6 BAD HABITS | HOW I PLAN ON BREAKING THEM

Everyone has bad habits they want to break!  In this post I am going to talk to you about my six bad habits and how I plan on breaking them!

1. Picking at my nails

This is probably my absolute worst habit.  I get very anxious and when I do, the first thing I do is pick at the skin around my nails.  I used to bite my nails, but managed to finally quit.  The picking at my nails is worse when I have fingernail polish on.  My nails will look gorgeous and after a few days, I begin to pick off the nail polish.  Sometimes I catch myself picking at my nails without even noticing I was doing it.  This is something that I have been trying hard to stop doing.  Whenever I notice myself picking at my nails, I try and focus my attention and hands on something else, like writing, typing, or twirling my hair.  So far this has started to work for me.  I think this is going to be a hard habit to kick in the butt, but I have faith that I will one day rid of this habit!

2. Forgetting to moisture my body

I am the absolute worst at moisturizing my body.  I know I need to use lotion everyday, but I hate feeling sticky after I get out of the shower.  It is so bad that I have gone to work and asked my coworkers if they have lotion because my legs look and feel so dry.  Especially in the summer, moisturizer is very important.  I always moisturize my face in the mornings and before I go to sleep, but I completely disregard the rest of my body.  My plan to break this bad habit is to use in the shower lotion.  This stuff has really increased the amount of times I use lotion on my body.  It also does not leave my skin sticky.  I have already seen improvement in my skin!

3. Drinking excessive amounts of Dr. Pepper

Dr. Pepper is my addiction.  I will admit that 100%!  I have been trying for years to decrease the amount of Dr. Pepper I drink daily because I know it is horrible for my health and teeth!  BUT IT IS JUST SO DANG GOOD!  I tried completely cutting it out of my diet and had multiple caffeine withdrawal headaches.  I also tried weening myself off of it, but after a month or so, I always come running back!  This school year, I am going to try switching to Diet Dr. Peppers completely and then I will try to ween myself off of the diets.  I hope this works because I know my body will appreciate me putting down the Dr. Peppers once and for all!

4. Exercising sporadically

I absolutely love exercising.  It makes me feel so good and gives me a lot of confidence regarding my body.  However, I am the absolute worst at making exercising a part of my daily routine.  I will go several weeks exercising every day and then I will take one day off and then that turns into a week, etc.  I want to exercise daily because I think that it will improve my overall well being.  My plan to break this habit is to sit down at the beginning of my fall semester and compare class schedule and my graduate assistantship schedule.  After I look at those schedules, I will sit down and find specific times on my calendar where I can schedule an hour for working out.  I think having a schedule made will keep me more responsible for staying on track!  Thank goodness I have a cute new planner to put this in! :)

5. Starting a song and never finishing it

As some of you may know, I am a musician.  I have been singing since I was about three years old and have a YouTube channel that I created in 2009.  You should definitely check it out!  I have successfully written about three songs in my entire lifetime, one of which was on iTunes and Spotify for a few years.  I really want this to be the year that I release an EP.  I have just purchased all new recording equipment and am excited to revamp my YouTube channel this school year.  I have the worst habit of starting to write an original song and putting it away, never coming back to it.  This year, I am going to try and make sure that I finish songs that I start writing!  I have purchased a notebook specifically for song lyrics and hope that this will help me finish more songs!

6. My diet

This is probably going to be the hardest habit to break because let's face it...I LOVE FOOD.  I have always wanted to be a really healthy eater, but there is something about eating Mexican food every day that is so enticing to me.  This year, I am going to plan my meals.  I think this will help me improve my diet because I will have a set schedule to follow and a specific list of food items to buy at the store.  I have talked to one of my best friends, Ashton and we are going to try and eat some meals together and keep each other accountable.  It is important to have an accountability partner when dieting and exercising because she will be there to encourage you through your journey!

Let me know what bad habits you are struggling with and how you plan on breaking them!  I hope you enjoyed this post!  If you have any suggestions about how to break some of my habits, feel free to leave them below in the comment box!

xo,

Hannah Adams

BACK TO SCHOOL HAUL | GRADUATE SCHOOL STYLE

In less than a month, I will be moved in to my new apartment in downtown Boone and preparing myself for my first semester as a graduate student.  I am so excited!  My sister and I recently went on our annual shopping excursion to Southpark Mall in Charlotte.  I picked up a few things in preparation for this new chapter in my life and wanted to share them with you all.  Let's dive right on into this haul!

Nordstrom is one of my favorite stores to shop in!  There is not a Nordstrom in the mall in my hometown, so I am always excited to shop in this store when I have the chance.  The first item I came upon was this beautiful bar necklace that has a stone in it from BP accessories.  The color of the stone is a light pink and I thought it would just look perfect with my wardrobe for the fall.  I wear a lot of neutral colors and light pink always looks good with neutrals, providing a tiny pop of color!  I love all of the accessory options from BP and definitely recommend checking them out!

I have been on the hunt for a new bag for the fall and for graduate school.  My current purse is worn out!  I had my eyes on the Madewell bag for months, but when I walked into Nordstrom, I found a similar bag for more than half the price of the Madewell bag.  The bag is all black on the outside and brown on the inside.  This bag is also reversible, which can come in handy if I ever want to carry it on the brown side!  It is extremely spacious which is perfect for carrying an agenda, makeup, a wallet, sunglasses, and a notebook for clinic.  I am so excited to switch over to this new bag!  Click here to purchase this bag!

Anthropologie was our next stop and I found some much needed items!  The first item I picked up is an agenda for the 2016-2017 year.  Agendas are something I cannot live without.  I write everything down, assignments, work, class times, days I record and film for youtube, days I work on my blog, etc.  Without an agenda, I am completely lost and overwhelmed.  I have always been obsessed with the Lily Pulitzer agendas because they are so great, but this year I wanted to break out of my box and try something new.  I purchased the new ban.do agenda from anthropologie.  I am already in love with this agenda and it is so aesthetically pleasing.  I would definitely check out this agenda if you are looking for an affordable one!  Click here to purchase this agenda!

While I was in anthropologie, I HAD to pick up one of the Capri Blue candles in the scent Volcano! Oh my goodness!  If you have never smelled one of these candles you are missing out.  I swear it is the best smelling candle I have ever owned and I continuously burn them!  They make my apartment smell delicious.  Click here to purchase this wonderful candle!  You will not regret this purchase!

H&M was next on our list of stores to browse!  While I was in there, I found two gray tops!  One is a basic tee that I can throw on with jeans and booties for a casual outfit!  The other is this really unique long-sleeve sweater for colder nights in Boone!  Both of these are very basic items I can add to my wardrobe and pair with many different pieces of clothing!

We ventured over to LUSH and I was completely overwhelmed by the wonderful smell!  I have so many bath bombs left from Christmas to use and because I only have a stand-up shower in my apartment, I steered in a different direction with the Lush products.  I have always been wanting to try a face mask by lush, so I decided to purchase the Mask of Magnaminty.  I am so excited to try this new mask!  Click here to purchase this product!

Our last stop was Urban Outfitters.  If you know me, you know how much I love Urban Outfitters.  I could spend hours in that store!  My favorite thing to browse in Urban is their home accessories and beauty items.  I stepped out on a limb and purchased one of their perfumes by Adorn EDP and I have to say I am slightly obsessed with the scent.  It is the perfect mixture of sandalwood, moss, and suede.  And the name of it is Tiger's Eye | Strength, so it must be awesome!  I hope I can try more of the perfume scents because this one is incredible! Click here to purchase this product!

I am so excited for this new semester to start and am ready to learn more about becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist!  I hope you all enjoyed this haul!  Please leave a comment with what you are buying for back-to-school!  I would love to hear about it!  Thank you all so much for reading!

xo,

Hannah Adams

EVERYDAY MAKEUP ROUTINE

As most of my friends and family know, I have recently become obsessed with makeup.  My freshman and sophomore year of college, I barely wore any makeup.  Maybe once or twice a week I would wear more than just foundation and mascara, but other than that, I was not that interested in makeup.  I would definitely say that makeup did not spark my interest because I was not good at doing my makeup.  Eyeliner terrified me and lipstick was too bold and called unwanted attention to me.  Let's face it...I was a wimp about makeup.

Eventually, I branched out of my normal routine and let my friend Emily do my makeup before we went downtown in Wilmington.  I fell IN LOVE with how my makeup looked and the extra confidence it gave me.  I started texting her with all of these questions about what brands of makeup I should try and watched her youtube channel like it was a job.  Her channel inspired me to get into makeup and be bold.

I wanted to take the time to share with you all my current everyday makeup routine.  I plan on doing a post in the future about my skincare routine, but I just wanted to put this blurb in this blog post as well...in order for my makeup to look good, I MUST remove all of my makeup at night, cleanse my face, and moisturize!!!!!  Having a clean and moisturized face is one of the key components to a nice makeup look.  Anyways, let's dive right into my everyday makeup routine!

primer.

After moisturizing my face, I make sure to apply primer.  Primer is an important step in my makeup routine because it gets my face ready for my foundation.  The primer allows for the foundation to do it's job correctly on my face and give my face the glow and coverage I want and deserve.  The primer I have been loving is the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer.  I currently have the travel size bottle because I have been on the go this summer, but this primer has lasted me months and I still have more than half the bottle left.  I also really love this primer because it does not irritate my skin and has SPF 15 in it.  I would highly recommend this primer.

foundation and concealer. 

The foundation I am currently using also acts as a concealer, which has cut my time spent on my makeup.  I am using the Clinique Beyond Perfecting foundation and concealer in the shade 0.5 (breeze).  This foundation has great coverage and gives a nice, but subtle, dewey finish.  When I use this foundation, there is no need for me to use a separate concealer.  I typically blend this foundation out with a real techniques brush and then go in with a damp beauty blender to really get a nice blended finish.  This foundation has become my holy grail foundation.  Thanks Emily for the recommendation!

setting powder.

After I apply my foundation, I go ahead and use a setting powder to make sure it stays in place and does not move around while contouring and highlighting.  I am a huge fan of translucent powders and have recently been using both Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in transparent and the  NYX Cosmetics Studio Finishing Powder in translucent.  Both of these powders are great for setting foundation and concealer!

blush.

I do not contour everyday, so I am not including products I use for contouring.  I do use blush everyday because I have rosy cheeks normally and like the rosy cheek look.  I have been loving the NARS blush in the shade orgasm.  This is one of NARS' best sellers and is really a great shimmery, peachy, pink color.  I think it is perfect for summertime and I definitely recommend blushes from NARS.

highlight.

Because Sephora has it currently, I broke down and bought the Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop.  This highlighter is life.  Get it.  Yes, you need it in your life.

eyeshadow.

Most of my eyeshadow looks come from the Tartelette In Bloom eyeshadow palette.  I have been loving this palette and definitely recommend it for fall/winter eye makeup looks (even though I wear it in all seasons).  The shades from this palette that I use most often are called smarty pants, rebel, leader, and firecracker.  My everyday eyeshadow look includes those four shades.  

mascara.

My absolute favorite mascara of all time is the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara.  I have been using this mascara for years and will continue to use it until I cannot wear mascara anymore.  This mascara makes my lashes look so full and black.  I love wearing this mascara for an everyday look because it adds so much volume to my lashes and looks great on!  If you purchase any item from this blog post, it needs to be this mascara.  I can guarantee you will not regret it.

lip gloss.

I love wearing lipstick, but I tend to stick to a nude lip gloss for my everyday routine.  I am loving the NARS lip gloss in the shade Chelsea Girls.  It is the perfect pink beige shade.  I love it for an everyday look because it is very natural and looks good with everything. 

setting spray.

Last but certainly not least, I finish my makeup look off with a setting spray.  I do this so that my makeup will last throughout the day and look it's best.  The setting spray that I have found to work best on my skin and with my makeup is the Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray.  I mist my face with this setting spray and it looks and lasts like a dream.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and find it helpful.  If you have any questions about products, leave them down below.  Feel free to comment and tell me what kind of posts you want to see on this blog. I love hearing your suggestions.  This post is not sponsored, these are just my opinions about products and my personal everyday makeup routine.  Thanks so much for reading!

xo,

Hannah Adams

BEACH BAG ESSENTIALS | FOURTH OF JULY

Happy Fourth of July loves!  I hope you all are enjoying a relaxing day off of work, celebrating America, and spending time with the ones you love most.  This Fourth of July, I am spending time with my family on our annual beach vacation.  I wanted to take time from my vacation to share with you all of my essentials for my beach bag.  Many people travel to the beach over the summer and I think it is important to make sure my beach bag is packed with enough goodies for a long day on the beach.

Packing for the beach is always taxing, but I make sure I have these following items:

Beach Bag: Any oversized bag will work, but I am a fan of waterproof bags with at least one side pocket for important things like a phone, money, sunglasses, etc.  I am currently using a beach bag from Lilly Pulitzer that I got a few years ago and still love!

Coverup: I think a coverup is an essential item for my beach bag because I am not one to walk around our neighborhood at the beach with just my bikini on.  I think coverups are flattering, fun, and give you an excuse to buy something cute!  They are also really nice to wear on a walk down the beach.

Hats: Hats are ESSENTIAL for me because my nose and cheeks burn so easily.  I am a fan of the big floppy hats because they really cover my face and keep the sun away!  They are also very trendy!  Ball caps are also my favorite type of hat!  I love the Vineyard Vines hats because they are simple and have multiple color choices.  I love to match my hats with my bathing suits for a nice beach outfit!

Sunglasses: I cannot live without my Ray-Bans.  They literally travel with me everywhere.  Sunglasses are so important, especially at the beach because they protect your eyes!!  I could not imagine a beach trip without my sunglasses!  If you want to find affordable sunglasses, always check out Target and/or Old Navy because they always have a great, trendy selection.

Flip-Flops: These are important because the pavement and sand are HOT during the afternoon!  Flip-Flops are something I do not spend too much money on because I only wear them at the pool and beach.  My favorite flip-flops to buy are the Old Navy flip-flops!  I have had my black pair for years and they are still in good condition!  I would recommend their flip-flops if you are looking for a pair that is affordable.

Books: Reading is one of my favorite pastimes while on vacation.  I am currently reading An Abundance of Katherines by John Green and I HIGHLY recommend this book!  Summertime is the perfect time to read all of the books you did not have time to read during the year!

Phone and Headphones: While reading is fun, sometimes you need a break to completely relax.  I always make a Spotify playlist for the beach and make sure to always have headphones for the times I want to listen to music.  I also sometimes like to text my boyfriend and keep him updated on my vacation with texts, pictures, and snapchats!

Insulated Cup: Having an insulated cup is perfect for the beach because your drinks stay chilled.  They are also extremely cute!  I got my cup as a gift for being counselor of the week at the camp I work at during the summers.

Sunscreen/Tanning Spray: I have to use sunscreen because I am so pale that I will burn without it.  I love the Neutrogena face sunscreen because it is not oily and does not break me out on my face.  You can get this at your local drug store!  I also have become a fan of the Coppertone Tanning Spray.  I think it works great as both a tanning spray and a sun protectant.  I would highly recommend both of these products.

Face Powder and Brush: I always keep a translucent powder and brush in my beach bag to touch up any CC cream that may have smeared or to rid of any sweat that may be on my face.

Chapstick with SPF: My lips are always chapped because I am always dehydrated.  Chapstick is something that I always have in my bag.  For the beach, I like to make sure I have a chapstick that has SPF in it so that my lips do not burn.  I love Eos and one of their chapsticks has SPF 15 in it.  I think this is a beach bag essential because burnt lips are horrible.

Mascara: For those of you who love mascara, it is always a good idea to have some in your beach bag for a quick touch up!  I personally do not like waterproof mascara because I think it is difficult to remove, so I just keep regular mascara in my bag in case I decide to wear some that day on the beach.   My favorite drug store mascara is the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara.

Urban Decay Setting Spray: The All-Nighter setting spray from Urban Decay is a life saver.  Thank goodness for this product.  This spray has saved my makeup from humid Florida and I highly recommend this spray!  This product is perfect for any setting but works really well for making your makeup sweat proof!  It is a must in my beach bag.

Sea Salt Spray: I love beach hair!  I love sea salt spray!  Have you ever thought of mixing the two together???  Using sea salt spray on top of beach hair is the perfect combination of curl.  I love spraying my hair with the Redken Sea Salt Spray after swimming in the ocean.  My hair always looks and smells great!

Comb, Hair Scrunchies, and Bobby Pins: You just need these.

Towel: Beach towel shopping is one of my favorite things to do.  There are always so many cute patterns and colors to choose from.  This summer, I decided to choose a burnt orange towel and I love it!

What's in your beach bag?

xo,

Hannah Adams