Jordan's Bookcase

I'm not sure if it's the 10 hours + a day I spend on the computer, or the extra 5 I spend on my phone, but my eyes have been tired recently. This was enough for me to look into blue light glasses and purchase a pair. Blue Light is the light from your computer that can strain your eyes and cause trouble falling and staying asleep. I purchased an  inexpensive pair  just to try them out, and so far I'm really enjoying them. I've forgotten to throw them in my bag a couple of times, and now always wish I had them because I've noticed a significant difference in how tired my eyes feel by two or three pm. So I want to know, have you tried blue light blocking glasses? If so which ones do you have and what do you think of them?

I can't believe I'm already a month into my senior year of college. It's always been going quickly, but I feel like this year has been such a whirlwind already. Professors are already giving out midterms... I didn't mean to take a break from blogging at all, and certainly not this long of a break, but this blog ended up on the back burner for a while, and slowly creeped out of my mind over the summer. Recently I've been feeling very motivated to get back into blogging because I feel like I'm lacking a substantial creative outlet right now. I think that social media has turned in to such a circus, and just being able to write my thoughts out in an old-school sense has a big appeal to me right now. Some things that have happened since I've last posted: + I've taken the LSAT + I've moved into a house in Kentucky + I visited Washington DC  and Wintergreen VA with my family + I started my senior year *gulp* of college + I started a new

If you're anything like me, during the school year you completely overwork yourself so that once you get home for summer break, all you want to do is relax. I definitely overworked myself this year, but this summer I don't have time to simply relax. I work about 30 hours a week at my summer job, have to begin marketing prep for my job at school am studying for the LSAT, and am moving into my new house at school in July. Not to mention find ways to spend meaningful time with my family. After a week or so of recovering from school, I always get a burst of energy and have high hopes for my summer. here are some of the ways that I try and stay motivated: + Plan everything out. I'm a huge planner and love to see everything written out. I'm a religious user of Google Calendar and sync mine with my family's so we can see what is going on each week. Make a list at the beginning of the summer of all the things you want to do and plan the big stuff out in advance. Then

Do you have those friends that seem to know when you need a pick-me-up even if they're hundreds of miles away? Those are my favorite types of people. It makes my day when someone from school shoots me a text checking in or a long-winded squeaky voice snapchat video updating me on their day. (A personal favorite form of communication for my friend group) Going to school away from home means making friends from across the country and leaving them periodically throughout the year. It also means people eventually graduate and move away. But the best kinds of people are those who don't dwell on that and still check in every now and then. When I left for college my freshman year, I was confident that I would stay close with all of my high school best friends. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I keep in touch with many of them but am only close with a couple now, three years later. At first, I was upset by this and saddened that I was losing friends from that part of my lif

I've posted a couple of times on here about how I struggle daily with anxiety. Recently some people in my life have been asking me what I do when I feel anxious and how I can combat it, so I thought I would share three things that I do that help me out. 1. Deep Breathing. This helps me out the most when I'm flying. I'm a fairly nervous flyer, for no particular reason other than I tend to dramatize every little thing (every *ding* over the speaker, every turn or dip the plane takes, etc.). Whenever we're taking off or landing, I try and breathe really slowly and deeply so that my body stays relaxed. My old Fitbit  had a guided deep breathing exercise that I would use sometimes. I try to focus as much as I can on my breathing so that I don't think about anything else. And I know this will sound weird, but on my short flights to and from Chicago (45 minutes) I will listen to the same song on repeat the whole flight. One of my go-to's for this is Cough Syrup b

Popping in to share some things I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks! + My first Dance Performance since 2016. This semester I am performing in a jazz/hip-hop number with our school's new dance company and I am so excited! We have our showcase on Friday and I can't wait to get on stage again. A lot of my friends didn't even know that I used to dance for 16 years, so it will be really fun to share this part of my life with them. + Warmer Weather. It has snowed two times in the past three days in Louisville. It's just been a light dusting each night, but I still can't believe it. I'm ready for the 70 degrees days of February to return ASAP! + St. Patrick's Day. My Mom's side of the family is obsessed with St.Patrick's Day (Mostly because of my Grandpa Jim) so I can't wait to celebrate this weekend! A friend and I are planning on going out in the afternoon to avoid that craziness that goes on that night. + Meditating.

Hi Friends! I can't believe its already Friday! This week flew by at home, but I'm excited to soon be back in the swing of things at school. 1. New Pajamas Yesterday I was picking up a new PopSocket for my phone at Target, and then got distracted in the books aisle, and then before I knew it, I had been wandering around Target for an hour and a half. I had been looking through the pajama section but didn't see anything cute, and then as I was walking through the homegoods section I saw the cutest pair of pajamas on display ! (Sidenote: Has anyone else's Target been redone to the point where everything is in the oddest places? There were mattresses and school supplies near the entrance, and a random display of toys in the middle of the store...) Anyways, I'm obsessed with these pajamas. They're so comfortable and soft, and the design reminds me of Draper James! 2. New Glasses Yesterday I had an eye appointment and finally picked out a new pair of glas

Happy International Women's Day to all my fellow ladies. We work so hard every day to live great lives, and are working even harder to improve the lives of those in the future. What an amazing time to be a woman. I mean seriously, in my short lifetime, I've never experienced so much pride in being female. There are so many amazing role models right now for little girls (and big girls) to look up to. It really makes me feel like something big is coming.  Let's all be a part of the change and stand up for what is right every day, and hold up those around us! Compliment the random girl in your philosophy class, like the girl's selfie on Instagram, write a note to your friend when you know she's feeling rough! We deserve greatness and equity, and together we can achieve it! Be sure to hug all of your favorite lady friends extra tight today. As Leslie Knope would say "Uteruses before duderuses!"

I don't know what it is, but I'm always so curious to see what people carry in their purse. I don't know if it's just because I'm nosey, or because I love handbags, but either way, I always want to know! This backpack and pair of sunglasses were two of my main Christmas presents and I'm so obsessed with both of them. The backpack is a different style of my favorite tote bag , and I already know it's going to be an all-time fave. It holds all of the things I need with plenty of room for more. The sunglasses are ones that I had been eyeing for about a year and am so excited about them. They're my first pair of nice sunglasses and I've been wearing them almost every sunny day here at school! I love that the shape is a little different, but the color is classic and not very trendy. Bag - Sunglasses - Card Holder Hand Cream - Lipstick - Hand Sanitizer - Lip Balm Lint Roller - Planner  - Pen - Kindle Post contains affiliate lin

I had originally started writing this post with the title "rough days" but then that rough day I was having last week turned in to a rough 10 days. I know that this blog is still very new and there aren't many posts on it, but I think this post will help you get a much better look at who I really am. One of the biggest things that I am dealing with in my life right now is anxiety. I think a lot of times when people think of anxiety, they think of crippling anxiety that keeps you from leaving your room, public panic attacks, and skittish people. And sure, that might be anxiety for some people, but for me, it's like a flame. Think of your furnace in the winter. The pilot light is always on, but the furnace only goes on full blast every once in a while. That's what my anxiety is like. There are times throughout the day when I catch myself doing something or acting a certain way because I'm avoiding things that trigger my anxiety. Some days my anxiety is hard

I used to do this series almost weekly when I had my old blog, and I really liked being able to share a few random things each week. 1. This week was Rush Week for my Co-Ed Fraternity, and as Vice President of Membership, you can imagine that at times it was a little stressful. This semester we weren't expecting a huge pledge class (I had to majorly adjust my expectations after I set them much too high in the Fall Semester). I managed to get through the week pretty painlessly. 2. I got a couple of new pairs of jeans in from Abercrombie (Don't judge, they have the best jeans and fit me so well!) and am so obsessed with them! They're both on sale for under $40 right now. I got this distressed pair of boyfriend jeans in a size 27short, and this pair of ankle skinny jeans in a 28short. (I'm 5'5" and the "short" always look more flattering on me) 3. I've been having a really rough time falling asleep recently. Usually, I'm out befo

I mentioned in my introduction post that I would be back to explain the title of my blog a little bit more. I also mentioned in that post some of my previous blog names. At the time, I really liked those names, and even stuck with one for a long time. The biggest issue was that I outgrew it. I'm not primarily living on the North Shore of Chicago anymore (3 years later and that still feels so weird to say) and I'm years past my overtly preppy stage. North Shore Proper just didn't make sense anymore. Cut to summer of 2017 when I finally decided that I wanted to start blogging again. I was brainstorming ideas for blog titles. For someone starting out, it felt odd to name a site solely on my name, so that was out of the question for me. Then I started thinking about my favorite things. One of the most "sacred" things in my life is my morning cup of coffee. I want this blog to be a place where someone sits down with their cup of coffee (or tea) and feels like we&

I have quite a few goals for myself in 2018, but one of the major ones is to read more. Last year I had set a goal to read 20 books, and read only about 12. I spend a lot of time looking at screens, whether it be my phone, laptop, or TV. When I was younger, I was a total bookworm. My favorite part of the day was independent reading, and I constantly used to get in trouble for reading books under my desk during class. I got a Kindle for my 14th birthday and you probably would have thought I had gotten a car for how excited I was. that kindle lasted me a few year until the screen broke, and last spring I finally purchased a new Kindle . I purchased the kindle right before I started a series of trips home last spring, as I would be able to read and watch shows while on my flights. Although the Kindle was fairly inexpensive, it has served me very well over the past year. (Tip: I've found that if you leave it in Airplane mode, the battery lasts for days!) I can do a whole review on my

It's winter formal season! Or if you go to a college with no football team like me, it's Homecoming season too! It can be a little tricky to find dresses to wear, especially when it's freezing outside. I've rounded up 10 dresses that I think would work for any event you might have this semester! FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Since I'm just starting out on this blog, I thought I would share 5 super random facts about me! You can learn more on my " about me " page, but I thought five random facts would be a fun way to introduce myself today. I'm a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan, and pride myself in being pretty knowledgable when it comes to Hockey as a sport. However, when it comes to other sports, I'd like to say I have a basic knowledge or understanding of the rules, but I may be giving myself too much credit in saying even that. The only country I've traveled to outside of the United States in Canada, but I love visiting there! I have family outside of Toronto, and have also visited Niagra Falls. It's one of my goals in the next few years to slowly explore more of the country with my family. In case you couldn't tell by my first two facts, my house is a total Winter Sport house (Can't wait for the Winter Olympics to begin next week!). We love to ski, snowm

Although this is the first post on this blog, this is not my first blog post. From 2012 to 2016 I wrote a "fashion and lifestyle" blog which went by many names, but for the most part "North Shore Proper." That blog grew with me from my freshman year of high school, all the way through my freshman year of college, and even into the first few months of my sophomore year. I'm halfway through my junior year of college, and for that last few months, I've had this itch to start blogging again. I guess I should probably explain why I stopped blogging? The answer is, I don't know. I guess I wasn't finding joy in it anymore, I didn't have enough time to dedicate to it, the fashion blogging world had blown up into a virtually impossible space to thrive, and if we're being real... I got lazy. I can be a very driven person when I want to be, but if it is something I'm not very passionate about, I have trouble finding the motivation. I lost m