To preface, my family puts Halloween above Christmas. Our favorite holiday by far. We don’t mess around and we take an annual trip to Disney World for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party every October.

This year we decked ourselves out as ghosts. We thought identical costumes would be an even spookier effect, I think it worked out. Our dresses are “Southern Bell Zombie” from Halloween Hallway. The capes we bought on Amazon and the wigs are from Spirit Halloween.

We always do our own makeup, which is a passion of mine. I have so much fun doing halloween makeup and special fx makeup, it might be why it’s one of my favorite holidays.

I think wigs always add the extra wow factor to a costume. We were definitely sweating our butts off in 90 degree heat but also turning lots of heads, so well worth it.

Back in Chicago I did 3 different costumes for 3 different events. My first costume was this mime! I used the same wig from the Disney costume and add a red beret, some makeup, and a black and white striped shirt. A super easy and unique look.

The second event I went as a Scarecrow. I’ll note I definitely blew the bank on our Disney costumes so the rest were pretty DIY. I grabbed a flannel from my closet, a cute bandana, and did my own glammed up version of a scarecrow makeup. This is super cute and easy to wear.

I usually go for something super spooky and super detailed for the actual day of Halloween but this year I decided to do a group costume with my best bud. If you haven’t seen the Lizzie McGuire Movie go watch it right now. We went as Lizzie, Isabella, and Paolo from the iconic Coliseum scene. Another easy fun DIY costume. We wore these to the Halloween parade in Boystown.

In the midst of Chicago winter my skin is crying for help. Through all the different trends and fads of skincare I always come back to this line when my skin is just not happy with me.

The First Aid Beauty is an amazing brand that offers so many specialized lines of care. They make it super easy for you to get everything you need with the different kits that they offer. The Fab Favs Kit is everything your skin has been missing and more. It includes the Pure Skin Face Cleanser, Facial Radiance Pads, and Ultra Repair Cream.

These products are made for all skin types but I find them especially life saving during this cold weather. Another favorite aspect for me is that the products are unscented. Sometimes a fragrant moisturizer leaves me feeling like I didn’t get the job done, I just smell good. These products leave your skin feeling and smelling purely clean.

When I use this line for my skin routine I remove my makeup first. I then go in with the Facial Radiance Pad to gently exfoliate and remove anything I had missed prior. Next is the Pure Skin Face Cleanser, just a nickel sized amount does the job for your entire face. The next step isn’t included in the kit but one of the easiest and most effective parts of my skincare routine, an ice cube. After I’ve cleansed I rub an ice cube lightly over my entire face, not only does this feel so relaxing but it closes up pores and tightens skin! I let the cold water soak into my skin for a minute and go right on top with the Ultra Repair Cream.

I highly recommend the FAB line and would love to see you guys try it out. The link to the kit and individual products are below!

Fab Favs Kit

Ultra Repair Cream

Pure Skin Facial Cleanser

Facial Radiance Pads

My college experience is way different than the typical state school. Everything I have learned so far is based on the fact that I attend a private arts college, live in downtown Chicago, and lead a super independent lifestyle.

The most important part of my day is class, considering I’m a full time student. My first semester I discovered that having late afternoon/evening classes was not the right fit for me. I find it so much more productive to get up early, get done with class, and have the rest of the day for myself. My class days are Monday-Thursday and I am done by either 11:50 am or 1:50 pm. This is a huge advantage to me and I highly recommend scheduling college classes early, it leaves a lot more motivation to make the rest of the day productive.

At school I make all of my own meals. I have a full kitchen and no meal plan but I definitely prefer this over a cafeteria style dining hall. I have already learned so much about nutrition and healthy cooking and it is definitely something I love about my college life. I’ll have a full post up soon regarding what I eat in a day, but I definitely recommend exploring cooking for yourself in college.

In the evenings I have definitely been trying to get out and explore. There is so much to do in the city of Chicago and I would be stupid to not try and experience the most I can. A huge positive of attending Columbia College Chicago is that there is usually a lot going on within the school itself. This is my biggest recommendation about college, take advantage of everything your school has to offer.

Most of all I love the fit I have found at my school. If you are feeling uncomfortable at the school you attend don’t be afraid to keep looking, there is nothing wrong with transferring to a school that is going to better yourself in the future. If you are interested in Columbia College Chicago I will say that it is an amazing community to live and grow in. Attending a school with artists and creatives is so inspiring and I learn so much daily just by interacting with peers. Living in downtown Chicago has also provided me with so many important life lessons and I feel like I have grown more in the past 6 months than I did in all of high school.

Cheers to college life and the amazing opportunities it brings.

Moving out and living on my own in 2017 I was faced with all the challenges of how to live a healthy lifestyle. After my first semester I think I have figured out what works for me and how I can feel my best. These are just a few things I do to ward off the daunting freshman 15 and commit to my health in the long run.

1. Regulating my sleep schedule. I really try to keep myself on the same sleep schedule every night. This helps me to not feel groggy during the day, which used to be a huge issue for me. I use the clock app on the Iphone. This is a super easy and helpful tool that is already built into your phone. In the “Bedtime” tab of the app you can set when you want to be asleep each night and when you want to wake up. I have mine on for Sunday through Thursday. I set my bedtime for 11:30 pm and to wake up at 7:30, a solid 8 hours. My favorite feature of this app is that it notifies you 30 minutes before your bedtime, this lets me know when to start my bedtime routine, turn off the electronics, and chill out before I’m ready to sleep.
2. My Camelbak water bottle. It is so so important to get enough water throughout the day. I found that owning the perfect water bottle is what motivates me to get all the water I need. The bottle holds 750ml of water and I go through as many as I can throughout the day, minimum of 8. Drinking a lot of water helps to clear your skin, flush out toxins, promotes weight loss, and boosts the immune system.
3. Clean eating. I am a huge fan of going out to eat but the food I keep in my home is completely clean. I grocery shop for lots of fruits and veggies along with lean meats and proteins. I love green peppers. I buy so many green peppers every time I make a grocery run. I use them for basically every meal, cooked with scrambled eggs, as a side with grilled chicken, in salads, or even just cut up and eaten raw. Finding healthy foods that you can do a lot with is so important in healthy cooking. A few other things I always pick up at the store are raspberries, bananas, strawberries, oranges, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, eggs, salmon, chicken, soups and salads, avocado (I put it on everything), coconut oil (for universal use), and anything that is in season.
4. Exercise. I love to exercise and it is usually easy for me to make time every day for a work out. I eat dinner between 6 and 7 pm and head to the gym at 8 pm. This way I can spend a good amount of time focusing on what I am doing and not have to worry about anything I have to do afterwards. Then I can just get straight in the shower and chill out for the night. Working out is something I look forward to in my day because it is a time to focus on myself, destress, and sweat out anything negative from the day. I also try and get up at 7am to walk for 30 minutes at least 2 days a week.
5. I don’t own a scale. Living a healthy lifestyle is not about weight loss for me. In the past I did have a scale and it completely twisted the meaning of being healthy for me. I was obsessed with weight loss and it was the only thing I focused on. Now I choose to be healthy to better my overall quality of life. A healthy lifestyle leads to so many benefits in your day to day life, more energy, motivation, confidence, positive thinking, better sleep quality, and less threat of long term illness.

I would like to add that I definitely try and stick to these things but I love McDonalds french fries just as much as the next girl. All of the guilty pleasures in life are completely ok in moderation.