Pixi Face Toner

Okay, so I'm going to be a total white girl and blog about my favorite new face toner that my friend Leah introduced me to! It's called Pixi Glow Tonic, by Pixi Cosmetics. All of their products are made to order in individual batches. For a long time Pixi products were only available in the UK, and now finally they're here in America! Their glow toner is by far my favorite product from them. People have raved about how amazing it is and I can definitely say that it's all true! It is slightly expensive... around $30, but it lasts a while because you only need a little bit each night (plus it's totally worth it). After taking off all your make up, just apply the toner to a cotton ball or cotton pad and wipe your entire face, jaw line, and neck. It takes off left over make up, any sweat/residue, and gives your face a nice shiny-clean feeling. After wards you can use any medicated face cream (I use Epiduo) and apply your moisturizer! After a few months of using it, I've noticed that my face has cleared up a lot and that it's much less greasy in general. Also, my skin is more even-complexioned and my pores are way smaller on my problem-areas such as my nose and chin. I apply the face toner every night like it's my religion. I also sometimes use it in the morning if I just feel kinda gross and groggy when I wake up. I highly recommend this face toner! 

*PS- yes, Target does now sell Pixi products, but unfortunately they don't sell the face toner. You've got to buy it online through Pixi's website which is given here! 

http://www.pixibeauty.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxd6oBRCRoMrWmLOCvI4BEiQAYyZdkVJ136smZ_Av5IRlrmCW4xhiaA2OMMgKNn_whcwqnl4aAoqK8P8HAQ

Wear your yellow today!

So some of y'all may have seen the video about the little boy named Seth who was born without an immune system. He is the cutest and sweetest little boy and he basically lives in the hospital. His favorite color is yellow and he wants people to wear yellow today in support of him and other children with the same disease! Of course, I had a bad morning and forgot to wear yellow. BUT I asked my team to wear yellow/gold to practice tonight. We're going to take a picture and send it to him to show our support for him! I'm super excited about that. But then, when I really think about it, I know that my morning really wasn't that bad. Yes, I had another migraine. Yes, I felt awful and was in a hurry. Yes, I didn't feel like getting up. But in comparison to what this little boy goes through every day, I've had an awesome day. Sometimes I need people like Seth to remind me that everything is okay, and that I should really just be thankful for my health and my life. That's why Seth-- and people like him who inspire others even when they are sick and in pain-- are so special to this world.

Here is the link to the original video that Seth posted! There is also one of those global snapchat stories on him if you want to watch that too! Enjoy and wear your yellow and post a picture with the hashtag that's in the video so that he can see it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taaHLCjhAMY

Migraines... Ugh

Have y'all ever had a migraine? If you haven't, I sincerely hope you never have one. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy (I don't really have enemies though...). It is seriously the worst pain in the world. I had one last night and I still feel absolutely awful. I hate when people tell me that migraines are "just bad headaches," because it is SO much worse than that. My mom has had migraines all her life and, lucky me, they're hereditary. Mine are brought on by stress and I probably have about 1-3 a month. I had my first migraine when I was 9 years old. I specifically remember it because I was at gymnastics practice and when I looked at people, I couldn't see their mouths. I know that sounds weird, but ocular disturbances are the way that mine start. Sometimes I can't see people's eyes/mouths, sometimes I get flurries around the corners of my vision, and sometimes I can't see words when I look at them. Sometimes my hands will even go numb. Once I notice my first ocular disturbance, I've got about 30 minutes before the pain really sets in. In that time, I NEED to get my prescribed migraine medicines or else all hell will break loose. Even with my medicine, a night with a migraine means a night of laying in pitch black darkness in the complete silence feeling nauseous with a hot rag on my forehead. Whatever you were doing, you're done. Whatever you needed to do, it's not happening tonight. It is pure misery. It also means I will have a migraine "hangover" for the next two days, where my head is always dully throbbing and anytime I bend over or turn my head I get this sharp pain through my brain. I really wish there was some type of permanent cure for migraines, but there really and truly isn't. My future with migraines is looking far too promising. 

Vegetarianism

About two months ago I became a vegetarian. I kind of slowly built up to my decision to completely change what I eat, but I'm so glad I did. When I was about 14 I started realizing that eating meat on the bone was so disgusting to me. It looks so... inhumane, in my opinion. Then, I slowly stopped eating red meat. When I came to App I was bombarded with those little pamphlets about how awful our food system is and how horrible the animals are treated before they die. The last straw was when my mom was forced to become vegetarian for health reasons and so I started eating more and more vegetarian meals. I then decided that I was not going to eat meat anymore. It's definitely harder to go out to eat, almost impossible to eat anything cheap or fast, and hard to find enough protein per day. My boyfriend and my dad think I'm a complete weirdo and they basically don't accommodate to my eating habits whatsoever. I'm getting to the point now where I know I couldn't stomach eating meat and I'm learning to find vegetarian food thats yummy, filling, and not stocked with carbs. My favorite places to get quality vegetarian meals are: Chipotle, Which Wich, Our Daily Bread, and Dos Amigos. All in all, I'm really glad that I chose to be a vegetarian even though it makes life a little harder. I made the choice based on what I believe in and I stuck to it, even though some of my friends and family said I wouldn't.  

Weddings

So yesterday one of my friends, Jessie, got married. I worked with her two summers ago at a summer camp and yesterday she married the man she was dating back then, Matt! I'm super happy for them and I was excited to be invited to the wedding! The wedding was Great Gatsby themed, which apparently is a new popular thing for weddings. I am not one for dressing up, Halloween has always been awkward for me. BUT the guests were requested to dress up in their 1920s garb, and who was I to come to the wedding in normal clothes? I knew I wouldn't go all out, but I also knew that I needed to look 1920s-ish. I wore a black dress with a long strand of pearls and a pearl bracelet, with a clip-in feather headpiece and red lipstick. I felt so weird until I walked into the ceremony and realized there were people way more dressed up than me that looked slightly ridiculous in my opinion (no offense). The wedding was nice and I was so happy for Jessica and Matt. It made me think about my future wedding and what mine would be like. I already know it will not be 1920s themed... I'm thinking more of a southern, rustic-meets-modern theme. I want the main colors to be a soft coral, gold, and pearly white. I'm such a girl.... planning my wedding without an engagement ring on my finger! I can dream though, right?  

Coffee

So today has been a long day for various reasons. It's been a good day... but a long one. So as I sit here and drink a much-needed cup of coffee, I am going to blog about it. I'll start out by saying that coffee has kept me alive in  my past three years of college. I never drank it in high school and I thought it was so gross. But when I came to college I realized how necessary caffeine is. Coffee, therefore, is my best friend. It gets me going in the morning: a little cup of "go out and be great today" is all you really need sometimes. Then it keeps me going during the day by saying "you're not done yet, just keep swimming." It keeps me up late at night when I need to study or finish and assignment by saying "you can do this!" I would say that I have a deep connection with my coffee. Each cup is a shot of motivation for me. I know, I know. It's kind of an unhealthy habit. But the way I look at it as that there's wayyy worse things that I could be doing to keep me awake. SO, I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and then continue studying for Klein's midterm.

Thanks for everything coffee, I love you.

My wonderful vacation

I'm not really even sure if we have blogs due this upcoming Tuesday, but I'm going to blog now just to be on the safe side. This past week I went on a 5-day Royal Caribbean Cruise with my family. The cruise left out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and went to Labadee, Haiti and Ochos Rios, Jamaica. The ship was filled with old people and of course, lots of college students spring break-ing. I'm sure they all thought I was in ninth grade since I was with my parents and my 7 year old sister, but oh well! The ship was huge and it had so much to do. There was food available 24-hours of the day, there was multiple shows every night, there was an entire mall for shopping. Also, Haiti and Jamaica were incredibly beautiful. The water was so clear and it was so warm and sunny there. Did you know that they're both mountainous? I didn't know that at all, so I was surprised to see huge mountains everywhere. I guess because of Boone I associate mountains with cold, and those two countries with the hot equator. It was a pleasant surprise. and only added to their beauty. In Haiti, we spent the day lounging on the beach and exploring the area. In Jamaica, we went snorkeling and climbed a waterfall-- literally. It was 958ft tall and we took a tour that walked/climbed/hiked all the way up the waterfall, in the water the entire time. It was really hard but also really fun and we all felt so accomplished when we made it to the top. It was so beautiful everywhere we went. It was truly the best vacation I've ever been on and quite possibly one of my last family vacations since I'm getting older now. For now, it's back to reality and the incredible amount of assignments and tests that I have this week. UGH.