Feel Good Friday

Happy Friday all! Today is lake day at my school, so I will be spending my day canoeing with a bunch of middle schoolers! Not totally my jam, but it should be a fun day! The weather isn't super ideal, but it definitely could be worse..just hoping I don't end up in the lake. I'll let you know- ha!

what we've been up to...

Last Friday was Homecoming in my sweet little hometown! It is always so nice to go home & get to spend some extra time with my family. Plus, watching my youngest sister cheer is pretty great too! I know I'm a little biased, but I truly don't think there's anything better than small town Friday night lights!

On Saturday, my family spent part of the afternoon at the local pumpkin patch that my youngest sister works at (this is her second season working there & she LOVES it)! If you are in the area, you should definitely check out P&M Pumkin Ranch! We ate all kinds of yummy foods including corndog nuggets & a caramel apple treat. We spent the rest of the afternoon / evening napping & watching football games (go K-STATE!!!) & eating kettlecorn.

above picture details linked here:Alli's outfit:grey plaid pumpkin tee / cream v-neck sweater / leggings / sunglasses//Bethany's outfit:"meet me at the pumpkin patch" tee / striped long sleeve / glasses / leggings// Sara's outfit:adidas tennis shoes / striped side vent long sleeve / sunglasses

This is how I like to spend my Sunday afternoons. :)

On Monday this week, the middle school from my hometown came to the school I'm working at for a volleyball game. & to my surprise, my sweet cousin stepped in as the assistant coach for them (she teaches middle school language arts). For once, I was actually a little bit thankful for covid & quarantine rules because it was such a sweet surprise to get to see her! It was so much fun to get to see people from my hometown playing against some of my new favorite girls. I cheered a lot for the wildcats (luckily for me, both schools have the Wildcats for a mascot). ;)

I enrolled in my last semester of grad school this week!!! I've never been more excited to pay tuition in my whole life LOL. If I'm being completely honest with myself though, these probably aren't the last grad classes I'll take... strongly considering taking a few more classes to get a masters in Clinical Mental Health as well (right now my masters is in just School Counseling). If I take the classes for CMH, then I will be eligible to be licensed as a Professional Counselor & would be able to do therapy which has always been a goal / dream of mine. At this point I don't plan on ever not being a school counselor, but it's nice to have options & open myself up to possibilities outside of school!

My least favorite at-home chore is grocery shopping & cooking. I just can't stand it!! One evening this week, a local church was giving out free dinners for the community & I was BEYOND thankful for the delicious home cooked meal & an evening to unwind for a bit.

On Wednesday I got my hair done! I haven't dyed my hair since April of 2019 so it was a pretty big decision for me to make. I have a little bit of almost natural balayage from being out in the sun during summer months & just how my hair grows out.

I decided to go a little bit darker since it's fall & I wanted an all over change & I LOVE it! It has some really subtle highlights that blend in so well & look so natural which is exactly what I wanted. So perfect for fall! I'll post two pictures below because it shows the beautiful colors in both indoor & outdoor lighting! (Also, this black sweater is $11 from Walmart & it is SO soft & amazing!!)

In case you missed it, this week I shared my monthly book review. I'll be completely honest, I only have one book to review this month because I've been busy studying my little booty off for my counseling exam so my study guides have been all I've had time to read lately! Linking to that post here.

friday favs...

One of my favorite things that I do for self-care is painting my nails. I have a shellac machine & absolutely feel more "myself" when I have my nails done. This week I tried out a new style where every nail is a different color. I think I like it, but I'm reminded of when I was in middle school & this was a trend lol. I'll link to my @ home shellac post here!

above picture details linked here:thumb & pinky nail-dark nude (shade is called "skirting around") / index finger-light nude (shade is called "timeless") / middle finger-medium nude (shade is called "macchiato") / ring finger-bronze shimmer (shade is called "mink coat")

Something that I use everyday that I haven't shared about for awhile is my mascara primer. I hadn't heard of mascara primer until about a year ago. I decided to buy this drugstore brand & boy was I surprised at the difference it made! My natural eyelashes are pretty long, but they feel so much stronger & they hardly ever fall out or bend in wonky ways. I also feel like my mascara stays on longer when I use primer. FYI – when you put it on, it does make your eyelashes white which looks kind of weird. I've tried putting on the primer & then waiting 2-3 minutes to let it dry before applying my mascara, but I've found that I like it better when I apply mascara right away so I just do one eye at a time. I will share my go-to mascara here that is also drugstore! Love these affordable options that are great quality!!

Here is a link to my foundations & concealers post I shared recently where I talk more about my face makeup!

I recently got a bunch of school t-shirts made by an awesome girl I met through Instagram (sometimes social media is super awesome, for networking & connecting with y'all especially)! This is one of them. I LOVE the straight block letters with the cursive letters overlaying them. Super cute & easy to throw on with a pair of jeans or leggings. I'll be sharing more soon!! She has all kinds of options in her website, but she also does specific orders (so for an example, she could do this t-shirt for you in your school's name if you want). AND she was kind enough to give me a little code for y'all to get 15% off!!! The code is SIMPLYSMALLTOWN. Enjoy!

I took a quick bathroom selfie on Thursday to show this darling corded crew that I had Blaire make for me as well! LOVE it so much!!! (Linking to my cute mask here).

walmart...

Lol okay so I apparently need to clean my mirror. I apologize for that because it’s probably going to show up in almost all of my photos. My bad! I’m currently clearly just surviving instead of thriving!

This sweater is plain black (not like grey speckled like my dang dirty mirror shows). It is SO soft & honestly the most perfect basic black sweater! The bottom & sleeves as well as a small strip on the neckline are *lined??? what is this word i'm looking for???* It's not too thick which is what I really like about this sweater because right now while it's like 80s I can wear it & not be too hot, but it'll also work wonderfully when layering when it's colder. Also, it has a tiny little slit on the side just like I like & fits true to size! It comes in two other colors as well that are so pretty. Snag this one because it's less than $12!!!

above picture details linked here:black sweater / leopard mules / hair crimper / light wash jeans / tan leather apple watch band / trestique lip glaze (color is called “english rose”) / blue fingernail polish (shade is called "prim & proper") / favorite comfy padded bra / white marble loopy phone case (get 10% off using code smalltown10!)

I don't feel like I own any zip up jackets, so I went on the hunt for one. I wanted it to be grey, have a collar & not a hood, & be very warm. I found this sherpa-lined one from Walmart & holy cow does it check all of my boxes! Super cute & SO stinking warm! I would say it fits a bit oversized as I'm wearing a small here & definitely had to roll the sleeves. However, I love the extra bit of length & room to comfortably zip up with layers underneath!

above picture details linked here:black + white striped tank top dupe / grey sherpa-lined jacket / sports bra / black seamless leggings / trestique lip glaze (color is called “english rose”) / blue fingernail polish (shade is called "prim & proper") / red toenail polish (shade is called “red carpet reddy”) / white marble loopy phone case (get 10% off using code smalltown10!)

target...

I'm a BIG sweater girl so whenever I find ones that I really like, I don't let them go. This sweater is actually stepping out of my comfort zone just a tad because it's a v-neck. I've never been a big v-neck person (it's not that I don't like them, I just don't like them on me), just a personal preference. This might honestly be the only v-neck piece that I own -- that's how much I love it!! It is so stinking soft & fits mostly true to size (although it might be a little bit wide, but that's just how I like my sweaters to fit). The end of the sleeves comes together just barely so they don't fall down. It has a seam that runs down the center of the shirt & is just a really cool addition to the piece as a whole. & of course, it has the cute little side slits that I love & are so popular lately! I absolutely love this white / cream color, but it does come in a deep red wine color & a choral color as well & is only $30.

above picture details linked here:cream v-neck sweater / dark wash jeans / leopard mules / hair crimper / tan leather apple watch band / trestique lip glaze (color is called “english rose”) / blue fingernail polish (shade is called "prim & proper") / favorite comfy padded bra / white marble loopy phone case (get 10% off using code smalltown10!)

Okay the next two sweaters are the same thing, just in two different colors! The fact that I own the same sweater in two different colors should tell you just how good it is! This is one of the coziest sweaters in my closet. Love the side slit detailing because it's trendy, but has it's own flair with the overlapping lay. This sweater is long enough that you can wear it with leggings & it'll cover your booty, but it also looks great with jeans. L-0-V-E love! It comes in four other colors, including cream which I'll show a picture of below, & is $30. Fits a tad oversized, but I think that's part of the style of this sweater.

above picture details linked here:rust orange mockneck sweater / light suede booties / hair crimper / light wash jeans / tan leather apple watch band / trestique lip glaze (color is called “english rose”) / blue fingernail polish (shade is called "prim & proper") / favorite comfy padded bra / white marble loopy phone case (get 10% off using code smalltown10!)

above picture details linked here:cream mockneck sweater / dark wash jeans / leopard mules / hair crimper / tan leather apple watch band / trestique lip glaze (color is called “english rose”) / blue fingernail polish (shade is called "prim & proper") / favorite comfy padded bra / white marble loopy phone case (get 10% off using code smalltown10!)

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I have a busy weekend ahead, including watching my little sister cheer, meeting my sweet friend's new baby & of course...studying some more. Ugh.

What are your plans for the weekend? Drop them below in the comments, or feel free to message us on Facebook or Instagram! We’d love to hear what you’re all up to. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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