Thursday Three

This was a great week to end my summer with. I was able to go to the farmer's market, hang out with friends and get things organized for the upcoming year. My favorite part was that I finally got my senior pictures taken last Friday. The weather was perfect for it which was amazing since it had been super humid all week. From what I saw, I love the pictures and I can't wait to share them on the blog! With that let's get on with the rest of the week:

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The weather was all over the place for the past little while. It was kind of annoying but I did like being able to wear long sleeves and sweatshirts again. One day it was super rainy so I broke out the Hunters. These are one of my favorite pairs of shoes so I loved being able to wear them!

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The farmer's market is one of my favorite things about where I live. It seems like everyone in the area goes there. I love the bright colors that the food brings to the place. The best part of it all is the vendors with delicious bakery items and kettle corn. 

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I used to really like to bake but it was something I just didn't do anymore. This week I decided that I wanted to bake a lemon poppy seed bread. I had so much fun baking that I am hoping to make something new every weekend. I don' think that idea will last too long but I am going to make the most of the time I have. 

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie

Outfit: Back To School

| Top (similar) | Jeans | Shoes | Wallet (similar) |

Planning what to wear on the first day of school will forever be a stressful thing for me. I don't know why I care so much, but I always have. I love the idea of this outfit. It is a super casual outfit but it also looks very put together. If your school is always freezing like mine is, them you can easily pack a sweater to add as well. The wallet is included mainly because it went so well with the outfit and because I frequently like to go somewhere after school and a wallet is the perfect size to fit in a backpack. I think this outfit i  perfectly fresh and summery looking for the first day of school!

What will you be wearing for the first day of school?

xoxo,

Maddie

What's In My Backpack

Packing your backpack for the first day of school can seem a little confusing as you never quite know what you will need. This year I made sure the think about what I used on a daily basis during the school day. Then I made sure to think about "emergency" items such as a charger and a Tide-to-go pen. With both ideas kept in mind, here is what is in my backpack for senior year.

        To start I have my normal school supplies, including many things that aren't shown such as more binders and standard pens and pencils. I will only use the flexible binders because it allows me to fit more of them into my backpack. I don't like to go to my locker so this way I can keep up to 6 in my backpack at a time. I am never ready for school without my agenda. It is pretty much my life, since it holds every thing I do in it. In my agenda I love to use colored pens to keep it even more organized. Would you be interested in a post about how I organize my agenda?
        The rest of my backpack is filled with necessities that aren't class based but just as important for the school day. I always have my phone and a charger for it in my backpack. I also will always have a snack and something to drink, as well as gum for after I eat. Lastly I have hair ties because we all know that not every day turns out to be a good hair day. I also throw in a Tide to go stick because I am very good at spilling food on myself, especially if I am wearing white. 
        Each of these items should be in any high schooler's backpack. At some point of time, they have come in handy to help me make my school day a better day. 

Anything you think I missed? Tell me in the comments!

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Three

This week wasn't nearly as exciting for me as others. The best part of it was that I finished working for the summer, I am so pumped to not have to lifeguard for another 9 months. This being said I have a week until school starts so much of this past week was spent getting things done that I had been pushing off all summer. For now let's see what I did:

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Lists have always helped me get things done so I made a large bucket list for the school year to make sure I don't spend all my time worrying about school, but that I have some fun too. In a week or two I will have an abbreviated list on the blog of what is on my bucket list.

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Much of this week was spent catching up with friends and going out with everyone that I promised to spend time with. I was so happy that I was able to spend time with one of my friends before she went back to school (she goes to a different one) since we rarely get to see each other during the school year. We got bagels which is always the perfect food for a morning breakfast date. 

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All summer I have been planning to update my bulletin board with more pictures from over the years and to make space for all of the senior pictures I plan on getting from others this year. This project started in July and I am so happy that I finally finished it.

Hope you had a great week!

xoxo,

Maddie

Q & A

Over the past couple of weeks I have been asking on my Instagram (@classyandcleverblog) if any of you had questions for me. Here are the questions that I got and if you have any others feel free to email me or comment them below. 

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging June 2015. I really wanted something to do over that summer and it turned out to be one of my favorite activities. 

What inspired your blog name?
I really wanted a blog name that wouldn't hold me to one topic. This is why there isn't anything about being preppy in it. I did want something to do with style which is why I picked classy. I love when words or phrases sound like they fit together so I went through a list of words that started with C until I found the one that fit my personality which was clever. 

Who is you photographer?
My younger sister takes all of my outfit pictures, while I take all of the other ones.

What is your go-to outfit?
I really have two go-to outfits, one for lazy days and the other is for going out. On lazy days you can always catch me in a long sleeve pocket tee (either Vineyard Vines or Great Lakes Collection ) and Nike shorts. If I am going out I typically wear a pair of J.Crew chinos and a striped tee.

What are your favorite stores to shop at?
My top three favorite stores would be Vineyard Vines, Lilly Pulitzer and J. Crew. I also really like Great Lakes Collection and sometimes American Eagle has good things. It all really depends on what I am looking for, but my three top favorites is where I by the most clothes from. 

What is your favorite Lilly print?
I like almost all Lilly prints. My favorite of their current prints is Get Trunky because I really love elephants and blue which makes the print perfect. Of the older prints I love Lobster Roll since it is just so cute. 

Hope you enjoyed!

xoxo,

Maddie

DIY Popsicles

Ingredients: 
- 1 cup (8 oz) water
- 2 1/2  oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/3 cup ( 2 1/2 oz) 2% milk
- 1 Tbsp half & half

Instructions: 
-In a medium saucepan over low heat, whisk together the water, chocolate, sugar and salt until the chocolate has completely melted (do not boil) and chocolate granules have dissolves, about 5 minutes (test by dipping a clean spoon into the mixture: if you don't see many chocolate specks, it's ready to come off the heat). Let cool slightly (about 10 minutes). Whisk in the milk and half & half. Refrigerate until cool. 
-Once cool add to Popsicle maker. If you don't have a maker then add it into plastic cups and freeze until solid. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try this!

xoxo,

Maddie

Thursday Three

This week might be classified as my favorite week of the summer. Over the weekend I had my last, and best, trip to Door County. MY cousin and his girlfriend came and visited for the day and it was tons of fun to hang out with them. We spontaneously ran into the bay and swam which was my favorite part of the weekend, even though the rocks cut up our feet. I also got to go to Chicago for a trip with my mom. That is where all of my pictures are from so I'll explain more below!

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 We spent the first day shopping downtown which was a blast. My favorite part of all was lunch at the Peninsula Hotel. I actually got breakfast which as a banana french toast. It was sooo good. I also had a strawberry lemonade soda that was to die for. This was such a great lunch with people watching, good food, and patio sitting.

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 Shopping was so great. The first day was downtown and second we went to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago. I was so happy that I got to go to Vineyard Vines, both the normal store and the outlet, and the same with J.Crew. I also went to Zara, Kendra Scott, Patagonia and a whole bunch of other places. Comment below if you want to see a haul for it!

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Yup, this is another food picture. Well that is because I got Sprinkles Cupcakes which I have been wanting ever since I started watching Cupcake Wars in 7th grade and found out that one of the judges owns it. This is also the place with the Cupcake ATM. I posted a picture of it on Instagram. (follow me @classyandcleverblog) I got a S'mores cupcake which was amazing, even though I got a ton of marshmallow in my hair. 

What were you up to this week?

xoxo,

Maddie