. Being able to complete tasks in both our academic and social worlds will help us to be well-rounded college graduates going into the real world in the years to come.

Things WILL Pop Up Last Second and That’s OKAY

While we can always plan to the best of our abilities, nothing will ever go perfectly as we anticipated. You may have a social outing or meeting last longer than you anticipated and that is OKAY. You may have an assignment simply creep up on you and that is OKAY. You may have something pop up with your friend or roommate that you need to tend to and that is OKAY. You may just need an evening for yourself and that is OKAY. Even though it may feel like a pain when things creep up on us that we do not expect, remember that it happens to the best of us. The most important thing is that you are trying your best to do all that you can do to juggle it all. Remember that all of us have our days and that is OKAY. We are ALL human.

Leave Time for YOU

While our college lives seem to leave us with time for everything but ourselves at times, it is always important to set some time aside each day for ourselves. Without that time, we will not be able to be our best selves. In fact, putting in time each day to simply wind down or do something that we enjoy that isn’t related to anything in our college lives helps us to be the best that we can be in our college lives. Most importantly, setting time for you helps you to be the best version of yourself in everything that you do!

College is a journey leading to the destination of acquiring a degree. While the classes, assignments, social activities, and everything in between can feel like a craze at times, remember to take time to enjoy where you are at. As a Senior in college, it feels like yesterday that I began my college journey. College will not last forever and nothing ever does, so enjoy the moments along the way. Enjoy the times that you have getting ice cream or dinner with friends. Enjoy the late nights that you and your roommate(s) spend studying and cramming for tests. Enjoy the many t-shirt sales at your fingertips and take advantage of every club or class fundraiser that you want to support *money allowing*. Enjoy the times in class that you spend with those in your major or even those not in your major and get to know your classmates in all of your classes. Enjoy the times in class and in meetings that may just overwhelm you. Most of all, make the best of your college experience and the little things in between it all – they are truly what makes college oh so special!

XOXO – Katie <3

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