Where Have I Been?

Ok, I know that it's been a long time since I've last been on here. The truth is, there are several reasons why I haven't posted anything in 4 months.

First, I haven't had much time. In fact, I really should be doing something as I write this, but I just can't get the idea that I left this without saying anything in my head any longer. Within the past few months, I have been getting re-focused. Junior year is very hard, so I have to really focus on schoolwork. I have also decided to focus more on fashion and writing in my spare time, since that is what I truly enjoy doing and want to make a future out of. Between school, hobbies, and just time for chilling out, I hardly have time to keep up a blog.

Since I have been re-focusing, I realized that I truly did not enjoy keeping up this blog. It started to get tedious over time and I began to see it as more of an obligation. At first, it was fun. But I was trying to be a beauty guru, which my big interest in them was more of a phase. I also thought that I was supposed to talk about my disability and my anxiety disorders, but I don't really enjoy talking about that in real life to begin with. I also do not like people to pity me, which is annoys me. Taking picures were tedious for me, too. My camera is not the greatest for taking close-ups.

I have learned to time manage and not procrastinate. Blogging is not an idea that I have completely thrown out. I feel that I would like to try again sometime soon, on a new blog. It would be more of what I am into, writing and fashion. There would not be that much photographs, since I don't like taking them as much. I do hope that I could get signed up to Google Ad Sense, so I could get paid.

So, there it is. I really hope that clears things up and answers some questions. If I do start a new blog, I will make another post here that will link you to it. In the meantime, I don't think I'll be back anytime soon.

Friday's Manicure: Turquoise and Pink Sparkle

I love the turquoise and pink combo. They go really well together. So, for this manicure, I chose those two colors. I wanted to do another Christmas design, but I didn't want to do red and green again. In my opinion, turquoise and pink can be very Christmasy. Think snowflakes, sugarplums, and sweets.

All the nails are painted with I Need A Refresh-Mint from Wet N' Wild. I am obsessed with this polish! On my pointer and ring fingers, I painted a coat of N.Y.C.'s polish, but I think the name peeled off. It just added a hint of shimmer. Then, I stamped a Konad snowman on my pointer finger and layered a bell stamp and a hot pink candy cane on my ring finger. All are with Konad polishes and from the m12 plate. On the rest of my nails, I put on a pink glitter polish called Disco Lights from Milani.

My Favorite Christmas Movie!

Elf is a lot of people's favorite Christmas movie, but mine is...

A Christmas Story!

For me, Christmas isn't Christmas until I watch this at least once. Me and my family often quote the infamous line, "Frag-il-lay. That must be Italian." If you have not seen this, you NEED to. It's a classic!

2 Book Reviews! Insurgent/The Selection

Since I finished reading Divergent, I have read two more books, Insurgent and The Selection. Instead if making two separate book reviews, I decided to make one big one for both.

The first one I read was Insurgent. This is the sequel to Divergent, which I have already done a review for and you can read by clicking the link. I'm going to try to review this without giving any spoilers.

Normally, I do an overview, but I won't this time because I don't want to give anything away. So, I will start with what I liked. I really liked how Tris goes sees all the other factions and how they work. There is also one part that I thought was really funny when they were in Amity. Gosh, this is hard! Unexpected things happen, which kept me interested.

However, this book reminds me of Mockingjay in the sense that it's very military-ish. It has the same tone and feel, in my opinion. And well, out of the three books in The Hunger Games trilogy, that one was my least favorite. So, you can kinda guess how I feel about this story. I did like it, but I think that it might have been more interesting if there was a little more romance in this one.

I do reccommend this if you do like Divergent. There is going to be a third one, but it won't be released until September of next year. Why?!

The second book is called The Selection. A lot of people compare this to The Bachelor, which it is kinda similar. But, I also think it's like a girly version of The Hunger Games.

In the future, there is a country that is divided in 36 provinces. The society is divided into eight casts. America Singer is a five, who are artists. At the time the story takes place, Prince Maxon is ready to find a wife that will be the future queen, so elligible girls sign up. One girl from each province is chosen at random. The families will get money if their girl is chosen. America's family is very poor, so her mother convinces her to sign up. She is chosen. America is convinced that she will not fall in love with the prince because she is in love with someone else from a lower faction than her own. Then, of course, there is drama at the palace. The prince must narrow down the girls until there is only one, whom he will marry. Plus, the entire thing is broadcasted.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters are all very entertaining. I particularly liked Prince Maxon because the relationship between him and America is funny, in my opinion.

The only thing I don't like about this book is that there is an unpublished sequel!

So, do you think you will be reading one of these? Comment down below.

My Mini-Tree!



When I was about 12, I got this little pink, sparkly tree. Sorry it's sideways!

Most of the ornaments have been the same since I got it, but I also got some more since I was getting bored of the older ones. So, yeah.

A Really Late Friday's Manicure: Snowflakes And Penguins

My manicure that I've had all week has been penguins and snowflakes. I couldn't get it up sooner because my camera was still packed from the Thanksgiving trip and I didn't feel like getting it out. Plus, I've been really busy.



All my polish that I used in this mani is from my midgi nail art pens and the snowflakes are from the konad plate M59 with the white special polish.

TAG: Tis The Season!

Meghan asked me to do a tag that she created, so now I'm gonna do it!

1.) As of right now, how many sleeps until Christmas?

22

2.) What is number one on your wishlist?

Well, there isn't really one big thing that I want. It's mainly little things. For example, there is a fashion sketchpad that I had asked for my brithday, but I didn't get. That is one thing. Also, my aunt said that she had ordered The Hunger Games for my birthday, but that never came in, so I do hope that I will be getting that. Other than that, it's mainly the stocking stuffers that I like. Last year I really enjoyed them.

3.) How do you get in the holiday spirit?

This may sound weird, but I don't really have to do anything to get in the spirit. It just comes. Even though if I had to pick one thing, it would be watching Christmas movies.

4.) What goes on on Christmas Eve at your house?

My mom makes appetizers and sets out little chip and dip plates and all of the treats we've made on the table. In the evening, our closest family, which is my aunt, uncle, and grandparents, come over and we have a little gathering. I always ask my mom to put on the Christmas music channel on the tv. Then we just hang out. My parents are separated, so sometimes my dad comes over. I get my present from him and vice-versa. If Christmas Eve falls on a night  when I'm supposed to spend the night at his house, I will sometimes go with him when he leaves. But, that's only if his family is staying with us. Since I spent Thanksgiving with them already, they won't be coming over this year. If his family is not over at his house, then I leave when everyone else leaves and go to my aunts house so that I can spend the night and be there Christmas morning. My family told me that when Santa comes to your house, he rings a bell. So, when I was little, I would stay awake and try to listen for the bell. When I thought I could hear it, I would shut my eyes and try to get to sleep.

5.) How does Santa operate at your house?

We just do the typical gift exchange. My mom stuffs my stocking and we have stockings for all of our pets. When I was little, we even had one for my fish! On Christmas day, my family gathers in the living room and we each open our presents one at a time. My aunt always has to pass them out. Every year. Really, the only ones who stay in the living room are us girls. My uncle and my grandpa drift in and out throughout. We always do the biggest ones that don't fit under the tree first, my aunt just passes out the presents that are in the front of the tree and gradually goes to the back.

6.) What's a tradition you love?

I like going to the Nutcracker with my dad. We've done that every year since I was about six years old with a few exceptions, like me being sick and stuff like that. I also like wrapping presents with my mom while watching something Christmassy on tv.

7.) Do you give gifts?

Of course! Ever since I was little I have made my gifts to my family. But my favorite part is wrapping them.

8.) What's your favorite holiday drink?

Hot chocolate! It must be made with milk, though.

9.) What about your favorite holiday food?

Ummm...this is a tough one. Most of the things I eat during the holidays I eat all year, but I would have to say that my favorite is fudge. That is something that I only eat during Christmastime. Sometimes me and my mom make it, but most of the time it's my aunt. She brings it over on Christmas Eve and I eat about three pieces of it.

10.) What is your favorite Christmas movie?

A Christmas Story. That is probably the first Christmas movie that I saw that wasn't Barney or anything like that. A few weeks ago, my mom went to Target (without me!) and got me a set of pens that have quotes from the movie. I use those at school. We also quote lines from the movie, too.

11.) If you worked in Santa's workshop, what would you be doing?

Wrapping presents! I could do that all day.

12.) Can YOU do this tag?

Like Meghan, I tag anyone reading this. But, I would also like to tag Madison.

50 Posts! And A Little About Christmas

It's December, again! This is a favorite time of year for a lot of people, like me.

But before I talk about it, I must post an adorable penguin picture.

(In case you haven't read some of my other posts, I am obsessed with penguins)

I love Christmastime. I especially love going window-shopping at this time. So many people hate going to the mall because it's usually crazy, but I love it because they have the giant trees and all the stores are decorated. Micheals is also really fun since they always start selling decorations that are so sparkly! And when I do go shopping, I like stopping at a coffee shop and getting a hot chocolate. In the winter, I drink hot chocolate so much. It's my favorite thing to drink.

Another thing I like is the Christmas movies. I have not found one that I do not like. My favorite is A Christmas Story. I have to watch that at least once each year. The Hallmark movies are so cheesy, but I love those as well. For some reason, they make really cliche love stories and are still awesome. On the weekends I could just watch those all day. Wait...I have done that... :)

And then there is the gifts. I remember when I was little, my wishlist was pages long! Now, it's a little less than half a page. I love opening presents and the anticipation. I get so excited when presents start showing up under the tree! It's fun for me to read the tags. But, there is also giving the gifts. For as long as I can remember, I have made most of my gifts. But the most fun for me is the wrapping. I wish it could  take longer to do so it wouldn't be over so quickly. Me and my mom usually watch a Christmas movie while we wrap presents on the floor. I help her wrap her gifts, too.

Christmas for me and my dad is pretty much nothing but traditions. Every year, we dress up and go to the Nutcracker. We also give each other similar gifts, too. I make him fudge since he loves it so much. He gives me a small gift on Christmas Eve and then he takes me on a shopping spree during all the after-Christmas sales. Meanwhile, on Christmas Eve, my mom makes some appetizer-ish food and we get out all the sweets we've made. Our close family on that side comes over and sometimes brings some food, too. Then we just hang out. On Christmas day, we go to my aunt's house and that's where we open presents and have dinner and all that.

So, there are my favorite parts about Christmas which is pretty much every little thing about it. I would like to read about what you usually do on Christmas/Christmas Eve. Comment down below!

Just A Little Update

I probably have seemed to disapear the past few days. But, don't worry. I'm still here. My grandma's internet was acting up, so I didn't have it for a few days. We were supposed to leave on Sunday, but my dad's van broke down after travelling for about an hour. Fortunately, it was only an hour and not more. It was not too far away from my grandparents' house. But, we've had to stay here for a couple more days. It's been really hard on me because I'm missing school and I didn't know when I was going to go home. Finally, though, my dad is going to rent a van to take back to Charlotte. His plan is to drop me off at my mom's house, pay his bills, get a part that he couldn't find in small-town New Bern.

I am glad to be going back home tomorrow and back to my regular life.

(gasp!) I Don't Eat Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving! You heard that right, I don't eat turkey. The only meat I eat is chicken. This picture I found could probably best explain meals with me:

Every year, I get up early to watch the parade. Then the place where I eat is different every year. Sometimes it's with a big group, sometimes it's only with two other people. This year, as I said in my last post, I am visiting my grandparents in New Bern. Don't worry, this post won't be as rambly since it's not the middle of the night. Also, every year, I go have the same conversation with people:

Person: Are you going to eat a lot of turkey?

Me: No. I don't really like turkey.

Person: What do you eat, then?

Me: Other things.

Yep. It always seems like a shock and a freak of nature that I don't eat turkey. But, I still eat a lot of whatever else is there.

Am I the only one that doesn't eat turkey? Post your comments below!

This Doesn't Look Like Charlotte, Anymore...

So...my computer says it's 11:19 PM. I am sleepy. I got up at 8 this morning, left the house at 10:30-11, and travelled in the car for at least 5 hours. For Thanksgiving, I am in New Bern, which is a small town in North Carolina. It's still a long way from Charlotte, though. This is going to be a very short post, since everyone is pretty much getting ready for bed and I'm really tired. I haven't made a post just about my life in a while. I'm going to try to make these more often. Well, anyway, that's pretty much all I did today. Probably the worst part about the car trip was that my dad's cigarette lighter didn't work in the van, so I couldn't plug my portable DVD player in and watch anything. Oh, well. I'm rambling right now, so I think I'll end the post now.

Post comments down below! I love reading them (when it's not almost midnight). :)

Divergent

I've heard a lot of hype about Divergent, so I thought that I would like to read it. It is a thick book, but I got through it quickly. I read the entire thing in about a week. It just drew me in.

The story takes place in dynstopian Chigago, where the society there is divided into five factions. There is Amity-friendship, Eurdite-intellegence, Candor-honesty, Abegnation-selflessness, and Dauntless-bravery. You are born into a faction, but at sixteen you can choose to be in another. However, you cannot be with your family again. To help you choose, you take an aptidude test to determine which faction you have the best traits for. When Beatrice takes the test, she shows traits for more than one faction. That means that she is Divergent and considered dangerous. She must choose the one faction that will help her conceal her secret the best, but she also discovers big secrets of others along the way.

There was nothing in the book that I didn't like. A lot of the story is tough, it's not a fairy-princess tale. I thought that I would get bored of that, being the girly-girl I am, but I didn't. As always, there is a boy, Four. But the story between Beatrice and Four is different to me. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say that I like how they're set up. I like how all the characters are set up. They're all different and have different personalities. I even like the mean ones! There were no boring parts of the storyline at all. Exciting things were always happening.

I loved reading the book and if you like dynstopian stories, you'll love this. Unlike the other ones, this one sounds more realistic to me. It's like the other dynstopian books, but it's different. There is a sequel, Insurgent, that I'm going to read next. I have to read it as soon as possible or else I'll go crazy! And, as I just discovered, they're going to make a movie out of this, with Shailene Woodley as Beatrice.

Have you read or are you going to read this book? If so, what do you think? What faction do you think you could belong to? (btw, I think I would be in Candor) Tell me in the comments down below!

Friday's Manicure: I Cheated...

I love using nail polish strips, but they're always a splurge for me. So, I was happy when I found two that I liked at Ulta in the clearence bin. One was even the O.P.I. brand! But, I used the Ulta brand first.

These strips were originally $12.50, but were reduced to $3.99. That sounded like a pretty good deal to me! I'm going out of town for Thanksgiving, and I like to use nail strips before I travel because they usually last longer. But, I am not too satisfied with these strips. There was a really pretty color above the purple stripe at the top of my nail, but I couldn't get any of it on because someone would have to have freakishly long nails to see it. The Sally Hansen ones let you use both ends of the strip, but the Ulta brand doesn't. Also, they don't file off very well. You are supposed to fold it over the edge of your nail and file it off, but it got wrinkled and tore. It just started looking very sloppy after a while, but then it could just be me. Still, I am glad I didn't pay full-price.

Sticky Notes to Clean Your Makeup Brushes?

When I use the same brush for two different eyeshadow colors, I found that using postie notes cleans off the first color really good.

Sticky notes? You must think I'm so weird! But, just wait. You will see how they work so well.

After you finish with one eyeshadow color and you want to use another, but the same brush, you could mix colors on it and end up with a splotchy mess on your eyes if you use, say, navy blue and pale pink. But, I just swipe my brush across the sticky part of a post-it note several times. The eyeshadow comes off and the brush is clean enough to use another color.

Now, I am not saying that this is an alternative to cleaning makeup brushes. You should always wash them regularly. This is just something that you can do inbetween colors.

Book Reviews; Yay or Nay?

I have noticed that I don't get as many views for my book review posts as I do for my other ones. That makes me wonder if you guys are interested in them or not. If you say that you are not, I'm not offended. I want to know because if you don't want them, then I don't want to keep on doing them if no one is going to read them anyway. They take a while longer than my other blog posts to type and I use time that I could spend doing other things. I made a poll where you can tell me and you can tell me in the comments down below if you have any tips or what I should do or anything like that. Be honest!

Friday's Manicure: An Ombre That Finally Worked!

First, I was going to try to do chevrons with a technique that I found on YouTube. You just paint scotch tape with polish, then cut it with zig-zag scissors, and put them on your nails. But, my scissors did not work right for it, so I decided to do an obmre.

For the base I used I Need A Refresh-Mint from Wet N' Wild. I figured out that it's easier and looks better when I sponge on a polish of the same color, but different shade. That shade is called Marine Scene from Sally Hansen. That nail polish is my absolute favorite nail polish in the world and when I ran out and couldn't find it at the drug store, I was so sad because I thought that it was discontinued. But, later I found it! Anyway, I put Luxe and Lush from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection because I felt like it. I think it turned out so well and mermaid-ish!

The False Princess

The other day I finished a book called The False Princess. It was just a book that I found while clicking through books on Amazon. It sounded really interesting, so I got it on my Kindle. I am glad I did.

The story is about this fantasy world called Thorvaldor. Nalia has spent the past 16 years as the princess, until she is told that she is not the real one. A phrophecy predicted that Nalia would be murdered before her sixteenth birthday. So, the king and queen hid away the real Nalia and got Sinda Azaway to take her place in case the phrophecy became true. Since it didn't, they sent Sinda back to her only living relative, an aunt in a small peasant village. Her aunt, however, doesn't seem to like her and she misses her best friend that she had to leave behind, a noble's son named Kiernan. Sinda feels like she will never belong, until she discovers that she has magic powers.

Since my book reviews usually start out with what I didn't like, I think I'll say what bugged me about the book. Only one little thing bothered me, and that was the fact that Sinda was klutzy and not graceful. I don't mind that as a quality in her, but it seemed to be pointed out too much. There was more emphasis on that trait than there should be. But, that didn't make the story unenjoyable. Another little thing that didn't bug me, but I think was needed, was a little more explanation. I know what the peasant life is like, but what about the princess one that Sinda had to leave behind? What kind of society did the characters live in? There was a religion, but I was confused by it.

Now on to what I did like. I think the storyline was really good and unique. It was not predictable at all. There is a little mystery, which made me not want to put it down. I think the romance is sweet. It's there, but the story does not revolve around it. The action and adventure in it is the perfect amount. If there is too much, I get bored. I think that all the characters are enjoyable, even the villain. Each one of them had a distinct personality. You can also see a big change in Sinda throughout the book. I found that I could relate to her because at first, she doesn't want to cause any tension or fights, but then she becomes tougher and more open.

I really reccomend this book. It's a nice princess story and I think that even people who are not into them will like this. The story is not a Disney one at all, but of course Disney fans like myself would like it, too.

Let Me Tell You A Little Story: The Worst Field Trip Ever

In the Fall of 8th grade, we went on a field trip to a corn maze. The atmosphere lately has reminded me of this day.

Because my mom was chaperoneing, I went with her straight to the maze instead of going to school and taking the bus. It was gray and dreary outside, promising bad weather. When my classmates got there, we went to a tent where the owners gave us the general directions and guidelines. We got maps and divided into groups. I don't remember if me and my mom were separated, but I think we may have been. The trick to the maze was that there were these boxes placed at certain spots. Our maps were blank, so we had to get stickers from the boxes to complete it. If we found a box that had the sticker we needed, we were going in the right direction. It would have been fun, but it started raining. There was nothing laid out in the path to cover the dirt, so it got VERY muddy. Also, it was cold. Cold, raining, and muddy. Doesn't sound like a fun time. One of the workers asked us if anyone wanted to leave, so I left and went back to the tent. The rest of my group tried to finish the maze some more. Because it was so cold, the woman who owned it gave me a hand warmer. When some people came out, they were covered to their knees in mud. We were all just miserable. By the time the end of the trip came, there were still a few hours left in the school day. My classmates took the bus back to school, but my mom took me home instead. We probably weren't going to be doing anything there, anyway. And besides, I was soaking wet. When I got home, I got into some dry, comfy, and warm lounging clothes, curled up in my bed, and drank some hot chocolate.

That was the most miserable field trip I have ever been on. I remember that it was on a Thursday.

Friday's Manicure: Halloween!

So, for yesterday's manicure, I wanted to do something for Halloween. Because I couldn't decide on whether to do spiderwebs or candy corn, I did both!

On my left hand, I painted spiderwebs. The orange is Times Square Tangerine from N.Y.C. and the black is Black Creme from Wet N' Wild. I painted the webs with my black and silver stripers from Sinful Colors.

On my right hand, I painted the more simple candy corn nails. I used Wet N' Wild's White Creme and the same oragne from my other hand. For the yellow, I used N.Y.C.'s Taxi Cab Yellow, but since it turned out too light, I painted a stripe of a little nameless bottle from a Claire's set that a friend gave me for my bithday a few years ago. That made the yellow pop a little more.

Did you or are you going to paint your nails for Halloween? Comment down below!

Eve

One of my favorite YouTubers is Elle Fowler. In one of her videos, she mentioned a book called Eve. She said that she couldn't remember most of it, but what she did say about it made me curious to read the book.

A plaque kills off 98% of the population. Eve was one of the children that survived. After the plague, all the girls are sent to live in boarding schools. There, they have a good life and everything that they need. They are promised that they will learn for twelve years, then go learn whatever trade they want in the trade building for four. After that, they will go to the City of Sand, where they will live a perfect life. However, on the eve of her graduation, Eve sneaks out and discovers a disturbing secret. So, Eve runs away to try to find a place where the escaped orphans go.

There is not much I have to say about this book. There was no wow-factor. I wasn't lured in as many others I've read. Nothing suprised me or kept me on a cliff-hanger. But, it was still enjoyable. The concept of this society is interesting and intriging. However, I have seen many of these elements before. It's like the author tried to make the book similar to The Hunger Games. Of course, there is a boy. There was just something about him that didn't keep me interested in the romance aspect of the story. Normally, that's my favorite part.

I do reccomend Eve if you want something to read and I will read the sequel to it, but I just wasn't like "Wow! What a great book!". It is a nice story, but it's just not one of my favorites. I give it three and a half stars.