November 2013 Recap

I totally slacked on taking pictures this month. Wait, no. That's kind of a lie. I took over 1600 pictures this month, but a lot of them were from the first two nights of the month at the musical theatre shows that I went to to see some of my friends. I didn't really take like any pictures in the middle few weeks of the month.

a dusting of snow on the 22nd.

another picture from the 22nd. snow on the garage roof. it's crazy, because the leaves on that tree in the middle were just yellow!

Kiss Nail Dress Gradation Polishes - here's how they turned out! not sure if I like them or not.
I received this product for testing purposes from Influenster.

Sturgeon Bay. corner of Michigan Street and Third Avenue on Thanksgiving morning (approximately 9:45 am). I just love the historic buildings - they are colorful and I love all of the detailing. {I left this uncropped to prove that it was taken through my windshield while at a stop sign. Luna got waxed/cleaned a few weeks back and looked so shiny and glossy and pretty!}

Thanksgiving dessert - my aunt made a cranberry and egg nog tart with homemade whipping cream!

November NatureBox
Fall Cara Box Reveal
Influenster Rose VoxBox Reveal
Twenty While Twenty Three Month Progress
Rent the Runway Dresses (November 1st & 2nd)

xoxo.

November 2013 Nature Box

I mentioned last time that I wouldn't be picking my snacks again, but when I received an email from Nature Box stating that I should choose my snacks before they got shipped, I logged in and chose five items.

Once again, I wasn't very happy with my choices.

Flax Fortune Coins :: These are so adorable; they remind me of little pancakes. The above picture isn't the greatest, because it doesn't show that there are actually quite a few visible flax seeds in each little cookie. I don't even really like fortune cookies, so I don't know why I chose these. They're okay. They're crunchy and sweet, with a little kick thanks to the flax seeds.

Cocoa Waffle Wafers :: I really wanted to like these. I mean, they're chocolate. But, in my opinion, they are really dry and taste like they are burnt. Nutella corrects the problem though. (:

Dark Chocolate Berry Trail Mix :: I am on a total trail mix kick right now! This one is pretty good, but I wish there was more chocolate in it. (:

Dried Pears :: These are really good. I like dried fruits, so of course I enjoyed these. I love how the one ingredient on the back of the package is "pears." It does bother me the way that some of these are cut. As you can see in the picture, there is a stem attached to one of the slices.

Cherry Vanilla Granola :: I love granola! I don't have any yogurt in the fridge right now, but I've just been eating this out of the bag. This granola reminds me of the macaroon granola I tried in September. While some of the granola is cherry-flavored, I have only found two of the {super delicious} dried cherries so far.

I'm already looking forward to next month's Nature Box. I plan on trying the dried peaches!

xoxo.

this post contains affiliate links.

alive & crazy.

I bought these mugs at Target yesterday. I want the New York and London ones too. (They also have San Francisco.) I swear I only went there to buy a sweater, since they were on sale for forty percent off. I ended up getting two super soft sweaters - a purple v-neck pullover and a brown heather v-neck cardigan.

I'm currently sitting in my resume-writing class, laughing at all of the things that these people say. Yesterday in psychology class, I ordered my cap and gown, and I looked around to find a dress to wear for graduation as well. I really like this one from A&F. I can't believe I'm graduating in less than a month! I still feel like I have so much to get done. I have to finish my internship, and my last three classes.

In one of my classes, we are putting together the annual talent show for our school. I really have no idea what's going on because I have only been there for the second half of the class.

Thanksgiving is in two days! I can't believe that it's already the end of the year!

I ordered a leather jacket from Boden, and it came in the mail a few days ago, but I ordered the wrong size, so I had to send it back. It is so soft and so beautiful; I hope that the size I exchanged for fits like a glove, because I really want to wear it!

Last night, I ordered some spiral-bound mini books from Printstagram. I've ordered some before, and they are really great quality. I would love to order some actually prints from them one day, because they look to be really great quality.

So that's where I am this morning.

xoxo.

Why Buy When You Can Rent?

{this post is sponsored by CampusBookRentals.com. I have been compensated, but all opinions are my own.}

Transitioning from the public education system to college is quite strange. Before, the taxes that our parents paid covered the costs of our education, but then when you get to college, you have to pay for your classes, your books, and if you go to a larger school, probably your dorm and meal plans as well. This is all on top of the other costs of living, unless you are lucky enough to have someone helping you out or a scholarship.

Life is expensive! Back in July, I posted about Campus Book Rentals, and how they help cut the cost of college textbooks.

As soon as I learned which books I would need for my classes this semester, I looked to see if they were available on Campus Book Rentals. I needed only two books this semester, and of those two books, I was able to find the book that I needed for my Event Marketing class.

I was thankful that Campus Book Rentals has a flexible renting period, because it seems as though my school goes a little bit longer than typical colleges and universities. And did I mention that they have free shipping both ways on top of the savings of 40-90% off bookstore prices? One less thing for me to think about! When I received my textbook much earlier than I had expected, it was packaged with the hot pink bubble mailer that I will be using when I return my Sports Marketing book in a few weeks.

Not only does Campus Book Rentals work hard to save you money, but with every book rental, they donate to a cause called Operation Smile, which helps to save children who were born with cleft lips and cleft palates.

What if you already bought your textbooks from the college bookstore? You can always rent them out to other students using Rent Back by Campus Book Rentals.

I had such a great experience this semester with Campus Book Rentals, and I think this is something that I can use as part of my twenty by twenty goal of being more frugal this year. Do you have any great tips to save money during college?

Fall Cara Box Reveal

I believe that the Cara Box Exchange gets better every time. If you haven't heard of Cara Box before, basically you get paired up with two people who you get to know over a two month period before you send a box of goodies + a note of encouragement to one of them and receive a box from the other person.

I was paired with two awesome ladies this moth. Sonya blogs over at Sea Salt and Caramel, and while she is originally from France, she is currently located in southern California. She is also still in college, but her college is a lot different from mine.

Tiffany blogs at d'Asti at Tiffany's, and she sent me my Cara Box from Louisiana! Like me, Tiffany works at a hotel, but the hotel she works for is much bigger than the one I work at.

I think that it is so cool that this month I was paired up with people who are similar to me, but we have differences in our lives, and I really enjoyed getting to know both of them!

I found that leaf on the ground when I was bringing in the mail the day my Cara Box came in the mail, so I picked it up to use as a prop! (:

neutral leaf-print scarf
candy corn
glittery pumpkin
journal
mouse for Max (:

and a pretty card!

Thank you so much, Tiffany, for the wonderful package! Max loves his mouse too!

Want to see what I sent Sonya? Here's her reveal post!

I really enjoyed getting to know Sonya and Tiffany this month! If you're interested in participating in the Cara Box Exchange with Wifessionals, click the black button below.

{let's file this post under "Teresa uses her kitchen floor to take pictures again..."}

xoxo.