Time for a vacation!!

A much needed vacation, might I add!!

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am going to the fabulous Palm Beach for my final high school Spring Break. My family's goal was to find a warm and sunny place to retreat to since we haven't had a very nice-weathered winter so far. 

I am leaving for PB tomorrow, so I decided to take a ton of pictures of my packing process to share with y'all!! I also am including some packing tips!! Enjoy!!

What a mess...

First off...I love instagram. Legitimately I cannot get enough of it. My mom has an iPhone (lucky her) and I steal it all the time so I can pretend that I take artsy pictures, but all I really do is take pictures of EVERYTHING on instagram!! So, I downloaded it for my iPad and I'm having sooo much fun!! I hope y'all don't get too sick of literally every single picture being "instagramed!"

Secondly, the picture shown above is my original packing list. I really strayed from my original plan, but I thought y'all would like to see how I plan everything when packing!! I list the types of clothes that I want to bring, such as dresses, tops, swimsuits, etc. and then I write down everything that I want to pack under the heading. There are various other lists with accessories, beach goodies, and hair/makeup. I always over pack so writing down what I want to bring helps rationalize everything!!

It was an extremely hard task to choose these dresses to bring to PB, but I love them and I'm very happy with my choices!! I love the Dark 'n Stormy shift dress from last year, and I'm so excited to wear the pink and green jubilee dress  that my mother found in Kiawah! The turquoise Ricci dress from this year's Lilly Resort line is so pretty, and the print is so cool. Lastly, I'm bringing the adorable shell-printed Original Worth Shift from Lilly!

I'm bringing 2 of my favorite Jarvey skorts from Lilly Pulitzer and a white oxford for when I'm sick of wearing shift dresses!! The skorts are perfect because even though they're short, they aren't revealing due to the "short" aspect of them! I can also wear them with a white or pink cardigan and a white camp if I don't want to wear the oxford! The shorts are very small and flat, great for packing!

I looove my white jeans from J. Crew and I haven't worn them in forever (well, since Labor Day), so I've decided to bring them along too. I'm pairing the jeans with either the new Thandie tunic from Lilly or an adorable tunic in the Scorpion Bowl print that one of my closest friends got my for my birthday!! 

...just an extra outfit...y'all I'm serious, I over pack to the extreme. BUT, the sweater will come into good use if there's a cold night!! 

Before...

...and after!!

I am so excited to tan so I'm bringing a trillion and a half swim suits. I like the Lilly Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines bandeau tops and the string bikinis. I just saw the adorable Marley Lilly monogrammed bikini top so I didn't have time to order it before this spring break!! But, I love all of my bikinis, as well as my favorite super cute one piece from Lilly (for the inevitable day that I get burnt). I'm packing them in a large shoe bag so that they won't get thrown around in my suitcase. 

Here are my swim suit coverups!! I love the tunic from a couple of years ago, the print is too cute! I also found a vintage Lilly from a thrift store in CT and it's much too short to be a regular dress, so I'm wearing it as a coverup!! 

I love shoe bags!

I made sure to pack neutral sandals so that I wouldn't have to bring a different pair for every outfit. I'm taking a metallic pair of Jack Rogers (half the time they look silver and the other half of the time they look gold) that will go with everything, as well as my new light pink Jack Rogers and silver Lilly wedges. I have Lilly shoe bags to protect the shoes in my suitcase. 

I can't go a couple days without working out, so I'm bringing a few T-shirts and norts with me for the gym at the hotel. And did I mention one of the nike shorts are pink and green? I'm love them so much. It's important to bring workout clothes because, well, it's spring break, meaning I'm going to be eating yummy food...and I'm going to be spending most of the time in a bikini. Exercising is inspiration!!

If y'all couldn't guess, I'm bringing a couple pair of Lilly Pulitzer pajamas for my sleepwear. I wish Lilly still made them!! They're super comfy and the prints are adorable. Plus, they pack really easily; they're very flat and it really doesn't matter if they're wrinkled or not!

I'm (of course) bringing a Lilly tote bag with me for the airplane/beach/pool...it's almost comical how much Lilly I have (and terrifying for people who aren't used to bright colors). In the beach bag will be various croakies, koozies, my iPad, my iPod, my (awful) cell-phone, and my Ray Ban aviators. I'm also bringing my favorite Bermuda bag along with plenty reversible covers! Bermuda bags are great because they're small enough to pack without taking up hardly any room, and because they have covers, many of them being reversible, they can last you forever! There's a cover for every outfit!

The hats I'm bringing are my new Ole Miss baseball cap and a huge J. Crew sunhat. I left my Marley Lilly sunhat in Jackson Hole (ahh!!) which is the reason why I'm bringing the (unmonogrammed) other sunhat. Still super cute and super useful!! I get burnt really easily (but I can still get dark) and hats save my life - and my skin - when the sun is too strong. Who knows how I'll hold up in Florida?!?

The other part of preparing for Spring Break for me is making my iPod playlist and reading list!! 

I'm on a country-kick right now, so most of the songs on my Spring Break playlist are country! They're fun and happy and perfect for this vacation. 

I bought a few books to occupy my time whilst sunbathing on the beach (can y'all tell that I'm excited??). I love the Barnes and Noble Nook app on my iPad, it's such a lifesaver!! Buying books on the website is easy, and the books automatically download to my iPad so I can read them at any time! 

(Almost) everything!

Phew!! That took a while!! I hope y'all all enjoyed this mega-post on my Spring Break outfits!! 

Have a great day!!

xoxo, Hannah

Long Weekend in Memphis

Hi y'all!! I'm heading back down to my hometown this three-day-weekend to visit my father's side of the family!! I haven't been to Memphis in 3 years and it's about time that I visit my grandmother, as well as my aunts/uncles and cousins. My dad's side of the family is huge and it's going to be a lot of fun seeing them all!!

For today (Saturday), I'm going to be wearing something cute yet comfortable to wear on the airplane down to Memphis. Of course I had to include something pink!! The entire outfit, from the jewelry and clothes to the shoes, is from J. Crew. 

On Sunday, I expect that we're going to go to church, so I'm bringing one of my favorite Lilly Pulitzer fall dresses!! It's one of the most flattering styles and I love this dress!! 

For the rest of the day, and so that I don't get too uncomfortable in the dress,  I'm bringing a pink sweater and black flats to pair with either jeans or grey leggings (shown in the picture above). Everything, again, is from J. Crew.

Lastly, for Monday and the plane ride back to Connecticut, I'm wearing a Vineyard Vines striped OCBD and pullover with jeans and flats! 

I loooove the luggage that I'm using for this trip to Memphis. I usually use my favorite Lilly Pulitzer pink and orange super huge tote bag, but I got a C. Wonder rolling suitcase for Christmas and I finally have a chance to use it!! It's really bright pink, which I love, because my mother and I were both trying to hunt down a pink suitcase for when we were going on college visits. 

I'm also bringing a small tote bag as my other carry on for my homework, my laptop, and for other small random things. It's pink madras!! With my monogram in pink!!

What are y'all doing this President's Day Weekend? Let me know!!

Have a great day!!

xoxo, Hannah

Packing for Jackson Hole

Tomorrow I leave for my official winter vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. My family and I always go there for summer and winter breaks. I can't wait to go because I need to rest from this crazy first half of senior year!!

I wrote down everything I needed in my favorite Lilly Pulitzer notepad so that I could stay organized. 

I already have some winter clothes in Jackson Hole that I left from years past, so thankfully I don't have to take as much!! It's going to be freezing this time of year, so I made sure to bring great items for layering and staying warm. 

I picked out my outfit to wear on the plane, as well. Since we're going to be picked up at 4:30 in the morning tomorrow (UGH), I made sure to have everything ready so I'm not frazzled in the morning. 

I packed my makeup and toiletries in my Kate Spade bag, and my jewelry in my monogrammed seersucker case. 

Of course I had to pack some headbands for the occasion...

And here is my carry on!! It's a J. McLaughlin felt tote bag from a couple of years ago that is perfect for travelling. It has a magnetic snap at the top and it's big enough to carry everything I need, but it's not huge and bulky. I don't even have that much that I'm bringing on the plane anyway; just my Apple products (iPad, iPod, laptop (I'm a nerd)), sunglasses, lipgloss, my devil of a Blackberry and my planner. It's also important not to forget chargers!! I'd be lost without them!!

What are y'alls essentials for packing for vacation? Where are y'all going? Let me know!!

Have a great Sunday!!

xoxo, Hannah

What to pack for college visits

Hello! Every high school senior knows that senior fall is a crazy time packed with college visits!! I have visited 5 colleges and I'm on to Wake Forest tomorrow, so I've gotten the packing down! 

The main thing is that you pack light. Things are already stressful enough, and worrying about luggage makes things much harder. I use my huge Lilly Pulitzer tote bag as a carry on so that I don't have to deal with the obnoxious luggage lines and security. It's worked perfectly so far and I can fit everything in it.

Make sure to have every outfit planned for the amount of time that you're visiting colleges. I plan what I'm wearing on the airplane rides and what I'm wearing on the tour(s). My favorite thing when packing is choosing my outfits. You want to look nice but not overdressed when going on a college tour. Do not just wear jeans and a t-shirt (or jeans at all!). My outfits have ranged from Lilly shift dresses to printed pants and a polo, and I felt perfectly at place with all of them.

Sorry for the awful lighting! My blackberry is awful and there is hardly any light in my room because it's still a work-in-progress!

I use clothing storage bags to keep everything organized. They're life savers!

The hardest thing about packing carry-ons is keeping the liquid amount until 3 oz. I keep little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and facewash for traveling and they're great!!

I usually have homework due when I get back from visits, so I always bring another carry on (usually a Vineyard Vines tote bag) to hold my laptop, schoolwork, as well as my iPod, camera, and a notepad. A notepad is great for taking notes during the information session (mine are crazy detailed and obsessive!) and any other notes about the college town, tour, etc. 

I hope this helps for all of the crazy stressful high school senior girls out there! Are there any other tips I should have included? Let me know!!

So tomorrow I'm leaving bright and early to go to North Carolina to see Wake Forest. I'm really excited and I hope that I like it because I have not had an enjoyable time on college visits (I can't seem to find a school I like!). I have an interview then an information session/tour, and then my family and I are going out to dinner with one of my dad's friends who lives in Winston-Salem. After that, we're going to the Wake v. UVA soccer game! The next day I'm going to find a study spot on campus because I have a ton of work to do in preparation for next week (5 tests, ACT's, college stuff, and it's spirit week). At night, there's the Wake v. VA Tech football game which I'm super excited for!! We head home on Sunday (really early) because I have an Open House at my school that I have to run! Such a big weekend!!

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo, Hannah