September 30, 2016

Friday Favorites

We made it through another week! This past week was a busy but good one. On tuesday I set my 5K PR at our cross country meet which was exciting and I am hoping to get it down again before my final season comes to an end in about a month. Also, yesterday all the captains and exec from clubs attended an all day leadership workshop which was so much fun and really brought our class together in a new way. I am looking forward to making senior year as fun as possible with lots of school spirit and fun events! This weekend I am taking the SAT one last time on Saturday (wish me luck) and then am going apple picking with a bunch of my friends on Sunday! 

One: Pumpkin Coffee
I am obsessed with Trader Joe's pumpkin coffee and have been drinking it nonstop all week. Since yesterday was National Coffee Day, why not include my current favorite blend!?

Two: Anthropologie
A new Anthopologie just opened up near me and I have been stopping in all the time. I could seriously spend hours wandering around looking at all the cook books, home decor, clothes, and little knickknacks. 

Three: Wardrobe Change
This past weekend I packed away all of my summer clothes and officially transitioned my wardrobe to fall. It has been in the 50/60s all week and has been really rainy so it has been nice to be able to start wearing my fall layering pieces. Every season when I switch out my clothes, I make a pile of things I never wore all season/don't like anymore to donate. I ended up giving away a ton of my clothes which will make room for some fun new fall pieces! 

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 29, 2016

September Playlist

Is it just me or did September absolutely fly by? The past week has been overcast, rainy, and chilly (hence the lack of outfit posts) which has had me in the mood for calmer coffee house style playlists compared to what I was listening to over the summer. I am still in the midst of making a new playlist for the fall on Spotify, so to be quite honest basically all of these songs are on my morning playlist that I made over a year ago. No such thing is my all time favorite song and I have been listening to a lot of older John Mayer songs this week on the way to school in the morning and when I have been doing my homework. This playlist is perfect for cozy weekend mornings, studying, and driving around town! What have you had on repeat this month?

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 27, 2016

Let's Talk Politics


I have never really talked about politics on the blog before, however now that we are officially in the midst of the 2016 election season you can't avoid it. I am not here to share my political views and opinions, nor am I here to sway you one way or another. Whether you're with her or ready to make America great again, I believe that you should be educated on the candidates and hot topics to be discussed before hitting the polls. My 18th birthday is on November 27th, so unfortunately I miss the opportunity to vote in this election by 19 days, however I still want to be informed on the topic.

My mornings have started off with theSkimm for the past three years and they have been doing an amazing job breaking down all of the issues and each of the candidate's plans. Not only do they have an entire section of their site dedicated to the election, but the daily email helps you keep up on all of the current events playing to U.S. foreign and domestic affairs. Politics are always a controversial topic and this year is definitely not an exception, but there is no excuses when it comes to exercising your right to vote this November. Incase you missed the first debate last night, read the recap on today's skim! Will you be voting for the first time in this election?

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea


September 26, 2016

What's in My Pencil Case

I love reading what's in my bag posts, so I thought it would be fun to do a back to school spin off of the typical post and share what's in my pencil case. One of my favorite parts about going back to school is always getting all of my new supplies and starting the year off super organized. After twelve years of going to school, I definitely have some tried and true products that I could not live without. I used a makeup bag as my pencils case (not the one pictured above) that is relatively spacious and can fit everything I have pictured above. 

I never realized this until now, but I guess that bic is one of my favorite brand for writing utensils. As far as pencils are concerned, I only use mechanical ones. When I was in elementary school my little pencil sharpener would constantly explode all over my pencil case and get everything covered in lead and pencil shavings, since then I have never gone back to the wooden kind. These bic ones are #2 and work on all scantrons (except when you take the SAT/ACT they require the wooden ones even though these would work #petpeeve) and they last for a very long time. I use bic atlantis pens and poppin pens for taking notes; the ink does not smear and they write very smoothly. For my agenda I swear by le pens. I color code my classes and have sworn by these since eighth grade, they don't bleed through the pages and come in a wide variety of colors. Finally, I like the thin highlighters from bic to cross things off in my agenda and to highlight my notes with. 

In addition to pens and pencils, I keep a few other items in my pencil case. I always have a travel size thing of advil with me incase I get a headache, and a tide stain stick for any spills that happen throughout the day. In addition to that I typically have a pack of gum and extra hair ties in there as well. Finally, I have my Ti-84 calculator which comes in handy quite frequently. 

What are your favorite things to keep in your pencil case?
xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 23, 2016

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone! I have officially made it through my third week of senior year! The past two weeks have been incredibly busy, hence the lack of posting. This week's Friday favorites is going to recap the past two weeks as I never published one last Friday. I have been slammed with homework and am quickly realizing the struggle of balancing school, cross country, clubs, college applications, and blogging. Blogging an amazing creative outlet that I absolutely love, however creating content five days a week has been challenging. I have decided to change my schedule to four days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for the next couple of months. Please bear with me as I navigate my way through the college process and know that if a post is missing here or there I am truly sorry but need to prioritize school right now. This weekend I am excited to create lots of fun new fall posts for you, so look out for new content coming soon!

One: All Things College
As a first semester senior, college is occupying about 90% of my brain at the moment. Between finalizing applications, filling out forms, attending meetings, and going on tours, life is a little bit crazy. Last week I was down in North Carolina for college tours and one of my best friends who lives in Colorado happened to be on my tour! We had absolutely no idea we would both be on campus/touring the same day until late the night before and it was seriously the best surprise ever. After the tour we went out to dinner with our parents and then had ice cream and caught up! 

Omg guys I have been eating pumpkin products nonstop this past week, everything is so delicious! My friends make fun of me every year about my fall pumpkin craze, but how could you pass up seasonal products! Make sure to check out my post from earlier this week so see a roundup of my favorite products. Now I just need to get to Dunkin and buy some pumpkin munchkins :) 

Three: Fall Flowers 
Last weekend was my mom's birthday, so we have so many pretty flowers around the house. I love mums and am so excited to put them in the window boxes and officially get ready for fall! 

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea 

September 22, 2016

Senior Pictures








I am so excited to finally have my senior pictures back! School pictures were always terrible, so it's so nice to finally have some good ones to choose from for my final year of high school. Because I have not selected my pictures yet, they are still low quality and have the watermarks on them, however I wanted to get your opinions! My two favorites are currently the first and second ones, but let me know which one you think I should use in the yearbook. Now that I have my pictures and am three weeks into school, senior year officially feels real!

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 21, 2016

Healthy Living


One of my goals for 2016 was to be healthier in all aspects of my life. I'll just start this post out saying that in no way am I some super unhealthy person. In fact, I would consider myself very active and eat well majority of the time. However, at the beginning of the summer my shorts were a little bit tight, still wearable, just not my preferred fit. I have quite the sweet tooth and right when school got out I found myself going out to ice cream quite frequently, after all is there anything better than a cone of black raspberry on a hot day? I never owned a scale until this year, so my life has never revolved around a specific number for weight, I know my body and when I feel healthy and when I need to step up my workout routine. So at the beginning of July I started my cross country summer training and started to lay off on the sugary treats. I did not focus too much on my routine, I just lived my life the way I would any time. At the end of the summer I came home from the Cape and stepped on the scale and was surprised to see I had lost about 8 pounds. I don't have a six pack nor could I run a marathon, but I feel healthy and refreshed.

This post is not something that I would typically write, however I think that it is important to let people know that all you need to do to achieve a point at which you "feel good" is live a healthy life. This does not mean cutting out your favorite treats and snacks (is it even possible to give up cookies and candy!?) , or exercising all the time. This post is not at all about losing weight through dieting or some extensive plan, it's about finding balance and living healthy. I am lucky enough to have never struggled with weight issues and feel very confident in my own skin, however there are so many girls out there that do. Clearly I am no expert here, however I strongly believe that if you eat three well balanced meals, don't snack excessively, and have a workout routine that you enjoy, you can feel good about yourself on the inside and out. Everyone is different and has a different routine that works for them. Have you found a routine that works for you and your busy schedule to stay healthy?

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 19, 2016

Pumpkin Season



I have some very exciting news... it's officially pumpkin season at Trader Joe's! I love how every season at Trader Joe's they have a plethora of products for a specific flavor. Over the summer it was all things mango and now pumpkin is finally back! Over the past few years I have pretty much tried anything and and everything pumpkin flavored that they have to offer and I wanted to share my favorites today.

Breakfast 
Cereal Bars // These are the perfect item if you are running late and need to quickly have something for breakfast on the go. Typically I don't like cereal bars, however the pumpkin ones are to die for!

Pumpkin Coffee // I hate pumpkin spice lattes but have always been intrigued by pumpkin flavored coffee. I tried this for the first time this past weekend and it was so delicious. The coffee is strong and the pumpkin flavor does not taste artificial or too overpowering.

Granola // This adds the perfect fall flare to your morning yogurt. My favorite combination is this with original or vanilla greek yogurt.

Waffle & Pancake Mix // I forgot to include a picture of this, but pumpkin waffles and pancakes will change your life. Personally, I don't like plain waffles/pancakes and always put berries in mine, however the spices and flavor in the mix make them delicious on their own!

Dessert 
Gingersnap Chipwiches // These are serially to die for. These mini chipwiches are made with delicious gingersnap cookies and creamy pumpkin ice cream in the middle.

Macarons // Like every blogger and their mother, I love a good macaron. To be quite honest these are almost as good as the ones from Ladurée and the entire package costs about as much as one macaron there- plus they last forever in the freezer!

Snack
Cranberry & Pumpkin Seed Chips // These chips are the perfect balance of sweet and salty. They kind of taste like Stacy's pita chips, but the cranberries and pumpkin seeds add a fun fall twist!

What are your favorite pumpkin treats from Trader Joe's? 

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 13, 2016

Recipe: Lemon Raspberry Muffins




Last Tuesday I hosted a breakfast before our first day of school. On the first day of senior year everyone wears their senior shirts, decorates cars, and typically does something early in the morning to take pictures. My love for breakfast food has quite frankly become a running joke amongst my friends, so naturally I volunteered to have the senior breakfast at my house. Cooking pancakes or waffles at 6:00 am for a bunch of people seemed like too much of an undertaking, so I decided to make coffee cake, and these lemon raspberry muffins the night before. My all time favorite muffin is a lemon poppyseed raspberry one at a bakery on the cape, so I wanted to make something along those lines. This recipe was super easy to make, and they're not that bad for you (182 calories). The muffins freeze well, so if you want to save some for later that's a great option as well! 

Ingredients 
1 lemon
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white whole wheat flout
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen raspberries 

Directions
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees, spray muffin pan or insert liners

2. Zest lemon. Put zest and sugar in food processor, then add buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla. Pulse until blended. 

3. Mix white whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Mix in wet ingredients from food processor. Fold in raspberries ( I used a little more raspberries in mine because I like mine to have a lot of fruit in them). 

4. Pour batter into muffin pan and bake for 20-25 min. 

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 12, 2016

Fall Wish List


Now that I am officially back in school I think it is time to start thinking about fall clothes. It's still in the eighties, so it's not quite sweater weather but it will be here before we know it! Fall is probably my favorite season to dress for, everything is so chic and the colors and patterns are a fun change from all the bright summer pieces. This season I am loving loose fitting sweaters, all things lace up, and different pops of patterns. What is on your wish list for the upcoming months?

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 08, 2016

Advice from One Extreme Procrastinator, to the Next

Do you find yourself studying at 9pm the night before a test? Do you put off long term assignments until the week before they're due? Do you still have summer work left the day before school starts?

If this is you, welcome to my world. If not, good for you. You probably don't need the advice that this post offers.

I put myself in the category of "extreme procrastinator." I put things off like none other. This post is a prime example of my procrastination, as I have a terrifying amount of summer work due a few days ago that I'd barely made a dent in. Before I start rambling, I'd like to point out that there is a difference between procrastination and laziness. Laziness implies you don't care enough to meet your obligations, whereas procrastination is a means of delaying tasks, not downright ignoring them. I'm not lazy, I just don't manage time well.

For those of you that can relate, I've found that even with this dreaded productivity flaw, I have managed three years of high school without turning in a single assignment late because I didn't finish it in time. I know personally two other extreme procrastinators like me (Hi Kate! Hi mom!) My friend Kate I have both been successful in high school despite our procrastination tendencies. There are ways to work around your procrastination, and I think I've figured a lot of them out. Whenever I googled "how to stop procrastinating" in the past, the tips offered were always the same and never did me much good. This post is realistic, not like the idealistic Buzzfeed suggestions that tell me to "manage my time better." If it was that easy, don't you think I would have done it by now?

Don't overestimate your productivity
For me, accepting the fact that I'm not a particularly productive person has helped me to, in turn, become more productive. Instead of marking a monthly calendar with due dates of when I should have certain portions of assignments done, make a daily "calendar." If you procrastinate like me, you know you don't work well on a long term schedule. Instead, plot out hours of the day rather than days of the week to try to keep you on schedule. If you work on a smaller scale, I've found a lot of the time it becomes easier to meet your own expectations

Know your responsibilities
It's one thing to put off your individual work, but it's a completely different story to put off group work. I've found that even for me, procrastination queen, this is a line I've never crossed. You don't want to be the member of the group that didn't pull their weight because they didn't leave themselves enough time to do their part adequately. When a group is depending on you, it's time to put on your productivity cap and get it done. No excuses.

Become someone who can perform under pressure
If you are going to study the night before for a test you've known about for days (which I don't suggest, but is my reality 90% of the time) embrace the pressure you feel that you haven't given yourself enough time. Truth is, you haven't, but if you are serious about studying, even if it is just the night before, you can get a good grade. Feed off of the pressure you've put yourself under and use it to your advantage. And don't listen to people who tell you "you're screwed." You know yourself and your capabilities, use this as motivation to prove them wrong.

Always remember the work will get done
Like I said earlier, there is a huge difference between procrastination and laziness. Procrastinators know that maybe the essay gets written at 2am, but you better believe it will be sitting on your teacher's desk complete and polished come english class the next morning. You know yourself, and you aren't the kind of student who flat out doesn't meet the requirements of a class. Grades matter to you, and no matter how you manage time, you put 100% effort into everything you turn in. Trust yourself that you won't let your responsibilities slip away from you. I can't tell you the amount of times I've said to myself (today alone) "Sure, it doesn't look good now. But it's not like this work won't get done come tomorrow".

Step back and reevaluate 
This is advice straight from my mom, a fellow extreme procrastinator, and let me tell you it works like a charm. If you've been staring blankly at your computer for the past half hour not doing anything productive, shut it down and come back to it in an hour. If your brain isn't fried, try to do some other homework to fill the time. If it is, watch an episode of Netflix or get a snack to try and take your mind off things and get inspired to work effectively.

Don't be embarrassed
This one may seem a little weird, but I can't tell you the amount of times people (peers and adults) have given me looks or vocalized their disapproval over my procrastination. I'm not an inferior student or person just because I procrastinate, in a lot of ways I've gained skills that have actually helped me in high school (quick learner, pressure performing, etc.). Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting procrastination is a good thing - but I'm also not saying it's the worst thing in the world either.

Hopefully this has helped someone out there who is just like me. You'll get through it.

xoxo,
Julianna 

Preppy by the Sea

September 07, 2016

SENIOR YEAR

Yesterday officially marked the beginning of senior year. I think the most cliche thing in the world is when people tell you how fast high school goes by, but seriously I'm not sure how we went from freshman year to being the oldest in school. Trust me when I say I definitely rolled my eyes plenty of times at freshman orientation a few years ago when the seniors told us to make the most of our time. Looking back on it all they weren't kidding. There are so many emotions that will arise throughout the year, but I am so excited for all of the fun "lasts" to come and lots of firsts as well. Between first day of school breakfasts, sports banquets, college acceptances, senior night, and graduation, these next nine months are going to be great! Here's to senior year and the class of 2017!

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 05, 2016

Summer 2016 Photo Recap











Happy Labor Day! I can't believe that today is officially the last day of summer and that I start my senior year tomorrow. I know every summer flies by, however this one seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. The past 10 weeks on the Cape have been so much fun; I spent lots of days on the boat and at the beach, and I completed my first summer job. This was the first summer that all of our friends had their licenses and we were able to see each other so much more often even though we were all in different parts of the Northeast. Day trips to the Vineyard, Boston, and different towns on the Cape were the perfect ways to spend days off and catch up. Thank you summer 2016 for being yet another great one, now on to more exciting adventures as we start or final year of high school!

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

September 02, 2016

Friday Favorites

Welcome to the long weekend! I completely in denial that this is the last weekend of summer before I head back to school and start my senior year. This summer has been so much fun and am I going to miss being on the Cape and relaxing at the beach more than anything. This time of year is always kind of bittersweet because I am excited to see all my friends at school and see what senior year is going to bring, but I am not really ready to let go of summer and go back to having tons of work. Labor Day weekend is one of my favorites and I am excited to enjoy the last hurrah of summer. 

One: Boating
This past week my family has taken our boat over to the outer beaches a lot. During the summer the beaches on the Cape get really crowded so it is so relaxing being secluded from all the tourists and having so much mores pace to yourself. Also, I have been loving my tote bag that I purchased last month and use it all the time for the beach! 

Two: Finishing Summer Work
Yesterday I sat down and completed all of my summer work and could not be happier. I am excited to enjoy the long weekend work and stress free (besides college applications) by the beach! 

Three: Senior Pictures
This week I had my senior pictures taken and I am so excited to see how they turned out! Stay tuned for my pictures later this month! I went to a local beauty store before to get my eyebrows done and restock on some of my favorite products and how cute is their display? 

xoxo,
Catherine

Preppy by the Sea