Let’s face it. Commuting can be both a time suck and get extremely expensive for you. Whether it’s driving to and from class, or driving to work, or social events, gas + car maintenence + insurance adds up, and it’s added up all the way up to graduation day and will continue to after.

So what are real ways to save?
Today’s post is inspired by a recent article on LifeHacker.com.

2 of our favorite tips?
1) Change your work hours
- While this may be difficult for the just recent college grad to ask for a flexible schedule or work at home accommodations, it’s not to say you can add things to the beginning or end of your work day. Consider avoiding rush hour by hitting the gym early, or hitting the gym later . Grab groceries nearby to pass the rush hour instead of driving then grabbing them. Plan ahead, and you can often shave off a lot of minutes from your commute.

2. Partner up
Heading to the local coffee shop to study? Partner up with your girlfriend, boyfriend, or friend. Not only will this be more fun but you guys can switch off on driving each time.

Staying positive can be a challenge, especially in senior year right before graduation. For many, positivity may be elusive because your “real world” plans haven’t been finalized yet. Where will you work? Have you interviewed? Did the job offer come yet? Where will you live? Will you move back home?

These questions and concerns can easily overcome our days and stress you to a point where we become paralyzed from the countless decisions to be made. But what’s one to do? When real world situations, family issues, or relationship issues all seem to collide at the most inconvenient time, or sh*t hits the fan? That mixed in with the stress of upper division courses and grade/graduation requirements can make for a tough Spring quarter/semester.

Today’s post is inspired by a recent post titled “6 Simple Ways To Be A Positive Human” from Pickthebrain.com.

What are the tips? Our two favorites were:
Take Action, Don’t be a Talker – Taking action instead will always trump criticism. If you don’t like how something is done, go fix it or take a step to helping out. It’s not too late to help out your fraternity, sorority, or student organization. Don’t just sit on the sidelines and be a critic, but get in the trenches and help out.

Choosing the Right Friends – Choosing the right friends can go such a long way. Surround yourself around go getters and people who are motivated in life. They’ll lift you up, and you’ll lift them up. As the saying goes “The whiners, they keep on whining even in heaven.” – Don’t let these people bring you down.

Have tips to stay positive? Share them below!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lel4nd/5455224577/

So with graduation and graduation parties coming up soon, for those that do choose drink and enjoy a glass of wine, have you heard of this trick?  The trick is adding frozen grapes to your wine and using them as ice cubes.

Why you ask? Because wine is often best served between 45-60 degrees. Adding in the frozen grapes will likely not dillute or throw off the flavor and would be a quick way to do it in case you forgot to chill your wine.

So wash a batch of grapes and throw it into the refrigerator as soon as you can so that when commencement comes and you’re decked out in your graduation gown and sash, if you do forget to chill the wine, you’ll have a solution!

Read the full tip here
Photo Credit: http://www.improvisedlife.com/2011/08/29/dept-of-chill-wine-friendly-grape-ice-cubes/

With that said, here are a few basic tips we’d recommend considering when ordering your graduation stoles this year.

1. Focus The Colors – Have meaning in the colors you choose. Are they school colors, fraternity colors, sorority colors? Don’t just go with any color, but really think through your options. At YourSash, we offer 3 color options starting with your sash fabric, to the trim, to the actual embroidery, all of which can be customized.

2. Fonts – Keep it consistent. Think of your sash as a resume you’re sending off to your potential employer. Most likely you’ll want to have 1 common font set. This way, everything just flows better on both the left side and right side, and from top to bottom.

3. Make sure you have the basics - The most popular embroidery customizations you’ll see on a graduation stole are often “Class of 2013″ (or the graduating year), and the name of the organization (often times Greek letters, or abbreviations also). Focus on these, placing these 2 customizations on opposite sides of the sash, and from there building additional customizations (if desired) around those.

4. Order early! We can’t stress this enough, but order early. As soon as you know how many seniors are graduating, we’d recommend finalizing the designs and getting an order through. Our standard production times are 2-3 weeks + shipping, so order early to avoid rush fees.

Curious as to how others are designing their sashes? See a few designs and color combos below!

Today’s post is inspired by an article on LifeHacker. The article highlights this new company, Chef 5 Minute Meals, which makes a to-go meal that cooks itself!

Where was this when we were in college and running late to class?

Would you try this? We would.

Today’s post was inspired by an article on LifeHacker. Throughout high school and college, it’s likely that we’re being introduced to new people every day. Whether it’s friends of friends, professors, coworkers, etc. By the time graduation hits you’ve probably met hundreds if not thousands of people. And while some of those introductions and relationships may not go anywhere, there are those that are lasting. Those who become best of friends, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, or mentors.

The premise of the Lifehacker article mentioned earlier goes into remembering names. While many of us may have different mimonic devices to remember names, this idea is much simpler: pairing people’s eye colors to their names.

What do you think of this strategy? Will it work? Would it help you remember a name of someone you met three years before graduation this spring?

What are your tips to remembering names? Share them with other grads today!

Ready to order your graduation stoles? Order soon and save on shipping!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/3297208230/

Graduation Stoles Class of 2013

It’s about that time of year again. No, time to fill out your bracket for March Madness (well, it is that), but graduations season!

Be sure to order early this year. We currently have a promotion where if you order 6 or more sashes (of any design), you’ll receive 10% off your entire order.

So what are you waiting for? Here are 5 tips to make the process of ordering graduation stoles easier and less stressful for you and your organization.

1) You’ll want to order at least 4 weeks before you need your sashes. So that means you’ll want to finalize your design and final order quantity before then. Set a date and reminder on your calendar to order early and save on rush fees.  Allow an extra week for certain seniors to get back to you.

2) Start counting now. How many seniors will need stoles? Setup a quick Facebook poll on your organization’s page to get a rough estimate, and ask people to confirm by a certain date.

3) Think of designs. What basics would you like on your stoles? Class of 2013, Organization name? Do you want additional personalizations? What is in your budget?

4) Place your order! Why delay any longer? Once you have the final order count and customizations, start designing your graduation stoles.

5. Sit back and relax and let us take care of the rest!  From production, to shipping, we’ll handle it all once we receive your order.

Let’s admit it, keeping a clean apartment or dorm room in college can sometimes be as challenging as an upper division course. Whether it’s because of your personal habits, your roommate from hell, or the guests who come over, often times common areas can become dirty and disorganized so quickly.

So how is one to combat this?  Especially with a full course load, work, and prep for graduation?  Well, there’s many ways, but today’s strategy is inspired by Unclutterer.com’s method.  The method focuses around a concept of 15-minute cleaning sessions everyday.  Squeezing those in either in the morning, in the evening, or whenver you have some down time.  In these microbursts, the goal is to focus on just 1 area of your room/apartment and in doing so you’ll get to your entire room in a week’s time.

Check out the full tip here.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26531284@N02/7824359066/

Did you know that up to 40 percent of food that is grown and sold in the US is wasted? Yes, that high! And what’s the major reason for that? It’s fresh produce that is spoiling.

So the question is, when you’re shopping for fruits and vegetables and eating healthier to look great in your graduation sash and gown, which ones tend to keep longer? Here are a few fruits and veggies that won’t spoil as quickly.

Carrots – Carrots tend to give off a lot of moisture, so keeping them dry will be key to preventing them from spoiling. Add a paper towel or two into the packaging and they’ll likely last a bit longer than expected.

Potatoes – Who doesn’t like mash potatoes? The ideal temperature to store them is 40 degrees Farenheit. Hide them in darkness and keep them away from other veggies and they’ll likely keep for a while.

Apples – Did you know apples placed in the refridgerator tend to keep much longer than if placed outside? Well now you know!

If you’re interested, check out the full article here at organicgardening.com.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/u-suke/256355791/

Well luckily now, there seems to be a great solution to help with this. Calm.com gives you a guided meditation experience that can help you rest in intervals of 2 minutes, 10 minutes 20 minutes, or more.

And the great part? It’s available in a format that so many of us are familiar with, an App!

So the next time you have some time between classes or fraternity or sorority meetings, be sure to check out this app. Maybe it’ll help you focus before your big event or test!

Check out the app here & more at Calm.com.