Liebster Award ♥

Helloooo beautiful people!

First off, I've decided to change my post dates to Sundays so I can't procrastinate and end up drowning in homework on Mondays.

Second...

So something super cool just happened...

Lola's Little Wonders nominated me for the Liebster Award!

You may ask, what in the world is the Liebster Award?

It's just another way to make friends in the blogger community. Mainly, you must provide your readers with 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you. Then in return, you must nominate 11 bloggers that you love and ask them 11 questions! So let's do dis.

♥ MY 11 FACTS ♥

1. I went into anaphylactic shock at the beginning of the year, but the doctors can't figure out what I'm allergic to.

2. I'm in an intensive program at school called International Baccalaureate (IB), which means I'm drowning in homework everyday. Yet I still love high school.

3. Autumn is my favourite season since because it's no too hot, nor cold and not too humid nor dry. A plus is that I have an obsession with scarves, boots, sweaters and beanies.

4. I care more about what other people think of me than I'd like to.

5. I have an unhealthy obsession with YouTube.

6. One of my favourite memories was going stargazing on a quiet beach when we were camping and spotting different constellations. I've never had better mosquito bites.

7. I always want to decorate my room, but I don't want to waste money on it, haha.

8. I am legitimately still waiting for my Hogwarts acceptance letter. Actually, my sister just told me on Wednesday that our school has a toilet that has "Flush twice for Hogwarts" written on it and I'm seriously considering.

9. I can't stand people killing anything. I literally make my parents take spiders outside instead of killing them because I see everything as equal beings. That sounded really intense, haha.

10. I didn't say a single word until I turned 2 years old. And then I wouldn't shut up.

11. I don't actually play the games on my phone much, I mostly use my phone for surfing the Internet.

♥ MY 11 ANSWERS ♥

1. Favourite song of the moment?
The first two that come to me are Let Her Go by Passenger and Wings by Macklemore, which is funny because I don't listen to the two songs that often. It's just that the songs are so well written that I always have to stop everything I'm doing when the song comes up to just listen and feel.

2. What's the first thing you do when you wake up?
Brush my teeth and wash my face so I can feel refreshed and awake :)

3. Bags or Shoes?
Shoes!!!

4. You've got £10 to spend on one beauty product, what do you buy?
Don't really use beauty products, haha. Maybe a good bottle of nail polish? Does that count? If not, concealer? Haha...

5. Who is your role model?
My grandma <3

6. Favourite high street shop?
Does Zara count? o.0

7. Do you live by any mottos or mantras?
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.

8. What beauty product can you not live without?
Concealer, I have really bad acne problems.

9. What was your first word as a baby?
My parents claim that I started talking in full on sentences...

10. What is your favourite blog to read?
Definitely Zoella's blog! <3

11. What is your best blogging tip to give new bloggers?
Blog about whatever comes to your mind and don't try to copy other bloggers. Mainly, be yourself. Cheesy, but true.

♥ WHO I'M TAGGING ♥

1. Connie
2. Claudie
3. Jessica
4. Miki & Casey
5. Joyce
6. Ashley
7. Katie
8. Faye
9. Claudia
10. Sarah
11. Holly


♥ MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU ♥

1. Favourite artist(s) at the moment?
2. What is the best book you've ever read?
3. What is your autumn essential?
4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
5. Do you have nay weird talents?
6. What is/was your least favourite subject at school?
7. Funniest joke you know?
8. Chocolates or sweets?
9. What are you most excited for right now?
10. What is one food you will never be sick of?
11. Why did you decide to start a blog?


So that's it! All 44 items done. It took so much longer than I thought it would, but it was definitely super fun finding all these amazing blogs I tagged.

I hope you guys enjoyed all the facts that I have shared with you! I'll see you next Sunday! Byeee xx

August Favourites 2013 ♥

So we're finally into the first week of September, and I gotta say, autumn is my favourite season. But enough talk about September because this post is about.... AUGUST FAVOURITES! So let's get started!

♥FASHION♥

Aldo Sandals
I bought these gladiator sandals last summer at Aldo and they have been my go to shoes even this year. I brought these on my Europe trip with me since I packed mostly dresses for the trip and running shoes just wouldn't work with them. These were surprisingly comfortable for the long days we spent walking around Paris, Rome and Venice (oh, and Vatican). The best part is how these sandals are a rustic nude colour so they literally match everything!

Forever XXI Tank

This muscle tank (?) was one of my proudest purchases of the month. I am obsessed with The Amazing Spider-man so when I saw this shirt at Forever 21, I grabbed it and never looked back. I mean, Andrew Garfield, come on. The arm holes are cut so that everything up to the bottom of your ribs show though, so I always pair these with a cute bandeau.

American Eagle Gym Shorts

Like I mentioned with the sandals, I have been wearing dresses non stop in August. My dance shorts have pretty much saved my life on many occasions. I bought these at American Eagle for dance class, and never knew that they would also save me from flashing a bunch of French and Italians, haha. So, I would definitely recommend buying a pair of short and tight shorts to wear under skirts and dresses!

Cardigan

This cardigan was the only long sleeve I brought to Europe and it was the perfect choice. The colours pretty much matched with all my dresses and the cardigan itself was super warm and comfy. I can't tell you exactly where I got it from though, since it was a gift from my cousin. But choose the perfect cardigan, and it will bring you far...

♥BEAUTY♥

Baby Lips by Maybelline

In the summer, people are big about protecting their skin from the sun. What we fail to remember is that our lips can be sun-burnt as well. My Baby Lips come with SPF 15 ensuring that through long days out in the sun, my lips won't come out peeled and disgusting. And the slight tint is just another plus!

Neutrogena's Moisture with SPF 30 (oil-free)

Speaking of skin protection... In the summer, even if I'm not going to be outside all day, I always make sure to put on  in the morning. The SPF and oil-free combined has contributed in eliminating most of my acne problem so I definitely recommend this, or any other oil-free SPF lotion for the summer!

L'Oreal True Match Concealer (Light/Medium)

This one is exciting! In July, my beauty favourites have never actually included any beauty products. The day we left for Europe, we had to make a quick run to Loblaws, so my sister and I decided to grab a concealer and give it a try. I can tell that it makes a huge difference. It make you look much healthier since it takes away your dark circles and it definitely helped hide most of my acne for our Europe photos!

♥FOOD♥

 French Food
My food favourites are going to be quite vague since I ate 30 amazing meals in August. The first one is French food. It's definitely different from North America. They use less oil and maintain the original taste of the food instead of layering on salt, pepper and herbs.

Italian Food

My favourite food is pasta. Pasta in Italy. Need I say more? I never got sick of eating pasta for at least one meal each day in Italy. And the pizza there is amazing. It met all my expectations and more for what I expected out of food in Italy. Don't even get me started on the gelatoes.

Water

Strangest food favourite, probably, but  when you make a trip to Europe, you will never appreciate water more. Each bottle is around $3.50 Canadian, the same price as a glass of wine. And it doesn't help that you walk all day either. So needless to say, I love water.

♥RANDOM♥

♪MUSIC♪

1. Beside You by 5 Seconds of Summer (x)

So, I kind of have an obsession for the opening band of One Direction. They write their own music, each play an instrument and are amazing at singing. I play drums, their drummer is super cool and everything's just great. I can't exactly explain why this song is so good, but just click on the link and go listen for yourself!

2. How To Be A Heartbreaker by Marina And The Diamonds (x)

If you ever need to dance, this is the song. I can't not sing along to this, trust me. My friends and I sang this song once all through our field trip at the War Museum. This song will brighten my mood no matter what and I recommend for you to be prepared when you watch the music video, haha.

3.  The Lucky One by Taylor Swift (x)

There's so many different opinions on this song and Taylor Swift herself, but listening to the lyrics truly explain what fame is. It's just one of those songs that manage to actually provoke thoughts and feelings in my opinion and cred to Taylor for this extremely well written song.

4. Let Her Go by Passenger (x)

Passenger's voice is super unique so you may like it and you may not. At the beginning, I was kinda iffy about this song, but my love for it has only grown. I love my upbeat songs, but at the end of the day, relaxing and soft songs always end up winning me over.

♥TRUE RANDOMNESS♥

Gu Family Book

I have never cried harder in a Korean Drama. You can watch this with English subtitles on viki.com, so give it a chance if you've never watched Korean Dramas before. This one definitely beats most of the dramas on TV in Canada. The drama is about a boy who is born half nine-tailed wolf (mythological creature) and half human who struggles to find a balance and keep his pure human nature. It makes you laugh, cry and bite your nails all pretty much in the same episode. Every episode. Watch it and you won't regret it.

Canon PowerShot Camera

As soon as I heard that I was going to Europe, I made it my mission to record the whole trip. This camera stayed in my hands for the entire 10 days we were there. You can see my first video here, but my formatting and YouTube's formatting are different so keep in mind that I will be posting an HD and unstretched version sometime in the far future after I finish editing my Rome and Venice videos.

Notebooks

This is one of my many notebooks. I found that writing down my ideas and plans have helped so much in eliminating stress and organizing ideas. I even keep a notebook for future blog post ideas and brainstorming, so make a suggestion in the comments and it will be recorded.

So that's that! August is finally over and I will be loving September.

Make sure to leave comments letting me know if this post was helpful to you, or if you even have a request for a future post!

I'll see you next Monday! Byeee xx

Art Gallery & Downtown Byward Market

My friends and I recently got together to do a summer project. Yes, we had a project in the summer. The project consisted of analyzing specific pieces and exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Canada. So naturally, we decided to have some fun if we were forced to do homework in the summer. The gallery is located in downtown Ottawa, so there was plenty to do for five teenage girls, haha.

We started off by meeting at Smoke's Poutinerie on Dalhousie. To those of you who aren't familiar with poutines, they are simply fries (or chips to all my lovely british people) with a topping of gravy, *cough*fat, and cheese curds, *cough*more fat. And it is delicious. Supposedly, Smoke's Poutinerie makes the best poutine in Ottawa, but I had never been there, so I was super excited to try it out.

Since it was my first time there, I didn't order anything daring, like the chicken fajita poutine. Instead, I stuck with the traditional gravy and cheese poutine. The fries and cheese were pretty ordinary, but oh my gosh the gravy. If I were writing a review for Smoke's, I would still prefer New York Fries' fries over theirs, but the gravy was the best I've ever tasted.

So after we were all exploding of grease (attractive right?), we walked around the Byward Market heading towards the gallery. 

One of the most distinctive things about our art gallery is the giant spider sculpture in front of the main entrance. From deeper into our downtown area, you can always see the pointed glass top of the gallery, which is the iceberg in this case because that section of the gallery was under construction. It was such a beautiful day and the gallery was pretty quiet, so our visit was perfect. 

I have to admit that the questions on my assignment really allowed me to see more into the artwork. And can I just take this moment to give a shout out to that amazingly patient security guard at the Rideau Convent Chapel in the gallery? You'll never read this, but I'll try and get an 100% for you! 

By the time we finished five questions from our sheet, our brains were melted by the complexity of the questions. We decided on meeting at the gallery the same time next week to continue and went out to wander around downtown some more.

Our next stop was Spoon Frozen Yogurt! Spoon is a little frozen yogurt lounge that's pretty hard to spot, but the concept of the business is super cool. Mainly, everything is self serve. You can fill your cup with as many flavors of frozen yogurt as you want and add all the fruits, candies and syrups they have. At the cash, you weigh your cup and they charge you by the weight. It's pretty costly, but if you're hanging out with your friends downtown, it can be a nice little treat.

I went simple again with my cup of frozen yogurt, just like my poutine. I got vanilla flavoured frozen yogurt with sprinkles and strawberry syrup. It was so good since I couldn't remember the last time I got to eat sprinkles. We sat, ate and talked for a while, waiting for our rides to get home.

It was such an amazing day since I hadn't seen my friends for so long! Just thought I'd share this small adventure with you guys and encourage you all to go out and try some new things with your friends!

See you soon! xx

July Favourites 2013 ♥

So since August has just arrived, it's time for my first monthly favourites!!! As you can tell in my July Haul post, I've done a lot of shopping this month, meaning that I've been able to use a ton of new things. Unfortunately, if you're reading this post to find all the latest and best makeup products out there, I can't help you, since I don't put on everyday makeup. But here, you will find my fashion favourites, beauty(ish) favourites, food favourites and a clutter of random favourites. So let's begin!

♥FASHION♥

Coral & White Polka Dot Vans

I have been wearing these Vans everywhere since I bought them. They're so pretty and comfortable. Also, like I mentioned in my July Haul, I've been wearing a lot of monochrome so I love how these add the perfect amount of colour into my outfit.

Grey Dress from Forever 21

When you love the clothes you wear, sometimes you feel like a completely different person. It sounds weird, but the first day I wore this dress, it just put me in such a good mood. It's so simple, yet I love how the length of the dress is perfect and how it can compliment any body shape.

FUN. Tour T-shirt

My tan... ANYWAYS. There are three kinds of concerts. The one that confuses you as to why you liked the artist in the first place, the one that is exactly as you expected it would be like and the one that just blows you away, makes you fall in love with the band and gives you permanent post-concert depression. The FUN. concert I went to at the Ottawa Bluesfest (third row babyyy) falls into the last category. I've been wear their t-shirt all the time because it was pretty much one of the best experiences in my life.

Distressed High-waisted Denim Shorts
These denim shorts go with every single shirt. Sometimes I stay in pajamas until I have to go out and it's super simple to just throw on a shirt and these shorts and just run out the door. You can tuck your normal t-shirts into these shorts, or wear your crop tops without showing off too much skin. It just works for everything.

♥BEAUTY♥

Bath and Body Works Stress Relief Eucalyptus Spearmint Scented Candle

July is the perfect time to destress after a busy school year. This scent is super refreshing and... therapeutic and it's perfect for those days that you spend lazying around in your room. It's aroma can be described as pretty intense, but not strong enough to suffocate you and still has the summery nature to it.

Spectro Jel Cleanser

I have a huge acne problem on my forehead. That's one of the reasons why I don't like to use makeup. I tried so many cleansers such as the Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash in Pink Grapefruit and the Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash, but this one has worked the best for me. It doesn't make your skin feel sensitive or dry, but it can control the oil and breakouts that attack in the summer.

Paris Amour Fragrance Mist

When I'm at school, I personally prefer to use subtle and citrusy body sprays, but I love to try out girlier scents in the summer. One spritz of this in the morning will last you a pretty long time and it's perfect for people like me who are slightly or very sensitive to perfume.

Revlon Nail Polish (Shade 925 or Gold)

I have had this nail polish on my toe nails for the whole month. Gold is perfect if you're looking for a nude colour that can match all your sandals, but you want a little extra something as well. I used to dance ballet until my schedule started demanding six days a week, and let me just say, pointe shoes pretty much killed my feet. So this bottle of nail polish has been a lifesaver for me this July.

DIY Hair Bow

When I watched Bethany Mota's video on DIY hair bows, I knew that I had to try it out this summer. My family is finally finishing our basement, so instead of throwing away all of our ripped and old clothes, I cut them up and made bows instead. I changed up Bethany's method a little since I was running out of glue for my hot glue gun, but you can watch the video here or just comment below if you want me to write a post on how to make one!

♥FOOD♥

Raspberry Lemonade

At Starbucks, I've always gotten the Passion Tea Lemonade because I get headaches when I drink anything strongly caffeinated. This summer, I have been completely obsessed with raspberry lemonade. If it's available, I'll drink it. I JUST LOVE IT OKAY? 

Chocolate Milk

And we haven't bought chocolate milk in ten thousand years. I needz ma milk and cheese to live, but recently, I've found that I randomly became lactose intolerant. This devastated me, but it could be worse. I have no idea why, but chocolate milk works better for me than plain milk does, but hey, I'm not complaining. It's chocolate.

G. H. Cretors Popped Corn in the flavour Chicago Mix

My amazing mom brought this home from Costco one day saying that we should try it. And it is amazing. At first, I wasn't handling the idea of cheese and caramel very well since the two flavours should never go together. But trust me. If you like cheese. And you like caramel. Go buy this and thank me later.

Gummy Cola

I made another Bulk Barn candy trip!!! Whenever I go there, I buy bags of candy and fill them one at a time into this small container I keep on my desk. If I need to sit for a long time working, popping a piece of candy into my mouth always keeps me going for longer. I've never been able to leave the store without getting gummy cola, though. I can't describe the taste, but I really like it, so that's all I care about.

♥RANDOM♥

♪MUSIC♪

1. Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons

When I heard Demons by Imagine Dragons, I knew I was in love. But after choreographing a dance and rehearsing a million times to it at school, it just wasn't working anymore. That was when I moved on to Radioactive, and now it's this. Quite frankly, just go buy their entire Night Visions album.

2. Young & Beautiful by Lana Del Rey

Honestly, I never listened to Lana Del Rey and I only heard my friends talking about her music every once in a while. Then I went with my mom and my sister to watch the Great Gatsby in theatres and this song gave me chills. I've been obsessed with it ever since, so comment below if you know any other songs that I would love by Lana Del Rey!

3.  Best Song Ever by One Direction

I'm a directioner. Not a die hard, but don't you dare call me a directionator because of that. This music video was just so amazing and being a Liam girl, Leeroy pretty much killed me. It's super catchy and it's pretty much the perfect summer song for me.

4. Flowers In Your Hair by The Lumineers

I don't really know what to say to get you to listen to this song, but it has me completely obsessed with everything Lumineers. So just go listen to it. It's for your own good ;)

♥PHONE & TV♥

1. Pinterest

I am addicted to Tumblr, so when Pinterest first came out, I was loving the idea since the two were so similar. But as I started using it, I began to fall in love with the concept. On Pinterest, you can pin any photo you want onto your own customized boards. For example, if I find an amazing hair bow DIY, I can pin it to my DIY board and I'll always know where to look for it, should I ever be in a crafty mood. It's a perfect way to laze around on you phone when it's too hot to move in the summer.

2. Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush. I didn't know that this new version of bejeweled would be so addicting. I'm pretty sure everytime the crying heart pops up telling my I need to wait for more lives to keep playing, my heart cries a little too. It's an amazing game, but beware of addiction.

3. The Great Gatsby

I usually can not stand it when someone reads a book after they watch the movie, but I need some convincing after reading some boring classics. My convincing came in the form of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie. I wouldn't be included in his fandom, but I love all the movies he's starred in. I am now request number 125 for the book at the library.

4. Secret Garden

Finally, people can subconsciously judge other cultures without realizing it. I'm not Korean, but I'm so addicted to their dramas, that I don't think it's healthy. I watch them on a website called Viki. It's 100% safe, no weird popups or adds on the sidebar. It's pretty much a version of YouTube that has accurate subtitles rather than hilariously wrong ones. Secret Garden topped my other favourite drama Rooftop Prince. It makes you laugh so hard sometimes, but had my heart aching and me shedding tears too. And I hate overly fake and dramatic things, but somehow, they just do it right. Trust me, head on over to Viki, type Secret Garden into the search bar and just enjoy your rollercoaster of emotions. I have my guy friends hooked on Korean dramas too. That's when you know it's real.

So that's it! My first monthly favourites post!

Make sure you leave any suggestions of anything I should try that falls into these categories, or anything else amazing for that matter!

I'll see you soon! xx

July Haul ♥

July is over, along with half of my summer vacation. Instead of dwelling on the negative meaning of this, let's talk shopping! I'm usually so busy during the school year so I never get to get any shopping done. Honestly... I went a little crazy this month, so if you love math and want to add up how much I spent, please don't let me know. This month, I've ventured into items I wouldn't usually buy and have been influenced a lot by what I have seen from my favourite bloggers and YouTubers. So with that, let's begin!

I've heard so many people rave about coral nail polish this summer and I knew that I had to try it out for myself. Apparently I was extremely lucky because the next thing I knew, Walmart was having a sale on nail polish. This is Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in the shade 390, or Firey Island. The colour is an amazingly bright, yet creamy coral and orange. I will definitely be trying this out in August!

This next item is pretty random as you can probably already tell. It's time to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is shopping for school supplies. These sticky notes were on sale at Chapters when I was buying a gift for my friend and I just couldn't leave them there. These are made in a way that the animal's head and speech bubble can poke out of the pages of any book you stick them in. It's just soooooo adorable!

I am in love with these Vans. They're coral with white polka dots and they pretty much go with everything. I've been wearing a ton of monochrome outfits recently and these have definitely added the perfect pop of colour. I also these on sale at Globo Shoes for $39.97 and the original price was $59.99 so I am quite proud of this purchase. I will definitely be wearing these during my Europe trip

And I am completely, head over heels in love with this dress. I've been looking for one like this, and it just miraculously came to me on the bottom rack, hidden in a corner of Forever 21. This dress was on a pricier range for what you would normally see at Forever 21, $21.80, but for me, it was completely worth it. What I love about these kinds of dresses are that they can easily be dressed up or down. Adding a classy necklace and pairing it with flats will be super cute at a party, while sandals or boots with stockings can create a really cute casual look. The length is above the knees, yet not too short so it is perfect for school too!

This, I'm ashamed to say, was a very rushed purchase. My mom was standing in line to buy herself a shirt when I was casually looking through the racks. The mall was closing in five minutes when I found this $11 t-shirt. I threw it to my mom and next thing you know, it's hanging in my closet. What sold this shirt the most was the interesting texture of the fabric. The fabric feels super coarse, yet comfortable and the hems of the shirts are slightly distressed. I'm thinking of wearing these with black leggings or some high-waisted shorts sometime this month.

I have no idea why I keep making last minute purchases this month, but this cami was also one of them. I was in line to pay when my mom found this cami that was selling for only $1.80! It was such a good deal and I just couldn't leave it in the Forever 21 store. What I love about this tank top is that I don't have any similar to it. The colour is also pretty close to a skin colour (it's a peach colour) so it'll be great to wear under any slightly transparent shirt.

I am so excited to wear this romper. I don't even know what to say about it. I bought a romper from Garage in late June but the back seam ripped off, just barely holding the romper up in a way that it could cover me. I loved the way that romper looked on me, but I had to return it. The service at the store I bought it at was horrible and it took an hour to return it. Definitely not my best experience at Garage. But now I have this one and I love it even more than the one I returned. Oh, and I bought this for $18.80.

My mom actually had to convince me to buy this shirt. It's not usually something I'd venture into since it looks so simple, but ever since I bought it, I've been wearing it nonstop. It goes great with pretty much everything since it's so monochrome. You can pair it with denim shorts, or you could even rock a Taylor Swift look and pull on those bright red high-waisted shorts. This was such a good find at the back of our Guess outlet. We bought it for $10 when the original price was $27.

Finally, this random purchase. I was grocery shopping with my parents at Costco because I was bored of staying at home. That's when I remembered that my face wash was running out so when I went down the aisle to pick up another bottle, I saw this one. I've heard so many people rave about this brand so I'm going to give it a try this month. I think this face wash costed around $11 and there's a litre in there so it'll definitely last me forever.

And here's a pretty picture of a sunset haha.

So what did you think of this haul post? 

Is there any details I haven't touched on about my products that you'd like me to talk about next time?

Is there any products or clothing suggestions for what I should buy in August?

Well that's it for now and I'll be coming out with my July Favourites soon! Love yaa! xx