At the start of the month I expressed my dislike for August. But I have to say it was a darn good month. It was full of good people, good times, and surprisingly lacked stress. I am excited to dive head first into September.

My 5 favorite things in August:

1. Dean Unglert -- He won me over post Bachelorette via the Almost Famous podcast and has continued to steal it on Paradise. He even Venmoed me $1.49 last week so I could buy a bag of Hot Cheetoes. Yup. I'm a Deanie Baby.
2. Unforgettable by Thomas Rhett -- This has been playing on repeat in my car for the last couple weeks. I can't wait to hear it live this month at his Home Team Tour.
3. Bang Energy Drink -- This energy drink is perfect pre-workout. I had the champagne flavor and I am definitely going to be ordering a case of it to dig into before the intense workout days. It has amino acids, creatine, and mass amounts of caffeine.
4. The Real Housewives of Dallas -- I never watched this until Brandi Redmond was recently on the Reality Steve podcast and I fell in love with her! I am halfway through season one and these girls are crazy but Brandi and Stephanie are friendship goals!
5. Crunch Fitness -- A friend convinced me to join with her and the classes are amazing! I have been loving spinning, dancing, and squatting my way into better shape!

Back to school shopping is my favorite time of year. Even as an adult, I love the brightly lined aisles of Target full of college-ruled notebooks, #2 pencils, and locker decorations. While the key of back to school shopping starts with the perfect backpack, the most fun is found in filling it up. Here are some of my back to school backpack necessities:

Bachelor in Paradise started last night and I have to say I felt much more invested in that episode than I was in all of Rachel's season. Although I was disappointed that they did not get into the DeMario/Corinne situation like I had anticipated, I will be locked back in today. ABC sure knows what they are doing over there. Here are 5 thoughts I had during last night's episode:

Packing lunch is such a simple thing, but when not put at the forefront of your prepping for the following day, it can end up in you running late in the morning and have to go out to lunch, which can be unhealthy and expensive.

Here are 4 lunch pack hacks to make sure you have healthy, convenient meals for work or school:

1. Get ahead of the game on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, in between doing laundry and finishing up homework, prep as much of your lunchtime meals as you can for the week. I like to utilize my crock pot for this to make something delicious and healthy that will last me the whole week.

2. Have a snack station set up. Have crates in the fridge full of various objects such as ready to go packages of fruit, sandwiches, cheese sticks, vegetables, hummus, and more. This will make it easy to grab and go out the door in the morning.

3. Make freezer meals! Believe it or not a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be kept frozen for six weeks. Make a bunch of them one day and you can take them with you to school or work. By lunchtime it will be thawed out and ready to eat!

4. Don't be afraid of leftovers. I know they're not ideal, but make extra of your dinner so that you can eat leftovers for lunch the next day. It will save time and money.

The This or That Tag has been making its way across blogs and YouTube channels, so I decided to give it a shot! Read below to get to know me better and leave a comment with some of your choices!

The Questions:

MAKEUP:
blush or bronzer
lip gloss or lipstick
eye liner or mascara
foundation or concealer
neutral or color eye shadow
pressed or loose eye shadows
brushes or sponges

NAILS:
OPI or china glaze
Long or short
Acrylic or natural
Brights or darks
Flower or no flower

BODY:
perfume or body splash
lotion or body butter
body wash or soap
lush or other bath company

FASHION:
jeans or sweat pants
long sleeve or short
dresses or skirts
stripes or plaid
flip flops or sandals
scarves or hats
studs or dangly earrings
necklaces or bracelets
heels or flats
cowboy boots or riding boots
jacket or hoodie
forever 21 or charlotte russe
abercombie or Hollister
saks 5th or nordstrom

HAIR:
curly or straight
bun or ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips
hair spray or gel
long or short
light or dark
side sweep bangs or full bangs
up or down

RANDOM:
Rain or shine
Summer or winter
Fall or spring
Chocolate or vanilla
East coast or west coast

Enjoy Life is allergy friendly. Their products are free from wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, and shellfish. These are the eight most common allergies so it makes their products extremely consumer friendly. Another plus about the company is that their products are GMO free, casein free, and contain no potato, sesame, and sulfites. Their foods are delicious and natural, which is what we should all be striving for with what we put into our bodies.

They offer a wide range of items including cookies, baking mixes, seed and fruit mixes, and more. They recently added three new flavors to their Gluten-Free Chewy Bar collection: Caramel Blondie, Carrot Cake, and Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed. The bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and soy-free. My favorite is the Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed!