Planner Review|| erin condren edition

Good Morning lovely readers!! With the start of all the back to school shenanigans just around the corner I figured that it was time to get my planner for the year and start organizing my life. For the past two school years I have been using my Lilly Pulitzer agendas but this year I needed something bigger and something with more space and what not. So after a lot of online browsing and watching Youtube reviews I decided on the Erin Condren Life Planner! SO I went on the website and started to look for the perfect planner and since there are so many cute ones it literally took me FOREVER. I finally decided on the photo grid one. I was able to choose all of the pictures and then also choose whether or not I wanted a vertical weekly outlook or a horizontal. I went with horizontal and I just love it. I love how organized everything was! When I got my package which also arrived in less than two weeks from the day I ordered it, it came with not only the planner but it also came with some super cute stickers, some thank you cards, a really cute postcard and some really cute packaging. I would highly recommend this planner for just about anyone. While, it was one of the higher priced planners I could have chosen from I would have rather have spent more money on something this nice and perfect for me.

This is the adorable packaging that arrived on my door step!!

These are some of the stickers and postcards that I recieved with my planner: super cute 

Here is my actual planner!!!

I hope you all buy your planners from Erin and if you do let me know how much you love it!!!!

xoxo-
Kait

Fit For School|| fun workout ideas!

Hi guys this is the second post in this series and quite awhile ago I posted a fitness routine/workout stuff that had ideas on it for how to workout so I guess you can call this a more updated version! I will post what I had originally posted a few months ago and then add on to it also so you have double the workout ideas! So lets get started with week 2 of our fitness journey! For those of you that are new to this blog I am currently in the process of getting in shape to go back to school and what better time than summer?!? So here I have included some workouts you can try at home and the gym and then some fun ab workouts because who doesn't love a good ab workout?! So lets go!!!

1. I LOVE doing Zumba videos- I will search songs that are popular on the radio and look for a Zumba routine to do and I will do about 7 songs and that will be my workout for the day followed by my 5 minute ab workout* that I do every night! 
2. Run, run, run! Okay I am not the biggest fan of running but I will try and run a mile around my neighborhood and then come inside and do the 5 minute abs* along with some lunges while holding two 5lb dumbbells and then also doing some squats!      
3. Lately I have really been enjoying some walks in the park with one of my friends, we will meet at the park in the morning and talk about stuff and just walk and sometimes even run and then after every couple yards we will do some crunches or some push-ups of some squats to just get everything all toned up! 

For the gym workouts-

1. I like to warm up with 10-15 minutes of cardio so either the treadmill or the elliptical. After that I will head over to the bike machines and do about 3 miles worth of biking. After my legs are feeling nice and tired I will go and work on my shoulders and arms; pull ups and push ups! 
2. Once again after warming up with 10-15 minutes of cardio I will head right back on to the elliptical. I like sometimes to just do cardio for the entire workout and then follow it up with five minute abs* and so this workout is really easy because YOU pick what machines and what cardio you would like to do! 
3. Check out you local gyms and see what kind of classes they offer for example my gym offers yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays and those are great classes because you can run before the class and then head on into yoga after a mile or so and yoga is so beneficial for your body! 

*My 5 minutes abs:

:30 Russian Twists

:30 Heal Taps 

:30 Crunches making sure to get shoulder blades off the floor!

:30 Crunches touching right elbow to left knee

:30 Crunches touching left elbow to right knee

:30 Leg Lifts

:30 Seconds of flutter kicks

:30 REST

1:00 PLANK

Another fun ab work out that I have been really enjoying is called 10,8,6,4,2, basically what you are doing is executing several different types of crunches 10 times for each type of crunch then 8 then so on and so on. The crunches go like this:

• The first crunch your right foot is on top of your left foot 
• The second crunch you switch your feet so left is on top of right
• Both of your feet are down on the ground
• Scissor crunches alternating legs
• Rows 
• And then ending with full crunches 

And then once you have done 10 of each you will repeat with 8 of each and then decrease! It really gives you a nice burn and then after that I would recommend doing a 1 minute plank so that you are working both upper and lower abs! 

I really hope you all are enjoying summer and I will talk to you lovelys soon!!

Xoxo

Kait 

Nordstrom Sale|| gotta have it all!

Hello fellow shopaholics this post goes out to you!! In less than 24 hours the Nordstrom Anniversary sale will open up for everyone. I have been looking through the items this year and holy cow....so many great things for such amazing prices. I have been going through the websites preview page and I am literally in shock everything from Kendra Scott to Tory Burch is marked down. I for sure will be buying several items and I might end up possibly splurging on some others...you just never know!! 

The sale includes everything from beauty products, to jewelry to clothes and even shoes! I am so excited with what I have seen so far on the preview and I am dying to hit "Add To Cart" Usually when I have checked out the sale in the past I really haven't been impressed with the selection but this year I feel like they really stepped up their game. There are so many designer items and at such bargains that its like is this even real life?! I would also have to say that the majority of the items on the sale are more geared toward this upcoming fall season but I am sure that some of the items could also be transitioned into summer and fall. If you haven't checked out what is on the sale yet I would go check so that when the sale opens up to the public you are ready to go!! 

I linked the items I put in the collage right below this so go check them out and I cannot wait for the sale on Friday!! 

Until next time,

xoxo

Kait

Blue Stripe Shirt

Black Flowy Top

"Trott" Bootie

Kendra Scott "Dylan" Necklace

Green Textured Cardigan

Sweater Dress

Vanilla Coconut Body Wash Duo

Fit for School|| healthy snacks + drinks

Hi guys this begins my 3 week installment of my back to school fitness. Now I am not one that is excited to go back to school whatsoever. However, I do plan on getting fit before we do go back to school! Recently I have really been into eating healthy and working out and I want to share this little mini-fitness journey with my lovelies! I posted awhile ago my workout routine and some ideas for some workouts and I think I will update that post for next Wednesday. DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A FITNESS EXPERT. I USE PINTEREST FOR EVERYTHING. 

But anyways yes so this post will mainly be focusing on a few of my favorite snacks that I have been munching on lately. The first one is Nut Thins. Oh my gosh they are so good. They are the nut and rice crackers that are so good to eat and so good for you there is even 3 grams of protein in each serving which by the way is 16 crackers for only 130 calories! I buy mine at Kroger in the organic/ health food aisle. 

Another snack that I really really love is Quest Bars. NOM NOM. Literally the best protein bar ever. Not to mention it literally has 20 grams of protein in each bar. The bars come in amazing flavors like Cookies and Creme and Lemon Pie. Seriously so amazing. I eat one right before a workout or whenever I am hungry just because they are sooo good.

My final little snip of this post will be talking about my fruit infused water obsession that I have had lately. I have been drinking water with various fruits in it lately because it A. tastes really good and B. it is so good for you! Drinking water with fruit in it has some major benefits such as:

• Boosts your metabolism.
• Fills you up so you don’t eat as much junk.
• Naturally helps your body release fat cells.
• Keeps food moving through your system.
• Flushes toxins from your system.
• Improves your mood.
• Reduces muscle fatigue while working out.
• Helps you recuperate faster from a workout.
• Keeps your organs healthy while you’re sweating.
• Keeps you from feeling groggy in the afternoon.

I mean those are some pretty good reasons, here are a few recipes that you can try for the best tasting and most effective waters! 

I hope that you all enjoyed this post and if you try anything that I talked about let me know how you liked it!! Talk to you guys on Saturday!! 

Xoxo-

Kait

Chicago|| FBLA + much more

Hi guys so after a week away from the blog/ instagram I have returned! So where was I? Obviously Chicago...but why was I there?? FBLA- Future Business Leaders of America. At my high school some students started a chapter of FBLA and I decided to join and I am so happy that I did. Ever since like 8th grade I have always had an interest in business more specifically communication and public relation/ marketing and that is what I do plan on studying in the future. Anyway so FBLA is a club that you can join at your school and if your school doesn't have a chapter you can create one! I have learned so much in the past 6 months because of it and it really has shown me that there is real world experience given to you through the club. So what you do is you choose a topic to present to judges on, me and my partner chose the Business Presentation category. For that topic we had to come up with a 7 minute presentation about identity theft and how to better protect yourself. So then with your presentation you take that to your state conference where me and my partner got 1st which then qualified us to move on to nationals in Chicago this year! We were very excited and we both were extremely grateful to be given the opportunity! There were close to 11,000 kids from around the country all there for the same reason and so it really gave you the opportunity to meet and network with lots of new people! The fun part is that you also have to dress in professional attire for the entire duration of your conference which isn't others favorite part but it is certainly one of my favorite parts of FBLA. Along with attending workshops and our competitive event we got to shop, dine and sightsee in Chicago!! Each day we would attend our meetings, workshops and what not until around 4:00 and then we would go out and explore! We went to lots of yummy places to eat, one of my favorite would have been Local Root- almost everything there was from around here and organic but still incredibly yummy! Of course we also ate Chicago style pizza and the other staples. We ate a lot but no need to fear we also walked the majority of everywhere we went. Chicago really keeps you in shape from all the walking you are doing because taxi's are a pain to wave down and a real steal from your wallet. We also shopped a lot during the trip...of course.  Our hotel was located right on the main street for shopping: The Magnificent Mile and boy it was magnificent. Everything from Jcrew to Ghiraldelli and soooo many more. They also had a Patagonia store which I happened to buy a little something from. I think I am going to try and either make a post about everything I got in the city or a video. But anyway yes. Chicago was amazing and I am so in love with that city and as of right now I would love to live there after I graduate school