Going Once! Going Twice! Sold (to school and reality)!

It's August!

As all the tweets during 12:01am of August 1st said... this month is the month that school starts. It's the last chance to do all those fun summer things we didn't do all summer.

Here are some of the things I enjoyed doing over summer that you can consider doing before summer ends...

Silly String Fight: 1) Buy a couple of bottles of silly string from the dollar store, 2) Grab a couple of friends, 3) Go crazy! We had a huge silly string fight at TD's party and it was a lot of fun! It was so much fun that we did it at home with my brothers. Make sure to do it outside and clean up the silly string afterwards. The silly string does stain when it's wet, so don't sit on it! It will come out with some hard scrubbing and Tide though!

Tie-Dye: I did tie-dye several times this summer (well 2, but still!). I love the tie-dye kits at A.C. Moore and tie-dying is that activity where I love doing it more than I love the finished product. It's so much fun to do with some friends and good music. The worst part is waiting to see your creation!

Day Trips: Whether you're going to the zoo, beach, amusement park... day trips are always fun. Again, the more, the merrier! Going to the zoo with my friends was one of the most memorable days of my summer.

Summer Camp: Well I was a summer camp counselor, but volunteering / working at summer camp is the best experience of summer! As one of my favorite summer camp counselors said, "It's not summer without summer camp!" Volunteering at summer camp is much more fun than restacking books at the library, and it's a great way to earn a lot of hours!

Driving Around Town: One of my favorite nights was just cruising around town with JSC in her car. We stopped to talk in a Walmart parking lot and just talked all night. It's so much fun and there's something special about driving and talking with the radio in the background.

Going to the Pool: There's nothing I love more than the pool. Is it truly summer without tanning, talking and the occasion dip in the pool?

What I wish I did:

Summer Concerts: Is there anything better than summer concerts? No. Well I've never been to a summer concert, so I can't speak with experience. I really wish I went to Jack Johnson and Vampire Weekend this summer!

Crafts: I did do tie-dye, but I wish I did more crafts! Here are some crafts from Pinterest I love!

Image via Pinterest
I love this globe! I really want to make my own!

Image via Pinterest
Spray painting plastic animals
And drilling a hole for a clip?
Easy and chic and perfect for any desk!

While I'm sad summer will be ending soon, I'm excited to share lots of Back to School posts with y'all soon!

Sunnies

Summertime. Sun's out, and it's time for adventures. It's time for car rides blasting country music (my friends were controlling the radio) cruising down the highway with the sunroof and windows down, impromptu trips to the beach, group messages about mandatory zoo trips to wear a new pair of Chacos, spontaneous lunch dates, paying for snow cones in all your change and photo shoots in the sticky heat with bugs eating away. But it's summer!

And with summer means sunglasses. (Obviously!) Or as I like to call them, sunnies.

I currently have a pair of sunglasses from American Eagle from last year. The cute AE employee talked me into them! He was really cute.

My current sunnies

Of course, when I saw all my summer friends recently (AD, JS & MF- read about them here!), they were all sporting their Ray-Bans. I have wanted a pair of Ray-Bans for a while, but I don't know if they're worth the investment. What if I lose them? My bae (don't read into that! just friends) MS (read about him here) broke his pair of Ray-Ban Clubmasters by sitting on them! He's stupid, we know. ;) 

My amazing cousin (who I strive to be when I'm her age) is a total shopoholic like me, but more extreme. Like 10 pairs of Tory sandals and flats extreme. She was talking about getting me a belated birthday/Christmas present. She brought up a pair of nice sunglasses, and I pointed out that I wouldn't use them enough for them to be worth it. She said when I start driving (like a lot), I will use them. Maybe I'll have to invest in a pair. Is it worth it?

I'm also obsessed with the hipster style sunglasses... The huge round framed sunglasses with the . A girl I follow on Twitter has a pair, and I'm dying for a pair! If anyone knows where to get them, (I've searched Google many times with "hipster round framed sunglasses" and can't seem to find them!) 

Similar to these... but bigger and more dented at the top and tortoise-shell printed?

Colorblocked Round Sunglasses

I also am loving these Tory Burch cat eye sunglasses (on sale!!)

Tory Burch 56mm Cat Eye Sunglasses

And what about Ray-Bans? Are they worth the hype?

Ray-Ban 'Classic Clubmaster' 51mm Sunglasses
These are my personal favorite!

I wish I could rock a pair of aviators but they don't look good on me. Clubmasters are my favorite style of Ray-Bans.

I know, I'm all over the place with my love for sunnies' styles. But to add to the chaos, I love Sarah Belle's Betsey Johnson sunglasses! I don't think they're available anymore, which makes me want to cry! They're perfect. She talks about them here in her June 2013 Favorites video!

Sarah is the one on the right!
Screenshot from her LA week 2 vlog.

What is your take on sunglasses? Are they worth saving or splurging?! Let me know!

Summertime Beginnings

I wanted to start this post with this photo.
It's from a few years ago and I went with my Girl Scout troop to the beach.
A friend took this photo without me knowing after sunrise.
We woke up early to go see the sunrise, and it was amazing.

I have had my first two days of summer! Today is day 2 of summer vacation. It's been pretty good. I'm really hoping for the chance to do stuff this summer. Experience summer. Not just sit around and watch Netflix.

Although I am expecting to catch up on some Netflix and watch some new movies and shows. Any recommendations? I want to watch some more Audrey Hepburn movies.

Oh, I'd love to read some books too. John Green's Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska. I pinned this Buzzfeed article, "17 Books To Read If You Liked "The Fault In Our Stars." The books Zac and Mia and Anna and the French Kiss sound good!

I also pinned the Refinery 29 article "The 10 Best Beach Reads, According to Us," which has some great reads: Crazy Rich Asians sounds hilarious and relevant to myself, The Secret History is my ideal story dealing with mystery and Young Money sounds like an interesting read about Wall Street.

Another pin (Pinterest obsession? Yes.) led me to Ellie Hutchison's 2013 Summer Reading In Review post, which introduced me to some great reads. Interesting fact: I love non-fiction books, especially business books. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead sounds amazing! I love books about women in power.

And... another pin to this book review. I love these types of books. Going out in the world, learning about yourself and your values, discovering the world around you. A Year Without Make-Up sounds like the perfect summer read! And I love to travel, so I'll be wanderlust during this summer.

After my first slideshow of books from Refinery 29, "Book Recs, Courtesy of L.A.'s Best Authors:" I love books written in letters Love, Nina sounds great and again Crazy Rich Asians and Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Yes please!

Let's do this summer. Let's do this!