Grad Students Have No Life

So I got out of a class early today (miracle!!) and found this wonderful Blogger app so I can write to you on the go!

My first point of business: graduate-level students have no life. Zero. I don't have time to eat most days unless I pack a lunch or find a vending machine and can cram it in under 5 minutes.

Grad school is a beautiful experience, but don't be alarmed when it's nothing like undergrad and you actually have to read, study, and so some work earlier than the night before it's due. Get ready for group semester-long projects in every class and tests without multiple choice where essay questions can really be incorrect. Get ready for your grades to be based on how well/poorly your classmates did and not the work you put in. Grad school isn't like work either. It isn't the real world. There are deadlines that get moved around, yes, but you're also assigned things you don't know how to do and can't figure out by asking the professor or even searching the web. Grad school makes you a mess.

But it is still a great experience to learn something for once! You get hands-on experience and don't just memorize for the test, rather you soak it aaaaaaaall in.

Ok so there's my educationally aware post of the day! Now I invite everyone to check out my best friend's tumblr on what life is like when you actually work for something:

Www.missivylynn22.tumblr.com


Happy days to all!

ReStyle Yesterday's PonyTail

**Pay no attention to the lax clothes & lack of makeup, this was a lazy/study Sunday for me! And obviously on a normal day I actually try a little harder with the styles, I don't just let my frizzy hair fl & neither should you! This is just a step-by-step tutorial of what it would generally look like.

My typical ponytail consists of:

1.  Throwing my bangs into a mini pouf:

Then I pull this mess into a ponytail

    2.   Letting my curled bangs hang it out


So I decided to try some new things out.  Now I'm telling you right now, I'm awful with doing my hair all by myself, so everything talked about here is SUPER SIMPLE!!


Here are 5 different ways to spice up your ponytail a bit:

First we have the wrapped pony.  This comes first because you can do it to almost any type of ponytail you choose to do.  All you have to do is wrap your hair around the band that is actually holding your in place.  There are two ways to do this:

What the top of either pony looks like

• Put all of your hair into a pony then take some bottom section of the hair coming out of the band and begin to wrap it around the band.  Use a bobby pin to secure the wrapped hair into place (I like to shove the pin into the pony rather than laying it across the hair underneath the pony tail. 

Taking hair from the pony for the wrap

• Pull all of your back as if you are going to put it into a pony, THEN take a small section of the bottom hair out to not be banded.  This section is 1.5-2.5 fingers wide.  Secure the remaining hair in a ponytail holder.  Then wrap the excess hair around the band as done previously & secure with a bobby pin.  Note you can split this bottom section of hair and wrap from both sides for this look on both sides of your ponytail. I like to think it looks a little chic-er!
  

  

  With the hair separated pre-pony

Second is the side pony. It's fairly simple and something I used to do with a Topsy Turvy & now I do it on my own! 

Step 1: Secure all your hair to the side, just in front of your shoulder

Step 1 Glare into the camera with exasperation

Step 2: Part the area just above the band, throw pony hair upward then through the hole.

Step 2--But try a little harder than I did to hide the pony,
 give me some credit though, this band has no
stretch left in it

 Step 3: This is the optional part. You can either choose to braid some of your bangs diagonally backward & pin down as if it's flowing into your ponytail OR make a bun out of the pony flowing at your shoulder.  For the bun, simply tuck the pony into the hole above the band.

Step 3 is optional, but the pout sure helps ;)

Okay moving on to number 3!
This is one of my new favorites & it's super simple to do!

Step 1: Separate bangs/*shorter hair that are as close to bangs as you have* from the rest of your hair. Step 2: Put your main hair back into a typical, mid-level pony tail (note, low ponies also look great with this style)
Step 3: Wrap the pony like in Example 1a
Step 4: Braid each side of your "bangs" diagonally. This may take a few attempts to make it look right because diagonal braiding can feel quite uncomfortable! I used Jennifer Lawrence's hair here as my inspiration
Step 5: Bobby pin the braid into the pony tail so that all your hair meets and it looks as if the braid becomes part of the pony tail.

Front view, super simple, but collected

Back View

My favorite side view 

The other side view, where I'm obviously less-talented

 Pony #4: Is very simple, a braided half-headband as sported by Miss Ashley Tisdale, found here via Cosmopolitan, but I put the remaining hair in a half up pony


&& finally #5: A half pony half pouf do. It's my all-time fave hairstyle when a pouf on its own looks like poo.
Step 1: Create pouf & secure with bobby pins
Step 2: Gather hair just above the ears back & secure with a small pony. **Note this pony can be left as a pull-through bun if you want. It give a little extra bounce!

Front view

Side view w/ the bounce

And remember all of these styles can be played around with and morphed together!

Happy styling!!