New School Year Resolutions

Hey guys!

Thankfully, school let out for summer holiday a week ago, so I can hopefully have more time to write! I was planning on working on this post a few days ago, but I ended up on a mountain "retreat" with no WiFi or cell signal. Now, I'm not as addicted to my phone as a lot of people my age (as well as younger or older), but I didn't exactly appreciate my phone basically being reduced to an ultra-expensive brick with no warning.

That said, I've finally got a chance to work, and I wanted to share something that I've been thinking about-- rather than making New Year's Resolutions, those of us who are still students (or teachers for that matter) might be better off making New school year resolutions.

I talked a bit about New Year's Resolutions in a post earlier this year (if you haven't read it already or don't remember it, check it out here!) Basically, I was saying how we don't have to change everything to make a new year a good year. That being said, sometimes there are changes we need to make.

In a few months, I'll be heading into my last year of high school. Which is intimidating, for a lot of reasons. One huge reason is that there is really a lot of pressure to make senior year the best year. I wrote a lot about how to succeed in school earlier this year, but I don't think it showed the whole picture for me.While my grades would generally show that whatever I'm doing in school is working, I think that my overall stress level would say that it definitely wasn't working.

I ended up being terribly disorganized-- my desk and my backpack and my room are all a mess-- and procrastinated about everything. You'll know I haven't posted that often, and this is why. Honestly, I kind of procrastinated writing this post, about procrastination.

So with a lot of stress on my back coming out of this past year, and a lot of pressure to make the next year fantastic, I've decided it's time to set some goals.

It would be really easy to write down lofty ideas like "stop procrastinating," "be organized," "stop being late to things," or "get in shape." But one thing I did learn in my extra early Student Leadership class was that your goals have to be SMART.

What are SMART goals? Simply put, they're goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding, and timely. For example, "stop procrastinating" isn't very specific or measurable, whereas something like "start my homework as soon as I get home" would be a better goal.

If you're a student like me, I would suggest setting goals for this school year. It really makes more sense than setting goals for the calendar year, since for us things really start over in August, not January. And we get the added bonus of a whole summer to work on our goals before we get back to school. If you're not a student, don't feel left out. Goals are always a good way to get things done.

That said, my goals for this school year are:

1. Start my homework as soon as I get home, if at all possible.
2. Clean and organize my backpack and school materials about once a week.
3. Use a good planner and actually keep up with it. 
4. Leave home in time to be at school, meetings, or events a few minutes early, if at all possible.
5. Post once a week, if at all possible.

If you're setting any goals for this school year or just goals in general, let me know in comments! I'll try to keep you all updated on how it's going, if you're interested, so maybe we can help each other stick to it!

If you have any good tips for staying productive and organized, suggestions for planners or organizational materials, or books you'd like to reccommend, feel free to let me know as well!

May Book Review: Beastly, Cloaked, and Towering

Hey, guys!

So while I was taking my mental health break, I did manage to read some books. Quite a lot of books, actually, as I read three in about two and a half days. 

Since I was still in a post-Lunar Chronicles slump, I went to the school library, desperate to find the next best thing. And as I'd just seen and maybe slightly obsessed over the school musical, Beauty and the Beast, I picked up Alex Flinn's Beastly. (It's been a month and I may or may not still be obsessing over the school musical...)

This, as it turned out, was a great decision. 

I will say, the first few chapters weren't my favorite. Kyle, the main character, was insufferably shallow and irritating. And yes, I realize that according to the story, he is supposed to be. Still Mr. Teen Prince here and his equally annoying girlfriend did not immediately catch my interest. 

But once I got into the book a bit-- which only took me a few hours-- the magic of the fairy tale really started to shine through. I wish I could tell you more, but I don't want to give you any spoilers. I mean, if you know the story (and after Disney, who doesn't?) then you pretty much know how it goes. Although I will say, there was one plot twist toward the end that actually surprised me a bit.

Unfortunately, there weren't any talking clocks or singing candlesticks, which was a little disappointing for me. Especially as I was-- and still am-- amazed by the performance of Lumiere and Cogsworth (mostly Lumiere) in my school's musical. 

So after I finished Beastly in about a day, I immediately went back to the library to turn in it and pick up the next few of Alex Flinn's books that I'd noticed on the shelf the first time. I walked out about five minutes later with Cloaked and Towering. 

Cloaked was not based on any particularly common fairy tales, except maybe The Princess and the Frog. But as it was a combination of several less well-known fairy tales, it felt a lot more like a new and unique story rather than a fairy tale retelling. 

Which is great, but slightly disappointing if you're on a Disney kick and were hoping for a really well-known fairy tale. 

Nevertheless, I really did enjoy this book and read it in about five hours. Yep. Five hours. Straight. And Alex Flinn, you didn't fool me with that plot twist this time! I mean, it was mostly a hunch based on the feeling that "if I was writing this, I would totally do that." Since, you know, I'm a writer. Sort of.

Towering, on the other hand, was-- as you might have guessed-- a retelling of Rapunzel. And a fantastic retelling at that. The plot, with all its classic fairy tale references, satisfied my craving for more Disney-style fairy tales, but it was completely not a Disney fairy tale at the same time. This book had such an interesting and unexpected plot, and I wish I knew how to describe it without giving too much away. Guess you'll just have to read it, right?

I would really recommend these books, particularly if you like fairy tales or romance. Even if you don't usually like fairy tales, I think these still have a lot to offer, particularly Towering. The other two are definitely a bit more fantasy, but all of them are modern and interesting and fantastic. 

Being a bit fairy tale obsessed just made them even better.

If you've read any of these books, want to read any of these books, or have any suggestions for what I should read next, feel free to let me know in the comments down below!

April/May Updates

Hey guys!

So I'm well aware that I promised quite a lot for April....and then delivered very little on those promises. Sorry about that.

This month I've been taking a much needed mental health break, and I've had a lot going on that I've had to deal with. I think it's important to take care of yourself, especially mentally, and so I think it's also important that I practice what I preach.

I know I said you could expect new book reviews, beauty tips, and lifestyle posts, and you still can. Other than my prom makeup look, which I think the time has passed for, you can still expect to get those posts coming soon. Keep an eye out for that!

Thanks so much for sticking around, and I'll try to be here for you all as well!

Book Review: The Lunar Chronicles

Hey guys! You may remember my review of the first book in this series, Cinder, from February. (If you haven't read that one yet, you might want to click here.) Since I finally finished all of the four main books, I'm going to review the series as a whole.

I really loved this series, and it's definitely now on my to-buy list! It was so good that it's left me in one of those book hangovers, where I don't want to read anything at the moment except more of that series.

(Thankfully, there's still two more minor books I haven't read yet, Fairest and Stars Above, so the series isn't quite over yet.
 UPDATE: I've read them now, so, unfortunately, it is over.)

Let me just say, Marissa Meyer is a writing genius. Her ability to remain remarkably accurate to the original Grimm fairy tales while also maintaining a dystopian, sci-fi plotline perfectly woven through all four books and all main characters is simply amazing. I honestly have not found anything like it.

The first book, Cinder, quite obviously focuses on the fairy tale Cinderella. I won't go into much detail since I've already reviewed this book individually, but Meyer did a wonderful job of transplanting all of the traditional Cinderella elements into a new setting. Again, if you haven't read the review on this one, you should really go read that first. I go into a lot more detail about this book there!

The second book is Scarlet, and this is a twist on Little Red Riding Hood. This one is, of all of them, probably the least accurate to the original fairy tale, but fantastic nonetheless. I was extremely glad when Cinder showed up again, because I was afraid this was going to be one of those series that doesn't connect between books. Boy, was I wrong! The books definitely connect, in more ways than you even realize to begin with.

Thirdly, there's Cress, based on the story of Rapunzel. After going back and reading the original fairy tale when I got my new copy of Grimm's complete fairy tales, I found so many little connections to the original story that it just blew me away. I can't actually list them all without giving you way too many spoilers, but seriously, I mean it when I say Meyer is a genius. I can't imagine how much time she spent studying the original stories and planning and editing her novel to get all of those little tie-ins in there.

I really should have stopped and read Fairest here, since it expands upon the main antagonist's backstory, which would have been good information to know before I read the last book. But I haven't actually found a copy at the library yet, so I'll read it whenever I get a chance. UPDATE: I just downloaded this on iBooks and read it in one night. Literally could not put it down! This was a fantastic addition to the series that really helps give a lot of backstory and understanding to the story.

Skipping ahead to the last major book in the series, Winter. I'm sure you can take one look at the cover and know what story this book is based on. That's right, Snow White. It may have been missing a few small things from the original (i.e. seven dwarves... unless I missed a reference somewhere), but it was definitely full of action. And, if you pay attention, there's plenty of other clever references to the Grimm version.

I really have no idea what Stars Above is about. Sorry about that, but I will definitely be reading it as soon as I can.

ALSO UPDATE: I downloaded this book as well, and read it in about a day and a half. It's a collection of short strories in the Lunar Chronicles universe. It was awesome to have more backstory for the main characters, as well as an epilogue to Winter and a new short story based on a different fairy tale!

Overall, I would highly highly recommend this series. It really has got everything: science fiction, fantasy, action, and romance, and I feel like most everyone could find something about the books that they like. They have definitely become some of my new favorites, and I'll be adding them to my collection as soon as I can.

Have you read these books? Do you want to? Let me know what you think in comments below!

6 Of My New Favorite Beauty Products!

Hey guys!

Like I mentioned a few days ago, I've recently bought several new makeup products, and I've really liked them! The most expensive thing I bought was $12 on sale, usually $20, but other than that, most everything was in the $5- $10 range. I bought these products from Target, Walmart, and Ulta, so they're affordable and pretty easy to find!

Starting off with the least expensive item, I bought the Ulta Super Blender for $4.99. Looking back at the website now, not all of the reviews are positive for this sponge. People complained that it was stiff, didn't blend well, and soaked up too much product. However, I haven't really had these problems. To be fair, I don't have much to compare it to, and it did take me a few uses to figure out the best way to use it. But now that I've figured it out, I've found it works really well for me, especially with certain foundations.

For the same price, I also bought the Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish lipstick in the shade 08. I ended up getting this one at Walmart, but I had to look for it at all three stores before I found it. This color must be fairly popular, because it was always out of stock! I was looking for this shade in particular because it's such a nice pink that isn't too coral or too purple in tone. I've worn it a few times, including prom, and I've really liked the way it looks and feels on my lips!

For $6.49, I bought the Rimmel Stay Matte primer at Target. I was looking for an affordable primer for prom makeup, and this is the one that I found that was the cheapest with best reviews. There were some complaints about how thick it was, and I will agree that it is definitely pretty thick. It looks and feels kind of like a moisturizer, but goes on matte. Again, this was a product that took me several uses to get used to, but now that I've figured it out, I do really like it. It doesn't make my makeup feel caked on, and it does help control oil for me.

For $6.69, also at Target, I bought the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation. I'd seen a lot of good reviews of it on YouTube, and I thought it would be worth a try. This is a heavier coverage than the Almay foundation I reviewed a while back, and it claims to last 25 hours. Although I doubt that part is true, it did have nice coverage and it lasted pretty well for me, especially with the primer.

I found that the beauty blender was the best way to apply this for me, because it is a little thicker than my other liquid foundations. The brush didn't blend it as well for me as just using light motions with the sponge.

I will say, if you're not quite pale, then this probably isn't a good foundation for you. There is a small range of shades, and they're mostly pretty light. I'm fairly pale, and I bought the third shade down, whereas I'm used to buying one of the palest shades. I did notice that some shades were a little more pink tones and others a little more yellow, but they're still all quite light.

Also because I'd seen a lot of good reviews for it, I bought the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I was disappointed not to find Real Techniques at Target, but I did find it at both Walmart and Ulta for $8-$9, varying a little based on where you buy it. This brush has a rounded, fluffy top, and I think it works really well to blend in liquid foundation seamlessly. I also used it with some mineral powder foundation, and it worked fine for that as well. I'm hoping to try some more Real Techniques brushes soon!

Lastly, and possibly my favorite of the bunch, I bought the Ulta Rose Gold eyeshadow pallet. I really like rose gold, and when it comes to eyeshadow, I also really love pinks, golds, and purples. So of course, this pallet and I were a perfect match. I got it on sale for $12, but it normally retails for $20. I really loved the colors in it, and there were a nice mix of matte and shimmery shades. I also thought the colors had nice texture and pigmentation, and it came with a nice eyeshadow brush as well. (I did also end up getting a few individual Ulta eyeshadows, but since I haven't used them yet I'll have to review them later!)

I used this pallet to create a pink and purple toned smoky eye for my prom makeup. I thought it turned out really nicely. Since my dress was pink, the colors matched well, and they lasted all night without creasing. I'll be writing more about my prom makeup look soon, so keep an eye out for that as well!

If you have used any of these products (or want to try them!) let me know what you thought in comments!