Happy Holidays

I Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry and early Christmas/ Happy Holidays! I hope you all enjoy your holiday break! Its a time to relax and have fun and to not worry about everything else going on in your life! So put whatever is making you upset or worried in the back of your mind, sit back and enjoy the peace the holidays bring with with friends and family! Have a good one!

Ghirardelli Chocolate History

In 1849, when Domingo Ghirardelli immigrated to the United States from his homeland of Italy, he has dreams of striking it rich in the California Gold Rush. After trying his hand and failing at mining, he settles on opening a tent-store in nearby Stockton, CA, selling various supplies and confections to fellow miners. With his new business proving successful, Domingo decides to open a store and hotel in San Francisco. After a major fire in 1851 destroys his businesses, he begins to rebuild. In 1852, he forms a new confectionery company that is to become the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.

Today, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company has built on its signature taste and time-honored manufacturing processes to become America’s premium chocolate company. Here is a timeline of important events that led my favorite chocolate today; Ghirardelli!

1837: At the age of 20, Ghirardelli marries first wife, and sets sail to Uruguay to partake in the South American chocolate trade. Here, he takes a job in a "coffee and chocolate establishment."

1838: A year later, attracted by opportunities in Lima, Ghirardelli sails around Cape Horn to Peru. Fatefully, Ghirardelli opens a confectionery store next to a cabinet shop owned by an American, James Lick.

1847: Enticed by the stories prosperity in North America, Lick leaves for San Francisco, taking 600 pounds of neighbor Ghirardelli’s Chocolate with him. Meanwhile, Ghirardelli continues to operate his store in Peru, soon replacing his Italian name with its Spanish equivalent, Domingo.

1865: Around this time, someone in the Ghirardelli Company makes an important observation—by hanging a bag of chocolate in a warm room, the cocoa butter drips out, leaving a residue that can be processed into ground chocolate. This technique, called the Broma process, is now generally used in the manufacture of chocolate.

1892: Domingo Ghirardelli retires as head of the company, turning the management over to his three sons.

1893: Needing additional space, the company purchases the Pioneer Woolen Mill building, and manufacturing moves to that location, on San Francisco’s northern waterfront. This is the present location of Ghirardelli Square.

1900: The company sells its coffee and spice business, limiting its products to chocolate and mustard. A two-story warehouse (now called the Cocoa Building) is built on North Point Street.

1923: The company adds two floors to the Cocoa Building and the four-story structure becomes the base for 15-feet high, illuminated letters spelling "Ghirardelli." Visible for miles, the sign becomes a welcoming sight to ships passing through the Golden Gate.

1963: The Golden Grain Macaroni Company, which is owned and operated by the De Domenico family, purchases the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. The purchase includes the company name, product, formulas, and equipment.

 1982: The owners apply for and are granted National Historic Register status for Ghirardelli Square. The management at Ghirardelli Square seeks to enhance and improve the ambiance of the Square by adding more greenery, trees, and flowers to the landscaping. New outdoor umbrellas enliven the interior of the Square, contributing to the visual appeal and atmosphere. With more than 75 tenants offering cuisine, art, and merchandise from around the world, Ghirardelli Square becomes a model for the restoration of classic buildings throughout the country.

1993-2003: Ghirardelli opens retail stores around America! 

2004: Ghirardelli Chocolate Company launches its first national television advertising campaign.

2004-and to this day: Ghirardelli Chocolate Company continues  to launch its first limited edition flavors every season! 

My information about the history of Ghirardelli came from http://www.ghirardelli.com/

Dance Marathon

This year I joined Key Club and I am so glad I did! It has introduced me to so many new things! The one I want to talk about today is the Dance Marathon! In Iowa the most well known one is The University of Iowa's Dance Marathon! This is way bigger my schools like 50 people who show up but its still fun. Anyways at our one this year some Iowa girls came down and they recruited me and a few of my friends as soon as they heard me say that I have always been curious and interested in theirs!! Our dance marathon was only like 3 hours and I was tired but I am excited to go to the BIG EVENT this year anyways! A little bit more about the dance is they raise financial and emotional support for kids who have pediatric cancer being treated at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. They do events all throughout the year with the families, but it all leads up to the BIG EVENT in February! The BIG EVENT is a 24-hour dance where we don't sit, we don't sleep, and we don't drink caffeine! Sounds pretty tough but it truly isn't so I have heard! At the BIG EVENT I have been told there are a lot of fun events. You obviously get to dance with your friends, you get to dance with some of the cancer patients, you get to hear families speak about what they have gone through and how Dance Marathon has helped them! Apparently there are games- both video games, and games like life-sized candy land and lots of food to eat too! If you are with a group that either raises the most money or gets the most points from going to different events you get to go to swim at the Iowa rec Center. And apparently that is just a few of the great things about the BIG EVENT!
For more factual information, this is also on my page but it says;
"Dance Marathon is a student-run philanthropy dedicated to supporting oncology patients being treated at The University of Iowa Children's Hospital. It is a year-round organization that culminates with a 24 hour long BIG Event in February. To date, Dance Marathon has raised over $12.7 million dollars for children being treated for cancer.
Gifts to Dance Marathon are made through The University of Iowa Foundation, a nonprofit IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) organization that is structurally separate from The University of Iowa. The University of Iowa Foundation exists solely for the UI's benefit, serving as the preferred channel for private gifts to all areas of the University."
Hear is a list showing you how what you are donating can help!

$7 pays for a meal at the hospital

$11 pays for a “Cancer Fears Me” chemo cap

$15 pays for an overnight stay at the Ronald McDonald House

$17 pays for just ONE day of parking at the hospital

$20 pays for DVD’s and video games to fill the playrooms

$40 pays for a food and beverage cart for a grieving family

$55 pays for a peace plant for a grieving family

$75 pays for playtime activities in the hospital for 12 patients

$100 pays for a Gift Card for each family to purchase holiday gifts for their family

$150 pays for the monthly meeting of the sibling support group

$200 pays for the Continental Breakfast for every unit every Friday

$250 pays for a new wig for a child who has lost his/her hair

$300 pays for a hospital party for 15 patients

$326 pays for a sibling of a pediatric cancer patient to attend a summer camp

$425 pays for a pediatric cancer patient to attend summer camp

$600 pays for a dinner out of the hospital for TEN families

$1,000 pays for pharmacy medications for one YEAR

$1,500 pays for a semester scholarship for a cancer survivor

$5,000 pays for funeral expenses for a child dancing in our hearts

Please help me out raise $400! Every donation can help! This is a link to my page and where I got a lot of the info! Leah Beman Dance Marathon Donations

Giving Back

If you are looking for a good way to give back during Christmas time Feed my starving children is a great organization to help with kids hunger around the world. We need to do something's about world hunger before it gets even worse. In the world today we make enough food for every person to eat 2800 calories a day. Lots of countries are struggling with obesity while others barley have any food at all. World hunger has went up from 840 million people to other a billion people over the last phew years. 18 thousand children wont live to see tomorrow of the 400 million children hungry. There are many reasons to why this is happening such as political problems, famines, and natural disasters. Instead of letting this go on, feed my starving children began to help in 1987. This is a Christian organized group. There mission is to feed gods starving children hungry in body and spirit. They say if you can donate time or money that they ask you at least pray. If you do have spare time to go volunteer you can go to one of their locations to package food. You make meals of rice, soy, vegetables, and chicken flavoring in one bag which ends up feeding 6 kids. Volunteering only take two hours of your day to help and kids of all age can do it because every person makes a difference. After everything is packaged they pray before sending it off. They are shipped around the world to at least 70 countries. Since there isn't a place where you can volunteer here you can always make a donation. 25 cents is enough to feed one child's meal. Feeding 5 children for a month is only $33. You are guaranteed that 92% of donations go directly to the food program. Today they have produced over 600 million meals total. The Kennedy women's swim team goes there every year on the Minnesota trip. This past year we packaged enough food to feed 76 kids for a year! Each table for us is a team and we have a competition and it ends up actually being really fun to race and see who can pack the most bags in the two hours. You really don't even notice how long you've been there because it is fun. The little bit of time really can make a difference in the world! For more information go to http://www.fmsc.org/ about how you can help!

Christmas Gifts

Christmas time is right around the corner and there is so much to do and so many gifts to buy! ! I absolutely love shopping and buying gifts for other people!! This is my favorite of all seasons and my favorite things to do! Seeing all the smiling happy faces as they open the presents, nothing is better, especially little kids reactions to it! Anyways I know that it can be a lot of money to buy all those gifts for people so I  thought I would talk about all the great places to shop and small gift ideas you can get for people that are general but still can seem more personalized then getting everyone just the same m&ms in a candy cane and hot chocolate for people every year!
My first suggestion would be don't go to the mall. Unless you know something specific there that you want, it is way to overwhelming to go their first. I suggest somewhere like target where they have a lot of things you need and for pretty cheap as well! The variety of things makes it way easier and you don't have to run from store to store! After that if you don't find something there that you need then you should go to a specific store.
I know that buy gifts can be expensive and people, especially high schoolers don't have a lot of money to spend but I am really not a fan of home made gifts. I am okay with written letter with the gift, but lets me honest a lot of homemade gifts…suck. That not to say I haven't got good ones in the past or anything cause I have and that's great. But for example, the layered food in a jar to make some recipe..no thanks. When high schooler give that I get semi confused if we are old ladies who are making it for their get tougher coffee days or..? Anyways my point is not to be rude or sound snobby but I'm just saying be careful with the homemade gifts. Think will this person actually use this if I make it for them.
When buying presents if you don't know what to get them just look around for things and if it remind you of them some how or you have a memory that goes with them and that item,  and they can get use out of it then that's your item most likely! I tend to avoided getting everyone like the same thing in like different colors or versions of that item. It makes it very  not personal. Over all you don't need to spend that much but just make sure it something you know they will enjoy and actually get use of and love a lot! The goal of Christmas is to spreading cheer and what better way then with a great gift!

Memories in Songs

Music can bring back so many memories when you really think about it. Almost all songs I listen to, I listen to them because they bring back an emotion or feelings in the past or how I feel at the moment. Sometimes good and sometimes bad but still always there when you listen to it.
I picked a line or two from some of these songs that bring back memories for me. Try it sometimes and really think about why they are so important to you!

This is what dreams are made of by Hilary Duff.

“When I see you smiling, I go, oh oh oh, yesterday my life was duller Now everything's Technicolor” (best part of the song and in the movie)
This song was my favorite song growing up as a child. I loved Hilary Duff with my whole life. I think at times I thought I actually was her. This song speaks to me because it reminds me off childhood and how much I wanted to be pop star growing up and do everything with singing. It makes me glad that I stayed doing show choir and I didn’t give up which lead me to making happiness this year!

Already there by Lonestar
“I’m already there, take a look around, I’m the sunshine in your hair, I’m the shadow on the ground, I’m the whisper in the wind and I’ll be there tell the end.”
This song was the song I always listened to when my dad was traveling. When I was younger I would hate when my dad would go out of town and he had to a lot for the job he has. This song always made me sad at first but in the end it made me feel better after listening to it a few times.

Material Girl by Madonna

“Cause we are living in a material world and I am a material girl, You know that we are living in a material world and I am a material girl!”
This song kind of describes me growing up. I have always been the girly girl who loves material things and is picky. I always would love the boys and want to date them all but I would like pick and choose through them to try to decide which one was the best and I would straight up tell them without a problem how much I liked them.

Hey there Delilah by plain white tees

“I’m a thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty yes you do, time square cant shine as bright as you I swear it true”
This song has a lot of good memories for me. First off it has memories from 5^th grade boyfriend named Alex but him and his friends changed the words to “Lindale fountain can’t shine as bright as you I swear it’s true.”  Also relates to my 8^th grade boyfriend Drew who learned it on the piano for me and would sing many new versions of “Hey there Leah” so that was always a good time.

You’re the reason By Victoria Justice 

“You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you? You’re the only reason that I’m not afraid to fly”
This was one of those songs for me and my friend Quinlan that we would scream sing and dance around every time I went over to her house. We would try to make music videos for it and stuff too. We were best friends so it was our song because we always were there for each other and used each other for support!

Here in Your Arms by HelloGoodbye

“I like where we are, when we drive in your car, I like where we are, here.”
This is Amelia and my song to listen to when we are in my car driving around. It our song for our future boyfriends that we also like to scream sings! We like to talk and drive in my car a lot and this is always our first song of choice to listen to because it’s so upbeat and easily puts you in a good mood!

Black Swan

Nina has been at the New York CIty Ballet Company for a very long time. For almost all her life she has been taking ballet and has dedicated her life to it. She still lives with her very over protective mother Erica who is constantly trying to control what she does and is very obsessive when it comes to controlling her daughter. Her main boss and dance teacher Leroy knows that Nina has beautiful technique but she doesn't have the emotion as the new dance Lily has. He knows that Nina could play the part of the white swan just fine but the black swan will be the struggle  for her. He chooses for Nina to be the part even though he isn't completely confident with his decision. Through all the practice and hard work, Nina becomes very stressed. When she is stressed she tends to scratch herself in her sleep. She is also having hallucinations that she is actually turning into the black swan and hallucinates many other things throughout the movie. Lily and Nina friendship grows as Lily shows her how to live a little and takes her out. This leads to having them party and do drugs which Nina has never experienced before. When she gets home her mother being very upset with her doesn't wake her up the next morning to go get ready for the ballet but calls her in sick. This makes Lily take the part since she is her understudy. Rushing in late to her performance she thinks Lily is trying to steal the part from her. Nina, angry insist that she is fine and will do the part of the swan without a problem. Before the act when she goes on as the black swan she imagines that Lily is in her dressing room getting ready as the black swan trying to take her place. She thinks she is fighting her off in her mind and believes she kills her by stabbing her with the mirror so she hides her in the shower of the dressing room. She goes on stage acting like nothing happened and plays the part of the black swan beautifully. When she comes back to change into the white swan Lily comes and tells her good job which makes her confused that she didn't kill her. She realizes that she was only slowly killing herself not Lily and she stabbed herself with glass. After this she continues to go on stage though and dance through the final part of the ballet. In the ballet her part dies in the end because her lover feel for the wrong prince and when she falls and dies in the ballet she is actually already dying. The come up to congratulate her when they realize she has hurt herself. Her last words were, “I was Perfect” before she died.
This a great must see movie filled with action and drama and I would recommend it to all if you can get past the parts that can be a little weird and confusing!

Ugly Sweaters

Around the month of December is when people start to bring out their ugly Christmas sweaters! People have so many reasons to bring out their Christmas sweaters. Some do it for parties and some do it for being in the spirit of Christmas and some just for sheer enjoyment of lovely Christmas sweaters! They started out as just wearing them as just an ugly sweater but now they are actually a fashion! I know a lot of people, including myself, that actually enjoy wearing them because we think "ugly Christmas sweaters" are actually kind of cute, ironically!
The problem with these sweaters is they are actually very popular and hard to find! You want to buy them as early as possible that way you can have a wide selection! To be honest, I actually bought most of mine in August because as soon as it gets remotely cold, that's when they start to go. The best places to buy them are thrifts shops and used clothing stores. Salvation Army and Goodwill is usually where I go to find the best selection of them!!
One of the main reasons I love sweaters is because they are oversized and comfy! It's okay because they still look good too! You can wear them with jeans, leggings, and really anything! They just always look cute around Christmas time! It puts you and others around you in the holiday spirit!! What could be better? So next time you are out shopping, look for that Christmas sweater that will make you and everyone else's day around you a little better!

Carrie Diaries Fashion

I am always trying to find new good shows to watch at home in my spare time! I stumbled upon this new show called The Carrie Diaries. It looked like a girly TV show that I would normally like and I found out that it is the prequel to Sex and the City. Sex and the City is one of my all time favorite shows ever because Carrie Bradshaw has the most unique fashion. I always wonder what she will wear next but I also just enjoy the show! I went through an obsessive stage where I would only watch Sex and the City, so I was pumped when I found out there was a prequel! Seeing a younger version of "her" got me really excited so maybe I could even steal some fashion ideas! She is 16 when the show starts in high school, and trying to deal with her mom dying and keep up with her social life at the same time. There is a new kid at her school, Sebastian Kydd, who is the hot rich kid whom she has a thing for. The show is a great mix of drama and things that high school kids can truly relate to. She gets the chance of a life time to work for a fashion magazine and work in the city! She wears some amazing outfits through out the show and so if you like fashion and drama, this show is for you!
The show is based in the 1980's and I don't really think they all are 80's clothing but I still wish I had them all. Everything she wears is so unique, bright colored and fun! It makes me want to dress more like her. I was doing some searching of styles from the show when I found this website which I absolutely love now. It shows the TV shows and where you can find outfits from the TV show or something similar. Here is a link to Carries Diaries Cute outfits that you can find! Carrie Diaries outfits To see more fun and cute outfits also here is a good website of some one the best outfits from season 1! More Carrie Outfits

In the picture above is one of my favorite outfits from season one! This picture is one of my favorite because it shows a lot of the great and crazy fashion ideas in this show! Larissa (way left) is the editor and chief of a fashion magazine. She is crazy and fun doesn't care what anything thinks of her! She is wear a very bright and crazy full body jump suit which I love and wish I had the nerve to wear because it is so adorable! She also has an orange statement purse and purple headband that are solid colors which draw your eye away for the crazy outfit for a bit. Carrie (blonde in the middle) is the main girl and she is a sweetheart and who always is on top of the latest trends! She has one of my favorite dresses on from all season one!! The pattern is adorable and something I would totally wear! I like how it is tight on the top and then flows out on the bottom. Also the black tights with the shoes always make a good look with almost any dress! Jill known as Mouse (on the right) is known as kind of of the nerdy smart girl but she has an adorable black and white dress on with the top and bottom contrasting each other. She is also making the black tights and shoes work with her dress like I said they work with a lot of things. This is just one of the many outfits in the show I love a lot and you should defiantly check out more of them if you like this one! Overall all the outfits on the show are cute and its a great show so you should check out The Carrie Diaries on Netflix!!

Fabulous Shopping

Living in good old Iowa is a difficult task when it comes to trying to find fabulous shopping! Especially where I live there are literally no good stores at all to shop at! This makes it difficult for shopping but when I go out of town shopping is the best! I thought I would talk about some of my favorite stores! I love so many stores I could type about them for hours but I will just mention a few. 

My all time favorite store like a lot of other teenagers in Forever 21! This is a very common well known store around the world! I even saw one in Paris when I went there! Everything is so cheap! There is rarely anything over $35 and if so it is probably worth the price. They also have everything in the stores! They are usually so huge and have so many clothes its almost overwhelming! I love it though because I am a hard core shopper and I love to shop all day! I could probably spend a good 4 hours in forever 21 because you have to make multiple rounds around the store to make sure you have look at everything and go to the dressing room at least three times or so. 

Another store I really like is Deliah's they have the cutest clothes there! They are a little more expensive compared to like forever 21 but still pretty reasonable usually! They have a million different kinds of jeans to choose from there that I love! There are so many cute dresses and sweaters and crops tops. They also are a lot like Forever 21 but smaller and usually a little more quality made that why the price is higher but they have a good variety of everything there. 

My other favorite because I am a typical girl is Victoira Secret. What girl doesn't like this store even though it is extremely over priced everything. My favorite thing is when they have there sales because when they do they are huge and have great quality prices! That is when I shop there the most! I love a good sale from there! 

Those are just a few of my favorite stores and I will have to write about more of my favorite stores another time! Until next time my readers, shop on! 

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is my newest favorite app that I have got. I found it because of someone that I follow on twitter tweeted a link with a song that she uploaded herself. I am still figuring out the app but from what I have learned so far I like it a lot! It is free also which is also a plus! It is only for iPhone users though and iPads. I just started using it so my apologies if I don't know all the exact information about it but I can tell you what I know and what I have learned from research.
When you first sign up if has you pick from a whole bunch of genres on music and artist to show them what kind of music you like. It then sets up a main stream of music from those artist and songs likes that. You can look up any song or artist. People upload tracks all the time and you can listen to the song for free! You can favorite songs by clicking the little heart on the song you are listening to and you can also use a button kind of like on twitter retweeting something but you can hit it so it shows up on your page as one of your songs. You can also add it to a playlist which you can make of multiple songs you like that way they play all in a row when you listen to them. You can then also share the song on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites along that line. You can comment on songs and the comment will pop up on where you set it according to a time in the song. So if you have a favorite part to your song you can comment on that part exactly what ever you want.
I dont use the next feature but you can also record things! So say that you wrote a song or made a cover of a song then you can upload it on to here. It tells you how many people have listened to it and liked it and re posted it to there page. There are so many good songs out there that I have found and really enjoyed!
I think that this is a really great app with a lot of free music which if you are like me you like a lot because you don't have to buy it at all! I wish I would have found it a lot sooner then I did! As long as you have wifi or some kind of 3G you are good to go! Go download SoundCloud now!

Halloween costume..or..?

Scrolling through my Instagram and twitter around Halloween can always be interesting. There are so much odd choices of outfits that are on my newsfeed. here are always a lot of parties because people in high school are always looking for some reason to celebrate something and to make a party about it. There are Halloween parties the weekend before Halloween and on the day and even the weekend after to celebrate this lovely Holiday. I absolutely love the idea of Halloween and I think that it is so fun and I wish I wasn't so old so I could still trick or treat. Being someone or something else for a day and such a fun thing to me because you can be anything you can imagine. Going into High School ruins a lot of that fun thought
So as I am scrolling through my news feed and looking at all these people posting pictures in their very skimpy costumes, I am wondering if they even remember what Halloween is all about. Now a days its all about the sexy and scandalous costume and who can look the sexiest in them. I would say that 90% of the Halloween pictures I see are scandalous is some way. It really concerns me how low cut and short some people buy there costumes. I feel like everyone almost thinks it is a contest to see if the can have the shortest costume and things along those line.
I went to the Halloween store the other day with my friend to look for ideas of what we could be to hand out candy at my house. There was about 4 costumes that weren't tiny and sexual. That is literally all they even sell because it is so popular. I understand that that's how everyone else dresses so if you want to fit in at the party you have to wear something like that but there are defiantly some costumes that are a lot worse then others. I think people have truly forgot that Halloween is not all about that and it shouldn't be a contest of who has the sexiest costume. I girl I follow posted a picture of her and her friend and they had very short black skirts on and white button up shirts on but with them all the way unbuttoned so you could see there whole bra. Now I can see that yes there are lots costumes to be that have skimpy outfits but that's not even a costume. If people cant tell what you are by looking at you, that a problem and that's when I for sure draw the line of not okay.
So come one people lets remember what Halloween is all truly about tonight and have fun like when you were little and find a costume that fits properly! Sorry for my strong opinions and I hope I didn't offend anyone! Happy Halloween!

Youtube

I love fashion but part of fashion is also hair and makeup which are not always my strongest suit when it comes to getting ready for something. If you need an outfit or help with anything like that I got you but when it comes to hair and makeup I need a little help sometimes. I do ask my friends for help and suggestions but sometimes I need more then that. I then usually go watch videos on youtube. There are so many helpful videos out there that give step by step make up or hair tutorials on everything and anything you can think of.

My all time favorite girl to watch for makeup tutorials is Lauren Curtis. She has the all time best videos to watch. She can also do hair videos too but her makeup ones are the best. She has a whole bunch of videos that are makeup for like specific events. She makes them for special occasions, colors or times of day, ect. She also has makeup videos for look a likes or costumes. If you were trying to look like someone then there are a lot of people on there of videos she has made to look like them. She even has some for like Halloween specials and like costumes. 

One of my favorite people is Zoella. She does a whole bunch of things with beauty. She picks her beauty favorites of the month and outfits and makeup. She does videos that re just for funny too but I mainly just enjoy the other ones. I have gotten a lot of my make up ideas and my favorite products that I know still use because of her. 

One of the other things that I have seen is quiet a few video hair style fails. There is a video that makes me laugh every time. This is the link for you to go watch it! She is showing how to show to curl hair and then she accidentally curls a piece off. It is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen! 

The point is there is so many good videos out there. Next time looking for a new idea to do hair makeup and anything with beauty. Go to youtube and check it out to get a good idea! 

To tan or not to tan

No one likes being pale. I mean maybe a few people out there but not very many people. The things is that I live in Iowa so I can't get tan year round outside because it gets really cold and because I am at school or doing other indoor activities most the time. I do not tan in a bed and I have no interest to do that but I still wish to be tan so I have found a few other ways to stay tan in the winter without having to fake bake. Tanning before the age of 35 can increase the chance of getting skin cancer by seventy-five percent. These findings suggests that there is some kind of critical period in which minors are more vulnerable to skin cancer. It's because UVA and UVB radiation (found in a tanning bed) causes changes to DNA and predisposes it to become malignant. And that's how skin cancers develop. Tanning beds supply much more pure UVA and UVB rays the radiation that tanning equipment emits is similar to that generated by the sun--95 percent UVA rays and 5 percent UVB rays--but much more intense. Five to ten minutes, depending on the equipment, in a tanning bed is roughly equivalent to a half-hour in the sun on a mid-July afternoon. Tanning contrary to popular belief provides no health benefits, it does not provide a basic shield against sun rays. On an average day more than a million people go tanning at a tanning salon. Yearly, tanning salons can be attributed with causing about one hundred seventy thousand non-melanoma skin cancers. Over all you really shouldn't tan in beds but if you are going to anyways please be careful.

There are other ways to get tan then to go in a bed! There is always spray tans! This is what I suggest! I found a local Spray tanning place that is only $20 for whatever shade of tan you want. It does suck because it can be expensive and you have to do it so often but it is worth it for sure and way better then a bed. The other thing you can do is go to like CVS, Ulta or Target to buy tanning lotion and spray things that work really well. I suggest Jergens Natural glow if you are looking for a good one to start with. It is pain to put it on everyday sometimes but it is worth it for sure! I have also bought neutrogena spray kind that I really liked. It is like your own spray can in a bottle. You just need to be very carful to put the lotions and the sprays on evenly that way you don't get lines or marks. These are really a way better option then bed and please consider them as a option next time you wanna be more tan. 

trendabl

Trendabl is a website that stumbled upon over the summer. I don't use to much though because I am really busy but I wish I had more time to use it because it is a very good app. If you like fashion a lot I would highly recommend that you use this app. Its kinda of like pinterest and wanelo in a way!

You can upload pictures and tag where you got that item of clothing from and then it goes into that category for that store! You can also just post items of clothing you want and may not own from certain stores of categories. You can create drawers of things you want that other people post. You can make categories for the drawers and then go back later to look at them if you want them. I follow a lot of stores of there which is really nice if you like online shopping. They put the price right below the picture of the item. You can then click on it and then add it straight to cart that way you can buy it off trendabl and have to sent to you. There is a button you can click on that just says shop and you can click on that to see all the things with prices that you can instantly buy. You can search by stores and click on them to see what each certain store has. 

I dont only just use it for shopping though I also use it to get fashion ideas which is also the reason I post photos. I love just looking at the fashion that way I can see what looks good. If I see something i will see if I have something like it and if I can some how kind of recreate the outfit in a way and hopefully. Or if something is to expensive I will go and try to find it or something that looks like it in a cheaper version of it. I post things because I hope that people like to look at the outfits and styles I post and that they can maybe get ideas from me and like what I wear. 

Overall this is a great cite and you can follow whoever you want for fashion ideas and I recommend it highly if you like fashion and online shopping because it would be perfect for you then! 

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring is a newer movie that has a lot of fashion in it. Its based on true events that happened in LA California. It is about teenagers who track movie stars on the internet to see when they are out of town that way  they can rob there houses and get all the fancy stuff. They are obsessed with the glamour and the way of the fancy life. They steal more then 3 million dollars worth of stuff from celebrities houses. This group of teens became known as The Bling Ring. Though this was not my favorite movie and I would not recommend it, I would like to talk about all the great fashion in it.
During the movie when they are robbing houses they show all the fancy and nice clothes that they have. Everything name brand that you can think of! The most common name brand they used was Louis Vuitton! Louis Vuitton is one of the most well know expensive brand around the world. It is popular with men and women. Lots of celebrities own this kind of things in the housed they stole from. It is popular in american in places like LA but also all over the world! I even went to a Louis Vuitton store in Paris France! Everything is so expensive in there though, to give you a good idea there are body guards everywhere. There is a bodyguard in like every item in the store! They are so expensive too! I picked up this one jewelry box that cost around $4,600 and I saw multiple boxes just like this in the movie! If your not sure you know what Louis Vuitton is, it is known to be the high heel shoes with the red bottom. You know if they have the red bottom then that is the brand they are! My dream is to some day own something Louis Vuitton but when shoes are like $700 I have a lot of working to do in my life time to own something like that!
Over all the Bling Ring is just about teen who wanted to own brand name stuff and be part of high class society like that. I would love to be that to someday but they went to the extreme in the events that the movie is based off to get what they wanted.

Style or the norm

Everyone wants to fit in somehow but do you really want to become a part of something that you are just normal and like everyone else. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the people themselves, I personally have very good friends who are part of the "in crowd" but I just think that everyone seems to dress and look the same. They all have the same typical outfits everyday. It isn't really style its just wearing the same thing everyone else is everyday to fit in with everyone else and not feel left out. There are some clothes I don't wear to school because I know I would be judged. No matter how much we say we all don't care if people judge us we all do at least a little.
The most common outfit for the winter that I see everyday drives me a little insane. Everyone wears buckle jeans with a Victoria secret pink sweatshirt and UGG boots. Yes I do own all of those items of clothing and I am sure I have even worn them together once or twice but so many people wear them everyday. That's all that people will wear because it all they buy but that isn't style, to me its just the normal trying to fit in. I used to be against Buckle Miss me jeans and other brands like that until I tried them on and I actually really like them. I am not saying that you shouldn't ever wear it, just everyday. Another thing that I notice is whenever they dress up then they always just wear UGGS with there tights and tight skirts and v necks. Yet again I own all these things but that doesn't mean every time I dress up that I have to wear them all together. Especially the UGGS with the skirt, you can buy other shoes that match and look better with it too!
The point of this blog was not to insult anyone but just to point out the things that people are wearing around us everyday at school. Do you want to fit in or do you want to stand out and be your own person? Be your own person and make your style. Don't follow the norm like everyone else. Dress how you want and don't let anyone judge you because you can do what you want.

iTunes Radio

I was very skeptical when the new download came out for the iPhones a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure if I was going to like all the changes and I didn't know how different things would be with the new one. There are things I like and don't like but I think one of my favorite things about it and something that I am getting a lot of use out of is iTunes Radio!
If you haven't used ITunes radio yet I recommended trying it as soon as you get a chance or next time you get a chance! I was just going to ignore its presence in my music until my friend convinced me and told me all the great things about it! It is a lot like Pandora but right in your music app. You can type in a song, artist or genre to choose from what kind of songs you like. If you don't want to type in something certain there are categories of stations you can pick from that they think you would like. When you have found a station it starts on a setting of Hits. This means you are listening to more common music that you hear more. You can go to the info button on the top middle and change that though! You have the options on a scale from Hits to Variety to Discovery. Discovery are usually not very well know songs but things that it thinks you will like! Variety is in the middle of those two so you get some hits and some not common songs. When there is a song playing you can pick the star to click that you like the song and to play more songs like that but there is also an X so you can click to never play the song again. You can skip songs but be careful because there is a limited amount of skips. You can also use the + button to add it to an iTunes wish list of songs you want to buy or you can even buy them right on the spot. There is also a button to change if you want to allow explicit tracks or not that way you can choose that depending on what kind of crowd you are in. If you are really enjoying a song you can make a new station from that song you are listening to which is always handy to have more then one station depending on your mood.
You can make as many stations as you want and can change at anytime. I love iTunes radio and I am so glad this is a new things in the music app. I am currently listening to the Lana Del Rey station as I type, which by the way I recommend! I love finding new songs so I always have it on discovery and I have found new songs already that I want to buy and now I cant stop listening to! I hope that you try it and can find some good songs you love too!

Avon

I have the biggest obsession with makeup and I constantly want to buy new makeup all the time. My latest obsession has been with avon products! They have everything you can think of and its pretty cheap! My mother is an avon lady so I can easily get avon things from here but if not you can go to http://www.avon.com and find a representative that way you can order or you can just order online.
Avon has so many products that you can buy. I use there foundation a lot from there. I have used the $40 kinds that you can buy from like Ulta but honestly I think I like the $12 kind from there just as much as I do the expensive kind! It works just as well! They have liquid and powder kinds of foundation for whatever you prefer! They also have like mascara that never clumps for me at all. It doesn't make your eye lashes quite as long but never does it give you just a clump of one eyelash like some mascaras do! I also use the eyeliners from there because they have these ones that have a little bit of shimmer in them which is different but pretty. They have any color of eye shadow that you could imagine possible! I only buy nail polish form Avon any more because I really enjoy all the colors and they are cheap! Other things they have are like perfume, and accessories such as earrings, necklaces, and rings. Many earrings that I often get complemented on came from Avon. They sell clothes and shoes though I have never bought that from there to put an opinion on them!
Check out Avon and all the great things it has to offer! I would definitely recommend it to any makeup lovers like me because I don't know what I would do without Avon! I hope you enjoy if you buy!

The Lost Empire

Atlantis known as The Lost Empire is a gorgeous place to go and it is in the Bahamas which makes it even better. There are so many things to do at Atlantis, the activities are never ending there. I just want to tell you why this is a great place to go on vacation with you and your family or even I hope some day on my honeymoon. Here are some of the just many things to do there
1.Dolphin Cay is a life time experience you will never forget! This is a place where you can interact with dolphins in many ways! You can swim, feed, hug, kiss, ect. with all the playful dolphins. It is so amazing to pet a dolphin and experience them first hand! You get wet suits and you get to stand in the water with them and play with them! It is expensive but it is definitely worth the cost! This is definitely my favorite thing to do when I go there!
2.There waterpark at Atlantis is 141 acres of pure fun! There are so many slides and things to do, everywhere you turn there is something new! My two favorite things are the Leap of Faith and The current! The Leap of Faith is a slide that drops you straight down a 60 almost vertical drop and then through a shark tank! Though you are going so fast you cant see any of the sharks at all! If you want there is a slide next to that one with a tube that has fun twists and turns and then you go slowly through the shark tank to see everything slower! The current is the best water park thing there in my opinion. This is fairly new but it is like a lazy river but not lazy at all so there is no more getting bored. There is  huge wave every like 5-10 seconds that goes through the river! Depending on how big they are and where you are floating you can even get tipped all the way over! It is so much fun, I could do it all day!
3.The Marina Habitat is filled with 50,000 animals and over 200 species! There are places underground that you can go see the fish! There are all these tunnels and places that are like a giant maze to see all the animals there are down there! There is also a restaurant that you can go to and its surrounded by fish tanks! If you want you can always look at the fish from above ground too, day or night because they have lights also!
I hope just these three things may have made you curious into wanting to look more into going here on your next vacation! Check out http://www.atlantis.com/default.aspx to learn more!

Edits

I know that this is a little off my topic that I said I was going to write about on this blog but I really wanted to take the time to telling you want I think some of the best picture edits are for Instagram. This still has to do with fashion someone what because in most of my Instagrams you can see my whole outfit and sometimes I put new pictures of just my clothes even. Without my lovely editing apps though I don't know what I would do! I will name just a few of my favorites!
1.My personal favorite app is called Afterlight. This app does cost 99 cents but that's not to bad for an app. On this app there are at least 50 filters under three different categories that you can choose from! It also has the usual setting like changing the brightness, clarity, exposure, contrast, etc. that most editing apps have. It also has this cool settings where you can add like fade and things like that to the picture to make it look like it is an old photo or tinted a certain way. My favorite part about this app though is frames. All the frames are meant so you can put it perfectly on Instagram. You can choose the frames shape and it can be white or black.
2. My next favorite is VSCOcam and this one is free which is nice. When you  get it you have to sign up which is nice though because then it saves all your photos in there when you edit them unless you delete them out. This one does not have as many filters to put on but still a lot of filters that I like a lot. This app has probably the best exposure settings to make photos look the best when using it. It also comes with other settings like the other apps to and work just as well. Over all these easily stores the photos you edited and makes them look more professional.
3. If you are looking to edit and put more like text and things on the photo I would use Studio. This app has filters also which are good too. I use it mainly for if I want any kind of text on my photos. They have premade text things and you can type your own. You can change the color of the text and move it wherever you like. I just found this app and I really enjoy it and wish I knew about it longer.
These are just a few of my favorites and I hope you can now maybe edit your photo and not just have to use the boring Instagram edits!

Throw back songs

Now and then we can all use some good old song jam sessions. Talking about all the good old songs from years ago is one of my favorite things to talk about. It brings up so many memories and things from the past. I just would like to take a moment to talk about some of the great songs of the past. Not from that long ago but just some from when I was little and why they were so great at the time or why they still are so great. 

1. Bad Day by Daniel Powter. This is a good song for your worst days ever. It just so true with everything it says in it. It makes you remember that everyone has those kind of days and you aren't alone and to be happy. Always a good song when you are having a bad day!

2. Every time we touch by Cascada. This was like the party song for my friends and I when we were in middle school. We could not have this song on and not be dancing and jumping up in down. The slow version of this song is also very good too!

3. You belong with me by Taylor Swift. Now this song isn't as old but this was the song everyone when they had a crush on someone and that boy liked someone else. You would scream sing it when ever it came on the radio. This is for sure a hair brush as a microphone and jump up and down in your room kind of song!

4. Who said by Hannah Montana. Anything by Hannah Montana was the best thing ever. This was like the song telling you when you were young that you can be whatever you want to be and to follow your dreams and everyone knew it because it was by her.

5. She will be loved by Maroon 5. I was obsessed with anything maroon 5 and I still am to this day, but this was my absolutely favorite song growing up by them and still is. A lot of girls like it because its about a boy who loves a girl and will do anything for her and who wouldn't want that in there life!

This list could go on and and on of good old songs that I could write about but for now I will stop writing about them. Now please go enjoy all of your old favorite times and remember all the memories from them!

Curl Secret

The newest product that I have fallen in love with is the Infiniti Pro by Conair Curl Secret! I was very skeptical at first of this when I saw it. I didn't know if it would be worth my money or actually work at all on my hair. I read some read some reviews and watched some videos and hoped for the best and went out and bought it. It works so well! I absolutely love it so much and am so glad I bought it! I get so many compliments on my hair when I use it. It is also very easy to use as well and even takes a little less time. I would recommend if you are looking for an easy way to curl your hair you should go buy the Curl Secret. 
Its said to be the new revolutionary curler with styling features being an automatic curl chamber. If you haven't seen or heard of this new product, it is a curler that sucks your hair into and twist it up into a curl! It is kind of difficult to explain but I will try my best. You make sure you have the curler faced the right way and you pick a piece of hair that is about an inch wide. Then you clamp the curler as high or low as you want on the hair depending on the look you want. The curl then will suck your hair into it. It twist it up and then will start the beeps. It will beep three times telling you that it is curling it and then when it is done it beeps continually. You unclamp it and your hair is in a perfect curl! It is the greatest thing ever!
There are a few things you need to know about though. Before you curl your hair you need to make sure you have no tangles in your hair when curling it. It will beep at you a lot of it gets stuck or tangled to let you know there is a problem. I have got my hair stuck it in before. I freaked out a little bit but it didn't burn it off or anything I just had to pull it a little to get it unwrapped. It also says that you are supposed to do your whole head in 15 mins. This is not true for me but other people have said they can do it easily but I do have very thick hair and a lot of it. It still is faster then a normal curler though. This is just a personal opinion but it makes pretty tight curls which just doesn't look good on me always, but you can easily just pick the curls apart a little bit to give them more volume. Just a warning though that when you first use it the curls will come out tight but you can easily loosen them. 
Over all I would for sure recommend this product to most everyone! If you are confused by it or have questions about it go to www.curlsecret.com.  

Why not?

There are some rules and tips you should follow out there when it comes to fashion but there are also some that are needed in my opinion. People get way to picky when it comes to the little things and I think that you can totally let slide. This again is just my opinion of what I think is okay to do and you can disagree with me or agree with me either way is fine.

1. Wearing white pants after labor day. People always say this is a horrible thing to do but I say go for it. As long as you make the rest of the outfit work with the pants and the season go for it. Let people judge you for it. 

2. Leggings as pants. I am all for this one! I love to wear leggings all the time. I have a million pairs of them because they are so comfy! They are cheap too which is great. I don't like to wear sweats to school so this is the next best thing! So you enjoy those leggings and wear them as pants!

3.Sandels when its cold. As long as it's not snowin out you can wear them. Embrace cold toes and keep the sandals on as long as you can! There are too many cute pairs out there to stop so soon! 

4. Jean overalls. If you are the right person then you for sure can pull these off. As long as you aren't wearing them in a farmer way and you are in a fashionable way then they are really good. I have seen so many people look adorable in them. I wish I was the kind of person who could wear them!
5. Crop tops to school. I am a lover for crop tops and I wish I could wear them all the time. You should not wear them to school with just normal pants to school though. If you wear high wasted pants, skirts, or shorts that is okay then. You can still see that its a crop top and it is socially acceptable to wear to school and other public events like it.
6. Vibram Five Fingers also know am as "toe shoes". I don't even own a pair of these but I know a lot of people who do and love them! If I had a good use for them I for sure would but them! As long as you aren't wearing them everyday with everything its totally okay to buy them!
7. Leotards. These are becoming more and more popular again. I own quite a few and I love them. They just look like you tucked your shirt in really easily and you don't have the problem of it coming out! They aren't always the most comfy but for sure worth it in my opinion.
8. Over sized sunglasses. These are personally my favorite kind of sunglasses to wear to be honest. Many people think they have been around to long and are a out of style. I will continue to wear my over sized round sunglass all summer long no matter what.
I hope this makes you feel some what better I hope someone else agrees with me out there so I am not the only out there doing this and thinking its alright! Keep wearing what you want to wear my friends no matter what fashion rules say!

Fashion no no's

I would like to take a moment to write about some of the fashion things I have seen over the past few years and recently too and to write about it. These are just my opinion and I mean not to offend no one but this is just what I think people should or should no do.

1.Boots with shorts. Im not sure who started this one, maybe someone just had shorts on and the only shoes they could find were boots to wear but this does not make it okay to wear to school. Any other shoes but boots would be better with shorts. Especially if they are furry boots that makes it worse. Please consider this next time when leaving the house.

2. Socks with sandals. This will also never become a thing. I know people like to wear socks with athletic shoes which I don't like but I am fine with but I am talking the sandals with all the straps and then people put the ugly socks with them. No matter what age or gender you are it is best to wear them without socks.

3. Brown and black. Unless it comes in a shirt together they should be worn at the same time. There are rare occasions that I have seen this pulled off. It is best to not even try to wear because it usually ends up look pretty bad. 

4.Jeans with a jean jacket. Note that this is also one of those things that can work for some people. Most people though this is something you shouldn't do.  Especially if the jeans and the jacket are the same color. At least make sure they are different shades.

5. Pajama pants as pants. We all know you are tired in the morning but this does not mean that you can just stay in your pants. Just because you can wear them to school doesn't mean you should. There is no job that I can think of where you can wear pajama pants to work.
6. Same color everything. This doesn't happen to often but I have seen it done. Matching clothes does not mean you can wear all the same color. Even if they are the same shade of purple, you shouldn't wear the purple pants with a purple shirt. This leads me into my next one.
7. Matching sweatsuits. The all the same color with the matching logo is not a thing. Just because they sell the pants and the sweatshirt as an option it isn't to wear it together. You should buy one or the other but not both. If you want to buy both make sure not to wear them at the same time!
8.Tennis shoes with skinny jeans. Ahh this is one of my personal favorites and very common to see. The skin tight jeans and then the big clunky tennis shoe. It really gets to me especially when they wear a nice fancy shirt to go with it. Don't get me wrong it bad with a T-shirt too but the nice top is worse.
I hope you all didn't get to annoyed with my fashion opinions and maybe can agree with some of them too!

Homecoming Madness

Around homecoming time shopping for dresses is the most stressful thing for girls. Shopping for a homecoming dress can be a very difficult challenge. There is so many things that you are worried about when you are shopping. What if I can't find one I like? Where can I find one? What if someone has the same dress as me?
Going to stores near by is not always a good option. You want to go to somewhere out of town. I know it is  a pain to go somewhere but it is worth going to make sure you aren't wearing the same dress as someone else. Your other option is to order online. I know this can be kinda risky for some because you don't want the dress to come and not fit or have really expensive shipping. I have found the www.promgirl.com is a good and extremely reliable website to shop for dresses on. Just make sure that you read if the dress is on sale you usually can't return it. There are always size measurement you can take to make sure it is the right fit dress for you before ordering. Though shipping can be a hassle if you order it soon enough before it shouldn't be a problem. You do want to make sure though that you don't just look at the dresses on the front pages of popular dresses because someone will have your dress most likely then. There are lots of dresses on the website to choose from so make sure to take time to look at all of them and make sure its a unique one that you think no one would have.
The most common dresses write now are sweetheart neck dress that are sparkly on that part and then flow down. This is a a dress style that a lot of people have in many different colors. I think that they are very pretty but so many people have them that unless you are in love with them I would not recommend getting one.
Some other popular in things this year is dresses with cool backs to them. Commonly all open backs are seen now. Other backs that have lots of straps or cross a lot are also seem more. This adds more to the dress then it just being a boring old normal dress like everyone else. A big statement to make sure to add is your shoes. I say the higher the heels the better. Sparkly heels or colored heels to make a pop to your outfit is always a good idea to make the outfit looks better. Jewelry that matches your dress is really important. Make sure that you have any earrings, rings, bracelets or necklaces you need to wear planned out as well. All the little detail add together to make the outfit great. I hope this helps when looking for your next homecoming dress.

Born to Die

Lana Del Rey is one of my favorite artist to listen to. Her music has so much meaning and passion in it. All the songs have this certain vibe to it that is a little more on the sad side but still so beautiful. Her album Born to Die came out January 27th 2012 and was on iTunes on January 31st. The Album got number one in 2012 and 2013 for Top Digital Albums, Top Rock and Top modern rock/Alternative Albums. It also made it as number two on The Billboard top 200 in 2012.
 The songs on the album are;

1. Born To Die
2. Off To The Races
3. Blue Jeans
4. Video Games
5. Diet Mountain Dew
6. National Anthem
7. Dark Paradise
8. Radio
9. Carmen
10. Million Dollar Man
11. Summertime Sadness
12. This Is What Makes Us Girls

In interviews she says that a lot of her are music is inspired by her life and what has happened in her life. They are from the love and lost in her life. She went to boarding school growing up to get over her alcohol addiction. Then moved back to New York City to start her life over. She feels she has walked her own path her whole life. She started singing in her high school choir and making videos when she was 17. She originally was collecting just vintage clips of places she liked for her music videos. She put it to classical music before she put it to her own music. Then she started putting herself in the videos and putting it to her own music. The fact that her videos were made by herself partially got her a lot of attention.
Her song Young and Beautiful was put into the movie The Great Gatsby. It was used for the main theme of the movie. She worked with Baz Luhrmann to make it go with the scenes in the movie and have the songs emotions and feelings work so well into it. She is very famous now and is well known around the world. Check out her website, music, music videos and more at www.lanadelrey.com if you want to join the newest crave about Lana Del Rey.

The City of Love

One of the most beautiful places I have ever been would be Paris, France. Know as "The City of Love" I sadly didn't fall in love with someone there but I did fall in love with the city itself. Everything there is so pretty and scenic. The city is self has a totally different feel then here in America. Everything there just makes it seem so welcoming and like home. The food is amazing there too just to make it all the better. If I could live there the rest of my life I would for sure! I would recommend to anyone to at least go visit there once before you die because it is a life time experience!

One of my favorite things about it is the fact that there is so much walking. People walk everywhere in the little towns. If you don't want to walk it is common to ride bikes anywhere you go. If not that the next very common things there is mopeds! People drive these because there is a lot of traffic there on big roads and with these they go between the traffic to get through it all. The way we got around all of Paris and were the most fun of all were Segways! This was one of the most fun things I have ever done. I got to ride one for three hours all around Paris. It is the best way to see the most of Paris in a short amount of time and a good time! I would say this is for sure something you need to do when you go.

One of the most know things in france is the Eiffel Tower. Word can not even describe how breath taking it is to see. It is so beautiful to even look at you don't even need to go up in the tower. People just sit in the grass and have picnics all the time in front of and and just talk and enjoy the beauty of it. People also take boat rides past it and down the river to see all the sights in Paris. We took the night ride which was amazing to see everything lit up.

There is so many amazing things I could write about and all the things to see. I made a video of just some of the pictures I took.

Pinterest

I am sure most of you have heard of Pinterest or maybe even used Pinterest before! It is my absolute favorite social media site at the moment. If you haven't heard of it or haven't used it yet this is a site where you can pin things into a board about your interests. You can pick your own boards such as, style, hair, for the home, crafts, ect. Then you can follow people or look at random peoples pins they have pinned and repin them into your boards that you have made. You can also just like things if you don't wanna pin them. You can even add your own pictures or things off other websites if you want to share them for other pinners to see.
One of my favorite things about it is that I can get great fashion ideas from it. There are so many cute outfits out there being pinned. You cant always buy all that stuff like you want to though because we would all be broke if we did that. I do use it for ideas though! I like to look at them as ideas for what to wear everyday. I base the looks i find on there to decide what to wear! If you really want something that bad also a lot of the pins have links to them that way you can find where its from and can purchase it if you really wanted it
I also find really great things for hair and makeup on there too. I first found out how to do a sock bun from Pinterest which is now my go to hairstyle when I'm having a bad hair day. They have many step and pictures showing you how to do theses things. I find this extremely helpful when trying to learn a new hairstyle. There are so many things out there to do with your hair that I had never even heard about until I had a Pinterest. When it comes to makeup they also have some step by step pictures but usually there is a lot of links going to videos on youtube. I use these all the time to make my makeup look better.
Overall this is just a phew of the reasons why I like Pinterest so much, there are so many great ideas and things to use on there. I have a link on the side if you want to check out my Pinterest.

Good Morning.. Or Bad Morning?

Getting ready in the morning to me is one of the most important part of your day. Yes its true we all have those days where we feel like crap and we have to pull a rolled out of bed and left for school. I used to be this way everyday but now I just feel so much better if I look better. I know that this can be a major challenge, Monday morning and you are trying to drag yourself out of bed and all you want to do is stay in your pajamas. Your hair looks like a hot mess and you don't even want to have to deal with it. If you start off your day with a t-shirt, sweat pants, and bed head hair are you really going to enjoy that day? If you are anything like me you probably wont, so I am here to write a few suggestions on how to help!

Hair is tricky thing for me because I am really bad at doing my hair. Over the years I have gotten a lot better but here are some of my tricks on quick easy hair days.

• The sock bun; I am sure you have all heard of this great new item for when you are having a bad hair day. It is quick and easy and it looks way better then a messy bun any day. If you don't know how to do them you can find them on Pinterest everywhere!
• Don't have time to straighten all your hair? No problem just put it up in a pony tail and just straighten the ponytail and then wrap a chuck of hair (or you can braid the hair too) around the hair tie and bobby pin to make it look better then a boring old ponytail.
• Two words that have saved my hair many days; dry shampoo. It is a girls best friend. If you don't have time to shower and your hair is all greasy use it because it does miracles!
• One of the oldest tricks in the book but shower at night and put it in braids before you go to bed. Take it out in the morning and then naturally curly hair in the morning no heat needed.

For choosing an outfit in the morning here are a few simple things to make the process go a lot easier then it does right now!

• Pick out what you are going to wear the night before! This makes it so much easier then choosing in the morning and you can get ready a lot faster. 
•  Accessorize always with everything! Add a scarf or some big earrings or rings to make the out fit seem better! 
• Make sure to know what the weather is going to be like too because that always helps to know how to dress more reasonable the next morning!
• Wearing the right shoes with an outfit can complete the whole outfit. If your feeling lazy and you just wanna wear jeans and a sweater then wear some really cute boots to make the outfit better!
• Wear tights with dresses and skirts! This makes things much easier and you feel better and less self conscious when you are wearing a dress or skirt.  
• Instead of wearing sweatpants wearing leggings instead! They are extremely comfy and you can get the in plain colors or extreme patterns! These are an easy choice and very cheap! You can get them for usually $12 or under at Forever 21.

For other quick tips on fashion and other things go to http://www.seventeen.com/fashion/blog/ which has great blog posts on everything fashion!!