February Favourites 2017

Hey peeps!

We have come to the end of another month in 2017. It’s going so fast! I start university on Monday next week and I am basically a ball of nerves and excitement. I am writing this on my new laptop that I got for university and I like it a lot. It is currently Friday and I still need a laptop bag (I would like a marble one, but a mint one would also be nice) and a backpack to carry all my uni stuff in, but I feel like I am mentally and emotionally prepared for a new part of my life. I would also like to have a job, but that’s another story. Anyway, that is not what this post is about. This post is my February Favourites, so let’s get onto that!

My first favourite for this past month is The Body Shop’s Aloe Calming Foaming Wash. I got this for Christmas, but I only started using it at the start of February as I was still using up another cleanser. I seriously love this cleanser. It has cleared up my skin quite well (which is hard to do considering the weather) and left it feeling soft and smooth. Admittedly, I have also been religiously using the Clinique toner and a Simple moisturiser morning and night, and that may have also had an impact on my skin, but my last cleanser did not work as well even with the toner and moisturiser.

My next favourite from February is the Maybelline Fit Me concealer. I use this whenever I go out (not if I’m just popping to the shops, but a bit more than that, you know?) and it works quite well for me. I use it on my undereye circles and blemishes as well. I put a transparent powder on top of it to set it and I find that it has good staying power, but in the heat when I’m sweating a lot it sometimes melts off a little bit. For the most part, it has worked great for me.

My third favourite for the month is the Maybelline Express Remover, which is a little pot with nail polish remover filled sponges around the edges. All you have to do is wiggle your fingers around in there (the weirdest sentence I’ve ever written) until your nail polish has come off. I find it effortless to use and quite effective in removing all my nail polish in one go. I absolutely hate removing nail polish, so finding an easier way to do it is great! It also creates a lot less mess than removing nail polish normally with nail polish remover and cotton balls since it’s all contained in the one pot.

My final favourite is Chained to the Rhythm, a song by Katy Perry. I love this song so much! It’s quite boppy and dancey, which I like in a song. It makes me look forward to her new album that much more. I’m happy-dancing in my seat just thinking about it! I know it has political undertones, but I don’t really care. Katy is quite a political person in general, so I kind of expect political undertones in a lot of her new music. Also, the music video for it is fabulous. I love all the costumes and makeup and the whole story behind it.

They are all my favourites from this past month. I’m looking forward to the coming months with all the changes in my life and whatnot!

What favourites have you had in February? Do you like my favourites?

Love, Nicky x

A New Chapter

Hey peeps!

I am on the verge of starting a new stage in my life known as tertiary education, better known as university. I thought I would tell you my thoughts, fears, and things I’m looking forward as I take this next step in my life.

I’ve always kind of known I was going to go to university. I never ever thought I would do a trade, go straight into work, or join the army (can you imagine? Nope, me neither). I never really knew what I was going to do at university up until about August last year. Well, I knew I wanted to do a business degree, but I had no idea that I wanted to do a creative and professional writing degree until I read through the course options book and thought ‘that sounds cool and I’ve always wanted to be an author, so why not?!’. Believe it or not, I wanted to do a business degree with an accounting major (which I may still do after I pass all my classes this year) since I was pretty good at accounting in school and I really enjoyed it (I know, crazy). I have always had a love for writing (ahem, obviously you do, Nicky, you have a blog), and even though I'm not that great at it (I only got C’s and rarely B’s during grade 11 and 12).

I’m a bit worried about starting this new chapter (get it? ‘cause I'm a writing student? I’ll see myself out) in my life as yet again I'm leaving all of my friends behind in pursuit of my career. In case you didn’t know, I was the only one from my primary school to go to the high school I went to. This time, however, I am armed with mobile phone numbers and Facebook, so I think I should be ok in terms of keeping my high school friends (I do love them a lot). Another fear of mine is that I will just fail at everything. What if I suck at writing? What if it turns out I know nothing about writing? What if I find no new friends and am alone for the next three (potentially four) years of my life? No joke, I had a dream the other night about performing a dance concert but I knew none of the dances and everyone else did, which kind of sums up my fears: everyone else knows what to do and I'm just flailing my arms around hoping I'm doing the write thing (get it? I know its incorrect grammar, but puns).

This does not mean, however, that I am not looking forward to things in the next few years. I get an opportunity to find and hone my strengths, gain new friends, and prove to myself that I can do things without completely drowning in incompetence. I am not incompetent and I will be just fine. Yes, all of my friends are going to different universities, but I have new friends waiting for me at mine that I haven’t even met yet! I do have books and things ready for February 27^th and all I need is a new laptop with enough battery life to last the day. My current one I've had since grade 9 (around January 2013) and it lasts about 3 hours with a full charge (I am using it to write this post, obviously, and it is plugged into the wall since I don’t trust it to last that long). Overall, I am really excited for university and I can’t wait to start!

Are you starting a new chapter this year? What fears and ‘looking-forward-to’s did or do you have?

Love, Nicky x

My Week in Outfits

Hey peeps!

I thought that this week it would be a fun idea to give you an insight into what I wear in a week (Ms Meatballhead gave me the idea!). Bear in mind that it is currently summer where I live, so don’t freak out when I’m wearing light dresses even though you’re shivering in your boots in the northern hemisphere!

My week started last Sunday, where for the majority of the day I was hanging out in air conditioning as it was quite hot. On Sundays we go to my grandma’s house for dinner and since it was my auntie’s birthday recently, we celebrated that as well. I wore a navy dress with a white heart pattern on it from Cotton On, a denim jacket from JayJays and metallic slip-on shoes from Big W. I also put on some Maybelline Fit Me concealer under my eyes, shaped my eyebrows with Maybelline Brow Drama, and added Maybelline Lash Sensational to my lashes.

On Monday, I went on an afternoon PokeWalk with Mum (admittedly I haven’t been on one since then) after watching the Super Bowl since 10am. For the entire game I was wearing my pyjamas (since it started pretty much as soon as I woke up), but showered and got dressed afterwards (at about 1:30pm). I put on a mint, floral play-suit that I got on Boxing Day (I didn’t have any savings, so I didn’t write a post about it). I also wore a black and white cap from Lorna Jane (in case you couldn’t tell. I know the brand is kind of difficult to see) and rose gold sunglasses I got for Christmas. On my feet I wore my metallic gold shoes again. During the Super Bowl, I painted my nails in Cute as a Button by Essie. 

On Tuesday, I went with Dad to do the grocery shopping in the morning since he had a late start at work that day. I wore a burgundy singlet from Big W, a black and white floral skirt also from Big W, a denim jacket from JayJays and the handbag I got for my birthday a couple of years ago. I put on my Converses as well (I got them for Christmas). I put on some Maybelline Fit Me concealer under my eyes and Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara on my lashes, too. If you want me to do a ‘what’s in my bag post’ let me know, but also there’s pretty much nothing in it so it would be a very boring post IMO.

On Wednesday, I did nothing. At all. I may as well have stayed in my pyjamas, but for the sake of this post and appearing to be a functional human being, I put on some proper clothes. The dress I put on is the same style as the one I wore on Sunday but in a different pattern. It’s a more intricate pattern than the hearts. I don’t really know how to explain it other than being really cool. I didn’t put on shoes or makeup on Wednesday as there was no need to, but if you’re a good spotter, you’ll notice a hairband on my wrist. That’s just there because I found it and put it on.

  

On Thursday, I planned on blogging all day (which is what I did), so I just put on something comfy and got started. I went with an orange top from Big W and some black flash dance shorts from Lorna Jane. I didn’t bother with shoes or makeup as there wouldn’t be any point if I planned on staying inside all day.

On Friday, Dad and I went into my uni to get my ID card sorted out (it was quite quick to be honest). I put on a mint green top from Big W, a black skirt from H&M, and my Converses as we had to do a lot of walking up and down hills (the campus is very hilly). As for makeup, I did my go to makeup so I didn't have to worry about getting it wrong. I also brought my bag to put my phone and purse in.

Which was your favourite outfit?

Love, Nicky x

Thoughts and Ramblings

Hey peeps,

This week has been pretty uneventful for me. I haven’t really done anything of value and I still haven’t finished the Goblet of Fire yet. Truth is, I haven’t come up with any ideas this week for a blog post and I guess you could call that a creative block.

Currently, I am sitting on my blue, spinny chair (it has wheels, too!) at my desk that I’ve had since I was little (it used to belong to my mum when she was a kid), semi-dying in the apparently 34 degree Celsius heat even with my windows wide open. In case you work in Fahrenheit, that’s about 93 degrees. Before you ask, no, I definitely did not just Google “34 c in f” (ok, you got me, yes I did). It is Thursday the 2^nd of February 2017 at about 12:30pm. I should probably eat something before I continue. My phone just dinged and it told me to have lunch (yes, I have a reminder to have lunch and it is very useful, actually), so I guess today I am ahead of technology.

You may be thinking ‘Wow, Nicky. For a creative block, you’ve written almost 200 words!’. To that I say: thanks, but this has taken me at least 4 days to get around to doing, so yeah. Since I can’t think of anything else to write, I might just give you a quick update on my life.

Here is my current life by the numbers:

Boyfriends had (ever): 0

Years of having braces: about 4.5

Chances of getting them off soon: 39% <- optimistic

Days till I go to university: 18

Books read this year: 1.23 (the 0.23 is the Goblet of Fire)

Gatherings with friends since school ended (in November): probably around 10

Those numbers add up to 34.12, which has no significance at all. I see all those horoscopes and the ‘predict my future’ things, but what can we really take away from them, seriously? Horoscopes categorise people into twelve different groups no matter what their experiences or background is and give a vague reading of the stars as to how your day might pan out. All those things that give characteristics to different star signs is a load of baloney as well.

Being a Leo, I'm supposed to be a born leader, but I couldn’t think of anything worse. However, it also says that they like to be noticed, which may be why I have danced since I was 5 (not anymore though) and also may be why I started this blog. Maybe I am a Leo, but I also think I have traits from other star signs. I think everyone does, because no one can be exactly the same as someone else.

There is a test you probably have heard of called the Myers-Briggs test. It takes around 10 to 20 minutes to do and at the end it spits out four letters that are your personality. I have taken it a couple of times throughout my life (in Careers classes at school) and have mostly gotten the same four letters spat at me. INFP. This means that I am “The Mediator”, my letters standing for Introverted, iNtuition, Feeling and Perception. I then went and checked the Career path section of the page and it said that I was destined (my words, not theirs) to become a writer. Would you look at that? I’m doing a writing degree at university and I have been blogging (although on and off) since I was fourteen.

Maybe the Myers-Briggs test is right. It certainly makes more sense than being labelled something because you were born in a certain month.

That was a long ramble about pretty much nothing, but I think I'm out of my creative slump a bit more now *does little happy dance*.

What do you think about horoscopes? Have you taken the Myers-Briggs test? Also, what do you want to see next week on the blog?

Love, Nicky x