A Back To School Look: Hair, Make-up & Outfit

Happy Monday!! It's the last Monday of August and our last guest post for back-to-school. Time certainly does fly. I hope every has been having a great transition from summer to school. Today we have an awesome blogger, Leah from The Calico Cat sharing her back-to-school look. 
Hey Gorgeous,
My name is Leah and I post for The Calico Cat. The Calico Cat is a beauty+lifestyle blog where I review products, scheme up new makeup tutorials and showcase the occasional outfit of the day. I also cover other topics too, such as college life, book reviews and recipes. TCC was founded in January of this year as a way for me to write about my passions. I am an English major studying Writing and Publications, so the blog was also a way for me to improve my writing skills. I hope you stop by and stay awhile!
Today, let's talk back to school beauty and fashion. I am bringing you a quick, yet pulled together look for that first day back at school. Let's be real, we all need something easy for school because we already know we're going to hit that snooze button one too many times. On to the look!
This outfit is perfect for a back to school outfit because you can wear it during the heat of summer and then transition it into fall by adding a cardigan when the weather starts to get cool. Simple accessories complete the look. Since this shirt has a low cut back and the flirty window, a bra may be an issue. To fix this problem, I just used the Hollywood Fashion Secrets Silicone Cover-Ups instead.
Top: American Eagle Floral Swing Cami $24.95 (also in Black; ON SALE)
Pants: Old Navy {old} similar, similar, similar
Shoes: Bobs by Skechers $45.00
Earrings: Kmart {old} similar, similar



Bracelets: Gift similar 





For my hair, I kept it super simple! I just twisted back two sections on either side and pinned them in the back. Hairspray and your done!

I hope y'all enjoyed this quick back to school look! If you want to see more of me, here are my other links:
Thanks for stopping by, y'all!
xo, Leah
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5 Ways To Be A Better Roommate

I hope everyone is having an awesome week. Today's guest post blogger is a completely sweetheart. She blogs about college, design, beauty, fitness, and more. I'm happy to have Audrey from Whimsical Wanderings taking over my blog today. 




It's the weirdest feeling in the world to be left in a room with someone you may have never met before and be expected to get along for the next year! Unfortunately, not every roommate situation is perfect, so here's five ways to help you be an amazing roommate!


MAKE A ROOMMATE AGREEMENT// It's so important to make your preferences known from the beginning! Talk through every possibility: whether you study with music, if you don't want guests after a certain time, etc. It saves so much tension later! At my university, our RA made one with us, but regardless of whether yours does the same, I promise that it will be so helpful to have a set of rules that you've both decided to stick to. 

BE HONEST IF SOMETHING'S BOTHERING YOU// This one was so hard for me during my freshman year. So many things happened that annoyed me, but I was too scared to say anything for fear of making my roommate mad. As a result, I found myself frustrated and a little angry almost constantly. Which definitely didn't fix my problem. If only I had just laid out my preferences from the beginning! Don't let your frustrations fester in silence, it's always better to be honest. 

BE A FRIEND// Sometimes, I was so upset by little things that annoyed me that I forgot to be a friend. Even if you're not BFF's, you can still be there for them when they break up with their boyfriend or make a bad grade on an important test. Spend faulty time getting to know each other and just be a friend! 

BE CONSIDERATE// Don't just focus on what you want. Try to understand your roommate's preferences and sympathize with what they may want! Sometimes I found myself so focused on how I thought my roommate was being inconsiderate or rude, that I didn't even realize that there were ways that I could have made our relationship better or been more considerate myself! 

DO TO THEM WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO FOR YOU// If you go out of your way to be kind to your roommate, it will make even an uncomfortable situation a lot better! Not only that, do to them what you want them to do for you! Keep your side of the room clean, do your share of the cleaning, try to be quiet while they're sleeping in the mornings. The little things will make all the difference. 

Even if you and your roommate aren't best friends, you want them to be able to look back and think that you were a great roommate! Hopefully these tips will hep you have an amazing year at college whether you're a freshman or a senior!

Here's where you can find me: Instagram//Twitter//Bloglovin//Pinterest//


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5 Tips For Back To School

Happy Monday Everyone!! Just two more weeks of the back-to-school guest post series here on the blog. To those of you who already started school, I hope it's been off to a great start and for those of you who have yet to start I wish you luck. Today's guest post blogger loves planning, organization, nail polish, and DIYs. It's Megan who blogs over at Just Moogley. 

What, it’s back to school season?! No way! Don’t worry, I’m here to share my top 5 (in no particular order) tips to make going back to school just a little easier. Going back to school is never fun, but over the years I’ve learned a few things about making a new school year a little more bearable. Of course, this is what works for me, but it may not be what works for you!

1.Go to sleep earlier.
It’s proven that students, specifically high school students benefit more from starting classes in later in the day. Generally though, most schools start classes between 7-9 am, which totally sucks. To help fix this problem, hit the hay a little earlier the night before, this way, you can get more sleep! Most scientists recommend 8-9 hours of sleep for teens, but of course, that’s not always realistic! In the end, your brain needs to rest and heal itself, and it has a hard time doing that when you’re awake! If your brain and body gets the rest that it needs, you’ll have an easier time paying attention in class and taking the proper notes, and in the end that will make studying easier!

2. EAT BREAKFAST.
From my experience, eating a good, nutrient-rich breakfast before class makes all the difference. Sometimes you don’t always have the time to make the full-fledged breakfast with yummy bacon and pancakes; that’s okay, grab a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, even a granola bar or yogurt will do the trick! Not eating breakfast is like driving your car on E (which, as a college kid, we do from time to time), It’s super bad for your car to not have the right fuel to make it run correctly, and it’s super bad for your body to not have fuel either! Food is what gives our bodies the energy it needs to function, and if your body is functioning correctly, then it will help you feel more focused and awake. Which means you’ll be paying attention in class, and not falling asleep.

3. Stay focused.
It’s hard to stay focused in school if it’s the last place you want to be. My advice is remember your goal. For most students it’s probably graduating, whether that’s from high school or college. If your goal is to get the heck outta there, then do it. Stay focused, kick some butt, and graduate! Trust me, it’s SO much easier succeed if you actually try. It may not be easier, and it’s probably not very fun, but you’ll be very proud of yourself when you reach your goal!

4. Be yourself.
My least favorite part about starting school is making friends. I grew up in the same neighborhood with the same kids, so making friends at the start of new school year wasn’t an issue until we moved from Texas to California. The biggest thing I learned was to be yourself. The people who are worth being friends with, will really appreciate if you are being honest and true! Just be your goofy, awesome self, and then you’ll make the best friends ever! No one can ask anymore of you, and if you’re comfortable in your own skin, more people will want to be around you. Thus, solving the no friends issue! :)

5. Get a planner.
It’s no secret I’m a planner junkie. I have a huge planner collection, and spend way more than I probably should on them! Getting a planner has been the most helpful thing I’ve done! It helps you manage your time, homework, social life, and anything else you to need to keep track of! You can get fancy and use stickers, washi tape, etc. Or you can keep it simple and just grab a pen and write it all down. Your planner doesn’t have to be a super expensive one, it can just be whatever works for you! I use an Erin Condren, but I always have a few planners from Target and WalMart in my collection and they work just the same! :) Some people don’t even use a planner, and they use something like the bullet journal method, or a midori. Some even use just a plain old notebook! :)


In the end, like I said going back to school is never fun, but you can make it easier on yourself. Remember, take it seriously, stay focused, sleep more and get organized! :) If I can do it, trust me, you can too!

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Five Places You Should Know The Location of on Your Campus

Happy Humpday Wednesday Everyone!! I hope you're having a fabulous week. I start school tomorrow, I am super excited. What has really helped me get prepared for school is the back-to-school guest series going on this month. Today we have another amazing guest post from Jennifer, college/lifestyle, blogger over at The Beautiful Fool. Jennifer has also been doing a college series called One Question Interview, where she ask several bloggers one question, and they share their opinion and insight. So if you're searching for more college advice I recommend you check it out. 

As a freshman in college you probably had a few tours before your first day of college. As you begin to live on campus and go about your life though you quickly realize you A. remember nothing from the 20-minute tour and B. there are many places that tour doesn’t cover. So you find yourself looking like a tourist on your own campus as you try to figure out your campus map and realized you didn’t pay attention when you learned how to read a map in elementary school. Even once you feel like you know all of the locations, there are situations that come up where you find yourself having to go somewhere that you didn’t even know what existed. Since it’s no fun getting lost I thought I would share with the lovely readers of Happiness With a Side of Tea the 5 places that you should figure out where they are now so you know where they are when you need them.


1. Career Center 
Everyone wants a job when they graduate and one of the best resources you have for getting your job is your school’s career resource center. They will be able to help you with your cover letter & resume and answer any questions you have about the job or internship search process. Figure out where the actually career center is early on and then make it a goal to visit them once or twice a semester to make sure you stay on top of thinking about your future career.


2. Lost and Found
The first week of my freshman year I went to a comedy show on our quad and when I was leaving I left my lanyard that had my keys, student ID, and credit cards in it. After spending an hour searching the quad, having a meltdown, and thinking this was a sign that I wasn’t cut out for college, I received an email from our campus security saying some amazing person had found my keys and brought them in to the lost and found. I was so excited and then I realized that I had no clue where the lost and found was. I ended up having to do intense Google searching and got lost along the way there, but I found it and got my keys back. The moral of the story is figure out where your campus lost and found is now and then it’ll make you’re life a lot easier when you have to go there.


3. Where you can rent/use a computer
Since life sucks, there will inevitably be a time when you have some sort of laptop issue. For me it was being out in the rain and my keyboard decided to retaliate for me getting it wet by only letting some of the keys work some of the time. When the inevitable happens though you are going to want to know where the place is on campus that you can rent or use a computer to do your work. It is probably going to be at one of the libraries so I would look around a bit on the library website and you will probably find out the details.


4. You Favorite Study Spot
Everyone I know on my campus had a different favorite spot to study depending on personal preferences and how you learn. Some people like cubicle type studying,
some people like to study in groups, and other people like big open rooms. I’m a fan of the latter and love studying in the big room of our library. Coming from high school you probably aren’t sure what you’re preferred study location is since you’ve been studying at home most of your life. I recommend you spend the first few weeks doing your homework in different locations and seeing which one you are the most productive and focused in. That will be your ideal location.


5. Free Parking
If you have a guest coming with a car the first thing they are probably going to ask you is ”‘where do I park?” On most campuses, a lot of the parking will cost money, but there are always a few areas that someone can park for free or a lot cheaper. This would probably be a really good thing to ask upperclassman about who will know where the best places are to park since they have been living there a lot longer.
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5 Tips for A Helpful First Week at College

Happy Monday!! Today or sometime this week most of us starting school. If that's so then this month's guest post series will definitely help you. Today we're continuing all those amazing tips and advice for back-to-school with Valerie from Wildflowers & Curls. 

The first week of school is seriously the hardest thing to do for anyone. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what grade your in. I remember my first semester of college I didn’t know what to do. I only knew one person, I was socially awkward, and I was on a campus that was 10x the size of my high school. I had these huge gaps between my classes and I literally spent my first day by myself on the lawn tables until my next class. 


I want to therefore dedicate this post to a few helpful tips that can get through your first week of your very first semester without dreading or stressing about it.


1. Finding Classrooms: Being new on a campus can be super intimidating and scary. I’d recommend sparing a couple minutes or even an hour (if you have it) before your initial classes start time to look for your classes. Get a good look at where they are! This will allow you to not be late on your first day.

2. Smile & Say Hi: Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to the person beside you in class. They’re probably as afraid as you are so it doesn’t hurt to just smile. Y’all could be helpful to each other!

3. Explore the Campus: As I mentioned my first day included isolating myself while waiting for classes and I deeply wish I had not done this. The first week usually includes mini events or activities to get to know other students and enjoy your self. I know every semester at UIW (my university) on the first day they hold something called River Jam. It’s this small event held near the river on our campus that lets students unwind on their first day with some BBQ and live performances.

4. Go to the Student Organization Fair: If your campus has a fair that allows you to see all the student organizations, go to it! This is a good opportunity to see maybe what clubs you’d be interested in joining. I highly highly recommend attending something like this. Since I’m apart of the student newspaper on campus and we have a booth each year I see first hand how helpful they can be.

5. Print out/Write out Class Schedule: Remember you’re in college now so there is no bell schedule like in high school. Jot down the times your classes start and end. It is easy to lose track of time if you don’t have anything to remind you. Have the class schedule with you at lease for the first week so you can get use to it. There have been so many times I get lost in thought and glance at the clock to see I only have 3 minutes till class starts!



While it can be something at first to be afraid of it will get better. Every year after will become easier to manage and the anxiety will disappear. As a third year student I’ve grown to let the jitters fade and make memories from it.


 Valerie is the founder of Wildflowers & Curls, a beauty+lifestyle blog that has anything from beauty tips to collegiate tips. She is a 20-year-old from San Antonio, Texas attending the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) as a Communication Arts major. Valerie is a student journalist and assistant editor for UIW's the Logos Newspaper.She one days hope to manage her own print publication as an editor.
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