Yesterday I visited Ben in Galveston to present him an early birthday present and his very own Step 1 Care Package! I bought a large blue bin and filled it with things I thought would help him with his classes and studying. Ben helped me out by taking a pic of it on his desk since I'm writing this at home! Included in this package:

• loose leaf paper
• monthly planner (I drew in a study calendar that the students were given inside with a red pen. Also stenciled how many Qbank questions he should complete at the end of each week until his exam!)
• pens & pencils
• mini stapler
• two pack eyeglasses cleaning cloth
• sticky notes
• lanyard for his badge
• wireless mouse for his laptop
• huge note cards plus a folder to store them
• food! York peppermint patties, chocolate covered pretzels, potato chips, etc.

According to Ben, it was amazing! It was hard not to go overboard with this bin which was already overflowing with things. I promised to "restock" it anytime so I think it will be put to good use. The search for shoes is always ongoing because determining his shoe size has been tricky. I found a pair of white shoes in 11 1/2 so I hope that works out for him. He's already worn it out when we went to dinner so only time will tell if I got the right size.

Part of me feels in a rush to get lots of things done before classes start. I was a whirlwind of activity working on presents: birthday gifts, anniversary presents, Valentine's Day, etc. Even though it seems far away, getting it down now saves me the hassle of stressing about it on the weekends. Plus the fact that there's only a week between Ben's birthday, our third year anniversary, and Valentine's Day. I even fixed up a little something for Connie's birthday too! Despite that, I was still able to treat myself to some great sales this month. Here are some of my newest purchases.

Ecote Patterened Canvas Backpack	French Terry Raglan Pullover	Lace Overlay Crewneck Sweater	BLUE (couldn't find a pic) shirt dress
Tarte 'Brewed Awakening' Eyeshadow Palette	Revlon's 'Brazil Nut' from Nude line	Coach Poppy Perfume

The last one was actually a gift from Ben. He got 30% off on it because of his aunt! Good to have connections :) I've been using both the eye shadow palette and the lipstick constantly since I bought them. Officially my new nude lipstick. The eyeshadow is also great for the daily look. I mostly use the two eyeshadows in the middle. Last but not least, I subscribed to a year's supply of Glamour and Self magazine because they were doing a New Year's sale that gave me both issues for only $20! I should probably cool it on the purchases but the sales were so good that I couldn't pass these up.

I haven't felt like writing any new skincare routine because my skin is still recuperating from the face serum I tried at the Body Shop. It's really unfortunate because I had high hopes for that one! It was from their Vitamin E line so I'll stay away from that in the future. The Tea Tree line is still my ultimate favorite and once my skin bounces back, I can say a little more about the Seaweed line. School starts tomorrow and I'll be heading in with my new backpack. The black Swiss backpack is still in good condition but it was heavy by itself and giving me back problems, hence this new purchase. It's still January but I feel like this semester will go by quickly when I start getting ready for the new application cycle.

I'm getting pretty anxious about it so hopefully I can cool off and just focus on getting all As again this semester. I'll get back to the exercise schedule, read a little more on one of the new book series I started (Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series), and of course occasionally check my favorite tv shows. Keeping optimistic is such a struggle but like everyone tells me, I should take it a day at a time.