It's that time of year again...

Back to school time. I always have mixed feelings about going back to school. On one hand, I'm so excited to see everyone I haven't seen in awhile; on the other hand, I am NOT ready to start classes again. Luckily for me, I have a week and a half before the first day of class and I'll be spending all week next week with my sorority sisters as we prepare for recruitment. The week will be full of workshops, sisterhood events, and plenty of practice!
Despite dreading classes starting, the thought of school supplies is always a fun thing for me. I'm absolutely obsessed with organization. I've always loved back-to-school shopping-from clothes to notebooks and pens, I'm a sucker for starting fresh in the fall. So what are my favorite new things for my senior year, last year, for this year of college? (I'm a little bitter about being the "s" word...)

1. My new Lilly Agenda of course! I finally wrote everything in and have my color-coding down. I can't wait to do a future post about my agenda organization.

2. The best color-coding markers EVER: MoLin markers! Unfortunately these awesome marker pens are only sold in Spain, where I bought them when I studied abroad. The next best alternative in my opinion are Sharpie Pens, which come in several cute colors now.

3. I can't get enough of how comfy this J Crew chevron maxi dress is! I got it in green and blue at our J Crew factory store for a great deal.



4. Speaking of new things to wear for the school year, I found this amazing tortoiseshell and gold chain link bracelet at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet. It was 30% off and with my student discount, I ended up getting it for only $15!

5. I bought a lot of great things at our outlet mall a couple weeks ago, including a white jean jacket from Gap, some crewneck sweaters from J Crew and Gap, a new black patent leather Kate Spade wallet, and a classic white Ralph Lauren oxford shirt.

6. A new phone case! Mine was cute, but didn't protect my phone very well. I'm in love with this one from Vera Bradley.


7. Ok, so my final back-to-school favorite I just bought today from....WALMART! I was walking down the aisles, when the most adorable notebooks caught my eye from across the store. They're CHEVRON. Are you kidding me? Chevron, anchor and whale notebooks in the most adorable colors!! And the best part was that they only cost me 97 cents each. 97 CENTS PEOPLE. I showed a tiny bit of self-restraint and only bought 5. They also had folders and several other prints. They make starting classes a little bit easier!

Lilly Agenda Upcycle

I never thought the day would come where I would cut up one of my old planners. I am incredibly OCD about my planners and writing everything I have to do in them, so I have a ridiculous attachment to them. I have every planner I've used since my Sophomore year of high school- it's crazy! So why did I suddenly decide it was okay to actually CUT UP one of the most expensive, beautiful planners I've owned? Well, it's quite a tragic story actually. While in Spain last semester studying abroad, I brought along my beloved Lilly agenda. On one of the many rainy days there, I had the planner in my backpack and my travel-sized umbrella dripped water all over my backpack, causing my planner to get completely soaked. I was absolutely devastated. I spent over 2 hours with a hair dryer on the pages and all of my notes were completely smeared. Once it finally dried, it was a crinkly, warped mess.

I'm still a little heartbroken, but I've tried to make the best of this minor tragedy. The day the new Lilly agendas went on sale for pre-order, I placed my order for the Large Agenda in "Resort White Chiquita Bonita."The new agenda starts in August and I can't wait to start writing in it! I'll do another post in the future about my organizing tips for my agenda and how I stay on top of things (hint: LOTS of color coding. It's marvelous). So now that you're brought up to speed and my new agenda is just waiting for me, I feel at peace with cutting up the old one. I bought a coffee thermos at Starbucks today that is blank and you can put any pictures or paper inside to decorate it yourself. It looks like this:

Next, I went to town cutting up the old planner. I have a lot of leftover scraps that I'm in the process of planning a new craft for.

I traced the shape of the paper onto my own scrapbook paper and glued the pieces into a beautiful Lilly collage!

Here's the finished product!

Hope you enjoy!
Keeks