Nurse’s Corner: Nursing Students – Tips & Tricks

It is time I give you my mediocre expertise.

Nursing school. 

I am currently a senior in my 4 year RN BSN program. It has been an insanely draining and rewarding ride, and I wouldn’t want to trade it for the world.

First, some background.

I did NOT want to be a nurse. 

I grew up wanting to be many things. A forensic scientist, a detective, a history teacher… non of these included a nurse.

And look where I am now.

I put down nursing on my application when I had to pick a major for soccer. I decided that I loved the science field and I loved people, so I would put it down. The first year of nursing school was so terrible. I cried almost every day, unsure if I had chosen the right path for me. I had professors tell me that I wasn’t cut out for the field, that I wouldn’t be a good nurse, and that my anxiety was going to get in the way. (3 years later, I ended up being one of this professor’s favorite students).

If I could give any piece of advice about your freshman year as a nursing student, it is that it WILL get better. It is so, so hard, but it truly only gets harder.

Nursing is a major you truly have to put your all into, and choose to love. Once I realized that this was my passion and that this is what I was meant to do, I began to love it. The crazy thing is, it became easier to me. Of course, test taking is my worst area and I failed many tests here and there, but with my own self-motivation and many days crying in my advisor’s office, I knew I was where I was meant to be.

FRESHMAN YEAR:

Don’t change your major until your second year. 

If you truly believe nursing isn’t for you, get through your first year and then decide. So much stress comes out in your freshman year that it is easy to cloud your vision and think you suck at everything.

You do NOT need to know what field you want to go into. 

To this day, I have gone between oncology, pediatrics, trauma, dialysis and multiple other fields of nursing trying to decide which one I fit in. I am a senior in college, with my internship in a couple months with no CLUE where I want it to be. I went into college dead set on the oncology field, terrified of my first med-surg clincial and looking forward to mother-baby. I ended up HATING mother-baby and loving all the gross things that come with med-surg. You just never know.

LET OUT YOUR EMOTIONS

Do not be afraid to cry in your dorm room. I am almost 99, if not 100% positive that all your classmates will be doing the same. College is confusing, especially freshman year. Suppressing emotions will only make things worse and you will result in taking it to drinking or other destructive mechanisms.

Have fun, but focus.

Your freshman year is the easiest, so have fun. Do NOT however, go out every single night and forget your responsibilities. You may not realize it now, but when you start to skip the homework to go out and party, you will be weeks behind in no time. Sooner or later, you’re repeating Anatomy & Physiology and a concepts lab over the summer.

Make a Study Group

It is a good idea to become friends with the people in your nursing classes. This is due to the fact that you will see these people every single day for the next few years. Studying alone is okay, but studying with a group of people and utilizing each-other’s knowledge is so helpful. It is proven that teaching someone what you know helps you learn better too. I would also recommend to actually pay attention in your classes, take notes, and go over them when you get home from class.

Communicate your Workload.

Hi friends, bye friends! Nursing school is a LOT of work. You may see yourself catching FOMO way more often than you thought you would. At the beginning of your semester, communicate to your friends and significant others that you will be focusing on school a LOT. Sometimes you can’t do much with your friends because you have so much homework. Sometimes you can’t go for that weekend trip to Toronto because you have clinical at 7 am on Monday. Sometimes you can’t drink because you have a test at 7 am the next morning. And sometimes you will do all of this anyway. It is important to focus on your studies, but remember that you really are only in college once. Get all your work done ahead of time so you CAN participate in the fun things while you still have them.

Applying to Nursing School:

Don’t sleep on community college.

I chose to go to a private college for 4 years and my bank account is NOT thanking me. If I could back, I would have taken my pre- requisites at community college and taken my core classes elsewhere. There are also community colleges with great nursing programs that you might even get waitlisted for.

Apply to more than one school.

I know we all have our dream college, mine was Texas Christian, but we need to play it safe. Odds are if you only apply to one program, you will either get denied or come to your senses and realize that it is too expensive. If you apply to one school you may be screwed over and denied and left with nowhere to go. I know a couple people who applied to once university, got in and then realized it was way too expensive and had nothing else to do.

The Actual Application Process

The application process is usually started in the fall / summer going into your senior year of high school. The applications are generally due in October and you are notified in January. The applications are due earlier due to the overwhelming amount of applicants and the limited seats. If you get waitlisted, do not get discouraged. Maybe it is a sign that this school wasn’t the one for you, or it is and you just need patience.

For someone like me, who did not want to be a nurse, it was a great decision. Yes, the workload is a lot, and yes, some of it is boring, overwhelming, and just plain scary. However, being a nurse is worth it. Travel nurse, ICU, pediatric, you name it. Any interest you have you can fulfill in this field.

If you guys like these types of posts and want to learn more about nursing related topics, let me know.

xx,

g

I attribute my success to this, I never gave or took any excuse – florence nightingale

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My First “Photoshoot” Experience

I decided to go out of my comfort zone this month and participate in a photo shoot for one of the local photographers near me. I was extremely nervous at first and honestly kept postponing it (sorry Charlie if you’re seeing this now!)

I ended up having such a great time and got some great content out of it. I decided to make a post describing my experience and give some tips and tricks for tackling your first time in front of the camera when you’re used to being behind it.

BEFORE THE SHOOT: 

I was genuinely interested in the photographer’s work and followed him for being a local photographer and for catching my eye with his work. I have an extreme interest in photography and supporting local businesses / people. I am all about #shopsmall if you didn’t know already (which you should by now).

I started out by messaging him and asking when he moved to town and having a conversation about how long I have lived here! (This was in no means a way to “get a photoshoot”, I believe in genuinely expressing my feelings if I like someones work or posts).

He ended up reaching out to me after following my Pinterest (subtle plug)  and asking if I would be interested in doing a photoshoot. It took a couple messages to get our schedules to match up and general avoidance on my part (as mentioned earlier, I was nervous as all hell), but we finally agreed on a day.

TIP #1 :

I would NEVER recommend asking for free pictures. This is insulting to the photographer that works hard shooting and editing your pictures for hours on end. People’s work deserves credit. In my case, I was offered to shoot for free, so I took the opportunity when it came to me. I would never expect to ask a photographer to shoot me for free.

TIP #2:

Make sure you go with a friend or let your friends know where you are if you go to a shoot alone. In this case, I established a good relationship and felt comfortable about who and where I was shooting. Shooting alone isn’t necessarily dangerous, but meeting anyone over the internet alone for the first time you should let people know where you will be or bring a buddy with you.

So, we met at a Starbucks in the city and walked around the city and shot wherever he saw an opportunity. At first, I was extremely awkward and uncomfortable. This is something I would never expect from myself because I am an extrovert and generally do NOT get embarrassed by much of anything.

You could tell how uncomfortable I was here, this was the first picture set we took.

After I saw a dog in the park and proceeded to pet it, I felt better about my life and opened up more.

Some shots I tried to force and you could literally tell. My biggest advice is to be and act like yourself. Just have fun with it, the best pictures come from you having fun with it.

Me forcing it

My biggest advice is to just play around. Play around with your hair, your hands, etc. They will direct you, but for the most part you’re all on your own sis!

Me naturally

We took a walk around the city and I forcibly asked the laundromat owner if we could shoot in their establishment. They allowed us and we turned out with some really cool shots! I think the most fun part about shooting as someone who loves photography is being able to see places in a photographer’s eye. There were so many places I saw as “just walls” and we took pictures there that turned out amazing.

 

AFTER THE PHOTOSHOOT:

It took him about a week to edit and send the pictures to me.

TIP #3:

Do NOT edit or put a filter on the pictures your photographer sends you. This is another insult to the hours they spend editing your pictures to make them A1. IF you do need to put a filter on your picture to match your feed (like i did lol) make sure you send it to them and get the okay.

TIP #4:

Make sure you thank your photographer and give them the hype they deserve! Post your fav or favs and give them that tag. Shout them out time and time again and show how appreciative you are of their hard work and time.

I hope this gave you some insight into what a photoshoot is like and how to loosen yourself up! Below are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

As always, be yourself.

xx,

g

Be so completely yourself that everyone else feels safe to be themselves too

GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE : follow his instagram – @charlierayphoto

CBD vs Melatonin

I have been curious about these two trends for quite some time. I have gravitated towards melatonin mostly the past year, but found myself feeling “hungover” and sleep-deprived the next morning. So, I decided I would try CBD. Unfortunately, I felt the same way. How could this be?

I am here to bring you the age-old (not) comparison between melatonin and CBD and what may work for you. I will be dishing the science behind it, as evidence by my student database (thanks college).

Melatonin:

THE SCIENCE:

Melatonin is a chronotbiotic, a hormone that adjusts the timing of the biological clock, including the timing of the sleep-wake cycle. This is already present in your body if you did not know that. Melatonin lowers core body temperature and increases sleep. Disturbances in the melatonin production is associated with chronic disturbances in sleep onset and duration. A source says that there is an increase in prescription of melatonin despite a poor scientific base and no guidance on the dose or when you should take it. [Unfortunately I could not find the article that I got this from but I know it was from ProQuest].

I did, however, find an article titled Does Melatonin help people sleep? By Andrew Herxheimer. “The popular misconception underlying the widespread use of this drug is that it induces sleep pharmacologically, it doesn’t.” It pushes the body’s circadian phase forward or backward, depending when it’s taken.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

I took two OLLY Sleep Gummies at 2:05 am (ridiculous, i know).

These gummies contained

Total Carbohydrate 3g1%

---

Sugars 2g

---

Melatonin 3mg

---

L-Theanine 100mg

---

Chamomile Extract (Flower) 17mg

---

Lemon Balm Extract (Aerial Parts) 16mg

---

Passionflower Extract (Aerial Parts) 17mg

[Although this product contains more than just melatonin, I am writing based on the affects of something containing melatonin vs something containing CBD. ]

The gummies took 17 minutes to kick in. I became tired and loopy at 2:22 and eventually went to bed at 2:32. So overall the gummies took about 30 minutes to get me sleeping. (This is how far in advance it says on the package to take the gummies to induce sleep). The next morning, my alarm was set for 9:15 and I snoozed it for 45 minutes. I was extremely groggy and tired upon waking and in the morning.

PROS:

• Tastes very good
• 50 gummies for $12.89
• They are gluten free!
• “Additionally, the FDA requires that all dietary supplement manufacturers follow good manufacturing practices (GMPs) to ensure supplements are produced in a quality manner and are accurately labeled. FDA regulatory officials inspect manufacturing facilities and review labels to ensure safety.” (https://www.olly.com/pages/faq)
• All products are made in accordance with the FDA’s good manufacturing practices (GMPs) that require our manufacturers to validate the composition, identity, strength, and purity of all products produced. (https://www.olly.com/pages/faq)

CONS:

• It gave me nightmares and vivid dreams. This didn’t happen every-time I took them, but some nights I ended up with vivid nightmares.
• I woke up feeling groggy
• If you take too much melatonin regularly, your body can get used to it. I experienced this first hand and felt like I had to take more than the recommended amount which was 2. (I did not).

CBD:

THE SCIENCE:

Experimental evidence shows that the administration of delta 9 THC (the primary active component in marijuana) promotes sleep. The activation of the CB1 receptor (which is in CBD) leads to an induction of sleep. The system of the endocannabinoid system is present in several species including humans; this meaning CBD receptors are already found in the body. Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may decrease sleep latency but could impair sleep quality long-term. There is potential for carry-over effects from CBD, since most trials did not perform blood or urine cannabis testing screening. This really stuck out to me when I thought about the use of CBD for my sleep cycle. This needs to be considered if you have a job that requires drug-testing and where you get your CBD from. Not all CBD is FDA approved (Im not sure if any is), but traces of cannabis could be found in a drug test. That is the problem with things that are not FDA approved, you never REALLY know what is in something. This includes dosing and ingredients. A gummy could say its 5mg of CBD, but is it really?

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

I took two approximately (key word) 10.75 mg Chill Gummies at 12:11 am. It took 19 minutes to work and at 12:30, I began to feel tired. Around 12:40 I began to go to bed but I clocked out at around 12:50. So, overall it took 40ish minutes to work. My alarm was at 930 am, but I snoozed my alarm for an hour and was exhausted. I got up at 1018 am and around 1230 I was crashing.

I noticed with CBD that it relaxed me more than induced sleep. I know people take this for anxiety-related problems, and for me it worked. As for sleep induction, I felt like I could fight the sleep where as with melatonin I couldn’t. The packaging said that the CBD would take up to 90 minutes to work.

 

PROS:

• These specific gummies tasted pretty good. I have tried CBD oil in water before and it was terrible to taste. I have heard that CBD oil directly, and certain gummies can also taste nasty.

CONS:

• It didn’t induce sleep as well as I thought it would
• It only came with about 20 gummies for $25. A general usage recommended 2 gummies per use.
• It may or may not come up in drug tests
• You can’t know how much is truly in the gummy (Mg / ingredients wise).

 

CONCLUSION:

I think if I had to choose one of these things, I would choose melatonin. Melatonin seems to be more practical in the price, amount you receive, and the after effects. Melatonin does its job of putting me to sleep, while CBD just relaxes me.

It is hard to tell how accurately this two work because I took them at different times of the night and relatively late. If I took them at the same time of night and around 10 pm, I may or may not have had different results.

As well as the sleep vitamins having other sleep-inducing ingredients, I do think it worked the best. It is hard to tell if it was the melatonin itself or the mix of the ingredients that did the job. I have had personal experience with pure Melatonin 5mg before bed and it did its job of knocking me right out.

DISCLAIMER: Always remember that if you do try one of these products to NOT mix it with alcohol, illicit drugs, or attempt to operate a vehicle. These products make you extremely relaxed and may impair your judgement.

I hope you guys enjoyed this compare and contrast of two products. Let me know if theres anything else out there you would like a review on!

xx,

g

Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move mountains

the black hole that is social media

i have unfortunately come to the realization that social media will be the death of me.

This would have never been something I would have admitted a couple years ago, or even months ago, but as my eyes literally DECLINE and burn from my screen time, i came to this conclusion. I came to this thought as I was laying in bed one night constantly opening, closing, and re-opening Instagram as I do most nights. The hours ticked by and sooner or later my 11 o’clock bedtime became a 1:30 am attempt to sleep.

I started to realize the change in my obsession with social media when I started my blog instagram. It had become more about likes, follows, engagement and consistency than anything. That was NOT why I started this platform, and I grew to resent it. I began to focus so much on getting content, editing, and engaging in groups within the 24 hour time limit that I lost my passion for this hobby of mine.

MAKE GENUINE CONTENT:

Something else I noticed is that I began to live my life FOR content. Don’t get me wrong, I love photography and “modeling” for the gram, but I began to miss the moments. I feel like our generation (not to sound like a parent) is so focused on fulfillment and satisfaction that we miss life passing right in front of us.

DELETING SOCIAL MEDIA:

I deleted my twitter going on a month ago and this was a crazy thing for me to do. Twitter was my main platform for so long, people made fun of it because I tweeted so much, so deleting it, as silly as it sounds, was a big deal to me. Twitter was a main source of endless and mindless scrolling for me. I would lay in bed for HOURS on end retweeting and looking at “news” (most of which was fake, stick to the credible sources kids) and I was ruining my sleep. The blue light from the app literally ruined my eyes and my sleep, so one impulsive night I deleted my account. I can happily say I don’t miss it except for the occasional missing of events (storming Area 51? is this real??)
My next task to tackle is to delete snapchat which is the biggest waste of my time, yet holds all my memories.

ENGAGEMENT GROUPS:

The overwhelming pressure to post perfect photos with perfect edits every day at the right time so your audience views it to get you the most likes… TAKE A BREATH. If that sentence did not stress you out then kudos to you. I however, have overwhelming anxiety having to keep up with all of that. I was apart of many engagement groups filled with content I honestly didn’t relate to and didn’t like. I was posting fabricated comments on every post and it wasn’t genuine. I HATED that for myself because I knew people probably didn’t like my content and were leaving comments that weren’t genuine. I decided to leave most groups and I only involve myself with creators and content I actually enjoy. It’s really hard to run a social media platform on fake and fabricated content.

WHO YOU FOLLOW / UNFOLLOWING 

Another thing I would like to focus on is who you follow and what content you are supplying your brain with. I go through these stages where I unfollow a butt load of people because I feel overwhelmed. Im not saying this is a good idea to impulsively do, but for me it’s a coping mechanism. To unfollow with intention is the best way to go. Unfollowing is looked at as such a bad thing, but sometimes certain content just makes me feel bad about myself. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I have unfollowed and re-followed fitness accounts because of how terrible they make me feel. This all has to do with your mindset, but for me some of these accounts made me feel absolutely terrible. I followed calorie counting accounts and accounts of girls that weighed way less than me and that were a foot shorter than me and I wanted to look like them, which was physically impossible for my build. I unfollowed brands that I didn’t support, accounts that made me want to buy things, and accounts that just weren’t interesting to me. There is such a negative stigma around unfollowing people, but not everybody has to like your content. There are accounts that have unfollowed me, but I still follow them because I love their content, and that is OK.

THINK: are you posting for yourself or for others?

No, I don’t get brand deals, no I don’t have 10k followers, this blog post will probably be read by 10 people, but I post genuine content from my heart and cherish those who stick around. There was a time when my follower count was climbing and I was ecstatic, but I was posting content that was forced and made me miserable. My feed doesn’t necessarily flow the best or have a color scheme, but its bright and happy like me :’)

live your best lives.

xx,

g

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/social_media

“The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other”

Feeling Stuck: Fueling That Fire

I feel like I am having writers block. Theres a lot of thoughts in my brain but none of them are forming into words. I would say I get like this probably once a month, I just get stuck. I am feeling pretty empty these days and it isn’t as depressing as it sounds. I feel empty within myself, like I should be taking the opportunity to do more for myself you know? I believe I have so much potential that could be used for the greater and I’m just not really doing it or using it. I need something to fill my cup that isn’t cabernet sauvignon. I love to write and it feels weird to be going for a profession where those talents won’t be expressed. I am so excited to go into the healthcare system, but it lacks creativity. I used to write for an online platform where I had a set scheduled post per week, but then I entered college and I wasn’t of age to do so anymore.

I have always been a literature person, I used to make Powerpoints for my parents explaining why I should get a dog or short stories of my magical friends and I taking adventures across the globe. I had won poetry contests and short story contests too and had always been loved by my English teachers. But where did that spark go? This post wasn’t even going to be directed toward my decline in the writing aspect, but this is what its turning into and hey, content is content!

I had always wanted to be a journalist, but found it a dying field. My dream was to end up as a crime reporter / forensic scientist / Law and Order SVU aficionado. But I knew I had a passion for people, and I was always good at science, so that was where I turned. I have turned toward God so much in this time period, and I am not trying to tell you that is what you should do, but sometimes giving it up to something higher than yourself is comforting and empowering.

Long story short, I have this fire inside of me that’s a little wee flickering flame and I need it to be engulfing my soul once again. So I am going to list some challenges for myself this June / summer altogether and hopefully broadcasting this onto the internet will help me stick to it.

• Read at least 2 books a month . (The paper kind, not the online, fan fic type nonsense)
• Write more poetry
• Take a journal with me everywhere
• Brain dump every morning (brain dumping for those of you who do not know is is a complete transfer of accessible knowledge about a particular subject from your brain to some other storage medium, such as paper or your computer’s hard drive) https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/brain-dump
• Write without constraint and without fear of judgement.
• Exercise!!!!
• Eat things that are not a burrito

These may seem like silly things, but honestly my mental health has been slipping and I can’t keep getting tattoos to fix that! I hope that my literally brain dump of a rant inspires some of you to go after that dream you’ve always wanted, that flame in your belly. Even if it means a change of heart or change or direction, stick with it. Writing was going to be my job, so was video production (that’s another story), but my heart took me towards healthcare. Stop putting the pressure on yourself to do the best you can so quickly! I literally have laid in bed the last 3 days feeling like garbage for me to finally realize what the heck I was doing to myself.

You are all perfect beings and on the road to being your best self, no matter how long its taking you! So stay tuned to these more rant type posts and my more personal spiel.

 

Let me know if you have any other non-braindumpy ideas for my blog,

xx,

G

Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival

This weekend I decided to embrace my hobby more and take some pictures at a local festival.

In this blog post I figured I would show you guys some of the pictures I took and a little bit about them. I haven’t posted in a while, and there is a reason. Recently, everything in life social media wise has felt rather forced. I don’t like the idea that things are fabricated or look unauthentic. I have taken some steps to reduce this by leaving engagement groups and only following content that makes me happy. (This included unfollowing girls that made me feel insecure with no offense to them! Keep rocking it ladies, it’s just a hard time for me) I have learned to make my instagram and my social scene a happy place, not a place that causes me insecurity or stress. I constantly felt myself comparing and judging myself based on numbers and looks. I encourage all of you to do a “cleanse” in the next few weeks, and to make social media more genuine for you.

So furthermore, here are some of my pictures from my weekend.

I have been trying to focus most of my photography on portraits, because I love people. I think a photo can capture so many different things and emotions. My favorite thing is shooting people who are uncomfortable with having pictures taken of themselves. I love to make them laugh to create a genuine image.

(this counts as a portrait because he is a good boy).

Nature is another thing I love to photograph. I love to capture the natural colors and light that the world gives us.

This clock was one of my favorite things at the festival. It was in the museum of history that I didn’t even know we had!

This clock was insanely cool. It was over 100 years old and parades every 30 minutes. When the hour hits, the twelve disciples come out from the back and bow their heads to the Jesus figurine in the front. All the disciples, that is, but Paul. Paul turns his back to Jesus, a foreshadowing of his future sin.

For all of you who know anything about me, the clock also features a moon dial and a sun dial. The length of daylight is told in the sun dial and the type of moon is told in the moon dial.

I wish I could have this in my house I swear.

https://buffalohistorymuseum.com/2016/11/05/the-apostolic-clock-and-its-many-mysteries/ 

If you are interested in more about this clock you can read it here.

Of course it wouldn’t be Buffalo, if I didn’t mention the architecture and the Buffalo Bills.

Photography has always been a passion of mine and I never gave myself the time of day to pursue it. My mom gifted me the camera I’ve always wanted for my 21st birthday and I can’t wait to learn more about it.

I hope that this post gives you a little more personal insight to my life and what I love to do. I encourage all of you to follow your passions if you possess one, don’t let it intimidate you.

As always, keep your faith and keep your smile.

xx,

G

“Why else are we here if not to live with unreasonable passion for things” – butterflies rising

the tea: on thrifting

so, it is time for the tea.

thrifting; do you do it?

well you should and in this blog post i am going to be dishing out the tips and tricks i use when going thrifting as well as showing you my recent finds.

so, my #1 tip for thrifting is to go unplanned. don’t go into thrifting looking for a certain piece or outfit because you will tear your hair out trying to find it.

today, i went thrifting completely randomly and found more items than i really ever have. i didn’t go looking for a certain piece or even color really, i just went in looking!

so to start off the shopping trip, i found my go-to fashion item; t-shirts.

i tend to go to the tshirt section to look for oversized shirts to wear or shirts i can cut into crops. my style is generally more laid back and i wear a lot of crops and oversized shirts in the spring time.

all of these shirts were around $2-3 each and i was very happy with what i found.

next, the jackets.

although winter came to a close, i still wanted to check the jacket section for my next favorite fashion item – windbreakers.

i found these two for $6 each and i am suppppper exctied about them. i actually bought the wilson tennis jacket for my friend who plays tennis. i was sad to see it go, but i have a million jackets, i could spare this one.

the red jacket caught my eye and took me out of my comfort zone. red is NOT my color, but this jacket was super cute and comfy on.

so tip #2 is to go out of your comfort zone! try different styles, colors, and sizes, and SECTIONS. most of the clothes i thrift come from the men’s section. dont be afraid to try things out.

next, i headed to the blouses and picked up these two cute shirts for $3 each. one of them was NastyGal. NASTYGAL. ladies!!!!! thrit!!!!

the black shirt was hard to capture in a picture but it has a tie in the front and is cropped and is super stylish and cute. the yellow shirt is my favorite color and perfect for spring time.

these next two i caught last minute. the white top is so feminine and petite i was super happy to come across it. paired with a white bralette and a skirt is a perfect sheek spring outfit. the striped top was more my style and the buttons were such a cute add on.

the pants section!!!

i got 3 pairs of insanely cute pants. the first pair on the left is from j.crew and were a stretchy denim fit with a tie that scrunch at the bottom. the middle pair reminded me a lot of a pair i had from forever 21 and were super cute and retro. the black pants were stretchy black jeans that somehow i had none of?

total: $8.

tip #3 would be to try the clothes on if you can. this day, i didnt have the proper clothing on to try on my items, and honestly i was not in the mood so i just opted out of my own tip. but to confirm your purchase, try it on!

my last place i check in the thrift store is the book section.

and boy, did i hit a jackpot.

so not only was the deal buy 4 books get one free, i found all of the books that were on my Amazon wishlist for more than 50 percent off.

these books were THREE DOLLARS EACH PEOPLE. and i got one free.

incredible.

(if you want a book review on any of these, please lmk)

so ladies and gentleman, those are my 3 thrifting tips.

thrifting is so cheap and beneficial to the environment as well as helping out people and charities in need.

go in with an open mind, and getcho thrift on.

x,

g