Author: samanthatran

Ban.do VS Lilly Pulitzer Agendas (+ Pictures)

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

This year I finally decided to buy a medium-sized Ban.do planner! Since I haven’t seen anyone else do a comparison between the Lilly Pulitzer and Ban.do ones, I thought this would be helpful to share prices, sizes, what’s inside, and which one is for you.

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PRICE

I ordered the medium-sized Ban.do agenda (left) for $28 and if you order now, you can combine a 10% off code and free shipping together. The medium-sized Lilly Pulitzer agenda (right) I used was $22 last year, this year it is priced at $24.

The medium Ban.do agenda is larger than the medium Lilly Pulitzer agenda.
They are the same thickness.

In terms of size, their thickness is about the same (see pic). Ban.do comes in a small non-spiral agenda and medium and large spiral agendas. Lilly Pulitzer agendas come in small, medium, large, and jumbo. Ban.do’s small non-spiral is equivalent to Lilly Pulitzer’s medium-size agenda.

INSIDES for each section of comparison pictures, I’m going to put the Ban.do (BD) picture before the Lilly Pulitzer (LP) one

  • opening the planner | right off the bat, you can see how LP tends to have a resort/vacation-related theme whereas BD is a bit more minimalistic and playful with the “secret code”
  •  after the folder | BD has a place for you to put your name on your planner whereas LP doesn’t have a designated spot. The BD has 2 sheets of stickers and LP only has 1 in the one I have to show you but they now have 2 sheets this year. BD has a little letter and LP has a “wecome to PALM BEACH” part and a cute map of palm beach.

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  • yearly/overview calendar | BD & LP both have two-year overview calendars and a “dates to remember” type of setup, the difference between the two is that LP has a year-long monthly spread twice in the planner, in the front where there are 12 pages back of back and then each month before the weekly spreads (this may have been removed from the 2016-17 edition though) and the BD only has one of each month. 
  • special | LP has a section dedicated to travel planning and an address book, BD has neither one of these but their notes section(s) make up for it.
  • notes | If you use your planner to jot down notes and other random things a lot, the BD has about 5X the amount of pages dedicated to notes. BD has 2 pages of notes after every monthly overview (there are 17 months = 34 sheets/17 pages) and a section in the back with 18 more pages/9 sheets. LP has a section for notes in the front consisting of 10 pages/5 sheets.
  • monthly calendar | BD has literally color-blocked a few pages that correspond with their holidays list. They are both easy spreads to glance at.
  • weekly spread | BD is more bare-bones while LP has a patterned border and drawing that flows onto the page partially.
  • artwork | BD gets all-girl artists for each monthly spread while LP keeps their classic look each year, according to what I’ve heard so far. If you like things to stay the same, LP is for you, if you like “artsy” changes, BD is for you.

WHICH ONE IS BEST FOR YOU?

If you’re ready for something fancier than a free school-supplied agenda but don’t have enough time to commit to decorating, the Lilly Pulitzer agenda is for you. Each page comes with a nice designed border and sometimes there are little cartoon picture drawings.

If you like planners like the Erin Condren life planner where you can design and decorate your agenda as something more than just for assignments, then the ban.do agenda is definitely for you! It doesn’t have lines so you can keep the minimalist look or create your own.

If you love the Kate Spade look but don’t want to spend as much, click this part of the sentence to see a post I wrote about the Sugar Paper Planner(s) available at target.

Let me know if this post helped you decide and any other thoughts you’d like to share!

 

Sugar Paper Planner | Review + Pics

~ samanthatran ~ 1 Comment

If you want the Kate Spade look on a budget, this is the planner for you! It’s a Sugar Paper planner 2016-2017 available at Target, $10.99. I’m a very picky person when it comes to planners & stationery and finding this was a pleasant surprise. (Even though I caved a few days later and ordered a Ban.do agenda for $28, I’ll be doing a review on it later compared to the Lilly Pulitzer one.)

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Contents:

  • dates to remember 2016-2019
  • contacts (7 pages/3.5 sheets)
  • July 2016-June 2017 weekly & monthly calendars
  • notes in the back (19 pages/9.5 sheets)

Pros:

  • the cover is fun to touch/feel, it’s smooth
  • the paper is good quality
  • weekly layout has no lines, perfect for decorating
  • it is pretty thin since it’s a 12 month planner so it fits easily into a bag/backpack

Cons:

  • the paper has a slightly funky smell (like dried shrimp) if you sniff it but fades a bit
  • doesn’t have a small folder or elastic band to hold it, but that’s just a personal preference for me

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Huge Book Outlet & Thriftbooks Haul!

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IMG_5221Hey guys! This month I made my first book haul purchase 🙂 I usually just buy 1-2 books at a time from Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Target/etc. but BOOK OUTLET(.com) is my new go-to spot! If it weren’t for booktube, I would have never known this amazing site existed.

I went a little crazy and got eight books in total from both Book Outlet and Thriftbooks! Here is a YouTube Video where I do an unboxing and the second part is descriptions of the synopsises/books.

The Girl On the Train – Savers Find!

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You ever had one of those moments when you walk into Barnes & Noble and spot an interesting book you’ve been wanting to read? The cover is great, the description even better, and reviews online are praising it…but then you take a look at the price…and slowly set it down and walk away before you get too attached.
I had that moment today! I’ve been wanting to read The Girl On the Train for the past few months but its retail price is $27 (Barnes & Noble, $16) (Amazon, $14). But with that price for a book I could have mixed feelings about, I could be buying other things! So I told my friend I’ll get it another time and walked away from it so we could go look through the teen fiction section.
Thirty minutes later we left the store and spotted a Savers on the opposite side of the plaza and decided to go check the books there for fun. And guess what was on one of the book shelves!!! The. Girl. On. The. Train. And for only $3! I then became The Girl With a New Book.
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Oh thrift stores, you make my wallet and my bookshelf happy.

I’ll be posting a review once I read this! I’m currently reading Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson.

Yes to THIS! Yes to Coconut Hand & Cuticle Cream Review

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As a person who has to wash their hands frequently when heading to grab a bite, working in the school lab, or using the restrooms, I needed a hand cream that would be easy to throw into a bag and actually repair my hands. I’m kind of a picky person when it comes to things I need, and I hoped to find a scent I like that wouldn’t make me go even more broke as a college student. Just wanted to share with you my review if you were interested in getting this or hand creams in general!

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REVIEW OF YES TO COCONUT HAND & CUTICLE CREAM ($5.99):

  • Its purpose: It hydrates and restore your hands. If I’d known how great and fast this worked, I would’ve taken before and after pictures of my hands! They were dry and a little flaky, to the point they stung a bit when applying things or being in the cold (I had to start using vaseline…which isn’t that great to use outside of the home). But now that I’m using this hand cream they’re back to normal and even smoother than before!
  • The scent: very subtle natural coconut scent, you notice it a bit when first applying but once it’s on your hands, you don’t really smell anything unless you actually sniff your hand. I guess you could say it’s like sniffing the outside of a coconut.
  • The feel: It does not feel too thick or greasy at all. But like all lotions/hand creams, it leaves some residue on electronics and other items one would touch… like this keyboard I’m typing on right now.
  • The price: Compared to other hand cream brands, I’d rather pay $6 for what I need than $15+ for a bigger brand name and more product! I got what I wanted in terms of price, scent, portability, and outcome: the extra softness is just a bonus! 🙂
  • Portability: The size doesn’t bother me because I just throw it into my backpack but if you carry a smaller crossbody bag, this may not be the best option for you!

Cups of coffee: 1.2

$10 Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion! (FULL SIZE)

~ samanthatran ~ 3 Comments

Today I was out with my girls and we went shopping and checked out a bunch of stores and browsed through their makeup sections.

We came across the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Original) for only $10 at Nordstrom Rack! For the one I went to (in Millbury, MA) there were about 20 of them in a bin on one of the tables in the makeup section.

I’ll retake better photos in daylight but I just wanted to get this up tonight so whoever sees this can go get theirs soon! 🙂
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Glasses VS. Contacts

~ samanthatran ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys! I just filmed a video about glasses and contacts and posted it here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiZ1t8ds7mM).

Basically, I talked about some examples of my experiences before and after wearing contacts and some tips or tricks I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve worn glasses for about 5 years before trying contacts and now I’ve had contacts for at least 3 years.

Some tricks I went over in the video include:

  •  if you need to nap with contacts in, use rewetting drops after waking up
  •  pack your own solution (in a ziploc baggie)
  •  replace solution every 3 months
  •  pack your contacts case with your glasses
  •  repurpose contact lens cases
  •  switch contacts every 1st and 15th of the month
  •  remember to switch contacts cases by the seasons/3 months
  •  do not take contacts out when they are dry

If you have any other tips please comment them below! Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask 🙂

Kracie Poppin Cookin

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Earlier this week, my sister made gummy zoo animals using a Kracie Popin Cookin kit. I filmed the process and made a small clip:

I bought it from Tomodachi at the Mall of America (Bloomington, MN) as a souvenir. My sister has been watching these little videos for a few years already but we never saw them available in stores! They can be found online via Amazon (prime shipping!) or cheaper but it would take up to a month to be delivered versus two days.

Do you know if there’s any U.S. versions available? I wish I had these candy kits while I was growing up!

7 Things I Learned During My First Dermatologist Appointment

~ samanthatran ~ 3 Comments

1. I should’ve been going to the dermatologist for a long time, I could’ve gotten rid of my acne years ago!

2. Those crazy-fast-talking-scientist types of men who have a passion for what they work on do exist out here in the real world. I almost couldn’t understand what my dermatologist was saying because he was so into trying to push out all this information.

3. Dairy (from actual cows) does lead to acne and if we want to avoid it we can drink soy or almond milk instead.

4. Ok so I knew about this one, but I pretended it wasn’t true for my love of junk food; sugary foods lead to acne.

5. They examine basically all of your skin…even between your toes!

6. I’ve been buying and trying different over the counter type of cleansers and washes for no reason! 2015/10/img_8786.jpgThe picture shows all the products I had been using twice daily (except for the clay mask, that was once a week) on the left, and then the little samples I received today that I will only be using from now on in the circle to the right. 🙂

This would’ve saved me so much more room (and money from purchasing all the products) when packing toiletries by carrying just 2 travel sized products instead of packing like 7 different things into smaller containers just to shove into an overfilling travel case! I had to ask him, “So do I just stop using everything I was using before like; toner, cleanser, clay masks, etc.” And he replied with a simple yes!

7. I really had to wait almost 2 months just to strip, be examined in 60 seconds, and then handed some samples and given a few minutes lecture on what causes acne and how I can internally prevent some of it that probably could have been explained by John and Hank Green in a YouTube video.

So if you’re thinking of going to see a dermatologist for skin problems (or acne like me), definitely do it! No matter what it leads up to, you’ll come out of the office happy and optimistic for your potential healing or skin changes.

TJMaxx Preppy Finds!

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IMG_6925Today I came to TJMaxx in a desperate attempt to buy a pencil pouch for college (classes start in a week!) I ended up coming home with a new journal, water bottle, makeup brush bag, a comfy sweatshirt, lounge tee, and drawstring joggers…yikes! But the extra grabs were totally worth it, I’ll thank myself during finals week. The clothes I’ll probably feature in a separate master Back-to-School post!
IMG_6929“She looks for ADVENTURE around every corner Journal” ($4.99)
This journal caught my attention because my friends always love bringing me along places because apparently I turn every little thing into an adventure. I can easily get excited over things like going to target or buying bread from the grocery store…don’t act like you don’t do the same!!!
The majority of the journals in TJMaxx’s stationery section were wanderlust or travel-related, which made me SOO happy to have shopped today. I even recognized most of the cute little quotes on some covers.

IMG_6928Bubba – Insulated Water Bottle ($9.99)
Guys, this is seriously such a cute combination of colors AND it came with a second straw! Like it’s so nice to be able to replace one while the other is being washed and dried or just save it until the first one breaks.

IMG_6927Tender Love + Carry – Makeup Brush Bag ($4.99)
Not only is their brand name totally cute, their bags are too! I rarely have come across them in person but they are sold online in other countries like New Zealand and Australia. I’m going to use this as a little pencil pouch instead so I don’t start hoarding supplies in my backpack this year 🙂

Let me know if you have any questions or find similar items anywhere else! Especially makeup bags that can be used as pencil pouches!