Halloween Sucks

I don't have anything against Halloween. Not the least bit. Why would I complain about a holiday where I get to look ridiculous, get free candy without stealing and am allowed to eat a crap load of candy and no one questions me? But along with those wonderful things of Halloween comes the sadness of no longer being a child. Long since past has my opportunity to cuddle up in a furry lion costume and get extra candy because I'm so darn cute come and gone.

Let's face it, being a teenager on Halloween sucks, unless you're vandalizing your community, toilet paper-ing or egging houses or setting off fireworks, it's lame. Teenagers are left with the question of, "What are we gonna do on Halloween?" The thrill of dressing up has kind of passed or you're just too cool to dress up. And while the thrill of free candy is still present, adults are more reluctant to give out candy to barely dressed up, too old teenagers that might blow up their neighbourhood with fireworks in a few hours. As Eric Forman of That 70s Show once said, "We're too old to trick or treat and too young to die."

Along with the conflict of what to do on Halloween, also comes the conflict of whether your parents and your friends' parents will let you all trick or treat. Some think by the time you're eleven you're too old to while others think eighteen is a perfectly fine age to stop.

That said, the last two years have been pretty good. I have more freedom of where I want to go and what I want to do. Usually I end up at one of my friend's houses and help hand out candy then go trick or treating. And the truth is, I've discovered that the people Halloween really sucks for is adults who have to lug around their cute kids that get all this candy while the parents stand there absent-mindedly and get a package of rockets if they're lucky. Yeah, sucks for you.



Why do we care about appearance? Part 2

The other day I wrote about why women care about appearance so much. So today I'm going to talk about the pros of caring a lot about appearance, specifically about make up.

Wearing make up on a daily or at least regular basis makes you take a look at what's going on with your face and skin quite regularly. This forces you to notice your imperfections and though that can hurt your confidence it can also motivate you. Noticing things like pimples can motivate you to keep a regular skin care routine, workout more, eat less sugar and drink more water. All of those things are good for you in other ways but also help with having clear, glowing skin.

For me, doing tasks like painting my nails or putting on a face mask are very relaxing because they give me an excuse to have a bubble bath, drink a cup of tea, read a book, watch old TV shows and YouTube videos and just take some time to relax while doing something good for me.

Spending time in the mirror fixing your hair and putting on makeup can make you realize a lot of stuff about your face shape therefore making you realize what looks really good on you and what doesn't. And looking your best can give you an extra boost of confidence which can always be helpful.

So go ahead, put on a bit of foundation, it might make you a healthier person.



Why do we care about appearance? (Part 1)

As someone who loves girly things, getting dressed up, etc., I often wonder the big question, why do I care about looking good? Since this is one of the few things in my life where I actually ask this question, it really does make me stop and think. And I think it is something I should address here. Why do I care about what I look like? Why do I feel better about myself when I am put together and prettied up?

For me, I don't wear make-up or dress nicely to make myself feel better on the inside. I do those things because I feel that it's a part of showing respect to others. Let's face it men, you wouldn't wear your pajamas or hunting gear to a business meeting. You'd wear a classy suit. You want to show that you care enough about the person you're meeting that you made the time and effort to look half decent for that person. Let's face it, we all aren't perfect. But the people that deserve our respect, deserve us well dressed, if nothing else. We all have our lazy sweat pant days and that is okay. For someone that has a few jobs as well as going to school full time, I find it often tedious to look nice almost everyday but I still try. Why? Because I owe it to the people who have given decent jobs and opportunities to at least look half decent for work and school.

For most women there are reasons they wear makeup. I think that if you have some insecurities and you prefer to cover them up with makeup, that is absolutely okay. Why? Because as long as you are not caking it on and you are playing into your natural beauty, how is it changing you in anyway? In fact, putting on a dab of makeup in the morning can make you a better person. Sometimes just knowing that those little imperfections are kind of covered up can make you feel more confident and approachable for getting what you want in life. How in any way is that hurting you?

That said, you should feel confident in yourself without makeup, especially around those who are closest to you and know you best.

The other reason I think women feel the need to constantly look presentable is that for the entirety of history, women have signified beauty, sexuality and romance. If nothing else, women have been recognized as mystical creatures of beauty and have tried to enhance that essence the best they could with whatever resources they had throughout history. Why do you think all of those ancient sculptures are of half naked women? Because the appreciation for beauty is art. Even in the Old Testament of the Bible, in Esther to be exact, they talk about virgins having "spa days", beauty treatments and painting their faces in order to please a king looking for a new wife.

How you look is often the first type of judgement people pass on eachother when they first meet or see eachother. So why not be judged well?

Really we try and attempt to look beautiful because we're wired to, it makes us feel better and shows respect.

Autumn and Winter Essentials/Wishlist

This post may be a little different. I've wanted to a winter and autumn essentials list but when I started coming up with things I can't survive without, I realized that I don't exactly have all of my cold weather essentials. So I decided to make this post as an essentials list as well as a wishlist for what I'm hoping to buy in the near future.

Boots. Though I have a good pair of boots, they're more for hiking around in and casual wear. I need a pair of fashionable boots that will look good with everything.

Leggings. They are definitely a staple piece for any winter closet. Darker, thicker ones are great for lazy days with an oversized sweater and boots while thinner tights give you the option of wearing a dress or skirt during the colder months.
Via tightsobsession.tumblr.com
Shorter dresses and Skater skirts. Of course to go with some cute tights you need a shorter, girly dress or skirt. I like the contrast of something light an airy (like a summer-y lace dress) with dark tights and a big cardigan. I really like the style of skater skirts as well, that have been rather popular during winter months for the past few years. They remind me of Rachel Green (aka Jennifer Aniston) on Friends in the earlier seasons when she was a waitress.

Sweaters. The cozier the better. I'm also very excited to go thrifting for some more cozy sweaters in a few weeks.
Top: My own from various department stores
Bottom: More high-end ones I wish I could afford

Lightweight cardigans and jackets. They are a must for layering.

Darker makeup and nail polish shades. Bring out the reds, greys, deep purples and browns. I'm not big on the vampy look (ie deep purple lipstick). But I do like red lipstick because it makes you look more put together on days where you don't give a crap about looks but still have to go out. I also enjoy brown, taupe and grey eyeshadow and deep purple nail polish.

Scarves. Obviously. Knit, lace, infinity, patterned, etc. So cute.

New scents. Despite my love for things that smell like fruity, tropical islands, they definitely have a time and place; and that is not right now. It is time for spices, vanilla, jasmine and splashes of citrus. I love Beyonce's Heat and Bodycology's Enchanted Forest and  Brown Sugar Vanilla for perfumes/body sprays. I am also in love with fragrance brand Scentsy. I love their Mandarin Moon, Perk Me Up, Central Park Pralines, Perfect Oatmeal and Honey Pear Cider scents.

When I go shopping in a few weeks, I'll put some pictures of my new finds. Happy Fall!


A Stylish Walk

Today was a lovely Autumn day. And to add to its lovely-ness it was Saturday. Yay! Of course I had lots to do, as usual, but I was still able to enjoy myself and relax.


Despite the fact that I usually end up wandering around my house for the entirety of my weekend, I still like to look nice. Simply because I have all morning to get ready and no where to be. My go to weekend look is usually a messy bun with a cute bow clip, a comfy sweater, yoga pants and a smoky eye. Cute yet comfy.  Today, I also decided that my favourite sparkly earrings would be a nice touch. And I'm not really sorry about my unfashionable, army green jacket. It's comfy and warm and I feel like I'm in an awesome 80's chick-flick. Deal with it. 



Because it was such a nice day, I decided to take a relaxing walk by the river and take some pictures. The trees were vibrant and full of colour. The late afternoon sun was setting as the sunny, warm air was starting to get a chill. It really was lovely.



I hope you all had a lovely Saturday as well. Happy Fall!


Stream of Conscience: Pop Culture Lately

Pop Culture....Oh my, what do I have to say about it. There have been a lot of things that have happened in pop culture in the last week or two that made me feel things. Things that made me angry, things that made me happy and things that made me feel a weird mixture of emotions.

It seems in the last year, pop stars are starting to realize that life is hard for the rest of us and that we can't always relate to the big-mansion, Beverly Hills lifestyle. From Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" earlier this year, to recently Lorde's "Royals" and Britney's "Work B****".

The fact that Britney's "Work B****" is finally a video! Not being a huge fan of pop music or Britney this feels like a weird thing to say. But the fact that the video and song are a typical Britney style and I still kind of enjoy it is just plain weird to me. I just really enjoy the lyrics and feel that they can be used as really good comebacks to fake people I will have to deal with one day.

Along the same lines, I really like Lorde's song "Royals". For a girl my age to be singing about wealth inequality and people actually appreciate it is truly amazing. It seemed to be one of those rare gems in pop music where an indie singer is played on pop stations and refuses to convert to the mainstream behaviour of little clothing and controversy, but then it became controversial. A raging feminist blogger wrote this article. It just made me angry. Instead of looking at this lyrical stunning song for what it was, the blogger angsted about the two barely questionable lines in the song. So Lorde hates a little on a few black rappers? Was it really a hit to the African-American race? Or was it actually a hit towards the lyrics and music videos that happen to be made/written by someone of that race? I take Lorde's lyrics as a hit towards what rap music portrays rather than the race that dominates the hip-hop genre. In one part of the article the blogger writes "Why aren’t we critiquing wealth by taking hits at golf or polo or Central Park East? Why not take to task the bankers and old-money folks who actually have a hand in perpetuating and increasing wealth inequality?" Do Jay-Z and Kanye not have a hand in increasing wealth inequality in The United States of America? On another thought, do white people not sing about wealth inequality? Look at Ke$ha or Macklemore. Their songs "Thrift shop" and "Crazy Beautiful Life" talk about being resourceful and having fun while you're young and working crappy jobs. Not to mention that black rappers and the gangster life are talked about more in today's pop culture. Whereas the polo and Central Park East culture are only talked about on the various Housewives TV series and Gossip Girl.

On a radically different note, Miley Cyrus actually made me kind of happy recently. Wait...what!? Her SNL gig a few weeks ago was stunning. She seemed, happy, confident, chill and not like she was trying to get attention for the wrong reasons but rather for the right reasons, like showing off her decent voice in a coffee house- like acoustic version of "We Can't Stop". She assured us all at the beginning of the show that there would be no twerking. Not to mention the comedy sketches on this episode were fantastic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH1Ws86HRdA  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g4P3jO04J0

On the mixed emotions side of things, Justin Bieber released a new single. It sounds like a chill, groovy, Timberlake-esque song that would be background music to some movie scene where a couple were enjoying a few glasses of wine. I like his more mature voice but I don't like the fact that he's releasing a new song on iTunes every week. *Gasps* Fangirls. Gag.

In the end, I just really hope there can be more meaningful song lyrics and less controversy in the near future cause it makes me angry and then I have to vent and it usually ends up on here.


The Fashion Industry: A Crash Course

I feel that the world, in general, is unaware of the truth about the fashion industry. People tend to think that a female model is absolutely beautiful. Bouncy hair, long legs, big boobs, big eyes, thin but with enough curves, toned and tanned. But the truth is that isn't actually what models are. Those kind of models are "commercial" models. And being called a commercial model in the fashion industry isn't always a compliment.

The fashion industry has always fascinated me. The idea of appearance and how we present ourselves I think is very important. Because of this fascination I have read a lot of books and articles by models and have watched way too many seasons of America's Next Top Model. (I can't believe that show is still going!) Modeling is a very difficult, cut throat industry. Presenting yourself well is truly what the industry is about. In today's fashion industry you can't just be a pretty face. You have to have the right look, attitude, personality, photograph, walk and act well and be as tough as nails.

A typical high fashion model today is five foot nine, minimum. If you are even half an inch under that you have a lesser chance of getting work. Having a strong cheek bone, a good attitude, being personable and thin are also assets you have to have as well as having a unique look. The fashion industry no longer likes cookie-cutter, girl next door look. You have to have some sparkle, some edge and a sense of who you are to make it big. These are the kind of models you find in Vogue, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Victoria's Secret Spring Show and the various fashion week shows. If you can get a booking at one of those places, you're truly a top model.

That said there are some commercial type models that do really well. For instance Miranda Kerr and
Candice Swanepoel are more commercial faces but still model high fashion. Whereas Cara Develigne is a very high fashion model but still models for Victoria's Secret.

In the end, being a model is more than being a pretty face, it's about having the whole meal deal, inside and out.


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