How to Make Your College Living Space Look More Pulled Together

One of my favorite parts about college is designing my living space each year. I moved each year of college and think it is so fun to take a blank canvas and transform it into a gorgeous space for you to spend your time in. Of course, I am a bit extra and take pride in how my room looks so I always try to make it look super cute and put-together each year so I decided to share with y'all how to create your own space that looks more pulled together in today's post!

image via my junior year living room tour

Decide on a color scheme

The key to having a space the looks pulled together? A color scheme. It doesn't have to be super crazy but picking a few key colors and working from there helps to make a cohesive space.  For my sophomore dorm, for instance, my roommate had mostly navy and white stuff while mine was a lighter blue and light. Neither of us bought new bedding but since the other accents in the room tied those colors together, it worked really well and looked cohesive. This past year in our living room, we chose pinks and oranges for a fun, girly vibe.

Use neutrals as your base and then add it pops of color

I think this is a practical way to help avoid the space being too overwhelming with color (and coming from someone who loves color haha!). For any of your basics like a futon or furniture, chose neutrals like white and then build in your color. For instance, every year I had a couch/futon, the couch/futon was neutral and then we added in color with pillows. I think pops of color on furniture can be really cute but personally I find neutrals work better and can be used in different spaces in the future.

Add seating that doubles as storage

I love adding extra seating to living spaces so whenever you have friends over, the only place to sit isn't the floor, your desk, or your bed. This was something I didn't do my freshman year and while it wasn't a huge deal, I knew I wanted more seating in my sophomore room. I had a futon in our room that year but also added two storage cubes in front of it that doubled as seating. This was helpful as it held all sorts of stuff (like extra water bottles and jewelry) but it also provided more seats for when we had friends over!

Add curtains

Curtains are a small detail that make the space feel more like home. They make the space look more grown up and don't necessarily have to be super expensive. In my living room this year, I used two command hooks and a tension rod to hang them, which was such an easy and inexpensive way to do it without putting holes in the wall!

My sophomore year the closet didn't have a door, so we used a curtain to hide the closet a little!

Have plenty of blankets & throw pillows

I love having friends over so having plenty of blankets and pillows is a must for cozy movie nights. Whenever we're watching a show, my friends know to help themselves to a blanket in the basket and to get comfy! This also is a great way to tie into your color scheme!

Add personal pictures

I love using picture frames to decorate. It definitely makes any space feel more like home with pictures of your favorite people and places! It fills the space and adds a personal touch plus you don't have to spend a ton of money on frames and pictures!

Light a candle (if allowed)

Candles are such a small detail that can go a long ways. Most dorms don't allow candles since they are a fire risk, but if you are living in an apartment, they can be a great way to add "something" to the space since they make the room feel cozier.

Add a rug

Another way to make the room cozier? Add a rug! Dorm floors usually aren't the prettiest (my sophomore room had tiles that were a brownish-orangish color) so a rug helps to cover them up a little and can tie the space together depending on the color that you chose! Pro tip- avoid white, it may look cute initially but not practical for the amount of people who will walk on it and it's hard to get stains out!

Tuck away the mess

When you're living in a dorm, you don't exactly have a lot of space to work with and even though apartments tend to be roomier, messes aren't exactly very inviting. Coming up with storage solutions that tuck away the mess is key. In my freshman and sophomore rooms, I used an extra-long bedskirt from Room 422 that was amazing as it added some color and pattern to the space while also hiding all the random stuff I kept under my bed! Coming up with a space for each item in your room or apartment is really helpful for keeping it clean and making the space look more pulled together.

What are your favorite decorating tips? Let me know in the comments!

Three Cute 21st Birthday Gift Ideas

Being a rising senior in college, a lot of my friends have recently turned 21! I love celebrating my friends and it’s been so fun to come up with unique gift ideas for each of my friends for their birthdays to make them feel special. As a little disclaimer, these all do include alcohol but I am 21 so I am legal :).

The first one that I did for my roommate’s birthday is creating a “cake” featuring different types of drinks. This is super fun because you can use the person’s favorite drinks (I’ve seen this done with hard seltzers too!)

Alcohol “Cake” Materials

- Cake Circles (1 10”, 1 8”, and 6”)

- Wrapping Paper to cover the Cake Circle

- Tape

- 18 favorite Mikes/Seltzers/similar sized bottles (keep the box for the bottom part of the structure)

- 1 bottle of champagne/wine/liquor

- Tulle in desired colors

Instructions

1. Tape the wrapping paper to the cake circles

2. For the bottom layer, tape 12 of the bottles down in a circle onto the 10” cake circle

3. Create a support out of the box and wrap it in wrapping paper

4. Tape the support to the bottom layer

5. Tape the next cake circle (the 8”) onto the support

6. Tape the remaining 6 bottles onto this layer

7. Place the next cake circle (the 6”) on top of the bottles. Note that we did not tape this down so that we could transport the “cake” and it would be less heavy

8. Tape the bottle of champagne/wine/liquor on top

9. Tie tulle into a bow on top of the bottle- we created a cascading effect with ours

Optional- purchase a wooden 2 and 1 at the craft store and paint in your desired color then cover in glitter. Place on the middle layer just to add a bit of *extra* to the “cake”

For another friend’s birthday, we decided to make her a super cute table. This is definitely the most time consuming project and also was a bit more expensive to pull off! We did the whole thing in one weekend which was definitely a lot so if you have more time, I would definitely recommend spreading out the work a bit! This is a great gift to give from a few friends!

Decorated Table Materials

- One 8 foot folding table (we bought ours at Walmart but I would look around to find the cheapest option)

- Electric sander (bought at Walmart for $20- a lifesaver)

- Paint primer

- Painter’s tape

- Pencil, tracing materials to trace the designs

- Desired paint colors 

- Clear polyurethane spray (to seal the table)

Instructions

1. Sand the entire table

2. Cover the table in primer (make sure not to spray the crack in the middle)

3. Use painter’s tape to section off the table (make sure to have a triangle on each side for your cups)

4. Decide on your decisions and trace them onto the table (we did this by printing off the decision, tracing it onto wax paper with a pencil, and using a sharpie to transfer the design or free handing it)

5. Paint each section

6. Let dry

7. Apply another coat

8. Let dry

9. Apply polyurethane to seal the table

10. Let dry!

This next craft is the easiest but is so so cute! I took a bottle of Prosecco then spray painted it gold and covered it in gold glitter!

Glitter Champagne Bottle Materials

- One bottle of your favorite Prosecco or champagne

- Spray paint in your desired color

- Glitter in your desired color

- Painter’s tape

Instructions

1. Tape off the top of the bottle and the label with painters tape. Remove the back label

2. Spray paint the bottle

3. Cover the entire bottle in glitter

4. Let dry

5. For a special touch, write a note on the bottom of the bottle!

What are your go-to gifts for celebrating friends? Let me know in the comments!

What I've Been Watching Lately: Part 2

Earlier this year, I shared some of the shows that I've been watching on Netflix and other streaming services. With quarantine, I would definitely say I've definitely had some extra time to watch shows so I wanted to share what I have been watching lately as well as my thoughts on each show!

image via my junior year bedroom tour

Schitts Creek (Netflix)- My family and I watched this during quarantine and it was so funny! It's about a wealthy family who loses everything except for their ownership of a small town named Schitts Creek, leaving them no choice but to live there! Definitely recommend!

Tiger King (Netflix)- I feel like everyone and their mother has heard of Tiger King by now but it follows a zoo owner, Joe Exotic, and an animal conservationist, Carole Baskin. Without giving too much away, each episode gets crazier and crazier and while it is kind of strange, you can't stop watching!

Outer Banks (Netflix)- Another very popular choice! But I loved watching Outer Banks! It follows a group of kids on North Carolina's Outer Banks (even though it's filmed in Charleston!). A must watch this summer!

Too Hot to Handle (Netflix)- If you are missing Love Island and the Bachelorette this summer, this is the show for you! It is pretty raunchy but is so funny and entertaining.

Instant Hotel (Netflix)- If you have a case of wanderlust this is the show for you! It's pretty similar to Four Weddings on TLC but is about 5 different Australian airbnbs (or as they call it, Instant Hotels) and their owners. They take turns staying at each property and then rate each one! Such a fun show!

Sweet Magnolias (Netflix)- A more light hearted pick that is still fun! It follows 3 women and their lives in a small town in South Carolina.

Make It or Break It (Hulu)- This is an older one that my roommate and I randomly watched but is so good! It follows four (fictional) gymnasts and their dreams to compete in the 2012 Olympics. It is definitely more geared to teens as it is full of drama but I convinced the rest of my family to watch it with me and they wound up loving it!

Welcome to Plathville (Hulu)- This is a show my siblings and I watched at the lake and while it's quirky, it's definitely entertaining. It follows the Plaths, a family with 9 children, who live in rural Georgia and raised their children with little access to technology. The oldest son marries a girl who has different views than the rest of the family, which leads to some drama!

What have you been watching lately? Let me know in the comments!

Everything You Need for Your First College Apartment

I am so excited to be sharing today’s post with y’all as it’s something that has been on my radar to share for quite a while- what to pack for your first college apartment. I lived on campus for my first two years of college since it’s required at Clemson for freshmen (check out my freshman dorm here) and then I lived on my sorority hall for sophomore year (check out that room tour here). I moved off-campus for the first time last August into a two bedroom house with my sophomore year roommate Rachel (check out our living area tour, my bedroom tour, and Rachel’s bedroom tour). In all honesty, it was kind of overwhelming knowing what I needed to buy (and what I didn’t) since we were pretty much starting from scratch. I made a list of items that we needed to buy on a Google Doc so we could check things off and it came in handy so I figured it would be helpful to share with y’all as well!

One thing to note is that our apartment did come furnished meaning the couch, chair, side table, tv stand, coffee table, and kitchen stools came with the house and so did my bedframe, a desk and chair (that I actually switched out for the desk and chair in my bedroom at home), and a dresser in the living room. I’ve included those things because not every apartment comes furnished or the items it includes differs.

Our house had a half bathroom downstairs, which was super nice since whenever we had friends over, they didn't have to go upstairs and into our rooms to use the bathroom. Not every apartment has a half bath but I've included it just in case!

Also, I only vaguely went over decor items in the packing list since I'm planning on sharing a post on how to make your apartment/dorm seem more homey on the blog soon so look out for that!

I hope this was helpful and can’t wait to share more college posts with y’all soon!

What I've Been up to Lately

Hey hey! Long time, no talk! It's crazy to think my last post was back in March- you think with a few months at home, I would be able to get my act together and create some content but I think giving myself some time for inspiration to strike would be beneficial for creating content that I love, not just kinda like!

Anyways, the short story is in my time ~away~ from the blog, I realized I kinda miss documenting my life here on my little corner of the internet. It's fun to look back on different times in my life (especially in My Chic Week posts!) so I want to get back into it!

It's kinda insane that in one month, I'll start my senior year of college. Not sure how the time has flown by that much but I can't wait to be back in Clemson with my favorite people and soak it all in.

Since it's been a while, let's catch up on what I've been up to since my last post!

Spring Break in Miramar Beach, Florida

Back in March (which honestly feels like a million years ago), some of my best friends and I went to the beach for Spring Break. We spent so much time out on the beach and honestly had so much fun. Miramar is fairly close to Seaside so we went there a few times (and of course bought the iconic t-shirts and sweatshirts). We went right before everything shutdown so I'm grateful for all that time with friends before we all headed home for quarantine!

Quarantine at Home

I drove home from Clemson the Thursday of Spring Break thinking I would be home for 2 weeks and as I was driving home, Clemson sent out the text that class would be online the rest of the semester. I think quarantine was hard for everyone but it was just kinda weird being home when I should have been at school. I am very grateful to have the best family to spend it with but it made me very excited to get back to campus!

Turning 21!

Back in April, I turned 21, which was such a fun day! My mom and I went to a wine store near us for my first alcohol purchase and then we picked up Chili's for lunch! My mom was super sweet and organized a little drive by celebration with two of my high school besties stopping by with a bunch of our family friends! We then had a delicious dinner at home with a zoom call with a bunch of my college friends. I honestly didn't know what to expect having a "milestone" birthday in the middle of quarantine but I felt so loved and it was definitely a birthday to remember!

I'm Going to Grad School!

A few months ago I applied to Clemson's Teacher Residency program and I was so excited to find out I've been accepted! Basically it's a Masters program for education majors where instead of doing your student teaching your senior spring semester, you do it your entire 5th year! I'm so excited to stay in Clemson an extra year, gain more experience in the field of teaching, and that some of my best friends will be doing it with me!

Weekends in Clemson

Once North Carolina's stay at home order was lifted, I started going down to Clemson for weekends to spend time with friends and to spend time in my apartment. A bunch of my friends were there in May so it was fun to catch up and go downtown since I finally was 21 and could go out! We went out a few times back in May but now that cases have been going up a lot in Clemson, we've mainly been sticking around our houses and going on walks and stuff like that!

Weekend Trip to Charleston

At the end of May, I drove down to Charleston to celebrate my friend Olivia's birthday! She lives right by the beach so we spent the weekend on the beach and by the pool, which was so much fun! 

Nannying

I'm nannying for the same family again this summer, which has kept me busy and has been so much fun!

Billy's Graduation

At the start of June, my younger brother graduated from high school. Thankfully, the school was able to pull together an in-person ceremony, which was great considering everything going on! They had graduation in the parking lot and they had the seniors come up to walk across the stage! The following weekend, we had a small get together to celebrate to make the best out of unusual circumstances!

A Trip to the Lake

My family and I just got back from our lake house in Upstate New York, which was so much fun! We had a pretty quiet trip- lots of time out on the boat and on the beach!

Welcome back to the blog- I've missed ya!

How My Style Has Changed Since Beginning College

I am so excited to be sharing today's blog post as it's something that has been on my mind a lot lately in regards to the blog: how my style has changed since the start of college! One thing I love about blogging is that it kind of keeps a record of everything you love, what was important during that time in your life, and so on! I thought it would be fun to kind of chit chat with y'all about personal style and some of the changes I've noticed since starting college!

I started my blog five years ago and I was a fifteen year old high school sophomore. My high school had a uniform but other than that, my style was very preppy: lots of Lilly, chino shorts, Jack Rogers, statement necklaces! To clarify, my style is still pretty preppy and classic and I do still love (and wear) the pieces I styled on the blog "back in the day". My friends would tell you that I still dress preppy but I would definitely say my style has definitely relaxed a bit since the start of college.

Clemson definitely is very casual in terms of what students wear to class so that takes up a good chunk of my wardrobe and what I wear everyday. Oversized t-shirts are super popular and are worn with sweaters and leggings in the colder months then norts and tennis skirts in the warmer months. Since I'm an education major, I wear business casual when I'm in the schools but other than that it's pretty casual and pretty different from high school when I wore cute clothes all the time.

In addition to being more relaxed in what I wear (can't say I'll feature an outfit of leggings and a t-shirt on the blog), my style has definitely gotten trendier too. I love classic, preppy fashion and know I'll always wear that but it was also super trendy circa 2015. I won't say I'm the trendiest person ever but have found myself liking more trendy pieces from stores like Anthropologie and Free People. There's definitely pieces in those stores that are a little too much for me personally but I think developing your own personal style is so important. College is definitely a time for change and to grow so it makes sense to me that your style changes a bit too! So here's to new things here on the blog and maybe some outfit posts where I restyle old outfit posts to make them more up to date!

Did you notice a change in your personal style once you started college? Let me know in the comments!

On Perfectionism + Being Real

For as long as I remember, I've been a perfectionist. I like having things go the way I want them to, enjoy having control over the situation, and also, in some sense, like putting off the image that I'm able to do it "all" and make it look easy.

Definitely not the most perfect post I've shared on the blog but it fits the theme for today's post!

I think a lot of my struggle in creating content here on the blog is that I want it to be perfect. Blogging can be a strange world at times as it gives you this peek into someone else's life but the blogger chooses what to put out there. When my life isn't perfect (when is anyone's?), I feel like it's harder for me to blog as this isn't an online diary or space for me to just complain about problems but it's also hard for me to paint everything as sunshine and roses when it just isn't like that in real life.

Then I find myself not blogging and comparing myself to high school Katie who had time to get it done and create content. In all honestly, yes I was more consistent in high school. It may have seemed like I had it all together but quite honestly my high school years were pretty stressful. I would wake up at what felt like the crack of dawn for school (some days at 5:20 AM to squeeze in a Pure Barre class), go to school for 7 hours, go home and do homework, go nanny, then go home and do homework until it was time to go to bed. Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed high school. I'm so thankful for that time in my life and learned so much from it. But constantly pushing myself to be perfect, to do all the things, to maintain good grades while running a blog, being involved in multiple clubs, volunteering, working out, nannying was exhausting. My life seemed perfect from the outside but I was stressed, cried a little too much, and was overwhelmed.

Thankfully, college is a lot more balanced for me. I think the word balanced is pretty fitting as yes, I still care about school and my grades and being involved but in a much more healthier way. I love my education classes a lot more than high school classes like Calc since I can see how I will actually use them in life beyond graduation (which is approaching way faster than I would like it to). I'm getting enough sleep and leave room in my agenda for some sort of just for me activity everyday whether that's putting away my laptop to watch a movie with friends, being more spontaneous and saying yes more often to random, fun plans, or even letting myself go to bed early. In all honestly, I feel so lucky to be living my life and have found a really good balance between being a student and being a person. This past fall semester was definitely the most fun so far and I achieved one of my biggest academic goals so balance is definitely paying off.

The girl who created Chic in Carolina is definitely not the same one writing this post right now. I started Chic in Carolina when I was a 15 year old sophomore in high school who couldn't even drive by herself yet so it makes senses that I've grown since then (I would be worried if I hadn't!). I still love my agenda and organization but I've definitely grown up too. I'm planning on sharing a blog post on how my style has changed since coming to college but while I still love a good Lilly shift, more trendy and relaxed pieces have slipped into my closet too.

The crazy thing is I put all this pressure on myself to be perfect. No one except me cares if I show up to class in running shorts and a t-shirt or if I show up in a cute outfit with my hair and makeup done. That I have to push myself to eat better and workout more often not to be healthy but to fit into a pair of jeans from junior year of high school. Even though I love blogging, no one is forcing me to blog and post 5 times a week.

In my Digital Media class last semester we talked about the concept of digital storytelling and how through various social media platforms, we now have the ability to share with audiences much larger than we could without the platform. Before Instagram, I could print out pictures and share them with family and friends but now, you can share them with those people and more with the press of a button. While social media isn't horrible, it isn't always an accurate look into people's lives. I sometimes find myself looking through other Instagrams (both from my blog + personal accounts) and find myself jealous of how perfect that person's life seems. Then a quick look through my own Instagram tells me I do it too. My personal Instagram paints a perfectly rosy look into my life: fun football games, trips, curated Instagram stories that are "real" enough but have a pretty filter on top. We don't share pictures from the nights you sit in the library for six hours and are about to cry from thinking too much. Or from the days where you are arguing with a friend. Or when it seems like absolutely nothing is going the way you want it to.

The blog + Instagram make my life seem pretty great. Don't get me wrong- for most of the time it is. I have been blessed with the best family, amazing friends, the opportunity to go to college to study something I'm passionate about and to do it at one of my favorite places in the world. Am I guilty of sharing a more perfect image of myself online? Definitely.

This semester, I've had a few conversations with my roommate about different bloggers and Youtubers we follow on social media and how some used to be authentic and real but now come off as fake. As a college student, we know what a typical day looks like: going to class, studying, maybe going to a meeting for a club, getting lunch with a friend, etc. Everyday is different but it's not all fun and games as it can seem from some college bloggers/Youtubers/influencers. Trust me, I have fun in college. I do things with friends and think college is a million and one times more fun than high school was but my everyday life isn't always riveting or Instagram worthy so to speak.

I want to keep sharing with y'all here but I also want to be real and genuine in doing so. Thanks for sticking around here on CiC!

101 in 1001: Update #1

Happy Tuesday y'all! I am so excited for today's post as I am sharing an update on my 101 in 1001 list. For those of y'all unfamiliar with the concept, it is where you come up with a list of 101 items to do in 1001 days (which is almost 3 years). Mackenzie Horan came up with it and I just started my second list back in August (check out my first 101 in 1001 here)! Since I am over six months into it, I thought it would be fun to share what I accomplished so far, what's in progress, and what I hope to accomplish in the next six months or so!

Completed

6. Receive my Clemson ring (November 2019)

26. Host a brunch (October 2019)

43. Go to a spin class (October 2019)

48. Throw a surprise party (August 2019- Mackenzie’s 21st)

50. Donate $100 to a charity I'm passionate about (September 2019- Circle of Sisterhood)

56. Go to a wedding (September 2019)

69. Earn a 4.0 one semester (Fall 2019)

In Progress

1. Try five new restaurants in Clemson or Greenville (2/5: Sidewall, Trio)

46. Read 25 books (1/25: American Royals)

52. Bake 20 new recipes (1/20- S’mores truffles)

62. Go to three concerts (2/3- Jonas Brothers, Scotty McCreery)

On my Radar

73. Decorate my college apartment and share it on the blog (October 2019)

74. Get involved and take on a leadership position (November 2019- USAB Communications Chair)

77. Join a new club or organization (October 2019- Omicron Delta Kappa)

4. Have a lake day on Lake Hartwell

5. Have a picnic on the dikes

11. Try five new restaurants in Charlotte

12. Share a Charlotte travel guide on the blog

22. Post on the blog everyday for a month

24. Post on Instagram everyday for a month

38. Catch up in-person with one of my college friends over the summer

55. Watch the sunrise

72. Go on a fun Spring Break trip with college friends

99. Visit two new beaches

Have you done a 101 in 1001 list before? Let me know in the comments!

How I Stay Organized in College

If there's one thing y'all probably know from the blog by now is that I absolutely love organization. Having both my space (my room, my house, etc.) and my life be organized makes things run so much more smoothly and feel like I'm not a chicken running around with its head cut off.

While being organized was important in high school, I feel like it is a million times more so in college. I feel like college can definitely be hectic and crazy at times so I wanted to share some of my favorite organization tips to help y'all have a more organized semester!

Use an agenda

An agenda is absolutely a god-send when it comes to organization in college! Mine holds absolutely everything and anything from my schedule each day to my to do list. Having everyone in one place where you can see it is so beneficial and helps me feel like my life is more put together even if I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off! Stay tuned for an updated how I organize my agenda post soon!

Make a daily to-do list

I use a Day Designer agenda so it has a built-in to-do list but I swear by my to-do lists. It helps you keep track of everything you need to accomplish plus crossing off items is so satisfying! I try to make one each morning and list out everything I need to do that day (even if it's boring like take out the trash or get gas) so I don't miss anything.

Make your bed everyday

It sounds so weird but even if the rest of your room is a mess, having your bed made makes things look so much cleaner. It's a good habit to get into plus it's harder to jump into bed for a nap when your bed is made!

Keep your space tidy

I cannot focus in a messy space so I always try to keep my space (my room, my house, my backpack, my car, etc.) pretty clean and tidy. I think it's nicer to look at a clean space versus a messy one plus picking up everyday ensures you don't have to do one giant cleanup! Also, while living in a dorm, there isn't a whole lot of space so having it be tidy helps you take advantage of the space you do have.

Write everything down from your syllabus at the start of the semester

In college, I feel like it's so easy to loose track of important dates so at the start of the semester, I go through and add every date from each syllabus into my agenda and into my Google Calendar. Whenever there is an assignment or reading, I add it to the two days before it is due as well so I don't forget to do it!

Dedicate a time each week for important tasks

College can be busy so I try to dedicate certain times to getting certain things done. For example, I always do my laundry on Wednesdays and Sundays, I clean my house on Fridays, and I wash my sheets on Friday. Dedicating certain times for these chores ensures you get them done and also keeps you in a schedule!

Have a place for everything

Especially if you're living in a tiny dorm, having a place for everything is so important. When you find yourself needing that one specific item that you know you have but don't know where it is, you realize how important this! Even now that I have my own apartment instead of a dorm room, having everything have its own place helps me feel more organized plus you have an exact spot to put every item away in.

Stay on top of your emails

Nothing feels more chaotic to me than an inbox of 8,000 emails. I try to stay on top of it and keep it as close to 0 as possible so 1. I don't miss anything 2. I don't have any unnecessary clutter!

How do you stay organized? Let me know in the comments!

What I've Been Watching Lately

Happy Wednesday! As mentioned in Monday's post, I feel like I've been watching a lot more shows this semester so far so I wanted to share a few of my recent favorites with y'all. 2 are shows I always watch season after season and am currently watching the new season while the other 2 are new-to-me shows that are on Netflix!

image via this blog post

Elite

This is a really random find but so good! Elite focuses on a group of students at a prestigious private school (hence Elite) and the 3 students who are able to attend due to receiving a scholarship. Suddenly, one of the students in their class dies and no one knows who it was. My roommate and I literally changed on our mind on who the killer is every episode and watched both seasons so quickly! It is a Spanish show that they put the English translations over the actors' voices so that was kind of annoying but you get past it quickly!

Grey's Anatomy

The new season of Grey's just came on and y'all know I am a big Grey's fan! Although I am sad that *spoiler* Alex left, I'm excited to see where this season goes.

The Bachelor

I know this is a totally basic option but I can't help but keep up with the Bachelor every season! This hasn't been my favorite season as I feel like a lot of the girls are very dramatic and immature and honestly Peter hasn't been that great of a Bachelor (I was excited for him and it's just kinda been blah of a season) but I'll definitely be finishing the season.

Cheer

Rachel and I decided to watch this one day after hearing good things about it from friends and oh my goodness, it's so good! It's a 6 episode documentary series on Netflix about a group of college cheerleaders at a community college in Texas and even though I never cheered, I found it so entertaining!

What shows/movies have you been watching lately? Let me know in the comments!

What I Wore to Student Teaching: January

I am so excited to be sharing today's blog post with y'all as it's a recap of all the outfits I wore to "school" in January. For a bit of background, I'm Katie and I am currently a junior Elementary Education major at the best university in the world aka Clemson! As I get closer to graduation, we spend more and more time in the classroom and this semester, I am in the schools two days a week. I have two different 2.5 hour long classes (Math Methods on Monday and Children's Literature on Wednesday) that both take place in an elementary school so we have our lectures in a classroom on site and then also work in a classroom! I have lots of fun teacher outfits to share and it's been fun getting to dress up more!

As a bit of a disclaimer, a lot of the pieces I've been wearing are older and unfortunately out of stock online! My high school let seniors dress business casual instead of wearing uniforms so I had a lot of business casual essentials so I've been breaking those back out!

January 8 (excuse the mess in the back- I just got back home the night before from break!)
Top: Anthropologie (a sale rack find that I can't find online) Pants: Loft (similar) ⎢Flats: Tory Burch

January 13

Dress: Loft (old) ⎢Riding Boots: Tory Burch (similar here and here) ⎢Apple Watch ⎢Bracelet: David Yurman

January 15

Dress: J. Crew (old, styled here) ⎢Necklace: Kendra Scott ⎢Riding Boots (similar here and here) ⎢Apple Watch ⎢Bracelet: David Yurman

January 20- No Class for Martin Luther King Day!

January 22
Sweater: Vineyard Vines (similar) Pants: Lilly Pulitzer (similar) ⎢Flats: Tory Burch ⎢Apple Watch ⎢Bracelet: David Yurman

January 27

Sweater: Tuckernuck (old, styled here) Pants: Loft (similar) ⎢Necklace: Kendra Scott ⎢Flats: Tory Burch (similar) ⎢Apple Watch ⎢Bracelet: David Yurman

January 29

Top: Lilly Pulitzer (similar) ⎢Skirt: J. Crew Factory (same skirt, different colors and scalloped hem) ⎢Flats: Tory Burch ⎢Apple Watch ⎢Bracelet: David Yurman

Hope you enjoyed this peek into what I wear as an elementary education student!

I'm Back + Lately

Welcome back to Chic in Carolina or should honestly I should be welcoming myself back at this point since it's been so long. I absolutely hate that my posts have been so inconsistent here on the blog- I scheduled a few for the first week of class over break but feel like I have barely have had a moment to spare since then to sit down and write a post! In all honestly, part of it is a lack of motivation and feeling ehh about blogging. I feel like as time has gone on, I've lost sight of doing it for me and kinda feel my life isn't too exciting where other people would be interested in what I have to say. On the other hand, I look back on when I posted regularly and miss that! So hopefully, I'll be around here more often and may cut down on my number of posts per week to make things more manageable but we will see!

I was looking on my camera roll for pictures to share to give y'all a bit of a life update but apparently I have been slacking on that so far this semester! So I decided that I'll share a "Lately" post where I catch y'all up on what's been going on in my life and we'll be back to my typical My Chic Week schedule on Friday!

Drinking...
lots of coffee! I have to be at the elementary school at 7:45 on Mondays and 8:30 on Wednesday so lots of coffee is needed haha!

Eating... 

I made pesto chicken a few weeks back and it was so yummy! I just took a package of chicken breasts, seasoned it in salt and pepper, combined 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese with pesto, then added more shredded mozzarella on top!

Listening... 

to Harry Styles' new album on repeat! So good!

Wearing... 

teacher clothes! Two of my classes are in an elementary school so we have to wear professional dress since we may be popping into a classroom on a given day! I've been pretty good about taking pictures of what I wear so I can share that in a blog post but it's been fun to wear something other than leggings and a gigantic t-shirt!

Loving...

having my Clemson ring back! I had to send my ring in to be resized and repaired (one of the numbers on it fell out) and I just got it back a few weeks ago! So so happy to have it back!

Reading... 

lots of required reading for my classes! My classes this semester are pretty reading heavy (I also am taking a Children's Literature class so I am reading a lot of children's books, which is fun!) so I haven't had a lot of extra time to read for fun. I did just start Emily Ley's "When Less Becomes More" so I'm excited to get into that!

Watching... 

so many good shows! So far this semester, my roommate and I have been really into watching different series on Netflix so stay tuned for Monday's post as I'll be sharing some of my recent favorites!

Excited... 

for Spring Break! My friends and I just booked our trip to Florida and we are so excited for a week in the sun by the beach!

Wanting... 

this phone case! My current one looks pretty beaten up and I think this one is too pretty!

Excited to be back and Happy Monday!