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This Year's Top 10 Blog Posts

my top nine Instagram posts from the year --  you can figure out yours here!

Happy last Friday of 2017! Come Monday we will (obviously) be starting off a New Year and I could not be more excited and ready for a fresh start. I have a lot on my plate this weekend in terms of planning content and setting goals, but I am so excited to get back to a routine. I am especially ready to put all of those Christmas cookies behind me so I can get my butt back into shape!! In the meantime, here are the top 10 most popular blog posts from this year...

Highlights of 2017



Today's post is a little happier than yesterday's! I always want to be honest and open with you guys, and I am so lucky I get to show you both the fun and the not-so-fun parts of my life and you're always so kind about everything. I am really so grateful for your love!! Today I am sharing the top moments from each month of 2017, because I have been doing my yearly recaps in a similar format for a couple of years now and I just love how it lets me reflect on the year and kind of organize my memories in a way.

A Grain of Salt for 2017


When I started to think about how I wanted to recap this year in a blog post I looked through past reflections to get some inspiration. Reading through last year's post on the year was really wild. I had the craziest year from graduating high school, to starting college, to hating where I was at and completely not knowing what was in store for me this year. I set a major goal for myself to try to whatever it would take to make myself the happiest as possible, and I have to admit, that may have been a little too ambitious.

Our Christmas Decorations


Reporting live from Dallas! I wanted to pop in and share some of my favorite holiday decorations around my house at home to inspire myself as I help my dad decorate here in Texas before Christmas tomorrow. My mom truly did a beautiful job of decorating (as she always does) and I just needed to share the festivity with you all!

The Pink Coat EVERYONE Needs





I usually do "This Week's Top 10" on Fridays, but because I haven't posted in a week I wanted to share a more "exciting" post today as we head into Christmas weekend! How did that happen?! Just a week ago I was freaking out about finals and now I'm freaking out about how I'm going to pack for Dallas, head to my best friend's birthday party tonight, shop for last-minute gifts, and make it to the airport all before 9 AM tomorrow.

This Week's Top 10: Holiday Prep + Stocking Stuffers


1. In just over a week I'm flying to Dallas for Christmas! It's crazy to believe I'm only four days away from a month-long winter break, and I couldn't be more excited to head home and hang out with my family and home friends for a few weeks.

2. On my Insta stories on Wednesday night I shared this scalloped cape and these over the knee boots, both of which I plan to pack for my trip to New York the first week in January (both are under $60!).

3. My family is doing a Secret Santa sort of thing to stuff each other's stockings for Christmas. I found a namer draw-er online and it generated everyone's Secret Santa for us! We were allowed to set a budget and create a little wishlist of stocking stuffers, too. On mine I included Moroccan oil, these cute earmuffs, and this coffee table book, because #options.

My Christmas Playlist + New Favorite Headphones

Tracking Pixel

I'm excited to be partnering with Motorola today to share some of my favorite holiday songs on my Christmas playlist! Every year when Thanksgiving passes I immediately break out my Christmas music, and it never fails to instantly put me in the holiday spirit. I have quickly fallen in love with the Christmas Classical Piano playlist on Spotify, which could not be more perfect for studying during finals around the holidays, but I'll never grow tired of my classic holiday playlist when I’m just hanging out or blogging, especially. My new favorite way to enjoy Christmas music: my Motorola Pulse Escape headphones.

Gift Guide: My List (+ Big Gift Reveal)




I've decided to lump in my own Christmas list into my mix of gift guides this year because I thought it would be fun to share some gift ideas that I personally have my eyes on! Although I would love everything on this list, that's unrealistic! I am asking for something really, really big this year anyways, so anything else would just be above and beyond. In no way at all am I actually expecting to receive all the things on this list (or any of them, really), even though I'd love to find them under the tree. Keeping reading to find out what the big gift I'm asking for is...

This Week's Top 10


1. Happy Friday! I'm so excited that in two weeks I will officially be on winter break for a month! I couldn't get my last exam moved as I'd hoped, so I'm unfortunately here until the 21st... The countdown starts now.

2. It was a fun week on the blog! I shared a ton of exciting content, including:

3. Has anyone tried this face mask? It has great reviews but I'd love to hear if any of you have tried it or have any other face mask recommendations?

Complete Winter Sorority Recruitment Outfit Guide


This post has been a highly requested one this fall. I went through winter sorority recruitment last year and I have been getting so many questions about what to wear during the rounds. Recruitment is different at every school, but for the most part it's always a weather-related disaster when it comes to planning outfits. Southern schools typically recruit in the fall when it's way too hot outside, and midwest/east coast schools recruit in the winter when it's snowing and freezing cold. Who thought that was a good idea? Between standing outside houses in freezing temperatures and sitting in a stuffy house or classroom, there is definitely an art to layering for winter recruitment. Here are my tips, suggestions, and ideas (warning! this post is a long one!):

Gift Guide: Under $25




I'm back today with another gift guide! I wanted to put this one up last week but I found so many gift ideas under $25 that I could finish the whole post in time. For the same reason I also wanted to keep it simple today and share just one gift guide instead of 3. If you enjoy the gift ideas I've found here, you can shop more ideas under $25 on the page under the "shop" tab above, or by clicking here to head straight there! For now, more about the gifts above... I think they're all so fun and would make amazing presents without spending too much money. I also like the idea of using them as stocking stuffers or even combining a few for an extra exciting gift!

Holiday Dresses & Shoes




I'm starting to think about what I want to wear for Christmas and New Year's this year, and I love all twelve of the party dresses/jumpsuits I've rounded up today! Most are under $200, but my favorite is this velvet jumpsuit that's even under $100. However, I always find the most fun part of holiday attire to be all the shoes... velvet, pom-poms, bows, ribbons... it's like wearing a present on your feet!

This Week's Top 10: Winter Bucket List


How is it already December?! The weather here has been super mild, in the 50s everyday, so it's hard to believe we're expecting snow, or rather, Christmastime anytime soon. To attempt to get in the holiday spirit despite the warmer weather and my later exam schedule this year (I'm at school until the 21st!), I thought it would be fun to create a winter bucket list that hopefully you can all use too! I realistically won't be able to do all of this during this month because I'll mostly be at school and then I'm heading straight to Dallas for Christmas, but throughout winter break I'm hoping to cross off a few of these items from the list.