Hello loves! It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, and it's been an even longer amount of time since I've written/filmed anything remotely related to college/back to school time. But the new school year has recently started, so I figured now would be a perfect time to share with you all an affordable fashion haul. Everything you'll see in this video, I purchased from Target, Ross, and Rue 21 - all very affordable retailers. I hope you all enjoy and, as always, thanks so much for watching! 

               This week has probably been one of the longest weeks of my life. It's my last week of work before moving back to Dekalb to finish my last year of school (senior year part 2). I'm planning on having out of town friends stay for a weekend, I've got last minute preparations for classes, and don't even get me started on the textbook buying process. I've also been procrastinating packing up everything I brought home for the summer, which isn't good at all. However, I decided that before I start packing, I'd show you guys around my room. This is where I've been filming all of my videos for the past few weeks and you guys have only seen a small portion of this space that I grew up in (more or less). It's nothing fancy; in fact, a lot of the furniture in this room was handed down to me by other family members. My personal style also differs a bit from the original style of this room, but I think I've spruced it up to my liking and I thought I'd share that with you guys. 

               I'd also be lying if I said that filming this video wasn't also a little sentimental for me. Because I'm graduating after this year, more than likely, it'll be quite a while before I see this room again, so I thought documenting this space would be fun. 

               As always, thanks so much for watching and be sure to hit up any of my social media links with any comments, questions, or concerns. Hope you enjoy! 

               Hello loves! This week, I wanted to share with you guys a bit of news that many people will not give a second thought to, but something that I hold very close to my heart: Corbin Bleu is now married. RIP little 13 year old Shatece whose only dream was to grow up and marry her beloved Corbin Bleu. So long teenage Shatece who was unashamed to ask for a High School Musical themed birthday cake for her 16th birthday. Woe is me to the 17 year old Shatece who, when Corbin Bleu announced he was releasing "Speed of Light", nearly fainted from excitement. 

               Obviously, the above paragraph is covered in sarcasm and is heavily dramatized. Of course I'm absolutely happy for him, but if I heard about this news about five years ago, this would be a completely different type of blog post. 

               Anyone who has ever met me (like, ever) would tell you that when I was in middle school and high school, I was absolutely crazy about Corbin Bleu! I still hold a special place for him in my heart, but I no longer have the giant poster of him taped to my ceiling above my bed. In this week's video, I wanted to share with you all a few of my favorite Corbin Bleu moments in TV, film, etc. Hope you enjoy!

               So it's no secret that I've definitely been MIA on my blog and my YouTube channel for quite some time and in this week's video, I'd like to explain why that's been the case. The transition from being at school and being motivated to write and film videos to being at home where I feel that I have to put a lot of my life and what I love on hold has really stressed me out and made me feel completely uninspired. Pepper in some anxiety, irrational thoughts, and a dash of depression and you've pretty much got me where I am right now. 

               I came to the realization at the end of this past school year that I'm pursuing a degree that I think is fascinating and I'll always love, but it's something I'm not sure I want to do at this very moment and I don't intend to use my degree once I get it. Motivation to continue to do well in school for a degree you realize you don't think you'll benefit from having anymore has been a little scarce. The pressure to then figure out what comes next after graduation is no help either. In a nutshell, I've been a confused and anxious mess of emotions the past few months and I'll be the first one to admit to letting that stop me from blogging and filming videos... but it doesn't have to continue to be that way.

               In this video, I share with you all a few things I did to motivate myself and bring myself back to getting into a productive mindset so I can get sh*t done! These tips aren't anything that worked over night or anything, but I definitely feel like I'm in a mental place where I can be more productive with the time I have. Hope you enjoy and, as always, thanks for watching! 

               In this week's video, I want to share with you all my very first natural hair video! Since doing the big chop and shaving my head about three years ago, I've been addicted to natural hair videos on YouTube! Natural hair tutorials have saved my life. I would have no idea what products were good for my hair, how to figure out my hair porosity and hair texture, or what type of hair routines I should have without them. Although I'm currently wearing my hair in protective styles and probably will be for the better part of this year (Honestly, who knows how long? Because I love my twists!), my natural hair routines and the products I use have not changed; they've just been altered a bit. I'm really excited to share this video for you guys and, as always, hope you enjoy!

               The past couple of weeks have been incredibly stressful with the end of the semester and finals, making preparations for the summer and for next semester, starting back at work over the summer, and, well, life in general. Needless to say, a girl just needed to #treatherself (but on a budget, though). I picked up a few things from Ulta, Target, and a couple other places to reward myself for getting through a long semester and to film my first ever haul video! I hope you enjoy and as always, thanks so much for watching! 

               In this week's video, I decided that I'd share with you guys a personal manifesto of mine. I've come to understand in my personal growth journey that having a manifesto, or a statement of my beliefs, morals, goals and aspirations, is vital to my growth process.

               I originally got the idea of writing a personal manifesto from an assignment I had in a Theatre class. Our assignment was to write a manifesto and share it with the class and I loved working on mine so much that I thought I'd share it with you now. As always, thanks for watching!

               Last week, I filmed a video about a few things I've learned in my 22 years of life and this past week, I've really been dealing with one of the really big things in that video - comparison. Specifically, comparing myself to  people I look up to. Bear with me; this week's video was filmed a little spontaneously and is kind of all over the place. (I'll be sure to answer any comments, questions, or concerns.) I've realized that in comparing myself to other people, I start to get down on myself unless I'm working every second of the day because I'm convinced I have to overwork myself in order to get to another person's level of success; this just isn't the case. If there's anything I'd like anyone to take away from this week's video, it's to  be okay in the "now". And by "now", I mean the frustrating beginning stages of striving to make your dreams of reality - when you're working yourself to death and it seems like you're getting nowhere because you're still not at someone's else level of success. That's the part of my life journey that I'm at right now and in this week's video, I wanted to share that experience with you. As always, thanks for watching!

               In this week's video, I wanted to share with you all some valuable lessons that I've learned in my 22 years of life. Just a quick disclaimer: I am in NO way an expert on life or adulthood (or anything really except the life story of High School Musical actor Corbin Bleu), but these are just some things that I've learned through experience and just might help you too. Be sure to comment on the video or head on over to any of my social media links with any comments, questions, concerns (praises :-D), or anything else. And as always, thanks for watching!