How To Peacefully Clean & Organize Your Home When Living With Roommates

Hello readers! I'm delighted that you came to my page today!

When moving to college, or when moving to another place in general, it can be difficult to combine different lifestyles under one roof. I quickly figured this out when I moved to college as people come from all sorts of backgrounds and will have different habits. For example, some people are clean and organized, while others are not, and there will be all sorts of people in between. So from my casa to your casa, here are some tried and true tips that I've learned through the months! These tips are to help create an organized system in your household, help delegate the chores of everyday life, and to prevent arguments before they begin!

1. If dishes are a problem, then getting multiples dish boxes may be necessary.
Some roommates will be just fine with doing their own dishes and being accountable from the get-go, but some roommates will enjoy the freedom of living away from home and may not want to do dishes. To prevent a pile-up of dishes, a dish box for each roomie is necessary. At our house, we have a rule that if dishes are not put in the dish washer and/or hand washed and put up within 2 days then they go in the dish box. At that point, it is no longer anyone else's responsibility to clean it and it's a subtle hint that the person needs to wash their dishes. If it remains in the dish box for a period of time (say 2 days) then we will put the dish box by that person's bedroom door. Dish boxes cost about $1 in the kitchen section at any superstore and can be an efficient way of keeping dishes out of the sink. Although efficient, it is important to talk the rules over with the roommates first and not just throw dishes in a box and by their room as a way to be passive aggressive. This brings me to my next point of...

2. Having open communication
Before applying the rules below, it is important to have a talk with the roommates beforehand so that everyone knows what is expected of them and to consider their thoughts/suggestions. Kindness goes a long way!

3. Post rules if necessary
If you feel like you need to reinforce the rules and/or make it more official, then posting the rules in a shared space in the home will help the process. It reiterates the fact that everyone is to know what is expected of them.

4. Have everyone assigned to trash duty for a week
Unless you have a roommate who recycles absolutely everything, there will be trash involved. To solve the problem of who takes it out and when, assign a week to everyone and the turnover day when trash duty is the next person's responsibility. If someone is not taking the trash out, do like number 1 and simply put the trash bag by the person's door as a hint for them to take the trash out. Note: It is critical that everyone agrees to this concept so that it is fair game and NOT just being passive aggressive.

5. Physically separate the fridge/freezer space
 Food is a necessity, yet space is probably limited. To try to eliminate the problem, it is best to physically separate the space so everyone has an equal amount of room. We made our dividers out of closet divider material and cut them to fit. Other locker dividers may work as well. If all else fails, simply taping where the dividers should be could work as well. Also, please excuse our messy freezer! ;)

6. Switch out bathroom chores
Thankfully, each of my roommates have their own bathroom so bathroom chores are not a big deal here, but others may not have that luxury. Just like the trash duty, bathroom chores can be switched out every week. It may help to make a chart for this and to assign one person trash that week while the other person does bathroom cleaning. Whatever works best!

and last but not least....

7. Hold each other accountable!
While everyone would love to live in a perfect world where everyone gets along, I realize that these solutions may not work for everyone. If these systems don't work at first, then try again. Combining multiple lifestyles under one roof is hard work and it takes practice adjusting to everyone's differences. If some of these work for you and some of these don't, then great! Adjust as often and as necessary as you want. The most important thing is that you all find a system where you all can hold each other accountable, but in a respectful way. Having open honest communication, respect, and love towards one another can make a world of a difference!

Well, I hope you all have enjoyed these guidelines for how to have a cleaner and more peaceful household. Thankfully, our household has implemented these techniques and are much happier! What changes have you guys made to create a better living space? I would love to know in the comments below!

Have a lovely rest of the day!
-G

5 Ways To Help Get You Through College When You Feel Like Quitting

Hello again!

I hope you all have been having a lovely week. It's the beginning of a new school year and we're quickly approaching the middle of the semester again! Crazy how time flies, isn't it? Although I'm enjoying my classes this semester, there was a time (ahem, last semester) when I wasn't and had even seriously considered dropping out of college because of a lack of motivation. Ever felt that way? Now granted, there was a plethora of circumstances (transferring and moving had a lot to do with it) that led up to it, but it still happened nonetheless. Did you know transfer students have a much higher drop out rate? So what made the difference? How did I go from almost dropping out to taking the most classes I've ever taken and enjoying it? Well this is why I bring you these 5 tips!

1. TAKE A BREAK.
This can be anything from taking 3 classes instead of 4 or taking the whole semester off or just taking the summer off, but do it. Do it for your sanity because you NEED it. More than likely, if you're at the stage where you feel like you're done it's because you're burned out from working too hard. Take a break. A TRUE break. Do things that you love. See family. Be with friends. Surround yourself with their love and remind yourself why you're living in the first place.

2. Do something you're interested in!
I know this is extremely cliche, but there's a reason why. Once you've taken some time to feel rebooted it's time to slowly start over again. What made the biggest difference was changing up my classes a semester to take some electives and major classes that I WANTED to take. No more stats and random prerequisites for me! I purposely chose classes that counted toward my major but also had interesting material.

3. Consider a job (any entry level job) in the field you're interested in.
 This will not only give you motivation to strive towards your dream in the classroom, but will get your foot in the door in the industry you potentially want to work in. Plus, you have a resume builder! In my case, I chose to do an internship so not only do I get REAL LIFE experience, but upper level class credit as well. The thing about college is that it's draining...on ALL levels. You give your time, your energy, and your money without seeing ANY of the rewards yet!! That is incredibly draining mentally, physically, and emotionally. It's draining and disappointing to feel like your efforts are wasted and to keep giving without receiving anything (yet). Here is where a job is different. When you have a job you come in, do your work, and get paid after a certain amount of hours have been put into it. It may not be immediate gratification, but it's pretty close. It gives decent motivation to keep going by using a tangible reward and it makes all the difference!

4. Use your skills and/or gain new ones.
Going off of point 3, incorporating real world experience is a motivator in itself because you know what? It's NOT school, it's NOT a classroom. In the real world, you have a skill and you are hired for the skill set you provide. Go ahead, get hired somewhere, and see that your skills are valued and can be used! No matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, you will realize that you are MORE than a nameless face in a classroom and that you are capable of being compensated for your efforts. If you feel like you don't have a particular skill set yet, then pick a subject you're passionate about and start learning more about it. You'll gain confidence and hopefully gain more skills along the way! College is hard. I repeat, COLLEGE IS HARD and it's not always fair. Failing a class or bombing a test because you got a crappy professor or because the material was too hard to grasp can knock your confidence, but learning a new skill can help build it back up!

5. And last, but certainly not least, ASK for support from family, friends, a counselor, etc.
Reach out. Reaching out and letting it out are two incredibly important concepts. You'll not only feel better, but people will be able to know what's going on with you and what you're going through. Will it be uncomfortable? Possibly. Will it hurt your pride a little to ask for help? Possibly. But it's necessary. I reached out to people and it was tremendously comforting. People would tell me their stories of when they were in college and how they had similar experiences. It helps to know you're not alone and that there have been THOUSANDS of students who've felt the same way. Ask them for advice, hear their stories, and realize that it's completely normal to feel this way and use their success stories as motivation to keep going! You can do it!

*It's important to note that most colleges have a free counseling and/or mental health support system in place because they know that college is a tough transition to make. There are online resources and support groups out there that can help as well.    

I hope at least some of these tips help and remember that college is a journey!

-G

7 New Trends For Fall

Hello my lovelies! Did I mention I'm so glad you're here!?

Here's an update: since school has started, I've been challenged (and am being graded) for creating 10 more blog posts throughout the semester. I'm excited to be in my social media strategy class, but I also find posting regularly a struggle...so here it goes!

Background: For one of my other classes, fashion merchandising, we had to compile resources to pick out trends coming out for this Fall. Since my Instagram, Glamshazam, is about fashion and about my new journey being a fashion merchandiser intern, I figured why not write about it? So without further ado, here are some of the top trends we picked out for this fall season!

1. Retro Shapes
Think shift dresses, A-line skirts, and flared jeans

Yep, that saying about how everything that's old becomes new again is true. We'll see a lot of cotton and polyester A-line skirts, flared denim jeans, and shift dresses with tights and shoe booties in golden and plum colors. 

2. Muted Jewel Tones

Fall will be all about rich, but subtle, colors. Think Forest Green, Mustard Yellow, Plum, Royal Blue, Crimson, and overall warm colors like gold and burnt oranges.

3. Florals/Interesting Patterns

As part of Vogue's back-to-school spread, they featured Marcia Brady as their inspiration.
This is also where I got the inspiration for this post and one of the main sources we used in class to pick out which trends are developing. Interesting retro-inspired prints from everything to wallpaper-looking motifs to tiny flowery 70's patterns are back.
Wanna check it out? Here's the link:
http://www.vogue.com/13295372/marcia-brady-back-to-school-style

4. Collared Shirts

Although the butterfly collar is a dead-giveaway for the hippie era, all sorts of collars are coming back. This includes everything from the classic turtle neck knit to the preppier Peter Pan collar.

5. Graphic Tees (think boyfriend jeans too)

Graphic Tees from the 90's have, and will still be, making a comeback. Statement tees say a lot about who you are without compromising style and comfort. Pair them with some boyfriend jeans and you're good to go. No wonder they're so popular!


6. Light-Weight Cardigans and Cozy Knits

Cardigans and chunky knits have always been a classic for fall style. Wherever there's cold weather, there's a cozy chunky knit. There's a reason it's called sweater weather.

7. Chunky Booties

Last, but not least,...ankle booties! Ankle booties are perfect for fall because they're not yet full length boots to cover up for winter, but they're not sandals either.  Ankle booties are versatile and can be worn with tights and dresses/skirts or with jeans! Fall perfection.

There you have it! Although there are many other trends that are going on at the moment, these are some of the top ones we'll be seeing on the streets. It's time to pull out those flared jeans, shift dresses, and ankle booties because it's almost fall, y'all!

**Disclaimer: ALL photos belong to bloggers/users on Pinterest.

How To Temporarily Redo Your Kitchen Floor For $30 - For Renters!

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I'm glad you're here.

As you all know, I'm a college student living away from home. I  live off-campus and I've been trying to make our little town home our "home away from home" which has included making some adjustments. So I decided to do a mini kitchen makeover! First up, I decided to "redo" the floors and had been looking for a cost efficient and temporary solution as we are renters.
Here's the before...

Preparation:
I had originally thought about peel-and-stick tiles that can be bought at Lowe's or Home Depot but when I asked the employees about it they seemed to believe that the solution would be too permanent. The lady then proceeded to give another solution...vinyl sheets. Lowe's sells precut vinyl sheets (they sell a 6x9 and I think a 5x7 sheet as well)  for about $25 bucks a pop. Considering our kitchen is roughly 54 square feet a 6x9 was perfect for us! They come in different shapes and sizes with patterns ranging from big marble to small tile pieces to hardwood, etc era.

Now the question would be how to install it.
Here's what you'll need:
Precut Vinyl Sheets (we only needed one, but however many you need for $25 each)
A Utility Knife (few dollars at any hardware store)
Double-Sided Scrapbooking Mounting Tape (originally $7, but with a 40% off coupon it's only about $3 or $4!)
And lastly, a pair of scissors and a measuring tape

If you already own a pair of scissors and measuring tape and only need one sheet of precut vinyl then your total comes out to be a whopping $30. Bonus: If you split the cost between 4 roommates like we did, it only costs everyone about $8. You're welcome.

Once you've picked out how many vinyl sheets you'll need and what pattern, you can gather your supplies and begin!

Measuring:
Before you begin, you're going to need to do some measuring. This should be done before the vinyl sheets have even been bought. Simply grab a measuring tape and measure the width of the edge of one side of the floor to the other. Write the numbers down. Next, measure the height of the floor and write down. If you have an L-shaped kitchen like ours, you'll need to do the other side as well. If not, measure all the rest of the sides.

Cutting the pieces:
Now that we had our measurements, it was time to cut our vinyl. Lay the vinyl out on a flat surface to see what you're working with. Next, grab an expo marker (or technically you could use a pencil or highlighter even) to mark off the measurements from one area from the kitchen. Now do the same for the others. The trick here is that it's like one big puzzle piece. You have to play around with the vinyl sheet to see where the pieces will work out the best and fit. In our case, we had to cut some smaller pieces to fit the area which is why you see the line in it. Now supposedly, it is best to warm up the vinyl with a hairdryer because it's easier to cut, but we found that it wasn't necessary. The vinyl is easy to cut with the utility knife but it may take a few times to get it started. Honestly, we just cut the pieces in our living room on top of the rug and it didn't hurt a thing! If you're more cautious, anywhere on a flat surface outside would do the trick just fine.
Pro tip: When installing the pieces around appliances, you may have to cut a square "u" shape to get the vinyl to fit around the appliance. The shape would look like this: I_I

Installing:
Simply place the cut vinyl pieces straight over the previous flooring. The next step is easy, yet a little time consuming. It probably took me an hour or two to "install" the flooring. All I did was cut the mounting tape into roughly 1 & 1/2 inch sections and place it on the back side of the vinyl edges like this:

After the pieces are placed on the back of the vinyl, then I would peel off the green wrapper for the other double-sided side.
After continuing the process for all the edges, I put more pieces along the edges (about every foot and a half) to secure the flooring more. Continue doing so until you feel like all the edges and pieces are secured to your liking!
Side Note: Our vinyl pieces did not always match up perfectly to the edges of the flooring, in this case, we used scraps to cut accordingly to cover the edges that were showing.
Here's the before and after!!

To cover up the lines from the separate vinyl pieces, I decided to disguise it with some rugs. I found these for $1 each from the Dollar Tree.

Now enjoy your new temporary flooring!!

Just Beachin' It.

Just Beachin' It. by glamshazam featuring leather sandals

Abercrombie Fitch dress
abercrombie.com

Gianvito Rossi leather sandals
barneys.com

Beach hat
amazon.com

Fall Essentials

Fall Essentials by glamshazam featuring chinese laundry booties

J Crew striped tee
$52 - jcrew.com

American Eagle Outfitters distressed jean jacket
ae.com

Abercrombie & Fitch olive pants
abercrombie.com

Chinese laundry booties
dailylook.com

Summer Music Festival

Summer Music Festival by glamshazam featuring american flag shorts

Rag bone top
nordstrom.com

Fine Collection short sleeve tee
otteny.com

American flag shorts
etsy.com

H&M strappy sandals
$24 - hm.com