How to Get Textbooks for Cheap

I honestly dread buying textbooks, but I have found other cheap alternatives for buying your textbooks. First, you probably heard it before so I'll say it again: DO NOT buy your textbooks for your school's bookstore. Those textbooks are wayy overprice, for no good reason, at all, but to take poor freshmen's money.

1. Use Textbooks Comparison Sites

Bigwords.com, SlugBooks, and TextSurf are only a few of the many comparison sites out there. When using these sites, just kind of map out what other sites offers your book for the lowest price.

Tip: If you can avoid buying New books, please do. Used books are often in great condition and cost so much less than New books.

Renting a book, is totally a cheaper route than buying your books. Also, a good idea to use a comparison site to see where to rent from.

2. Used Textbooks Page for Your School

Often times, your specific school might have a Facebook Page where other student's sell their textbooks, and often for much less. Even if the cost, isn't much less, sometimes you might get lucky to get a textbook where the former students wrote notes in that book that could totally help you out. And if not Facebook, sometimes I do see other student's selling their textbooks via YikYak.

3.  Borrow From Your Upperclassmen Friends

Are you in a sorority, fraternity, or just have some upperclassmen friends? Well, you should definitely ask if they have the textbook you are looking for and if they have any advice for that particular class. I am pretty sure your friends, sisters, or brothers will let you borrow their textbooks free of charge.

4. Your School's Library

Little know fact, many of the textbooks and little novels that you need for class can be found at your school's library.  You may re-check them out throughout the semester, just don't forget the due date and overdue charges.

5. Online PDFs

I have been oh-so-lucky to get a few of my required books for class on a PDF online. Definitely do a google search with the title of your book along with the word PDF to see if anything comes up. Many of the small novels I needed for English class came up in a PDF online.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika 

Hebrews 6:19 

Where to Shop for Your Dorm

If you were anything like me before my freshman year of college, I looked for every kind of list as to what to bring for college. If you didn't know Bed, Bath and Beyond have wonderful lists of what you should bring for your dorm pertaining directly for your college/university. So I definitely used that list to help me out.

{Before Going Shopping}

Talk to your roommate/ suitmates: Before going shopping for your dorm, especially if you are sharing a room with another person, talk with them to see what he/she is bringing, so you all won't have many duplicates in such a small space. Also, it is good to talk to your roommate beforehand to see if you all want  a color coordinate and/or theme for the dorm room.

Make a list of what you will need to purchase.

Look online before you go to your stores to see their store ads and what they might have on sale.

Look on Pinterest or online to see different pictures of how other decorated their dorms to get ideas for your dorm.

{Where to Shop}

I know everyone always think of Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Walmart for the go to places for dorm shopping, but there are many other places that are also budget friendly to shop at for your dorm. 

 1. TJ Maxx/ Marshalls/  Burlington: They have a wonderful selection for almost all of your college dorm essentials. I actually found my comforter from TJ Maxx last year.

2. Dollar Tree: Great for little storage bins. I purchases two small glass vase from here for my makeup brushes, and I put a monogram on the front of it. So really try to be creative.

3. Rose's: I'm not sure if this store is everywhere, but this is  definitely a great place to go for bathroom essentials.

4. Hobby Lobby/ Michael's/ Jo Ann's: Great place to look for storage bins for your dorm and also DIY decor projects supplies, like my DIY Flower Initial  on my blog. These craft stores always have coupons on their site, so definitely check out their website. 

Just remember to keep track of all your receipts, so if you find an item somewhere else that you liked more or even for a better price, you can take the other item back.

If you are attending an out of state college/university and need moving boxes, instead of buying them, you can ask employees of the stores for their boxes that they are not using anymore. This will be helpful when you start packing your items for school.

Comment below some of you all tips for college dorm shopping.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Dorm Room Tour | Freshman Year

This is my dorm room for my freshmen year of college. Hope you all enjoy and maybe get some inspiration for your own dorm room. I apologize that the lightening isn't the best.

The theme for my side was pink and grey and her side was turquoise and black.

My dorm 

My side

DIY Inspiration Board

Underneath my bed
I have this step stool for my lofted bed. 

My roommate bought a dresser, so I use all of this space here

Desk 

Binders, makeup brushes, Ethernet cord, hole puncher  

Sticky notes, stapler, push pins, coaster, journals

Roommate bought  me the teddy bear.!  

Underneath my desk 

Pink storage bin- school supplies and books
Trash can

Our closets: I have the first one

Inside my closet
Hang up my umbrella, keys, and wristlet

Other inside door of my closet hang my towels 

Clothes 

I have this hanging pink storage for my closet that holds clothes.
Also, I store my iron board inside of my closet.

On the top of my closet, I keep my jeans and pants. 

Hope you all got a feel of my dorm room.

Livin' & Styin'

Sheika 

Hebrews 6:19 

Back to School | Outfit Lookbook 2015

 Outfit 1

Earrings: Faux Pearls (Forever 21)

Top: Forever 21 plus

Jeans: Old Navy

Watch: Fossil Rose Gold (Aafes)

Shoes: Jack Rogers Look Alike (Hamerick's)

Outfit 2

Earrings: Charlotte Russe

Top: Old Navy

Jeans: Old Navy

 Bracelets: Charming Charlie's

Shoes: Hamerick's 

Outfit 3

Earrings: Charming Charlie's

Dress: Old Navy

Shoes: Hamerick's

Necklace: Icing 

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Back to School | Make the Most of Senior Year

As you may or may not know, I graduated high school this past May, and I'm off to college in just a couple of days. Senior year can be a fun year or stressful year depending on how you spend your time.  So I have some tips and advice to share with you all to make the most of senior year. 

1. Senioritis is real, Do not catch it 

Boy, can I tell you that senioritis is real, and unfortunately I caught it earlier.  Senioritis is basically when you are just done with high school and just don't care anymore.  Especially, once I got accepted into college, I felt like I was  completely done with anything and everything. But, you still need to be productive and try not to fall into this trap. 

2. Spend time with your close friends

Your friends and you may not be attending the same college/ university so you might as well spend as much time with them as possible. This is especially crucial because that is when you become even closer. For me I went to the same school for SEVEN WHOLE YEARS because it was a magnet middle and high school combined. So the friends I had senior year been with me from 6th grade so it is especially hard on me when we depart out separate ways in the fall. 

3. Take Pictures, Take Pictures, Take a lot of Pictures

Senior year is full of exciting events happening, and who would want to forget these memorable moments. So go ahead snap a few or even a few hundreds of pictures. These are the key moments in your life, so capture it. You definitely want to look back on this year in the future. 

4. Do your college applications early

If the college you plan on applying to have a early action and your SAT and/or ACT scores are up to par, apply to college early. Keep in mind that early decision is BINDING meaning if accepted you have to attend that university/college. But, early action just means that the college/university lets you know your acceptance status earlier than regular admissions and it is not binding. You wouldn't want to be bog down with college applications that you can't enjoy your senior year and all the events that come with it.  Also knowing your college acceptance status, helps you decide which college/ university you wan to attend earlier. 

5. Apply to Scholarship, Trust me you want to

Many seniors procrastinate or even don't apply to scholarships because there is an essay involved. And who would want to write another essay that is not mandatory for school, right? Wrong.  Apply to scholarships because this will definitely help you out in college. Trust  me, a $500 scholarship doesn't sounds much, but ever bit helps. Even when I applied to scholarships, and didn't get it, I kept on applying. There are so many scholarships out there for so many things, just google them.

6. Have fun and enjoy yourself

Even when times becomes stressful, just remember to smile.  Senior year happens once in a lifetime, so enjoy it while you can because it truly does go by fast. I could not believe when May rolled around and my name was being called to walk across the stage; when it just felt as though senior year was beginning. 

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19 

First Week of School: Top Makeup Products I Used

The first week of school for me week by pretty fast and really smooth. Here are the top makeup products I loved using for the first week of school. Hope y'all enjoy. 

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer: Help my makeup stay on all day 

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion: Help my eyeshadow stay on all day 

ELF Eyeshadow Kit(Medium): I love filling in my eyebrows with the dark gel. 

L'OREAL True Match Super-Blendable Powder: Help my face not get all oily throughout the day.

Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Express: I love this mascara and it gives great length for me

Sleek Makeup Eyeshadow Palette (Au Naturel): I love all the matte eyeshadows in this palette. Gives for a great neutral eye look. 

Stylin' & Livin',

Sheika  

Hebrews 6:19 

Relatable Sunday #2

Y'all I start school tomorrow, August 11th. I'm finally going to be a senior in high school. Woooo!!!! I'm super excited and a bit nervous as to what this school year has to offer for me. This Sunday's quote is especially tied to school, so I hope you all can relate.

Is this not the most relatable quote about school ever. It seem like now you just want to finish school and not think about anything that has to deal with it. But, I feel like once you leave you are gonna definitely miss all the great times you had there. I'm in drama class at my school and we have alot and I mean ALOT of after school rehearsals and days where we have to stay after school until 7pm. So school is like my second home, whether I like it to be or not. I really feel like school gives you a chance to become the person you are and develop yourself even more. I know about the struggles you might face at school. Trust me, you are not in that boat alone. Days where you feel like you are not gonna make it, but at the end you can look back and say hey I remember that day and hey I'm here, so I've overcome that struggle or obstacle. And I've heard that college is nothing like high school so enjoy it while you can. Because in a blink of an eye it will all be over. 

Livin' & Stylin',

Sheika 

Hebrews 6:19

Back to School Supplies Essentials

Hey y'all, here is another back to school post. I absolutely love going school supplies shopping(wow too many s's at once) because its a start to a new year with new supplies. Do y'all like school supplies shopping or is it just me? Well if not, I'll just be the weird one here. So here are a couple of my school supplies essentials for this school year!

1. Agenda:  An agenda is a must for school for me and it will literally save your life. It's just really good for staying organized for the entire school year whether it is writing down assignment or planning events; this agenda will come in handy. I simply purchased my agenda from Target. I know that there are so many places to buy an agenda that's under $10.
2. Post-It Notes: These are so great to make little reminders on and even stick them inside your agenda. I love the different colors that they come in, so they can definitely brighten up your day.
3. Binder:These are super important. They will  keep all the handouts and notes that teachers love to give you all in one place. I usually use one binder for each academic class. I got a Kate Spade vibe with these binders which can be found at Target, also. 
4. Paper Mate InkJoys: I absolutely love these pens because the come in different colors and they are just so nice to write with. These pens can also help organize and color-code your agenda.
5. Paper Mate Jumbo Twist Up Mechanical Pencils: These mechanical pencils are the ones I love the most. I really don't know why, but I feel like I write better with these pencils. This might have gone to my head, who know..But the pencils also last for a real long time and comes with replacement erasers and lead.
6. Pencil Bag: I love storing my pencils and pens in a cute pencil bag just so I'll have everything in one place. You can use a cute makeup bag that can fit pens and pencils as your pencil case. There  are some super cute make up bags that can store these at Forever21.
7. Camelbak Eddy Water Bottle: Carrying this water bottle on the side of my book bag is so easy and convenient. This will help you stay hydrated throughout the day. You can add a dishwasher safe monogram decal on the side to 'spice it up' a bit. Can also be found at Target.


Livin' & Stlyin',

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19 

Back to School Makeup

I'm going back to school on August 11th, so my summer is sadly winding down. Here are some makeup products that I use and which I thought would be helpful for you guys who are going back to school, too.

FACE:

• Maybelline BB Cream: gives a great natural coverage while covering your blemishes.
• L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder: great for setting your foundation/BB cream so that it will last the whole school day; also creates a matte look so you won't appear oily. 

EYES:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion: this will make your eye shadow last all day
• Sleek Au Naturel Eye Shadow Palette: Sleek is an UK makeup brand, but it is super affordable. The Au Naturel palette have some really good natural matte and some shimmery eye shadows. This palette will help you create a simple, but cute eye shadow look for back to school.
• Maybelline FIT Me Concealer: for the nights that you did not get enough sleep; dab some of this concealer and blend it under your eyes and you are set. This will brighten the area under your eyes. 
• Maybelline Volume Express Mascara: This mascara gives you length and volume which I like and will definitely make your eyes appear bigger and more awake.  
• NYX Eye Brow Pencil: I use this just to line my eyebrows.
• ELF Eyebrow Kit: I use the gel side to fill in my eyebrows where it is needed.
• Maybelline Great Lash Mascara: This is a clear mascara and I simply use this to set my eyebrows so that everything will stay in place for the entire school day. 

LIPS:

• EOS lip balm: I love this lip balm because it makes my lips feel sooo smooth and it smell good also. 
• NYX Butter Gloss Lipgloss: The butter glosses comes in so many different shades which can add a pop of color onto you lips. 

Livin' & Stylin',

Sheika 

Hebrews 6:19