Living in a Pink Bubble~ School Supply Edition

The school year has finally started and I’m starting my third semester! I feel like I’ve finally gotten into the flow of things and feel comfortable enough to share my education staples. Of course, in typical ‘me’ fashion, I grew my collection to match my pastel lifestyle. I quite enjoy things that are visually appealing and yet still serve a valid function, deciding to invest in pieces I love makes studying a joy.

My main piece is a Samatha Vega, under Samatha Thavasa,  a4 tote bag. I struggled with backpacks the last 2 semesters and realized after ditching my backpack for my reusable canvas tote that sits in my car every other day, that I feel more comfortable carrying my school items in a tote bag. The standard ‘a4’ tote size (named such because it can fit a4 sized folios and binders within it) is perfect for my needs. Samantha Thavasa makes some beautiful a4 tote bags that also have wide bases which could comfortably hold as many school supplies as I needed. 

I also invested in a printer to save me the stress from my school’s computer lab, which is always packed! I bought a cute Bluetooth enabled pink printer, second hand, that syncs beautifully with my iPad and mobile device! (I know, I also have a pink Nintendo switch hiding out back there, but I’ll be devoting a full blog to that down the road!)

The cheaper books, if not available 2nd hand or for rental, tend to be available for purchase in loose leaf style. I lucked out this semester and needed to purchase 2 books that came with access codes to do my homework. So, I needed some sturdy binders to contain my text books. I found these cute binders by russel+hazel.

Now, onto the fun stuff! Folders, folios, and stationary!

For my classes this semester, I’m taking mathematics and science courses, so I need a notebook for working out my formulas. All my teachers recommended that keeping a ‘problem’ notebook would be advantageous in their courses so, I have 3, one for each class. Right now, I have an older Laduree notebook that I had laying around, that I use for math. For my other two courses, I use some basic bullet style notebooks which I find more convenient to write in. My math notebook is just more photogenic;; 

I also have an accordion style folder, that I’ve used every semester to keep all my loose leaf papers, hand outs, homework, scantrons, and anything of the like. I find the fan out style folders are so useful in keeping everything together and neatly filed! Also, mine is made of plastic so it’s quite durable. It’s hands down one of my most important items I keep on me and readily available. I bought mine [here]

A fun little fact is that my pencil case is actually a makeup brush holder! I bought this travel makeup brush organizer second hand since it’s an older piece from Liz Lisa’s retired line, Chambre a Coucher.  Shockingly it fits everything I need, keeps everything organized, and sits wonderfully flat which makes it fit nicely into my bag or on my desk.

As for my stationary supplies, I have three different collared highlighters, two 3 ink colored pens + ink refills, a mechanical pencil + lead refill (I should also have a #2 pencil, oops), two erasers that resemble macaroons from Laduree, and miscellaneous washi tape that I use in my planner or to bookmark pages. 

My most used items in my stationary station would be my Uni a-gel mechanical pencil, Uni Style + Fit multi chamber pen (which I actually have 4 of, 2 in my pencil holder, one in my planner, and one that I keep in my room~ I just adore them and how well they write!) I like to use the smallest pen refill size in them which would be the .28mm, and for my highlighter I like the Zebra midliner which is easily found locally and I can pick up a refill easily.

I also use my Ti-30 calculator for every class. It also came highly recommended by all my instructors as it works with log and sin functions as well as with exponents. It also don’t have memory storage, which is not allowed in any of my classes.

With me always, is my planner and my bkr water bottle. In my planner I write down everything; classes, what I need to do, upcoming assignments, due dates, etc. It contains my life and one of my other Style + Fit multi-ink pens. Without my planner, I think I would fall apart! 

My last big piece is my tech folio. I was lucky enough to come across this leather bound one on eBay [available here] It fits everything from my ‘problem’ notebooks, iPad Pro + keyboard case, and all my gadgets, neatly and securely.

Snugly in my folio I keep my Apple Pencil, my rose gold mophie powerstation, lightning port/usb/usb-c enabled flashdrive (which has been a lifesaver for PowerPoint presentations),  misc cables, and my student ID card.

I also replaced the zipper with a Samatha Thavasa x Disney’s Little Mermaid charm that I thought was too cute, and which gave my folio a little personal touch. 

My main tool for school is my iPad Pro + Apple Pencil. I write all my papers on it, take notes, access and turn in my homework from it, and get onto my school’s app on on small and portable device. 

The main apps I use are Canvas (which is where my teachers post the homework, lecture notes, and my grades), Word documents, PowerPoint, Quizlet (digital flash cards), Ginger (which is a proof reading app and how I was able to get the highest grade my english professor gave out last spring), and Notability (the note taking app that I rely on for everything).

I switched over to notability last semester, mainly because I had an intensive lecture class and needed to record what my professor was saying for review. At first glance notability looks like every other note taking app, but what won me over was the fact that I can also record audio while I write notes and it date/time stamps each recording. Also, it directly links with canvas and it’s pdf files and I can load up my professors’s lecture files straight into the app and write notes on top of the files. It just makes note taking so easy!

My last little bits in my bag are my personal items. I keep a reusable straw, tissues, a card holder, small wallet, SPF hand cream, the best Bluetooth headphones from TaoTronics (seriously), my phone [custom case from TheAmethyzt] , and my YSL tint-in-balm and a small vial of my Lolita Lempicka L perfume. 

I wanted to show off my cute pink glass boba straw from DrinkingStrawsGlass, and my protective casing from CashandDella. My city is making plastic straws unavailable so a good reusable straw is a necessity, especially for milk tea stops! I hate the taste of stainless steel, so glass was the best route for me and I love it!

Down the road I would love to be even more compact, but these are the items that work best for me! Maybe it’s good inspiration, or for a peek into how someone else lives their school life, maybe there’s something of interest that can inspire a modification to someone else’s school supply list? Regardless of the reason I hope that this entry was an enjoyable read!

<3CarisseIris

Small Magazine Haul~ Spring Q-Pot and Nail Up Disney Mook

 I went to my local Japanese book store to try finding the latest May Larme magazine, but sadly they're sold out currently. So instead of feeling like I wasted my time I ended up buying the Spring Q-Pot Mook and the Disney Girls Nail Collection Mook by Nail Up.

 The Q-Pot magazine I bought purely for the tote it came with, it was too cute to pass up~ It folds up into a convenient smaller size that looks like a shell, and when you need to use it it's a big canvas bag that will be very useful for groceries or outdoor activities like a picnic or an outing to the beach.

The bag is decorated in some of Q-pot's beach themed jewelry line. To add to it's draw, it even has a decent sized pocket inside which is extremely helpful. Hands down the magazine was completely worth buying just for the gift it came with.

The issue did show case it's beach themed collection and it's Disney collection. It also displayed their new Sailor moon line and food items they sell at their cafe. The magazine also covers special seasonal meals, tea services, a few recipes and the special secret tea room service. Also featured was a few pictures and blurbs about the special Q-pot collaboration rooms at the Tokyo Bay Maihama hotel.

My next mook is the Disney Girl's Nail Collection, which was put out by Nail Up. I don't know if I've ever talked about my love of Nail Up magazine on my blog, but I have posted a few misc scans on some of my social media every so often. A lot of the time I'll get inspiration for my nail sets from Nail Up so I'm always happy to read new issues. This magazine special is totally one of the two Disney nail magazines I've been wanting to get my hands onto, so I'm happy to have spotted it, especially since it came out a few weeks ago. I'm putting a few more pictures of this because it's just too pretty to not share~

 In the contents, there are nail looks for:
Princess~Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Snow White, Belle and Aroura [there's Frozen looks too]
Lovely Characters~ Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Alice, Tinker Bell and Marie
Villains~ Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella and the Queen of Hearts
Motif Design~ Sweets, Stars and hearts, Fashion items and Various scenes

Some of the designs I'm not a fan of, but I will show off the pages that I found gorgeous.

 In the magazine, they do a spread with the more attention grabbing looks and include key themes for each look, like colour, patterns and iconic peices.

[I like to use magazines to practice my reading, as limited as it is] So, I'll lightly translate as an example of what's talked about in the issue. 

I do want to apologize though, my Japanese skills are still beginner, but I want to try my best.  

The blurb under the princess' seem to be blurbs about their story. 

Under Colour it goes~ The key colours are yellow to blue with inserts of pink, and that clear stones are most compatible with the looks.

Pattern section says something similar to~ Smaller dots are perfect for an elegant Cinderella. Stripes give a cute adult impression with pink and blue together.

Within the icon section~ 

Glass shoes~ Key item, sparkling glass shoes that inherit the fate of the prince

Coach~ Pumpkin carriage to take me to the ball. The rest of the section, I don't understand.

Cinderella's Castle~ Meeting place of the prince. Delicately decorated.

The following page is other design examples with how to create key features of the nail looks.

I'll just showcase the looks and pages I like without comment now.

I hope you were able to enjoy a look at the items I bought, if you are curious to any specific parts, I maybe didn't take a photo of or didn't cover, please feel free to ask me on twitter or tumblr and I don't mind taking a few shots of other pages for you to enjoy.

<3CarisseIris

Girl's Weekend and Mini Haul

What? Finally a personal blog post? It's been awhile, but I've settled on blogging with my mobile for a bit, I lost my SD card for my DSLR, but for now this is a decent option for the time being.

My friends and I  have been really busy with work and school, life in general and we finally got a weekend free to wander about and just hang out like we used too.

 Friday, we ended up driving to Pasadena to wander around, and just chill out. Our first stop was Urth Caffe, because we were all famished, and it was something simple and healthy to fill our bellies. Plus, they have bomb tea and boba.

 I'm that friend that takes horrible candids, oops.

 My super yummy tea latte.

 I'm kind of jealous because my friend got amazing sandwiches, and I was only able to eat plain protein, if anyone isn't following me on twitter, I have a nutritionist now that's monitoring my diet and I was following a pretty strict regime this weekend.

We ended up walking about a mile down the street, and stopped at a few cute shops and just had fun walking and talking. We even found a cute dog treat shop in a little like, alley way? Called The Dog  Bakery and I ended up buying a few treats for my puppy there.

 If you've been a long time follower of my blog, I used to post a lot about Cool Haus, ice cream, cause my friends and I are totally obsessed with it. Luckily enough we ended up finding another of their shops, so of course we had to go in and get some Or at least, my friends got some~
 In the same store is also a Pie Hole shop, which is another place my friend's love, I've had their Earl Grey  pie, and it was amazingly good! That day they had Lavender Honey pies, and I wish I could have had one, cause it sounds amazing.

My friend got this yummy smores cookie with Kahlua and Doughnut ice cream, and at the bottom was Whisky and Lucky Charms ice cream, I had to take a bite, because it just sounded too good to pass up~ Shhh, don't tell my nutritionist, haha. But it was just as amazing as it sounds, no regrets on my end.

All, the whole group back together~ I've known these girls for well over 10 years and one since she was a baby. I couldn't be luckier to have these babes as besties. 

 That same store space had a beautiful section that was a florist's studio and I bought a beautiful bouquet that the girl made for me~ The store name is Gilly Flowers and the girl working there was just amazing, and such a great person to chat too about flowers, seasonal plants, gave me some plant tips and tricks, and the experience over all was just exceptional!

 Again, I always think my stuff looks nice splayed out on my bed.

 So, these are the treats I got my pup from The dog Bakery. Some items are perishable, and should be eaten within a week, the rest of the goods are good for a month.

I bought something called 'Animal Style', mint choco cookies, peanut butter doughnuts, Neapolitan pastry balls and a few spring cookies~ all dog safe and fresh made. My pup is absolutely in love with them, probably because they smell so good. I personally love how cute they are. 

 That evening I drove us to Cerritos to get some poke, and hilariously all the power was out, but some store were still open. The Kbbq place was still packed with a line like, down to the end of the building, it was pretty crazy.

 I thought the inside of North Shore was so cool, the atmosphere was really chill and the tea lights everywhere were really romantic. By the way, I'm obsessed with this place. We did end up taking our food home to eat, because since the power was out, it was extremely warm in the shop, uncomfortably so.

 Later that evening we went to peruse Target, and I ended up buying this ridiculously large and useless Pink Easter egg.

After a Long night marathoning Netflix, we went to Huntington in the morning, my friends had Bruxies and I walked down to North Shore again, to get more poke.

Funnily, everyone ended up sleeping over at my place again that night and leaving on Sunday~

All in all, it was a great weekend, and I was glad to see my girls again, all together.

Oh! Also, my friends all now have their necklaces~ I'm such a corny friend [gift details here]

<3CarisseIris