Spring Break, Day #2

I realize that though vacation is a time for relaxation (i.e. sleeping in and avoiding normal obligations), I cannot use it as an excuse not to attend mass. Thus, the first item on the agenda was to visit St. Norbert's Catholic parish. It is a lovely, small, parish community that is home to a fantastic choir. Not only did I enjoy mass itself, I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating with a companion.

Next, my sister and I went to get pedicures at a local nail salon. The Victoria Nail Salon was a little bit more expensive than I would normally go for, but I thought why not give it a go. The nail salon had a variety of complementary snacks and beverages as well as a plethora of magazines to choose from. The pedicure itself was wonderful. I chose the rejuvenating therapy pedicure which consisted of pumice scrub for calluses, a paraffin treatment for dry skin, and a full leg and foot massage in addition to the pedicure.

After our pedicures, my sister and I went to pick up groceries. My sister wanted to properly celebrate my 21st birthday with me, so we bought ingredients to make sonic screwdrivers. The drink is based off of a British science-fiction television series I am obsessed with called Doctor Who. A sonic screwdriver is very easy to make and it only requires three ingredients (I will do a post on it later). Needless to say, it is now my favorite drink.

One of the key parts of the day was my nap. It was a BRILLIANT nap! I slept from just after lunchtime until around dinnertime, missing a FaceTime session with my mom (sorry Ma!) and several episodes of Parks and Recreation.

For the evening, my sister made a delicious salmon dinner - which I will definitely replicate and post at a later date. We settled for the evening to watch About Time and Thor: The Dark World. I loved About Time and thought the special effects of Thor were awesome! I would definitely recommend both movies.

The Perfect Bath

Relaxation is never easy when there is always so much to do. One of the ways I like to relax is by taking a bath. I can read or watch a movie, listen to music or an audiobook, mull over the day or make plans. Basically, a bath is a great way to multi-task.

The beauty items I have acquired over the months came in to good use whenever I am worn down and in need of some self-care. For instance, the bath bomb from LUSH was perfect! Honey Bee smelled like pure sweetness and was as soothing as a cup of camomile tea.

To start, I removed all my makeup using the YES soothing facial cleansing wipes and ran a warm-verging-on-hot-bath. I filled my water bottle with cold water and played some mood music. 

Although I could have easily fallen asleep, I brought with me a supply of books to read. I was finally able to finish The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, a book that my aunt lent me a while back and moved on to a couple other books I am currently reading. Fortunately I remembered to hydrate myself (hence the water bottle) amidst the engaging literature. 

After soaking for a while, I got out and dried off. My skin has been abnormally dry lately, so I decided to apply an absurd amount of body butter. (My favorite is Blueberry from the Body Shop, but as it is discontinued, I settle for the papaya scent.) I also applied Hope in a Jar by Philosophy, my favorite facial moisturizer at the moment. 

The result of all my efforts and time? Contentment and drowsiness. 

How Not to Make a YouTube Video

This was my magnificent set up.

In filming a video, it occurred to me that YouTubers have to have a certain knowledge or awareness about how they want everything to look. As a novice, I had no idea about lighting, background, or sound or how I wanted my video to look. So of course, I winged it! This was my setup yesterday. I used the tips on vlogging given on Jacksgap.com to help set up my video. 

The purpose of my video was to share my summer favorites. I thought it would be a simple video to start off with. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was more difficult than I anticipated to remember all the things I wanted to say about a certain product - and since I don't like reading off a script, I used a lot more space-filling words than I wanted (things like "umm," "yeah," "so," and "okay"). Fortunately I enjoy editing, but it was still a struggle to get comfortable in front of the camera. I pretended that I was talking to a friend and it helped a bit. 

Anyway, I'm glad I tried making a YouTube video. I know I'm not the best at it, but I had a lot of fun making and editing the video. I'd love to make more - I just don't know when that will happen. Maybe I should simply vlog - my life is normally like the bloopers at the end of the video, so at least that will keep viewers entertained. 

Kensie bag

"Naples" Okabashi sandals

Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs

Julep Mint Condition Foot Cream

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray

From Left: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya, MAC lipstick in Ravashing, Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Lip Gloss in Candy Baby, and Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Kiss Me Coral

And now, what you've all been waiting for...

My summer favorites.

Sister Bonding Time!

My sister and I weren't always close. In fact, I have a very distinct memory of me thinking, "Well she's graduating this year. I suppose I ought to be nice to her." She was graduating 8th grade - and to me that was a big deal. I'm two and a half years her minor, but despite the age difference, I still consider her my younger sister. Toya (my nickname for her, pronounced "toy-uh") is not only sillier than me, far more creative than me, but shorter than me as well. That being said, I look up to her very much. 

Outside of the salon with our newly manicured nails.

Anyway, Toya and I don't get to hangout by ourselves very often. With a large-ish family like ours, it's hard to have any alone time together. Today we decided to get French manicures at Unique Nails in Tacoma. Toya had never had a French manicure before and we had decided to splurge a little and get gel manicures, so it was exciting. I was grateful I got to experience another "first" with Toya. What I mean is, Toya and I are leading physically separate lives now. She's finished with college now and I'm still traveling back and forth between home and college. She's entering "real life" now and I realize it will be harder and harder to spend time with each other, despite all that technology and social media has to offer. It's not like we're going our separate ways - we're still family, of course. It just makes me appreciate the little things, especially the "firsts" that we haven't experienced that we wouldn't normally experience together now that we're older. Plus, I will definitely miss having someone to be ridiculous with!