Being late to class in sweatpants after rolling out of bed is a bad excuse enough. BUT being late to class in style makes it a little less intimidating! When you show up to class in your hottest outfit, you're too cool for school! But of course, you still need to go to your classes in order to graduate with a degree on time.

For college students, fall semester is just around the corner! I think I have a love-hate relationship with August, specifically because I'm excited for fall but I'm also not ready to say farewell to summer quite yet. While these past few months felt like a blur, I did get to enjoy some much needed sunshine and relaxation. So I'm slowly but surely preparing myself for fall. I don't know about you, but I'm very excited about going back to Kent State for this semester. I already know it's going to be the best one yet and I'm so ready for it!

There's usually one question that pops into a college kid's mind on the first day of classes: what to wear? Let's be honest, we want to look cute but we also want to stay comfortable. Well, I have just about the most helpful style idea!

Since it's still warm outside, it should be safe to wear a casual dress. And when autumn starts creeping in, you can pair it with some cute jackets, scarves, hats, and boots. I'm absolutely adoring my newest addition to my wardrobe: my grey ruched sheath t-shirt dress from Venidress.

I've been looking for a chic and casual summer grey dress for a while, and thankfully I managed to come across Venidress on Instagram. It was on sale for $28.88 (previously $48.86), which is an awesome deal for a pretty dress like this one. I not only love the color and comfiness of it (perfect for a lazy day!), but I love the layered bottom part. It's so sexy and fun for a neutral colored dress!

My knitted cardigan from Urban Outfitters looks extremely cute with this dress, along with my gold layered necklace from Francesca’s and All-Star Converse sneakers. I freaking love this whole outfit, perfect for a long busy day of classes. An outfit like this will surely make you the most stylish student on your campus!

Before I stop writing this post, I want to let y’all know that I’m hosting yet another GIVEAWAY just in time for going back to school! I’m giving away this black backpack from Target (pictured in all the pictures above and the one below) and three goodies: a $15 Starbucks gift card, a notebook, and an office accessory kit. No better way to start the semester off than with some fresh and FREE essentials!

The rules to enter the contest are simple: like this blog post or my latest Instagram picture, subscribe/follow me (if you already aren’t), tag up to three of your friends (on the Instagram post), and comment your favorite things about summertime. The contest will close on 8/18 and I’ll announce the winner on my Instagram story. Good luck!

And if you don't win or you choose not to enter the giveaway (which I hope you reconsider), you can click the link down below to purchase the same backpack for yourself!

Backpack: Target

SHOP THE LOOK

To clarify, this post is not sponsored by Target and please don’t make fashion as an excuse to be purposefully late to class. Education does come first. Thank you!

Well, I just finished all my final exams and I am officially done with my first semester at Kent State University ... It flew by so fast!

It really was a wonderful semester. It's amazing to see how far I've come since the beginning, especially coming in as a transfer student. At the start of the semester, I felt very overwhelmed with anxiety of the unknown. It was a little rough at times since I was living in my parents' and commuting fifteen minutes away from campus. While of course I love my family, my dogs and it was helpful to save money, I still felt a lack of independency and I barely had anyone at Kent to hang out with or talk to. I really missed my Malone friends and hanging out with them every day. They were and still are the most amazing group of friends I've ever had. I also wasn't in any fashion classes for the first semester, despite the fact that fashion was the reason I transferred to Kent. Even though I felt brave for making the bold decision to switch universities, I was nervous as hell.

However, everything turned out better than I had expected. I joined CHAARG, a health & fitness chapter for college girls, and made so many friends from that. All the girls are incredibly kind, confident, and some of the coolest girls I know. From retreat camp to hiking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I've made endless memories with these amazing women! And even though I haven't started any fashion classes officially, I became a member of FSO (Fashion Student Organization) and got to go to two super fun costume parties. I passed every class I took this semester and finished with a great GPA score, and I'm super proud of that! Also me, one of my CHAARG friends and her roommate joined Delight Ministries at the University of Akron, a Christ-centered community for college women that meets every Friday. We made beautiful and kind friends through that and even got to volunteer all together for a human trafficking gala in Downtown Akron. It was such an amazing opportunity! And this we're still on the topic of exciting news, I've managed to grow my blog/Instagram feed and it's starting to get more attention! I've worked with a few brands such as styleNmotion, Fate Crew, Brush Me, and I have a few more future collaborations coming up!

Speaking of collaborating, I want to take a moment to talk about a few of my recent collaborations with Unsalted Boutique and MONAT.

I just got this unisex 3/4 sleeve tee from Unsalted Boutique (which you can check out and shop right here), a boutique business located in Sandusky, Ohio. What I love about it is that it's the home state with a collage of Kent's campus and community, from black squirrels to Potterfest. It's a dream come true because I've always wanted a collage of my college like this! My parents and sister all share a red portrait of Miami University in the house, which has a collage of all the things their college is best known for. I was jealous when I saw they had one representing such an awesome university, but now I have one of my own representing MY awesome university!

MONAT offers nature based hair products that help give hair super vibrant and healthy texture. All of their products are vegan, gluten free, and cruelty free. One of their Market Partners sent me a few samples to try out and blog about. I gotta say, MONAT has to be one of my top favorite hair care brands now! The products are perfect for long, thick hair like mine. I received two shampoos to try out at the same time since I have a lot of hair (the first one is called "Renew" and the second is called "Revive"). I also tried out a hair masque and finished off with a texturizing conditioner. Since trying MONAT out, my hair has felt super healthy and radiant. I'm definitely going to keep using their products! If you're interested in trying MONAT out yourself, I suggest you contact with a Market Partner who gets customers hooked up with some good products. For instance, you can contact Julia Schilling, who sent me the samples, at juliaschilling.mymonat.com or via Instagram message (@monatwithjulia).

Anyway, I'm very happy with the outcome of this semester. Despite the lack of independence I felt coming in, I believe I gained more independency coming out of it. God has truly blessed me much more than I deserve. I can't wait to see what next spring semester has in store. Go Flashes! ⚡️💙