Travel Diaries: Florida Days 1 + 2

I've been fortunate enough to have an on-going tradition of traveling at least once a year with my family. Literally. My first road-trip was when I was six months old and ever since they've been letting us escape reality every once in a while. We came to florida for the week and it was perfect for the retreat we needed.

Day One

After being kept up in a dreary office for the past couple of months, the sunshine state was exactly what we needed to get the glow back in us! And of course I had a little help from my Urban Decay Highlighter. 

Sunglasses: Rayban | Top: J Crew | Purse: Kate Spade | Pants: Zara
Shoes: Kate Spade | Watch: Daniel Wellington | Phone Case: DIY with a Marley Lilly Sticker  

We head off the the Town Centre at Boca Raton in the search of the store I've been dreaming of for far too long. After finding out Lilly Pulitzer not only didn't exist in Canada, but also didn't ship to Canada, I knew I had to come find one on this trip. 

After stopping at Dunkin Donuts, Lilly Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines, I had a happy heart and an empty wallet that I was more than proud of. The smile only got bigger when we head down to Bubba Shrimps in Fort Lauderdale with some Family to end the night. 

The Hat was picked up at Vineyard Vines and I swapped my sandals for Birkinstocks. 

Day Two

Oh, Monday. What a love hate relationship we have. The beginning of a new week and new opportunities, but no one wants to go in to work after a great weekend. Which is why this monday at the beach was everyone a girl could hope for. 

We woke up bright and early to take advantage of the day and head out for a morning session at the beach. 

I wore this relaxed monogrammed Tee from Marley Lilly and black high waisted shorts from American Apparel. 

By 10am it was 30 degrees and warm enough for the sea to feel a lot more like a heated pool than the gorgeous ocean. 

We head back for lunch and found a pizzeria by the pier that was everything I was needing to save me from a mild sun stroke. 

After that we went to the beach one more time and spent the night in watching movies. I'm loving this trip so far and I can't wait for what's to come. I'll be filming a haul featuring my shopping trip for you guys while I'm here as well! 

See y'all soon,

Diana

xx

My Work Bag Essentials

Hey guys!

So, if you haven't all clued in, I work quite a bit. For my internship this summer I'm working full time, but fairly long hours. For those of you on the same boat for the summer, or working full-time, I wanted to talk about my survival kit! 

So here's a peak inside my Kate Spade leather tote, that allows me to carry just about everything!
first of all, the bottle on the left is my tanning lotion for the days I go tanning after work (my eyewear is also thrown in there somewhere). Then I've got my wallet and my sunglasses. You can't seen the pocket too much, but I've got a few pens in there as well as a hand sanitizer and lotion!

But the four books in there are the most crucial to my daily routine!
1. The gold and white striped personal planner is what I use to keep track of everything and have it in one central place. It allows me to keep up my to-do lists and things wherever I am.
2. The Vacationers; the novel I'm currently reading is what I like to keep with me if I get a little time during lunch to take my mind of work and the real world a little bit!
3. The gold foiled Notebook, similar concept to the planner but a little less organized. I can use it to jot down anything from outfit ideas to budgeting rough drafts. I find it helpful to have an open space to put ideas on paper whenever my mind's wondering off from work.
4. A simple moleskin paperback notebook. I constantly need to jot things down on the spot while I'm at work, so I like to use this almost as organized scrap paper.

let me know what you need in your bag!
see yah soon,
Diana xx

Planner Preferences

For those of you who don't know, I'm a planner ADDICT. As a matter of fact, I'm addicted to pretty much anything stationary related; if we're being honest. Planner's seem to give my scattered brain some sanity. So, after using my Kate Spade Planner for the past year, I'll tell you why I'm off the moon about trying the MAMBI Happy Planner. None the less, Both of them will cover the next six months. So, I'll also be trying to balance the (in)practicality of having two planners. 

Here's a little run down of the two of them, 

They're both 18 months and start with a preview of the two years. That's about where the similarities end. 

The Kate Spade Planner ran from 2015-2016 and it's a horizontal planner which has a month overview and then a weekly view. Between months, there are simply polka-dot pages as dividers that give a lot of room for personalizing and decorating.

Being a full-time student in university who also is on a school team, and works, and has a social life, I found bullet points to be the only functional way to pencil things in. I like to add in the time and location and found this to fit quite awkwardly.

That is what started my hunt for a vertical planner. 

and then I found the "Me and My Big Ideas" Happy Planner!

This one runs from 2016-2017 but has custom rings that allow for inserts additional pages to be popped in. Literally. 

Aside from being extremely customizable, the planners themselves come in plenty of variations to really match your style. They're also newly available to Michael's Canada! and that means couponnnss. The Planner hasn't started just yet, but I'm dying to try it out!  

Can't wait to review which one works best for me,
see yah soon xx

CALL TO ACTION: Want List Prioritization

Hey guys, this may seem like a bit of a strange concept but for as long as I can remember, I've been making want lists. Yes, my shopping addiction started young. But, in all seriousness, this helps me make decisions that are well thought out when I have a little extra money in the bank.

Basically, this can be done on paper, or on your phone using the notes app or any organizational app. If I'm going to do it digitally I love using Wunderlist for it, since it updates on all of my devices and keeps everything organized in lists and folders!

The Basis of this is to keep an updated list of things you want to purchase. If you're anything like me, you're probably thinking "... so like, everything?" well, my rule of thumb is if I would want it in my shopping cart, I want it enough to potentially purchase it. This is also good for stopping impulse buys, since you may very well look back and think, I don't actually care for that.

So, every time that wallet itch comes around and I'm able to make a good purchase, I then start looking at my list a little more critically. I start by eliminating the things I don't want as much and then prioritizing as well as weighing in all factors; such as money, upkeep, usage, etc. Eventually I'll come down to a decision. If it's down to a few and there really is no better option, I usually just go with my gut on which I choose.
(Lets be real, sometimes I just get both) 

The key is everything in moderation really! I hope this helps some indecisive shopaholics like me.
I'll see yah soon,
Sandianaa

Maine Talks: The Hair Tie

So I spent a large majority of today relaxing and being relatively unproductive. But, I did manage to clean up my room and in that mess I found my various attempts at keeping my hair out of my face. There are plenty of fads and trends, but here's my take on types of hair ties and their best uses.

1. The Classic

There's no doubt that these get the job done, but the praise just about ends there. They're very tight and end up leaving rings, and depending on the amount of use they can cause major damage and split ends! Say goodbye to growing your hair out if you're using these all the time.

2. The Elastic

As a child with curly hair, these were my worst enemy and always resulted in a pair of scissors having to come to my rescue. Over the years, we become occasional friends but real only once braids stepped into my life. Now that braids are such a huge trend, these little guys are great to keep them in all day.

3. The Knot

These have come into use much more now that traditional hair ties are being discovered for their damaging truth. The idea of this is a flat stretchy fabric that doesn't pull on such a concentrated spot, saving you from the breakage. However, based on personal experience, I wouldn't recommend them for many fast paced activities. Especially with straightened hair, I've found these to slip quite a bit. Especially when they've been used and stretched out a bit.

4. The Scrunchie

Who didn't love scrunchies? They were big, bold and unapologetic. Unless you're going to a themed social, these have gone pretty out of style. But stores like American Apparel still keeps them nicely stocked. Especially a silk one like this, will not damage your hair one bit and is much more comfortable since its grip is so spread out. Think of them as the knot's comforting but not so cool mom. These are perfect for hanging out at home and I'd recommend them for as often as you're willing to wear them!

5. The Keychain

I'm calling them that, because that's all I can think of when I look at the $10 box of the little spiral circles. I wore them to cheer practice and it was worth all of the hype! They didn't pull at my head at all, they stayed in all practice and they did not even leave a bit of a ring in my hair. For any gym goers or for someone who doesn't have the time to be fussing with their hair these are perfect!

I hope this helps anyone who's in constant seek of hair improvement like I am!
see y'all soon! xx

Hello!

My name is Diana and I'm a 20 year old student with buckets of creativity and way too much energy. I have an immense drive for the new and exciting, new experiences are the highlight of my day no matter the size of them.

Time and time again, I've tried to channel my creative energies through many different outlets and my most successful, in terms of how satisfied I was with my content was my first blog. Unfortunately, it was a shared blog so it did not work out very well.

So, today I give birth to this new baby blog Sandiana (me) Blogs. Ideally, this will be a daily diary featuring moments in my life, outfits of the week's and tips and tricks for beauty, fashion, fitness and lifestyle. Basically, welcome to me life is all I can say.

Today, I'm plagued with the guilt of my shopping addiction, although I don't regret my most recent beauty purchases for a second.

First, getting the Urban Decay Naked Smokey Palette 

and then, beautiful lippies from MAC

(Lipstick: Stone, Lip Liner: Chestnut)

So, you could say I've been in the mood to slay!
anyways, that's been enough for my introduction.
See you all soon xx