Pinterest and Peppermint

Once again, the Holidays are upon us. This means it's time for several things:
1) Starbucks' holiday drinks and cups come out (make that a grande Skinny Peppermint Mocha, please!). 2) Christmas decorations go up. And 3) It's the season for giving!

My family tends to wait until two weeks before Christmas to begin our present shopping... I'm not exactly sure why we do this, and it really doesn't seem logical, but that's one of our holiday traditions I suppose. Regardless of if you're on the lookout for Christmas presents all year round, or a last minute gifter it's always helpful to have a guide.

This year my go-to resource has been Pinterest. This fairly new website is like a hybrid between Tumblr and Polyvore. You personalize and create Boards where you Repin what others have already put on the site (you are also able to make your own pins), but then clicking on the pictures sends you to the site the picture came from. I apologize if that didn't make any sense at all, but I promise it is simpler than I made it sound!

You can check out and follow my boards here. The ones that will be helpful for the holidays are my Seasons, Style It, and Accessorize It boards. The Seasons one is mostly recipes for treats and ideas for decorations, but the Style It and Accessorize It ones are good for getting ideas for cute and fashionable gifts.

Another way you can utilize Pinterest for the holidays would be to make a Christmas List board and pin all of the things you want for Christmas on it and then share the link with your friends and family.

Hope this gives you some gift giving-ideas!



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Now Playing...

Thought I would share a few of my most played tunes of November with you. I have quite a diverse collection, so there's a bit of everything! It's not exactly fashion related, but it's current and who doesn't think of their iPod as a key accessory?

Wake Me Up by Ed Sheeran
I love how soft and poetic this song is. Whenever I need to listen to something to calm down I turn this on, followed by the rest of the album.

Can't Hold Us by Macklemore
On the flip-side, I listen to Macklemore to get pumped up! He's an up-and-coming rapper from Seattle, with lyrics and energy like no other.

Boyfriend (Acoustic Version) by Justin Bieber
If you are a Bieber fan, actually even if you aren't, your ears have not experienced the full Bieber Fever  experience until they have heard this. (I got this one onto my iPod by using a YouTube to mp3 converter website - and don't worry it's legal!)

Blue Jeans by Lana del Ray
I have mixed feeling about Lana, but for some reason I can't stop playing this song.

Babel by Mumford and Sons
Their complete new album has made into my favorites playlist. I particularly enjoy I Will Wait and
Lover of the Light.

And how could I forget Take Me Home by One Direction?!?!
I've been hooked on their album since it came out... I won't linger on how amazing, attractive, and lovely they are, but the most addictive songs to me are Kiss Me, Last First Kiss, and Heart Attack. I'm into the more upbeat songs, obviously.

I also ought to mention...
Alex Clare- besides his overplayed single Too Close, his album balances his soulful voice with the dubstep vibes wonderfully
Selah Sue- this adorable Belgian went on tour with Ed Sheeran and has an Amy Winehouse-ness about her
And Adele- I always find myself coming back to her old album, 19.
What kind of music do you listen to? I always love finding new artists, so please feel free to share!


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Balance of the Blogospheres

Okay, just tell me that I suck at this. It's okay, really, I deserve it... I really need to stop falling off of the blogging-wagon. So sorry! I have been putting my time to good use for the most part. Instead of writing down my fashion/beauty finds, I have been presenting them via YouTube. I actually started a little more than a year ago, but I deleted any videos from 2011 or earlier because I'm totally not the same person. Plus, I'm not sure many people will really take a 13-year old's fashion/beauty advice. My videos are definitely more relaxed than many of the teen vloggers (that's video-bloggers), but that's just my style. I find some of them to be quite obnoxious, to be honest... Anyways, YouTube is a great resource for finding new looks and hairstyles and there's a whole bunch of fashion/beauty vloggers that make entertaining and helpful videos. Here are some links to my favorites:

beautycrush
icallitambrosia
ThePersianbabe
xeverygirlx
macbarbie07
and mine sophiefay97

It would be wonderful if you would go watch some of my videos and subscribe! :)
Filming and editing videos is very time consuming, however, so I am going to try to balance my blogging with my vlogging. I'm planning on uploading a video once a week and making two blog posts a week as well.
I have lots in store for you, so get ready!




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It's Been A While...

So yes, I haven't been blogging for over a year now. The tricky thing for me is that life gets in the way. Like in really big ways sometimes. Two years ago come October I was hospitalized for endocarditis of the heart. (In normal-people words that means I got a bacterial infection that damaged my heart) I was in and out of that dim room for three months. Looking back on the experience I only have positive memories, though. I guess it's a coping mechanism. Anyways, that summer I went to New York to take a workshop at the Fashion Institute of Technology. A week after that I flew to Stanford to get open heart surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. I was in the hospital for four days. I started high school two weeks later. Now I am just beginning my sophomore year and feeling like that whole ordeal was a dream. Seriously, people will stare at my scar and I won't even realize what they were looking at until after they walk away. But I don't mind, I have a kick-ass story to go with it, so by all means stare away.
             *Sidenote: All of these mom's that talk to me about "my condition" are so annoying. They are always say something like, "Wow, that's so amazing that you aren't afraid to show your scar." Well, no it's not that amazing. I don't care if it shows because I'm not going to let a scar dictate what I can/can't wear. I understand that they are being nice and trying to make me feel good about it and blah, blah, blah... but it really isn't necessary. Honestly, I don't have any bitterness about what I went through. Okay, enough of this ranting about my scar, back to the point...
It's so early in the school year, but I already want it to be over. Just high school in general. It's not that fun...  I'd much rather be studying abroad or contributing something to society. So that's what I've decided to do with my blog. I'm going to really start contributing my opinions on teenage struggles, what's going on in the world, and fashion, fashion, and fashion! I'll be posting regularly on Wednesdays now and sometimes in between. Thank you so much for enduring this dreadfully long post!  ♥




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Mango Mud Mask

Is there anything better to do on a cloudy Sunday than make yourself a facial? After doing a little research, I decided to make a mango facial since mangoes are in season right now. I discovered that mangoes are filled with beta-carotene (Like I know what that is...) which your body makes into Vitamin A, and Vitamin A is great for skin repair. Plus, mangoes are in the top ten power foods, so they are good for you inside and out.

So here's the recipe:

Mango Mud Mask

2 Tbsp Oatmeal

2 Tbsp Almonds (I didn't have any almonds, so I substituted with a another 2 Tbsp of oatmeal)

2 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Honey

*You will also need a food processor, knife, and an airtight container.

How to make it:

1) Put the oatmeal and almonds in the food processor and blend them into a fine powder.

2) Prepare your mango however you like to. You will only need half of it. I would recommend cutting the half your using into cubes, and then eat the other half. (Yum!) Add the cubes to oatmeal and almond powder in the food processor and process it for a minute. I stopped about every 20 seconds to make sure to incorporate the goo that gets stuck to the sides of the processor.

3) Pour in the heavy cream, olive oil, and honey, and blend for a minute. Again, I stopped every 20 seconds and stirred with a spoon. If your mask is too thick you can just add some water to it, and if it is too thin you can add more ground oatmeal and almond.

Optional Step: Before I use masks I usually like to put a steaming washcloth over my face to open up my pores. 

4) Now you can use your mask! Smooth it over your skin and let it dry for 15 minutes. I think I didn't blend it as well as I should have, because when I put it on my face it wasn't very smooth and it didn't dry all the way, but I think that's ok.

5) After the 15 minutes are up, gently rinse off the mask with warm water and pat dry.

6) Remember to moisturize afterwards, too. I use Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion.

7) You can store your mask in an air tight container for up to three days in the refrigerator.

I thought this mask was great and I hope you will try it! My face felt really refreshed and soft afterwards. I also kind of smelled like mangoes for the rest of the day, but I didn't mind. Maybe the only downside was that it was a little more involved than just stirring up some ingredients, but it beats spending $90 on a spa facial. 

The Importance of Sketching

Whenever I have something I need to remember I jot it down on whatever is close or save a note in my phone. Same with inspiration or a design idea that comes to me. I usually make a semi-okay looking sketch and then save it and make a better one later. All of my old math papers have little sketches in the margins from when I got bored in class. I think sketching out your ideas and learning how to draw the basic croquis is important. In addition, you also have to learn how to use colors and different media and give the form definition. These are  valuable skills to know, in my opinion. I'm not an expert on the subject, but from what I have heard, computers are getting more popular among fashion designers to convey their designs. I think that this is both good and bad. It is good because I think that it could make the design process easier, and give a better visual. On the other hand, I don't like the fact that it's kind of a lazy way of getting the job done. All you have to do is make a few clicks to change the look.  Plus, if you have to rely on a computer to translate your ideas you might not always have your computer with you, and then you are unable to get the design out. And if the technology becomes the universal way to design, it would be unnecessary to even learn how to draw and understand the basic form.

Anyways, here are some of my random sketches:

Trying to figure out different angles

This is a better sketch of a design I came up for my friend's role as  Babette  in Beauty and the Beast

Classic

Evening Gown

My drafting table and inspiration board.

Just fun stuff I put up in my room(: