9 PM Thoughts & Happy Pictures

It's currently 9:02 and although I have a whole notebook full of future blog post ideas, I thought I would just take some time to reflect.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately, just looking at old pictures, from as far back to when I was four to when I was fourteen. So much has changed. My entire perspective, confidence, mindset. I'm still myself, yes, but different. Thankfully I've kept most of my same friends throughout high school, but I've also met new friends that keep me laughing.

I'm also realizing that although it seemed like there was a dramatic change in high school, everything will be so much different. Yet to determine if it will be in a good way or bad way. Most all of my friends will be moving away and starting anew with their lives. My entire routine will be rocked. It's time to get real and serious - no more slacking off or just "chilling." I mean, of course I can be relaxed but I have to consider my future seriously now. It's the beginning of the rest of my life. And I am terrified, to be quite honest. But here's hoping for the best.

On a lighter note, summer is approaching, I'm starting an internship, my friendship group has never been stronger, and I'm currently eating Hot Cheetos ;)

I know these pictures are totally random, but I love them because I look so light-hearted and happy. I don't think I could have ever taken a picture like that sophomore year. My family and I went strawberry picking over the weekend and these are just some snapshots from that day. My hair is blowing in the wind, I'm trying the farm vegetables, wearing one of my favorite shirts, and my makeup is on fleek.  I was irritated at how many pictures my mom was taking but I'm grateful for a way to remember such moments. So thanks, mom!

Anyways, I'm off to take a shower now, but look forward to some upcoming posts I'm excited about!
(hint: OOTDs,  liquid eyeliner comparisons, and a miracle all-encompassing beauty oil)

My Everyday Makeup Routine

Hello all! Happy November! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween

Today I thought I'd go through my everyday makeup routine, just cause I always enjoy finding out about other bloggers'/ Youtubers' and makeup is such fun.

Makeup usually takes me about fifteen or so minutes, depending on how rushed I am or how much effort I want to put in that day. Side note: I was thinking the other day about how much my makeup style has evolved. Like it went from winged gel eyeliner from Mac and not much else to overly dramatic eyeliner and sparse eyebrows to terrible black thick eyebrows. One thing thats stayed throughout all these years has been the winged eyeliner of course. I like to consider it a trademark lol

• Okay, so to start off, I apply ELF eyeshadow primer to my eyebrows and eyelids so that the makeup will stay longer/be smudge proof. I know its a bit unusual to prime your eyebrows, like I've never seen anyone on YT do that, but I find that it really helps provide a nice base for filling in my brows. Anyways, the primer that I use is $2 and does a pretty good job, but there is not a lot of product in it. So if anyone has affordable and good quality primer suggestions, please do let me know!

• After priming, I usually fill in my eyebrows. Now my eyebrow routine is something that has changed throughout all these years and I went through a few months of really badly drawn in brows. But today, what I do is use a small angled brush, dip that into a matte brown eyeshadow (Laniege & Estee Lauder) and with small strokes, apply to my brows. I try to go for a nice arch, but its not very easy when there's not a lot to work with lol. After that, I usually just brush through with a spoolie brush that I bought for a couple bucks.
• Onto the eyeshadow next! One of my favorite parts of getting done up, just bc it's fun to play with colors and blend. First, I use a light brown/taupe matte color with a small round brush to softly blend in a crease. Then, with my fingers, I apply and blend this gorgeous burnt gold.copper color from ELF. Finally, using my trusty Estee Lauder blending brush, I intensify the look with a dark shimmery color from Laniege, placing that in the outer V and crease. This is basically my daily smoky eye, and occasionally I'll switch it up.
• Then, using Stila's waterproof liquid eyeliner, I do my foolproof wing :) It comes so naturally to me, it takes less than a minute to do.
• 
• Using the same dark brown by Laniege, I apply this very softly to my bottom lash line.

That's what I do everyday! Sometimes, I'll put the extra effort in to apply mascara or a highlight color for the inner corners of my eyes, but that's rare. And other times, depending on my skin situation, I'll apply some concealer and use ELF's translucent face powder.

For lips, I usually go for a lightly tinted moisturizing balm. However lately I've been loving NYX's liquid lip stains and this perfect for fall dark wine lipstick by Lancome.

Well, hope you guys found this interesting! Thanks for reading, as always!

Travel Diary - Portland, OR

Hey hey hey!

This will be a first in a series dedicated to my summer travels - look forward to Seattle and Hawaii next!
A couple weeks ago, my family and I took a nice vacation to Portland, the city known for "hipsters" and its general weirdness. And well, I got to say, the hype was real. It is indeed full of interesting folk. And I mean that in the best way possible.
One thing for sure: I had some of the best food I've ever had while in Portland. Pure deliciousness. But more on that later.
The city. Portland is actually a rather small city, compared to hotspots like Seattle and New York and LA. But that was what I loved about it.
Its kind of hard to explain, to put into words, but it was like a busy little niche, away from the world - with intriguing people and places.
We hiked a lot, explored the city, walked until our feet and legs ached, tried public transportation, visited Powell's,  and ate a lot, of course.

Since it is so difficult to put the city into words, I'll just convey it through photos!!

 Of course, we had to pay a visit to the infamous Voodoo Doughnut. The lines were crazy but the donuts were mediocre, although they had interesting flavors.

  

yes, that's bacon on that one donut

sparkly walls?

 Well, peace out Portland, stay weird. I hope to visit again soon for it sure was a memorable and fun trip!

PROM 2015

My apologies that this is a couple months late, but I have been quite caught up in the chaos of finals and AP exams and the end of junior year (as well as a fun vacation, but that's for another post).

But finally, I present to you details and photos of my first prom!

It was held at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, which to be honest, probably was not the best idea. 300+ students were crammed onto the stage, with a huge expanse of stairs and seats in between the dancing and food/"entertainment." 

The music? Eh, the same as every dance - overplayed, electronic, rave music that all sounded the same

The lights and special effects? Just alright.

The food? Merely consisted of tiny cold cakes and water.

Entertainment was three or four sad poker/card tables and a strange photobooth that didn't actually print out photos for you...

I  hate to sound like a total downer but it really could have been better. In my opinion, Winter Formal was ten times better.

In any case, I still had a good time and it was fun dressing up and feeling like a princess for a day!

My dress, was from Saks Fifth Avenue, where we bought it for a steal - less than $100!

With it, I wore a pair of black heels which I immediately took off after photos and replaced with far more comfortable flats.

A detailed look at the bodice of my dress.

 The back of the dress was one of my favorite aspects.

For hair, I went with simple swept-to-the-side curls with a deep side part. Lots and lots of hairspray and bobby pins went into achieving this look. (I ended up finding stray pins lost in my hair the next day lol)

Makeup: light translucent powder from ELF so my face wouldn't appear shiny in pictures

black liquid eyeliner - NYX

neutral smoky eye with some shimmer

false eyelashes (Ardell, I think?)

ELF lipstain and lipstick

My little sis was also dressed up :)

She still has many many years until her prom though lol

One complaint about the dress however, it was excessively long! I kept stepping on it and tripping over the long hem oops. I basically had to hold it up in a jumbled knot mess the entire night. 

#thestruggleisREAL

One of my FAVE parts of this beautiful dress was how perfectly it twirled! 

Some more photos :)

Well, that's it for now guys thanks for reading, and until next time!!! :)

PROM SHOPPING

Its that exciting time of a teenage girl's life...prom dress shopping!!!
One must find the perfect dress for that important time in their high school career...a dress to remember.
I set out last weekend with that goal. Here are the results...
(P.S. my dress goals were: long & elegant, classy, shimmering, comfortable, and most importantly- under $100)

The first place I went to was Macy's, where I expected affordable and beautiful dresses. Well, I was right about the latter, but as for affordable...eh...I was disappointed in that part.

Anyways, this is the first dress I tried on. It featured a bedazzled bodice with tiny glittering gems, a long tulle skirt, and a gorgeous creme color. When I twirled around in it, I truly felt like a princess. However, the price was a hundred dollars over my budget so that was a no for me.

 The second and third dresses I tried on were in the same design, but in different colors. Betsy and Adam is the name of the designer. I loved both colors, but the blue one made me feel like Elsa, so I think it's fair to say I fell in love with that one slightly more. The dresses matched all my "perfect dress" qualifications almost perfectly - it was bedazzled at the bodice, it was long and flowy, perfect colors, etc. Plus, it had a sassy little leg slit! It was almost perfect, yes, except for one key thing...the price. It was nearly 400 dollars! It was heartbreaking. A girl can dream... (I guess another con was the extremely deep V of the neckline, which would not really be appropiate for a school dance).

Chaneling my inner Ice Queen with this dress

A better picture of the dress, from the Macy's website.

I left Macy's and decided to try a (hopefully) more affordable place, Sak's Fifth Avenue. There, I found this dress - I did not love it in the store but when I got home and tried it on, I definitely enjoyed it a lot more. The back of the dress is especially my favorite. The dress feautures a very long train, very princess-like; a fully sparkled bodice, and multiple layers of thin soft skirt. I felt like a mermaid in this dress!

So there it is...my prom dress shopping adventures thus far! I'll keep you all updated on anything new regarding prom and for sure, post photos on that special day! Thanks for reading! <3