Your "Purpose" In Life || Insightful Saturday

Heyooo!!!! How is everyone? It's been a rough few days for me. Between roommate squabbles and work work work, I am SUPER grateful to be able to just sit down for these few minutes and talk to you all. You know when you don't express yourself properly for a while and you start to feel like you'll explode? That's where I am right now, so thank you all so much for sticking with me through my mini rants. I love you guys.  This post today is about "purpose", whatever that truly means. I feel like modern society is becoming accustomed to this routine that everyone's purpose is to go through school, go to college, get a good, stable job, and save money to pay for your children to do the same thing. While that is a very safe route, I have found that it is becoming increasingly difficult for all of us with artistic souls to find solace in that situation. I personally have bounced around back and forth between jobs, majors and living situations because, to put it lightly, I get bored easily! It is so hard for me to stick to one thing, as I want my life to be a constant whirlwind of new and exciting experiences. Luckily, blogging has fallen into my lap, and I now have a way to document how I feel about all of these experiences, and maybe one day I'll find a way to narrow them all down until I have one career.  But for now, I am a wanderess, and I think I am okay with that. :)

"Brooklynn, how can blogging be your "purpose"? You're not even contributing to society. You really think that is better than being a CEO???" Wooow, thank you so much everyone I have ever met ever, that is a great question. Yes, I do think that blogging is a better opportunity for myself than being a CEO. But, get this... ....everyone is different! Blogging is a better option, FOR ME. I'm not sure what percentage of my readers are higher ups in major companies, but if you are, that's lovely! My point is that there is merit in whichever career you choose, because even if it isn't directly benefiting someone you know, you are always inspiring someone. (Of course there are exceptions to this. No, I do not think prostitution or drug dealing are acceptable career choices, I just think everyone can do anything they set their mind to. Please keep those exceptions out of my comments, lol.)

Take this photo, for example, as a visual representation of the differences between someone who chooses a life of logic vs. a life of creativity. Both are beautiful. Both are necessary. Both create amazing things. They are just different. But, in my opinion, there are three very important things to remember when trying to discover your "purpose", no matter what path you choose: 1. You were given an array of skills and talents that no one else has. No one else can do anything exactly the same as you. So its okay if your purpose isn't to be a doctor or lawyer, because what's really important is that you use your special talents to build a life that you love. (for example, I am good at talking. My family has joked about it for yeaaaars. BUT here I am, doing just that, and loving it.) 2. You don't need validation from others that your dreams and goals are important. Does it make you happy? Does it give you the life you want? Go for it.  3. It is okay to change your mind. It is okay to live your life one way and then decide that something else will make you feel happy and fulfilled. You can live the life you want, even if it takes time. It is okay to discover yourself through your passions! No matter what anyone says. You may be wondering what inspired me to write this, and it is simply that I have recently been trying to change my mindset. I feel as if I have been spending my entire life apologizing for who I am because it is an inconvenience to others, and I don't want to be that way anymore. I want to be who I am and if others don't like that, then maybe they don't need to be around me anymore. It is okay to like who you are, even if that isn't the person others want you to be. Your purpose will find you.

What is your passion? Love, light, and choosing happiness,

September Favorites! || Things I Love

Heyoo!!! How is everyone? Hope all is well in the blogdom today! I know it is way late, but today I am going to be sharing my *drumroll pleaaase* September Favorites! In case you're wondering, I'm currently with my pal Serena rehearsing for our show choir. Woo! We've just sat in Panera rearranging the song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" by the lovely Ed Sheeran, and it is going well. Anybody know that song?  Okay, enough about restaurant musical endeavors, on to the favorites!

1. Rimmel Wonderlash Lift Me Up Mascara: I LOVE this mascara. Honesty time...I tried it because the packaging caught my eye, and I'm not sure I'll ever turn back. The formula itself goes on very smoothly (without clumps, important) and lasts all day without giving me the urge to start picking it off. The brush is huge, in an hour glass shape that allows you to reach all of your lashes. Recommend!!!! 
2. Sephora Baked Moonshadow Palette: I've been using this palette for a while now, and I think it'll always be a favorite. I am a huge matte fan, but this palette offers all of the shimmers I'd ever want, and I often brush them on over the matte ones from my NYX Dream Catcher Palette and it is just gorgeous.
3. So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream: because ICE CREAM. (The cookie dough is my favorite)
4. Mason Jar Travel Cups: I'm putting this on here because my water intake has greatly increased in September specifically because I bring one of these with me every where, and for some reason, if I have water in my hand, I'll drink out of it, and with this I don't always have to buy plastic water bottles. Woo!
5. Blue Sky Journals: I have 3 of these now! I'm a bit of a journal whore, and I collect them and always have at least two with me at all times so I can jot down my thoughts. I love the cute designs that come on these, and all of the ones I have are thin and paperback and so easy to throw in my bag. 
6. L'Oreal Collection Privee The Perfect Nudes (JLo): I am so impressed with this! I have tried L'Oreal lip products in the past, and they usually aren't my go-to, but this nudie-pink is so creamy and its perfect for an everyday lipstick, it doesn't look too bold or too sophisticated. I look forward to buying more from this collection!
7. Jonathan Adler Pens: I was given one of these as a gift, and I just love it. Who doesn't love a nice, classy pen with a bright design? I know I do!
8. Pure Leaf Lemon Tea: I am ADDICTED to this. My dad's girlfriend drinks it like its going it out of style, and I've totally joined that party. I have like 12 in my fridge right now.
9. Cover Girl Professional Loose Powder (Transparent Medium): Okay, so I know some people don't think finishing powder is a necessity, or they use sprays, but it is a huge staple for me. I have a few translucent ones, and I have actually found that I love tinted, loose powders. This one is great! The packaging is a bit bulky, but it goes on nicely and you get a lot for the price.
10. "On My Mind" by Ellie Goulding: GUYS. ELLIE GOULDING IS MY QUEEN. THIS SONG IS SO GOOD. GO BUY IT ON iTUNES. RIGHT. NOW.

Pretty journals, pens and THE QUEEN..

Internet Friends || Stuff&Things

Heyo!!! How is everyone? Hope you are all swell :) I'm feeling very good today. Yesterday was a bit of a blech day, but watching a few Sprinkle of Glitter pamper videos fixed me right up! Today I am going to talk about what is probably my favorite topic so far: INTERNET FRIENDSHIP! Yeeeeee!!!  "Brooklynn, why are you so ridiculously excited about internet friends? Aren't those just rando's that you've never met who could be lying about their identity? Are you possibly talking to 90 year old creepers on twitter?????" 

As social media platforms become more and more popular, it becomes easier to make friends via the internet. In my opinion, this is an amazing chance for people around the globe to connect with one another in a way that those who lived hundreds of years before us could've never imagined. But, of course, like anything that seems to good to be true...there are those who use this as an opportunity to lie to others about who they are and that can become very dangerous. So, a quick disclaimer before I delve into the lovely world of internet friendship: be careful who you speak to on the internet, and be careful about who you become whilst twittering and instagramming away. 

I'll explain. While on the internet, it becomes so easy for us to change whatever we would like about ourselves. It becomes an escape of complex passwords and usernames that no one in our everyday lives could ever figure out, so it can be tempting to change little things about ourselves. I cannot stress enough: Let your internet presence be a wholehearted representation of yourself. If you are interested in making friends via the internet, this will be the easiest way to eventually transfer those web friendships to face-to-face ones. Now, this doesn't mean put all of your personal information online, but you can be honest about your personality.

literally me ^^^

Okay, now the fun part! I'm going to tell you a bit about some of my internet friends! If you read my post about Homecoming, you've seen a few pics of some of my internet friends. I have quite a few, but I've only met a handful in person. One of my best friends, Kristina, you'll be hearing a lot about within the next few months, as I recap my summer festivities with you all. I met Kristina on Twitter, and after randomly following each other one day, we got to talking via DM! (Remember this post where I mentioned voting for 5SOS to win an EMA? She was doing the same) We instantly clicked, and have been texting away ever since.  We met for the first time in August, and it was lovely. I miss her lots.

Kristina and I at the bean, we are v v cute. 

I am also currently in a group chat we like to call "5SOS Baes" (yes, we are that cool) and we had the opportunity to meet at a concert a few months ago! We have been friends for almost a year now, and let me tell you: meeting 7 of your most amazing friends all at one time is a very fun, overwhelming feeling! It was a big mesh of crazy hugging and crying and jumping for joy, and I know I have these ladies for life. Here are some photos of that experience! *heart eye emoji*

                            Our cute hands being cute                                    left to right: jess, em, ady, me, lau, meghan, abby, mags 

I'm so sorry for this

Okay, okay, I'm done now haha. But seriously, if you are perusing your favorite blog or see something funny on Twitter, say something! You never know the amazing people you'll meet, it really can change your life. And, if you are a little shy, I'd love to be your friend! Speak up! :)

Alsooooo, my friend Jess (she is to the far left of the first crazy group selfie) is a YouTuber herself! Check out her channel here! 

Crazy friends and a million crazier selfies,

Why Do You Blog? || 12 Day Blogger Challenge

Heyo!  So, while perusing Bloglovin' and looking for things to inspire me, I stumbled upon this challenge on The Color Palette, so I thought I would give it a go!

Day 1: Why do you blog? (Plus five random facts)
When I talk to others about my blog, it is very obvious that I am passionate about it. I get such a rush from sharing my voice with people. You may think, "What? But you only have 20 followers...." and that is true, but I am sharing my words with 20 people who are taking the time to read them. I love this. I dont care if it is cheesy, it feels good that people are interested in what I have to say. I also blog because I love beauty and fashion, but it is difficult to talk to many people about it without sounding superficial. Its cool to connect with people who understand that beauty and fashion are ways to express ourselves, not just paint that we use to make us look better. Blogging is also an awesome way to organize my thoughts, because I can get a bit scatterbrained at times.... hehehe. 
Five random facts! Since I feel like you already know a lot about me, I'm going to do 5 random fashion/beauty facts!
1. Nail polish and I have a love, hate relationship. I adore wearing it, and I think colors look beautiful in the bottles, but I rarely wear colors other than black or gray. I have super short nails, so I never feel like any colors look good on them. But I am working on my nail confidence! (......nail confidence? Apparently that is a thing...)
2.  I love putting on makeup. I find it super relaxing! If I take 45 minutes to put makeup on, it's most likely really because I needed 40 minutes to de-stress. 
3. I have 6 bracelets that I always wear. They are all from my times at Camp Tatiyee, and they remind me that happiness is a choice! 
4. I dont take alot of risks when it comes to fashion, but I am working on changing that! <3 center="" nbsp="">
5. I don't have a set style. Some days I am girly, other days edgy, other days bohemian. It is always changing!
I encourage you to do this challenge, and comment links to your posts! I wanna read about why you love blogging! 
Beauty facts and nail confidence...

November Goals!

Heyoo! So while it's still early in the days of this November, I thought I would share my monthly goals with you! Let's gooooo!

1. Drink more water. This may seem like a random one, but I feel like my body is just in a constant state of thirst, so I'm thinking I should change that.  2. More, more, more makeup! As in, owning more, not wearing more. I used to collect, but I threw most of it away last year in an attempt to de-clutter my life. (....why did I do that? haha) So this month, I want to start making a list of the new products I would like to try! If you have any products that you swear by, leave them in the comments! 3. Start making lookbooks. I have always been wary of putting up lookbooks on my blog because I am curvy and I wear plus sized clothing, but I love fashion so I am going to be bold and start doing it! #Confidence. 4. Save money. I am really bad at saving money, so this is a huge goal for me this month, especially since the Christmas season is approaching!  5. Organize my thoughts. Blogging always helps, (hence this list) but this month I'd really like to write things down when I need to remember them and get them done as soon as possible. Because I am a master procrastinator. 6. Not worry as much, just live! I am definitely a worrier, but this month I want to just live my life in the moment and not create fake scenarios in my head about how awkward I am! (that last part probably wont change....) 7. Blog! This is a goal for every month! I want to expand and connect with as many people as I can! I live in the Chicago area, so I'm sure there are plenty of bloggers near me, and I want to go to a meetup or something and really have the chance to connect with people. So, there you have it! I will create a post at the end of the month updating you on whether or not I am an organized, non-awkward, makeup owning, water drinking, lookbook blogging, money saving, connection machine of happiness. :) Lookbooks and carefree living...

Lip-Saving Balms for Winter!

Heyoo!

To follow up with yesterdays post about Winter Skincare Solutions, I thought today I'd share with you all my favorite lip balms for the winter. I'm sure everyone has had those days when your lips are just sooooo chapped and you feel like there is nothing you can do about it...I definitely have. But luckily, there are a lot of great lip products out there to prevent dry lips. Here are the products that keep my lips soft and silky against the blistering cold!

1. eos Smooth Sphere Lip Balms

I absolutely adore these lip balms! They are 95% organic, 100% natural, and they are packed with vitamin E, shae butter and jojoba oil. Because of the all natural, hydrating ingredients, they leave your lips feeling soft and smooth instead of greasy. I picked up the one above (Pomegranate Raspberry) today, and it is lovely! I also prefer the Honeysuckle Honeydew. They are just so adorable and they smell delicious! If you haven't jumped on the eos train, now would be the time.

2. NIVEA Lip Balms (Stick)

I have also found success with the NIVEA Lip Balms, specifically A Kiss of Moisture (the blue one above). They come in many different formulas, but this is the only one I have tried, and it works really well! (Plus they are super inexpensive...steal!) Have any of you tried any of the others? What did you think?

3. Alba Botanica Coconut Cream Hawaiian Lip Balm

Before I discovered eos, this was my go-to balm always! I still love it, and will use it from time to time and it still works wonderfully. It smells so yummy, and I really enjoy that it doesn't interfere if you wear lip color over it. So great!

4. C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve

I am not usually a fan of lip balms in tins, but I really like this one. It contains rose extract, which helps ease irritation of the skin. And the best part is that it can be used on lips, face, cuticles, elbows, knees, chapped or very dry skin patches, so it is an awesome little balm to keep in your purse for emergencies! And it smells so pretty!

I am a bit of a lip balm hoarder, I believe I have three different ones in my bag right now! They're such a staple! What are some of your favorites?

eos, coconut cream and rose...

 

My October Favorites

Heyoo!

October is over, so you know what that means! Oh, you don't? Well, it's your lucky day!

Today I am going to be sharing *drumroll* ...my favorites for October!!! "My Monthly Favorites" is something that I used to do on my old blog that I absolutely loved. It was just a fun way for me to get everything together that I liked throughout the month, and share it with you all! I really like doing this because it forces me to appreciate the little things that make me happy, which can be difficult at times. So, lets get started!

#1.The Lorac Long Lasting Eyeshadow Colors in the shade "Smokin'." This is a matte shadow, and I have been using it so much recently! I use it in the crease of my eyelid when I want a little something extra, and it blends beautifully. I had never tried anything by Lorac before, but it all gets astounding reviews, and it definitely lived up to them!

#2. Another eyeshadow, the Ulta eyeshadow in the shade "Gunmetal." I tried this product because in the past I have used the Urban Decay shadow (also in "Gunmetal") but it can get a bit pricey, so I was looking for an inexpensive alternative. I was pleasantly surprised by this product! It went on smoothly and made my hazel eyes pop very nicely. If you'd like to see what it looks like when applied, check it out here!

#3. The Laura Geller Beauty Ingenuity Baked Blush in the shade "Malibu." I am a blush hoarder, so it doesn't take much for a blush to catch my eye, but this one was a no-brainer. I saw a Laura Geller product featured in a Sprinkle of Glitter beauty video, and after a bit of searching, found this blush. It was very pigmented, with just the slightest bit of shimmer. Love, love, love!

#4. This is not a beauty favorite, but I have definitely been loving the Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Mason Jar Candle from Bath and Body Works. Every year there is always one scent from the Fall Collection that I am obsessed with, and this year, this was it. The scent is so yummy, and look at the adorable packaging!

#5. Joe's Pumpkin O's! Someone actually gave me a box of these a few weeks ago, and I was excited to try them, but also a little apprehensive. I definitely love pumpkin everything, just like the rest of the world, but the idea seemed a bit odd to me. Then, the same person gave me another box, before I even opened the first! I was like, "why'd you do that? What if I hate them?!" ...and then I tried them. And now I am sad I only have 2 boxes. So delish! (Get them at your local Trader Joe's in the cereal aisle!)

That is it for my beauty and lifestyle favorites, so here are some of my music, movie, and book faves!

#6. Music! Here were some of the songs I was obsessed with in October:
- Clean Bandit: Rather Be ft. Jess Glynne
- Kiesza: Hideaway
- Ellie Goulding: Hanging On
- Broods: Bridges
- Rudimental: Feel The Love ft. John Newman

#7. Movies!
- The Giver. I saw this movie when in theatres, and it was fantastic! I read the book when I was in middle school, and the movie definitely inspired me to want to read it again.
- Romeo & Juliet (2013). Romeo & Juliet is definitely one of my favorite stories, so I love almost every version, but I watched this one a ton this month.
- The Fault In Our Stars. Obviously.

#8. This months book recommendation is...... Taken By Storm by Angela Morrison. This book was an awesome read, I recommend it to anyone who likes a well-written teen love story. The story follows a diver who is trying to piece his life back together after his parents die, and the sweet girl that helps him do it. My favorite part about reading this novel was that some chapters are in his point of view and other, hers.  It was truly lovely. Read the full synopsis and buy the book here!

So, there they are! My favorites for October!

A million blushes and love stories,

-Brooklynn.