STRESSED OUT

          Do you ever have a day or days where you just want to pull all of your hair out from the insane amounts of stress and frustration? For me, this whole month has been endless days of these moments on replay. Now you may ask, "Why are you so stressed out? All you do is go from home to school, and from school back home." That's just the thing. The most stressful part of my life is school. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to have an education at the amazing school I attend and seeing my friends everyday. But sometimes all of the homework, practices, and everything in between can almost become too much to handle all at once.
       
          One major piece of stress this past month has been the planning and preparation of PROM 2017. This year it is my class's responsibility to put on the prom. This includes dinner for all of the guests, the dance, decorations, invitations, and anything else that the word 'prom' entails. Going into this crazy and hectic journey with an open mind was the most important thing that I needed to keep reminding myself. It was super easy to be able to go in with an open mind, but now with all of the stressful aspects of this whole thing, it's hard to keep the same cheery attitude that I once had about prom. As prom creeps closer and closer, tension gets high at some points, but we all manage to stick together to get things done. For instance, I'm not the craftiest person in the world. So when my classmates and I decided that the invitations were going to be handmade, I wasn't too thrilled. The invitations, once finished, were absolutely stunning, but the process of making them was not. Cut, score, glue, tape, cut, score, glue, tape was definitely not how I wanted to make them. The stress aspect of this whole rant comes from the fact that the invites were due to go out on March 1st, and on February 27th, we hadn't even finished all of the envelopes. This all stress me out because I didn't want to have to rush the crafting process of the invitations and have them turn out sloppy. We managed to get all of the invites and enveloped finished by March 1st, thank the lucky stars! They turned out beautiful.
       
          Even though this was a very minute blip on the stress pile I like to call Mount Neverrest, prom doesn't even come close to some of the stupid things I tend to stress out about. What jeans to wear today, to the question of what if I don't get enough points on a quiz to pass play roles in my ever rising stress level. But the thing that tends to keep me level headed and down the right path to not blow over the top is that I won't have stress like this my whole life. The stress of having to decide the best pair of jeans to wear to school, or stressing over that important athletic game, to even stressing about graduating high school. Through it all I remind myself to take a deep breath, sit back, and cherish these moments, because one day I won't have them ever again. This is just one more little taste of the crazy ride I like to call "high school."

Collaborative post

When School and Fashion Collide: What To Do…

​A lot of times in a high school environment, teenagers get in trouble or sent home because of the clothing that they wear while trying to look trendy. We know how tough this can be, but working around these guidelines can help you avoid trouble as well as maintaining a respectable image. We decided to get together and collaborate on the struggles and strict guidelines of high school dress codes. With both of us attending the same high school, we know the rules and regulations of our dress code, and how to stay fashionable while meeting those rules. 

​Trust us, with our school having one of the strictest dress codes around, we know the struggles of following dress code, but changing the rules is nearly impossible. Working with your school is beneficial in many ways, that's why the author of the blog Simply Chic and I have decided to co-write this blog post on the topic of dress codes. To begin, one tip we have for you to still look fashionable is layering. Everyone hates the "three-inch wide" straps rule. Tank tops or shirts can’t be spaghetti straps and if they are they have to be covered. If you have a favorite summer tank that you absolutely adore but are hesitant to wear it to school, pair it with a complimentary jacket, cardigan, or wrap. 

        Attending a school with a strict rule against shorts can be a tough one, but wiggling around it isn't impossible! When Spring comes around capris and a loose tank top are your second option in solution to a "four-inches above the knee" rule. To all you other lucky ducks that have the old "finger tip" rule can get by with some cute shorts and sandals. Wearing your favorite Daisy Dukes is never a good idea when it comes to school, but keeping them a reasonable length will keep you out of trouble. 

​Do you ever find a super cute pair of jeans, but refrain from purchasing them because they have holes that show your leg skin? Another trick we have for you is to jazz those jeans up! Buy some black tights, or have grandma sew a couple pieces of lace underneath, while looking good but still following school rules. An alternative option to that is to get an old pair of jeans that you don’t wear anymore that are similar to the wash of the new jeans with holes. Then, cut some patches to fit the holes on your new jeans and glue the patches to them with some fabric glue or liquid stitch. If you're on your very last resort, try looking for some ripped jeans on the lower half of the leg while shopping. 

​We know high school can be tough sometimes and dress codes just add to the stress, but with these tips and tricks we hope that you can at least show up to school feeling confident, looking super chic, while still following the rules specified to your school.