Saturday Studying Snacks: Iced Coffee Frappe

As the summer is properly taking over Norway (two consecutive days of more than 20 degrees – HECK YES), I’m going harder on the cold drinks than ever. This delicious thing is a great way of getting both a refreshment and caffeine in one go.

How to Stay Productive – Summer Holiday Edition

We all know the feeling. You walk out of the school building, throwing your papers in the air, singing What time’s it?! from High School Musical 2 and dreaming of all the amazing things you’re going to do this summer. However, the truth is that you most likely have some things you should do this summer that aren’t all fun. This often leads to the realisation that school is suddenly only a week away and you’ve gotten none of them done.

So how do you prevent that? How can you make sure that you keep just a little bit of your productivity through summer break?

10 Things the IB Taught Me

My first real memory of the IB, apart from stalking the tumblr tag, was 11:40 am the 12th of June 2013. Me and one of my now best friends arrived at the school library to pick up our IB textbooks, two months before my first year of IB started. I was so incredibly excited.

Eight days ago I handed back the last piece of my IB equipment, my GDC, after my final IB exam. I still cannot believe it. The first memory is almost two years old and I have both finished and survived this infamous program. I have also enjoyed it immensely and learnt more than I ever thought possible, both in all my subject and about myself.

That is what this post is about; sharing that knowledge.

1. You need enough sleep to be able to preform your best

2. There is no such thing as starting an assignment too early

3. You won’t excel at everything. You might even excel at nothing. You might be    terrible at things. That’s alright, as long as you give it your all.

4. Crying is alright and will probably make you feel better.

5. Your grades don’t define you, but if you get a good grade it is definitely worth celebrating.

6. Sometimes teachers suck at teaching you. Then you find other sources of knowledge that are more suited to your needs.

7. Just because your exams are two years away, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to work right now.

8. A supportive environment is important, be it classmates, family or strangers on tumblr.

9. Don’t assume someone doesn’t work hard, just because you never seem them do so.

10. Others are likely struggling as much as you, so be kind, have each other’s backs and help each other out

3 Shows to Binge Watch This Summer

I’m sorry in advance for anyone that aren’t on summer break yet and that who will now be stuck watching Netflix forever instead of studying because of this post.

As I am officially on summer break, I thought I’d tell you all about three shows that I definitely think are worth a binge this summer. Please bear in mind that these are just my opinion on these shows and our preferences might not be alike at all. 

How I Edit My Instagram Photos

Go follow me on instagram at maryplethora

I’ve gotten a few questions about how I edit my instagram pictures, so I thought I’d make a small step-by-step guide, and here it is!

1. Take the picture, using the square option on the iPhone camera. I usually use my bedsheets as a background, because there is some texture, but it’s still plain.
2. Open up VSCOcam
3. Import the picture
4. Add the A5 filter
5. Contrast: +3
6. Saturation: -2
7. Highlights save: +12
8. Shadows tint – blue: Between +2 and +6 depending on the picture
9. Temperature: Between 0 and -6 depending on the picture
10. Exposure: +1 if necessary

Room Tour

Greetings everyone!

I’ve had several requests to do a room tour, either here or on my youtube channel. So today, I bring you a post containing a video so that you, to quote Hannah Montana, get the best of both worlds.

This is where I’ve been spending most of my time lately. I absolutely love my bed. It is so comfy and in the drawers underneath there is plenty of storage space. My nightstand is a little cubbie thing from IKEA, which holds my home made nightlight, water bottle, a notebook and a hair grab. The two framed collages are DIYs of mine and I love the look of them.

This dresser or whatever you call them is my pride and joy. You know why? It said in the IKEA instructions that you should be two people to put it together, but I did it all by myself. In there I keep jewellery, makeup, underwear and socks (in different drawers, obviously). On top I have a stack of magazines, some nail polish and some knickknacks (like my three casual cacti).

Then beside it I keep my knitting stuff and laptop stand. On the chair in the corner I keep my schoolbag, a couple of blankets and my hat. In the winter I usually transfer all the blankets over to my bed and bundle up in those together with my duvet.

Then finally there is my desk. Here I do most of my schoolwork and I also spend a lot of time here just scrolling tumblr. I keep all my books and school supplies here, as well the stuff that I need to work on. If you want to see a more in-debt post on my desk, I have done a desk tour.

And here, to see how everything is connected, I added a little swipe over my room. Enjoy!

What To Do On a Bad Day

My exams are rapidly approaching (just 9 days left!!) and amongst all the study tips posts that are popping up, I wanted to do a post about those days when things don’t go as planned. Be it that you walk out of an exam and feel like you bombed it, or that you get back a disappointing score. We all know the feeling. So here are some things that I like to do to make the day suck a little less!

• Have some chocolate (light/dark/milk, hot/cold/whatever as preferred)
• Have a bath, or a long shower
• Go for a walk or a jog, preferably surrounded by nature
• Find someone/something to cuddle
• Even if you have things to do, give yourself a break
• Tidy your room/flat/whatever to get a fresh perspective
• Open all windows and air out your room
• If you have things that need to be done, make a to do list and sort your brain out
• Organise your clutter/notes/room/whatever
• Do come colouring in a colouring book (these are awesome)
• Try your hand at painting, even if you’re terrible at it
• Make yourself some tea
• Bake something (and eat it without feeling guilty afterwards)
• Light a nice-smelling candle
• Spend time with the positive forces in your life, be it parents, friends or pets
• Watch your favourite movie (preferably with someone who loves it as much as you)
• Go on spotify, pandora, soundcloud, 8tracks or wherever and look for new music
• If you find some really good music, have a dance party
• Put on your favourite outfit (+ makeup look if you’re into that)
• Paint your nails, shave, moisturize, wash your face and pamper yourself
• Check out universityandme​‘s “You are a force of nature” tag
• If you need someone to talk to, send me an ask, either here or on my main blog, saturdaystudying

MaryPlethora Music: Saturday Studying, an 8tracks playlist

An 8-tracks playlist of newly discovered, upbeat songs for studying

• Smells Like Summer – EARLY HOURS
• Oh My Love – The Score Official
• Pressure – Milk and Bone
• Halsey – HALSEY
• Take Me to Church (Hozier Cover) – Ellie Goulding
• She’s a Riot – The Jungle Gigants
• Ready to Fight – Roby Fayer
• Shark Attack – Grouplove
• 101 – WALLA
• Halcyon Birds – Broken Back

Desk Tour

Greetings everyone! 

Like the average student, I spend I a lot of time at my desk, be with working with school or just hanging out and chilling with my computer. Like many other people, I also know that I can’t get anything done there if it is messy, which is why I keep it my mission to keep it at least semi-tidy at all times. And today, when it is even tidier than usual, I will show you guys around!

This is my entire desk. It has no drawers, but a little cabinet underneath. I won’t show you that, because the only things in there is my printer and some random stuff. I have no idea neither how old my desk is, nor where it’s from. However, I do know I’ve had it for years, so you probably can’t get it anywhere anymore. It also used to have a top part, with a little cabinet thing sitting on top of it, but it made surface space so small that it was just more convenient to remove that part. As you can see, my door is on the left, and my window is on the right, to it’s bright and well lit, which is always good when I need to work.

Both these little cubbies and the pictures I got from IKEA last summer. Once upon a time this space used to be tidy as well, but not anymore. In the cubbie to the left, I keep things that I reach for just when I’m going out the door, like my purse, my headphone and my keys, as well as random things like my moisturiser. Because why bother with consistency? The one in the middle is for office supplies, like paper clips, post it’s and pens. As well as my most used nail polishes. I paint my nails a lot when I study, so it’s handy to have when within reach.

As for the last cubbie, that is for books, as you can probably see. Both the inside, and the top holds books. However, inside it is also a box of candy and a bottle of Bailie’s Irish Cream. Books and booze, you know. The best combination. Also, there is a bit of everything here when it comes to books: my old bullet journal, a fresh notebook, my student cookbook, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, another notebook, Wreck This Journal and all the novels we’re reading for Norwegian and English.

In the corner of my desk, I keep a file-holder with the label “Deal with this”. It contains things that I pull out of my bag, but don’t know where to put or things that are just floating around on my desk. I clear this out every so often, putting things away or throwing them away, making way to new things. Beside it is a little INGLOT bag, where I have a notepad and my pencil case at the moment, just do they don’t float around on my desk, making it messy. My desk calendar also lies here, and every now and then I go through my planner, transferring things to this so that I can easily reference them when sitting at my desk.

I have two cork boards by my desk. This one, and one hanging above the “deal with this” folder. On the one not pictured here, I mostly just display the letters that I’ve gotten from my awesome pen pal, studiousmedic. I originally had a picture of that as well, but then I realised that you could see my full name and my address, and I figured that I shouldn’t put that on the internet. Anyway, on this one I just keep my little countdown to the last of my exams, and a little motivation. I am working on getting more motivational quotes and everything up there. And in front of this, my cacti from IKEA are just chilling. You know, got to have some casual cacti on my desk.

And that is everything that is on my desk! If any of you make a post similar to this one, send me a link, because I would love to see the places that you get your work done!

Winter Favourites

Greetings everyone!

I thought it would be a good idea to do a post on the things that I’ve been loving this winter. Mostly because I would love to do favourite posts, but I was thinking that monthly favourites might be too frequently. Let me know what you think?

So for winter there are certain things that I just cannot make due without. The specifics change from year to year, but the more general aspects tends to be constant. For example, where I live it gets pretty cold, so I am always wearing approximately 14 layers, 12 of them being wool, and I’m still cold. Therefore anything that can keep me warm is a necessity. And with that being said, let me show you the things that I have been loving this winter!

Let’s start with some fashion/beauty related things. The first thing that I have been loving my my hand cream. I was never much of a hand cream person, because I hated my hands being wet or sticky, but now I know what I was missing out on. It has completely saved my hands this winter, and this one, from TGR, that I have been using smells wonderfully of ginger tea and mint, on top of being amazing.

I have also been loving my red lipstick and eyeliner combo, which is basically the only makeup I wear. It’s pretty quick and easy to get done in the morning, but it makes you look strangely put together. I like that. My go to red lipstick has been the Isadora Perfect Matt Lipstick in 05 Femme Fatale and the liquid eyeliner I’ve been using lately is H&M’s Dipliner.

If you had happened to bump into me during these last months, chances are that you would have found me wearing at least one of these next two items. They are both from H&M, although I bought the cardigan years ago and the dress in October.

This cardigan is absolutely awesome, because it is perfect for me in every way. The right length, the right fit, the right thickness, gives the right amount of warmth, is black, you name it. I have come close to wearing it every day, because it has just been perfect to throw on over any outfit that I’ve been wearing.

When I bought this dress I was thinking that it would be great for the summer, and while I still do, I have used it so much this winter. I would not have thought that I would, as it is a tshirt dress. However, I have a thermal tank top that I wear underneath it, and then I pair it with my black cardigan and fleece tights. It is so comfortable, a really lightweight material and I just love it.

These are quite random favourites, but they really are favourites. I got into dark chocolate last summer, and not too long ago I found a delicious and SUPER CHEAP kind at my local grocery shop. This means that I am very obsessed. It is a great motivation and mini-reward when I’m studying and I absolutely love it to bits.

My other random / study-related favourite is the Pilot G-2 pen in 0.5 point. This one is actually in 0.7 point because I couldn’t find the 0.5 pint last time I ran out. I run out of these. I use them for everything, but my mock exams drain them because I have to write so much. They are absolutely amazing though. In Norway they (like everything else) are kind of pricey, but they are worth it to me. I am the kind of person that will practically kill my hand clutching a pen, but the ink just flows so smoothly out of this one, which makes me lighten my grip a little bit. Can you tell I’m in love with this pen?

And my last favourite: the studyblr community. I am so glad that I found the studyblr community, because it honestly helps me so much, and everyone here are so nice. I spend so much time just reblogging pictures and replying to messages. If I hadn’t been a part of the studysblr community I would definitely have gotten a lot less done than I do now. So honestly, I am so thankful for the studyblr community and it has definitely been a favourite this entire winter.