Bookshelf Daydreaming

Hey everyone!

Moving back home for my student teaching is a little bit of a transition. It's hard from living sorta independently to being back home with my family, in my childhood room. I mean, going from a full size bed to a twin is kinda not fun. No matter how my mom tries to spin it.

But one of the fun things is decorating my room at home. Changing out things and making it more exciting and new is pretty cool.

And one of the things that I'm kind of contemplating these days is investing in a new bookcase. See, I have a cheap Walmart one in my room right now. And it's kind of in the phase where it has a lot of old books on it, some new things, and isn't really where I want it to be right now.

I've always loved Ikea's bookcases, particularly the Hemnes glass front bookshelf. I think it's gorgeous. Unfortunately, it's a little pricey.

Hemnes

The more affordable option, the Borgsjo is pretty cool too.



Borgsjo

The thing that I like about these shelves is that they offer glass fronts, so dust isn't as bad. And they have doors so I can store lots of ugly books and cluttery things.

What do you say? Do you think it's worth the investment? And which shelf do you like better? I love love love the looks of the Hemnes one. But I do like how deep the drawers are on the Borgsjo shelf.

New Touches

My room at home is a never ending work in progress. Hopefully others feel this way about their space, but it seems like the to-do list for this space never truly ends. It’s like I work in little vignettes in this space, completely one fraction of it, while the other parts sit in mindless chaos.

I’ve perfected my bedding, my curtains, and other aspects. They have sat finished for a year now, while other portions of my room are just being worked on now for the first time.

On Pinterest this picture from my bedding is quite popular (it shocks me actually). I didn’t think it would be so popular honestly. The feel of my room is supposed to be a little cottagey mixef with a smidge of nautical (living in Colorado, I feel a little odd going full on nautical). It's a theme of white, navy blue, and yellow. Which is so cheerful and pretty!

The area above my dresser (and on my dresser), has been a mix match of utter disasters. This summer (the little of it I got because of summer school), I wanted it to finally be a little bit more put together. So here is the space above my dresser, the newest portion to be finally finished. 

So this is what it looks like. I didn't have a before picture, but it was pretty bad. 

On the wall I have a canvas that I just covered in chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby, painted a C and stuck it on it. Then I have a plain cheap white frame from Target filled with yellow dot scrapbook paper (Hobby Lobby), and a small round navy blue mirror from Target (last summer). 

My dresser is usually the storage spot for most of my beauty products and makeup, so I bought the cute white metal bins from World Market (14.99 each). They hold my body sprays, dry shampoo, brush cleaner, everyday makeup bag, makeup remover wipes, toner, and other odds and ends. I absolutely adore my Ikea candle holder/pencil cup to hold my makeup brushes. 

In front I have a ceramic bird tray from World Market to hold my favorite perfumes. I also have the yellow World Market Egg holder to hold earrings, bobby pins, hair ties, and lip balm (these are so handy for storage in college). And of course I have the current candle I'm burning from Bath and Body Works (Lilac Blossom). 

Overall I love it! It's functional, cute, and finished! 

Make sure to read this post the first time about my room at home! 

How to Dress Your Dorm Desk

Hey everyone!

An important aspect to every dorm room, without a doubt, is your study space. It's where you are going to write papers (hopefully not all night), do homework, read, make projects, Facebook stalk old high school friends, and procrastinate for hours on Pinterest. Or paint your nails if you are like me. It's a place that also can serve as your eating station as well.

So, clearly, it's a space that needs to be versatile and organized. First, let's take a look back at my first two dorm rooms.

My freshman year, my desk served my main computer space, my study area, and my nightstand. So, as you can see, I have my yellow lamp, three dottie pencil cups, and my printer. I dressed this space mostly to serve as my study center. The key to it being a successful place to study, was keeping the accessories and stuff around it to a minimum. My ribbon board held important pieces of paper (like the code for my universal remote for my TV haha), which was also a great utility piece above my desk. By not covering the entire desk surface, it allowed me to spread out my important papers and assignments as I worked, a must especially for big projects and papers. The lamp is something that also helped me a lot. It not only gave me good light to read, but if I were stuck working as my roommate went to be, I could work in our bedroom without disrupting her.



This is my desk at the beginning of my sophomore year. As you can probably instantly tell, this desk has a lot in common with the desk above: like the memo board, the lamp, my laptop, and printer. But some new additions included the crate (which held my textbooks, such a good idea when you are short on space!), my sorority pin box, earring holder, and some fall smelling lotion. This desk space was definitely a busy one. Since my sophomore dorm was not suite style, this was home to everything!

Later in the year, I moved my above bed shelf over it...(sorry for the super blurry picture and the massive amounts of stuff on my desk)

So see how I placed this shelf over it? I actually liked this set up better mostly because it felt more built in, plus having my DVDs, lotion, and books in those bins above my desk made it more organized and easier to get to. As you can see from this picture, the dorm room desk has to serve not only as a study space, but it also serves at my eating space (Girl Scout cookies, Pringles, and Dr. Pepper) and I have my nailpolish there too.
 

Some desk ideas:

-A cup/mug/holder for your pens and pencils.
-Easy access to your laptop and printer
-Lamp (I prefer the yellow drum shade lamp over the red desk lamp)
-Memo board/bulletin board
-A houseplant, fake flowers (on my printer above is my fake orchid and to the left of my laptop is flowers I got for Valentine's Day)

Inside your desk, try to organize them in ways that make sense. For instance, for the longest time I stored my food and snacks in my desk. However, that doesn't really make sense. So I moved them out and place my textbooks in the drawers, and moved my snacks into one of the red crates. In the middle desk drawer, I always put EVERYTHING I own in there. So think about investing in one of those little jewery comparment/holder things.

Find a system that works for you, if you really like doing your makeup at your desk, have a mirror on hand, or a drawer dedicated to some of your makeup. If you are like me and paint your nails or eat at your desk, put food or nail polish in a drawer too.

Some people prefer studying on their beds, so then change accordingly.

Just remember to have fun and to try out new accessories. I love having my desk space me a clean, organized, and fun area because studying isn't always that fun.

What are your desk must haves?



What a Deal!

A little while back my mom and I were shopping at one of my favorite little local stores in downtown. It's one of my favorites mostly because they have the best supply of Vera Bradley items in our city (we actually don't have a real Vera Bradley store in my city. The nearest one is about an hour away).

So I honestly wasn't looking to buy anything. I just pretty much wanted to stare and drool and think about how excited I am to use all my VB school supplies I bought about a month ago.

But then I saw the sale bins. I always like looking at the sale stuff and laughing at how expensive all the stuff is. Except...something about these sale bins were different. That's because they included prints that are definitely not the clearance, soon-to-be discontinued prints (you know it, Deco Daisy, Safari Sunset, etc). Yes. Prints that are the current, regular prints were on sale. Like Island Blooms, Happy Snails, Rosy Posies, Ellie Blue, and Mocha Rouge. They were selling the small and large duffles, 17 inch laptop sleeve, lunch boxes, the Vera, and other popular styles.

However, my eye went instantly to the large duffel. See, back in my freshman year a friend of mine toted hers in Paprika around whenever she went home for the weekends. That was when I fell in love. Problem? It's $85 and I could never justify spending that much on a weekend bag basically. But it never helped that I noticed tons of girls at my college with the duffels, toting them so easily on their way home for weekends.


The price at the store? It was $59.99, so I think 30 percent off the original price. Which is less than the actual clearance on the website, with the discontinued prints! Okay, only like $4, but still. And my eye was definitely liking one they had in Island Blooms, which is regularly $85.

But, I decided to wait. I thought maybe it's an entire Vera Bradley thing, but nope. It was just this store. So a few days later we went back, and thankfully, they still had it.

{Sorry for the picture...When it's empty, it's impossible to make look good}

And now it's all mine! I love it. I think it's gonna be great for going home on weekends, and even storing things in my dorm room (I can picture out of season clothes in it or shoes). I guess it was just meant to be!

My Dorm Wish List

Wondering what I hope to buy for my room in my sorority house this upcoming fall? Well, prepare to be excited! Because here it is. As a junior (!!!!), I already have most of the dorm room staples. You know, things like laundry bags, basic bedding, shower caddy, and all those important items.

However, I think every student should freshen up their campus collection every year. You don't need to break the bank or redo everything (unless you have the money and want to), but I think it's definitely more fun and exciting to get some new things. Subtle changes in your dorm room year to year are so easy and be extremely affordable. From making your own art, buying simply new sheets or towels, or new frames! So easy! Here are some things that I am personally drooling over, and hoping to add to my room this fall!

First, I would love to have some new sheets, hopefully these CUTE organic zebra ones from Pottery Barn Teen.

Aren't they so much fun? Actually it looks like they are brand new to PB Teen. They used to have a smaller, more subtle (is zebra ever really subtle, though?) pattern, but just checking into their site right now, it looks like these are it. But they are really cute, I must admit.

You can never have enough storage in college, and that's just one reason why I have my eye on PB Teen's dottie bins (medium size in black haha). I'm planning on filling them up with my lotions and body sprays (I know as girls we LOVE to show off our bottles of products, but seriously, if you hide them away it instantly makes you room look so much CLEANER and way more organized), as well as some DVDs.

Although I do really like these chevron fabric bins from Etsy. I'm so confused between the chevron and dottie ones...

What would you choose? I'd love some opinions?

In other areas, I definitely want some interesting wall art.

I think having my monogram on the wall as a headboard is such a cute idea. It would add so much interest and add a touch of flair that isn't often found in dorm rooms. Plus, it's so darn cute!!

I acutally have never used wall decals before, but this year I feel like experimenting a little with that monogram and with some of these cute little frames!

I hope to make a little collage out of these adorable little frames (while displaying pictures of my dog, guinea pigs, mom, sorority, and my boyfriend). Aren't they so cute! Eight come in a pack for $20, and some are actually quite sizable! You can find them at Dormify, Decor 2 Ur Door, and even at your local Bed Bath and Beyond!

So what do you guys think? Any dorm decor you have your eyes on these days?

Thanks for reading!

Dorm Room Storage

Hey everyone! Can you believe how fast the summer is flying? I think I have 55 days or something until school! It seems like yesterday I just started summer (ok, that was actually April 30th, so I've had a nice LONG summer so far).

Today is a quickie post about dorm room storage. I'll definitely do a more in-depth one later, since it's such an important thing to keep your dorm room and college life from being completely chaotic.

First, you can never have too many bins, baskets, and such to keep your accessories, school supplies, DVDs, and whatnot stored away and out of sight.

For instance, my room last year during first semester I invested in some of these fabric bins from Walmart. It camt in a set of four (now I have no clue what the price of them were but I think it was around $25). They were so great for storage! I kept all my lotions and body sprays in one, DVDS in the middle one, journals and books for leisure reading in the far right, and the top one was magazines.

The desk had it's own storage container too. I don't know it's just because I'm an elementary education major, but I have a ton of textbooks. I believe I had something like 7 books just for my math class. So I needed a place to put them that I could quickly find them when I was heading to class (always in a rush). Using this crate was so handy! Plus it gave me a great place to display my sorority pin box and my earring holder!

Underneath my bed (I never took a picture of it) I had three large gallon rubber containers. Like this below! (Target btw)

These are absolute life savers. They are fantastic for move-in day. During the school year they can hold anything. Mine held things that were out of season (like clothes) textbooks, and generally things I wasn't using on an everyday basis. They make moving out and storing over the summer a breeze too!

One thing I know I want to get for this upcoming school year is Vera Bradley's magazine holders.

Adorable, right? Chances of me having a desk in my sorority house is actually extremely low, and if I do, the desks are more like tables (they don't have drawers or anything). So I got to thinking about where in the world am I going to put my notebooks and folders for my classes. And then I decided these are absolutely perfect! One holder can store my notebooks, the other my folders, and because they are Vera, they are absolutely adorable as an accent anyway.

Another great item from Vera Bradley that's great for storage and just plain anything involving the shower, is this shower tote. Last year I lived in a mostly freshmen dorm (I was the only sophomore on my floor besides the RA), so a community shower was the living situation. But I didn't mind because of this cute little guy.

Mine is actually in my favorite all-time print (Happy Snails!!), but they have all new ones this year that match the rest of their dorm collection. This one is in Va Va Bloom. You don't have to live with a community shower for these to be helpful either. When you share a bathroom with more than one person, it comes in handy to have all your stuff together, so it doesn't annoy your roomies. Plus, it would look adorable on a countertop holding towels or washcloths. In my book they are a must!

So this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dorm room storage. I'll definitely talk about more specific storage issues like makeup, closets and clothes, snacks, and more!

Thanks for visiting and make sure to check out Caitiebug Love again!!

Daily Makeup Products

Wanna look inside my makeup bag? And at the products that I use daily that don't fit in it? Well then hopefully you like today's post!

First, this is my makeup bag. It's from Vera Bradley in the print Island Blooms, and I think it's so adorable. When I bought a lot of my MAC makeup I decided that I needed a really adorable makeup bag to hold it, one that doesn't ugly up whatever surface it sits on or drawer it lives in. Plus it kind of keeps me from blowing all my money on makeup, because I plan to make everything fit in there. It makes travel much easier, storage simpler, and finding an everyday look a lot faster.

So here is sorta of an overview of my makeup. I didn't put all my individual MAC eyeshadows because that will come here in a little bit. Here you see:

-My Naked Palette

-My Smashbox BB Cream (review to come soon)

-Garnier BB Cream (review also coming soon!)

-NARS blush in Orgasm

-MAC Skinfinish Natural

-Maybelline Falsies mascara

-L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes mascara

-MAC Technakohl Liner

-Wet N' Wild eyeshadow

-MAC paint pot in Painterly

-Urban Decay Primer Potion

-Revlon tweezers

-Sonia Kashuk "Perfectly Neutral" eyeshadow palette

First we'll start with my face products. I don't like heavy foundations or a huge long drawn-out routine. So I recently I've started using a BB cream (I've used the Garnier for a week or two and I've only used the Smashbox one day once so far), then I set it with my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (I was matched to medium plus and it's perfect). I love this powder and can definitely reccommend it to everyone. It's fantastic. Then I just use my NARS Orgasm blush (which I have found to look really natural and pretty on me. A lot of people complain that it's too bright or shimmery, but I honestly don't think it's that way on me).

Soon I'll post a review of these two BB creams (I don't want to jinx it just yet, but I'm a fan so far of the Smashbox one).

For my eyeshadow primer I go back and forth between MAC's paint pot (I use Painterly) and Urban Decay's Primer Potion. I guess for some odd reason when I use MAC eyeshadow I use MAC and when I use my Naked palette I use my Primer Potion. But I actually have my eye on the NARS one so hopefully soon I can try that out soon.

These are other products that I use out on my eyes. The lash curler is from MAC and I love it so far! Then there is my MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack. Seriously, I have no desire ever to try another liner. It glides on smoothly, doesn't budge at all, and creates such a pretty look. Plus, no sharpeners are involved! I've read and heard great things about Urban Decay's 24/7 liner, but I believe it's $5 more and I'm perfectly happy with this MAC liner.

Then I'm sure you see my two different kinds of mascara. I love to try out new mascara and these two are the newsest ones! I've been loving the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes. I think it's my new number one. But I was super curious about the Maybelline Falsies so I'm enjoying that a lot right now. A girl can never have too many favorite mascaras, since they always seem to discontinue them. Both are in very black and waterproof.

I love eyeshadow and I have a pretty large selection (I'm sure it's actually tiny compared to a lot of people haha).

-Naked Palette: I thought I wouldn't like it as much as I do, honestly. My favorite colors are Sin, Buck, and Naked. However, there is still tons of exploring and playing around I need to do.

-My Wet N' Wild palette (or whatever you call the trio of colors haha) in "Walking on Eggshells." I love it. After using my MAC and UD shadows I thought that I could never stand the thought of using a drugstore (super cheap) brand, but this is amazing. Worth way more than $2.99. Check it out.

-Sonia Kashuk's "Perfectly Neutral": I love love love it. Absolutely beautiful and a great value. (pictured up close below). I learned about it from Kate from The Small Things Blog. Check out her tutorial because that's the look I use :)

-MAC eyeshadows: I'm personally not a fan of their palettes, I like the individual little pots instead.

Colors that I have include : Knight Divine (it's like a dark blue/black, I honestly haven't used it yet), Vex, Copperplate, Blanc Type, Satin Toupe, Ploof, and Expresso. I absolutely love using Vex, Copperplate, and Satin Toupe. They are so pretty! And they can be mix and matched together too!

These two prodcts don't fit in my makeup bag, but they are both things that I use every day (usually).

Left: MAC's Gently Off Eye and Lip Makeup Remover. A must in my book. I love it. Even gets waterproof makeup off.

Right: MAC's Brush Cleanser

My little brush collection. From left to right:

-Good Karma eyeshadow (came with my Naked Palette and I honestly have used it once)

-Sonia Kashuk small eye shader

-Bare Escentuals angled eyeshadow brush

-MAC 217

-Sonia Kashuk crease brush

-MAC 239

-ELF large eye shader

-ELF blush brush

-ELF complexion brush

Everyday, I always use my MAC 217 and 239, and all three ELF brushes. So the very low end of my brushes and the higher end. I have yet to find a better brush than my ELF large shader to do my brow highlight.

So that's my collection. Hopefully I'll have some reviews coming soon, some new products to talk about, and if anyone has any questions, just ask!