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Simply Style Sisters

a fashion + lifestyle blog

Lifestyle

Life Update: Graduating College + Quarantine Experience

May 28, 2020

Aerie cropped sweatshirt, denim shorts, hat, and sandals. Life update - graduating college and quarantine
Aerie cropped sweatshirt, denim shorts, hat, and sandals. Life update - graduating college and quarantine

Wow. Where do I even start? I feel like there is so much to update you guys on and talk about so I guess I’ll just start where I left off. If you’ve been following along, the last life update you would’ve seen was my Red Cap blog post as I announced my graduation from college back in November 2019. If you haven’t read that one I recommend you do so, because I share one of my proudest moments, and I hope it can be a reminder to you to always be proud of all you have accomplished. 

I got to walk across the stage on December 14th, 2019, with my red cap on my head and my chin held high. It didn’t seem like a huge deal in the moment, but looking back, I am beyond grateful to have had that opportunity. It is one I will cherish for a lifetime… especially given the current circumstances which I will address a little later on.

With the end of that chapter, the future was on my mind. How could it not be? I was excited to have this huge accomplishment under my wing, but scared to death of facing the life changing choices that were very near. Everyone talks about the “greatest 4 years of your life,” and the friends you’ll meet, and the memories you’ll make…. but no one ever tells you how it’ll feel when it ends. No one ever tells you that you STILL won’t have everything figured out. So, I’m here to tell you. If you’re graduating college soon and you feel lost and lonely and excited and confused, it’s okay! It’s okay to not have your whole life figured out – no one does. You’ll get through it, just take it one day at a time.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I’ve applied to finance jobs, social media jobs, digital marketing jobs, and basically anything else I could think of because I had no clue what in the world I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Or did I? In the back of my mind has always been a career in blogging. 5 years of blogging (on & off LOL) helped me discover who am and what I want in life.  It’s my passion. It’s my dream. It’s what I love. But with a family of corporate successes and a world where blogging is still not a widespread career field, I was afraid of what people might think. How would everyone react to the news? 

The first week of March 2020 is when I took my leap of faith. I decided to tell my closest family and friends my truth – that I was going to pursue my blogging career full-time – and it couldn’t have gone better! Did it really matter what other people thought? No. But for me, this was just a reminder that I was the only thing standing in my own way. This gave me the push I needed to move forward with a newfound self-confidence.

And just when things felt like they were moving forward, the world took three steps back. COVID-19 hit just like that – hard, unexpectedly, and all at once. We all quickly went from “is this real?” to schools cancelled, lives changed, and life lost. 

Before I continue, I want to make it abundantly clear – I am among the very fortunate ones. I am healthy, I can still afford to pay my bills, and the people I love have not been severely harmed. That is more than I can say for a lot of people in our world. So, at this time, I feel extremely fortunate and extremely grateful. But nonetheless, this pandemic has indeed effected everyone, including myself, and today I’m here to share my experiences.

There’s no doubt that the virus instilled boredom, uncertainty, and panic in everyone. For me personally though, it came at a very transitional point in my life. I just graduated college, I was exploring my career options, and trying to figure out not only my long-term plans, but also my short-term goals. Quarantine sent me back to my parents house, and even though I love them more than anything, you can imagine how different your life is when you go from living on your own for 4 years in a college town to living with your parents. It’s an adjustment for sure. But life goes on. You figure out how to juggle time spent with several families, your new career in progress, and the uncertainty that is ensuing. And before you know it, it’s been a month and a half of quarantine. 

6 weeks into quarantine and it’s May 2nd, 2020. Poor Cameron (my boyfriend of almost 8 years if you’re new here) was supposed to graduate from college on May 2nd. He did in fact finish his degree, but as you all know, graduations were cancelled. Many were robbed of this meaningful moment, including some of my dearest friends. My heart breaks for them and for their families. So, although the ceremony was cancelled, their accomplishments will not go unnoticed. Class of 2020, I am PROUD of you and all the hard work you’ve put in. No one can take that away from you. Luckily, Cameron is continuing his education in the fall, and will {hopefully} be able to have a real graduation when he finishes his graduate degree in May 2021. 

After 2 full months of quarantine, we are trying to adjust to this “new normal.” That means continuing our daily routines (in the safest way possible of course). Summer is here, and Cameron’s internship is still happening, so we packed our bags for a summer in Chicago. We’ve been in Illinois for 4 days so far, and all is well, but we’re still acclimating. This state has barely started to reopen (unlike Georgia which had already been reopened for weeks), so we’re working from home and taking walks outside as much as we can. I’m happy to have my own space again and time to devote solely to the blog, but will we ever fully get used to quarantine? I guess only time will tell.

I don’t think anyone could have imagined we’d be facing a global pandemic, much less any of the other struggles that came alongside it (quarantine, unemployment, recession, etc.). It’s something we will all remember for the rest of our lives. It’s been an eye opening few months, and as we head into summer and the months ahead, I’m going to continue to be thankful, cherish the little wins, and make peace with uncertainty. I know we will get through this, it’s only a matter of time.

by Karina & Olivia 
Lifestyle

Get to know me better!

May 8, 2020

Hey y’all! There’s a ton of new faces here, so I wanted to share a little bit more about myself so that we can get to know each other a little bit better!

  • I’m 22 years old & I’m from the suburbs of Atlanta
  • I graduated from the University of Alabama in December with degrees in Finance & Economics
  • I have a total sweet tooth – chocolate… cookies… cake…. YES PLEASE! I couldn’t live without my snacks 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • My boyfriend’s name is Cameron (Cam for short) and we’ve been dating for almost 8 years now! We started dating the summer after 8th grade, and now we’ve both graduated college. I can’t believe it!!
  • I LOVE traveling! I think the best 4 weeks of my life were the weeks I spent in Europe on my study abroad in 2018
  • My sister, Karina, and I started this blog together almost 5 years ago. Since then, Karina graduated college and now works full-time in the insurance business.
  • I decided to pursue the blog full-time after I graduated college & I’m so excited to bring y’all along on the journey! I hope we can have fun together, inspire each other, and that I can teach you some of the life lessons I’ve had to learn the hard way 💗

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to taking you through this journey with me!

by Karina & Olivia 
Lifestyle, Travel

Where we ate in Cabo!

March 12, 2020

We stayed in Cabo for 4 nights and ate so much good food! My family has been vacationing to Cabo since I was in middle school, and we’ve explored many different restaurants. Eventually, we found the ones we LOVE, so we always try to make a point to eat at as many of them as possible!

Toro Latin Kitchen & Bar – On our first night in Cabo, we ate ate Toro. Toro has a ceviche bar and serves tons of fancy and authentic latin dishes. We love the food here, but the atmosphere is really the best part! It is a rustic indoor-outdoor restaurant with a garden area, and they even have live music playing on the weekends!

Edith’s – On night two, we headed into the downtown part of Cabo San Lucas to Edith’s restaurant. We’ve been going to Edith’s since before I can even remember, and if I could only pick one restaurant in Cabo to recommend, it would be this one! Edith’s is basically a blend of traditional Mexican food and an American steakhouse! They serve everything from fajitas to steak to seafood and more! And again, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing!! It is completely decorated with traditional Mexican decor – tons of bright colors and patterns, and they even give you hand woven blankets to keep warm in the indoor-outdoor setting. And if you stay for dessert, order the Banana Flambe! They make it at your table and set it on fire right in front of your eyes!

Las Estrellas – This was actually a new stop on our restaurant list because it opened fairly recently (not sure when but definitely in the last year!). They serve Italian food, and if you know my family, you know that we are bread and pasta LOVERS! I was super excited to try this place, and it definitely did not disappoint. It’s also an outdoor restaurant with super cute string lights and fire pits! For dessert we gathered around a fire pit and roasted s’mores which I thought was just the most unique idea ever!

Flora Farms – Every time we go to Cabo, we visit Flora Farms! It’s a crazy sight to see because it’s obviously a farm full of tons of fresh plants and crops, but it’s located in the middle of the desert. When we first started visiting Flora Farms it was a small little family owned farm in the middle of nowhere! Now, it has expanded to almost double in size and updated it’s entire look to be more elegant and upscale. My only complaint is that it not very close to downtown or where we stay (about a 40 minute ride). Other than that, the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is very relaxed and has that small-town feel.

Those are all the restaurants we got to visit on this trip to Cabo but The Office is another one of my favorites located right on the beach! Hope y’all enjoyed this little recap of my vacay and definitely let me know if you try any of these places out!

Shop my bathing suit here:

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3940452″]

by Karina & Olivia 
Lifestyle

Proud Moment – Red Graduation Cap

November 6, 2019

white off the shoulder ruffle top and red graduation cap university of alabama
white off the shoulder ruffle top and red graduation cap university of alabama
white off the shoulder ruffle top and red graduation cap university of alabama

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OMG! Today is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. My day started off with stress, but turned into a very very proud moment.

Today was a typical Tuesday, and I woke up this morning knowing that I would study all day long for my economics exam at 2 o’clock. The exam was going to be difficult and confusing, and I was definitely stressing about how well I would do. I entered the exam feeling tired, overwhelmed, and ready to be done with it.

Well, flash forward to after my exam…. my mind was working overtime and my brain felt almost dead, but the first thing I did after I left my test was check my email – because even after an exam the work never stops. But the email I saw was special – it was an email from the Alabama School of Business congratulating me on my GPA and asking me to come pick up my red graduation cap.

If you don’t know, at an Alabama graduation ceremony, students wear black – black gowns and black caps. However, Alabama awards a red graduation cap to any student that achieves a 4.0 GPA when working towards their degree. Yes, it’s cumulative. And yes, it’s 8 semesters, 120 hours, worth of class time.

When I saw the email, I immediately got excited. Of course I knew my grades, and I knew that red hats were a thing, but there’s nothing quite like holding one in your hand that makes you feel proud. Proud of the last 4 years, proud of how hard you’ve worked, and proud of all the accomplishments you’ve achieved.

I know it’s just a hat – a silly and cheap piece of fabric that will probably make my head look a little crooked and a little wonky – But, that’s not the point. It’s not the hat that matters, it’s the symbolism behind it.

After 4 year of hard work, long nights, and countless Quizlets, I finally got my red cap. Everything feels surreal. I can’t believe that I’ll graduate college in 6 weeks time. Bottom line – hard work pays off.

Work hard towards your goals, even when they seem impossible. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. And don’t forget to be proud of yourself. You’ve come so far and achieved so much – and that’s worth celebrating!

|| Olivia ||

P.S. you can shop my outfit by clicking on any of the little picture widgets right below my photos!

by Karina & Olivia 
Fashion, Lifestyle

Back to School Shopping List – College Essentials

August 20, 2019

College Room Decor - Desk and Standing Shelves
White Desk for College Apartment and String of Photos
White IKEA Standing Shelves with Home Decor

The summer is flying by, and since we are already at the end of August, I thought I’d give advice on what to pack when you’re going back to school – or if you’re headed to college for the first time!

First and foremost, my number 1 recommendation is to buy a planner. If you prepare for classes in no other way – at least do this one step! One of the hardest parts of being in college is time management. With the newfound freedom and opportunity there’s so much to do and it ALWAYS feels like there isn’t enough time to get it all done. Balancing classes, friends, and events can be tricky at first, but a planner has saved my life! Whether it’s a physical calendar or just the one on your laptop, a planner is an absolute must! At the beginning of the semester, after I get my syllabi, I take time to write down all of the assignments for all of my classes in my planner. I look at my planner on a daily basis and it really helps to keep track of everything you need to get done! I’m girly and type A so I like to color code based on the class – but even if you just write down when your tests are, you’re already a step in the right direction! Below are my fav planners – they are a bit more expensive than a normal planner, but they have space for up to 17 months and are just so cute! And if it’s cute, you’ll end up using it more I promise!

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Next, you should invest in a good backpack! You may already have one which is perfect, but if you don’t, I highly recommend this one. Make sure whichever one you get has a laptop sleeve and a comfortable fit! Nothing is worse than added back pain when you’re already drowning in schoolwork and stress. A quality backpack can be used over all 4 of your college years and can also double as a travel bag! I use mine almost every time I travel because it’s easy to carry your laptop and anything else you might need so it’s definitely worth the investment!

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3689996″]

If you do not have an already furnished living situation, I recommend getting a desk! You’ll need a space that’s quiet enough to get your work done even when you’re friends are out and about having fun. It’s difficult enough to get the motivation to study for hours so you do not need any added distractions! A desk is the perfect way to dedicate an area to getting work done, and it makes it easy to zone out the chaos that is college. I’ve linked a few desks I like below, but I also recommend IKEA for cheap furniture options!

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3690007″]

When it comes to back to school shopping for clothes, make sure you stock up on comfy essentials like sweatshirts, leggings, sneakers, and tees. There’s no doubt that you’ll have a stressful week with 3 or 4 tests, and the last thing you want to think about is how uncomfortable you feel in your clothes. Comfort doesn’t have to be boring though – I’ve linked my favorite comfy items below!

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Hope this simple round up of all my college essentials with help you transition into the new school year! And even if you are not a student, you can still implement these items + tips into your life (especially good for entrepreneurs or if you work from home!).

Thanks for reading!

|| Olivia Buonocore

by Karina & Olivia 
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