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,

AHHHH BACK IN ACTION!

HEYOOOO!!!! Ohmygosh guys! Its been almost A YEAR since I last blogged!!! That seems very crazy. I have been updating my Tumblr, and using that as an outlet for my blogging needs, but there are a few reasons why I haven't been on here. (Gah! I'm sorry!) The biggest reason was probably a little teensy mental breakdown I had in November of last year. I basically convinced myself that I was going nowhere in life, and that having ONLY internet friends and sitting around my house doing makeup and Skype chatting wasn't helping, so I purged my internet presence a bit. I stopped blogging, vlogging, threw all my makeup away....it was a horrible nightmare that didn't help with anything. But I'm back for good. I've missed you all way too much to hold off any longer.  Sooooo now that I am beginning my venture back into the blogging kingdom (blogdom? I like it.) I have decided that I am going to set this goal for myself, 3 posts a week. I am very busy and I have a new-ish job that I'm sure you'll all hear all about, but I think this will be a good outlet for me. YAY! Well, thats all I have for this little "intro back to blogging/apology/excited" post, so I'll talk to you all soon!
Happiness, internet friends, and fresh starts..

Quote of the Day || 12 Day Blogger Challenge

Heyoo! 
Sorry I've been MIA for two days! I'm gonna be honest with you guys about why I wasn't blogging or on my personal Twitter much....5 Seconds of Summer was nominated for a few EMA awards and I was voting like craaazyyyy! I am a bit of a fangirl, so it was very important to me that they won the Artist On The Rise award, and we did it! (They won with 105 million votes! Hell yeah, 5SOS fam!) So that's that, now on to todays topic of the 12 Day Blogger Challenge: Quote of the Day. 

I chose this quote for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I used to (and still sometimes do) care a lot about what people think of me. It was so bad, that I would try to completely change who I was because I would get so nervous that people wouldn't like me. But now, I am soooo much better in regard to that, and I am showing who I really am. More and more each day. :)
I really like everything that Mindy Kaling stands for, she is such an advocate for loving yourself and being who you are, its fantastic. This quote reminds me to show people who I am, because if I just go along with what everyone else is doing, after I while I won't even know who I am.What are some of your favorite quotes?  
Fangirling and loving yourself, 

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...

The Scariest of Things! || On Facebook Today

Heyoo!!!

Lets jump right on in, shall we? So today, while scrolling through the facebookwebs, I saw a status update from a friend of mine pretty much explaining how she was so afraid of so many different things, and that she found it crazy that a teensy tiny spider can make her scream in terror. With Halloween coming up in a few days (squeeee!!!) I thought this could make a cool post! So, first I'm going to enlighten you with my fears.....*cue organ and lightening flash*

1. Confrontation! This may seem like a strange fear, but I am an awkward being.

2. Spiders. Yes, I am like every other person who is afraid of spiders. If they are tiny and in my garage, fine. If it is a CLOSEUP PHOTO OF A SPIDER AND I CAN SEE ALL THE LITTLE HAIRS, then no. I'm out. (I actually had a friend tape a picture of this next to my bed during a sleepover once.....NOT COOL, YO.)

3. Ceiling fans. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. One almost fell on me when I was a kid and now, just nope. *nopes my way away from the rattling death machine*

4. Snakes. Enough said.

There are a lot more, like a zombie apocalypse and the photo below, but those are probably for another time.
In all honesty, though, when it isn't a life or death situation, I love the feeling of being scared! I love scary movies and haunted houses and all of those fun things that come along with fall and Halloween time. <3 Speaking of scary movies, I definitely need some new recommendations.

Do you like horror films? Find an awesome scary movie master list here! (courtesy of masterpost.tumblr.com and stickingupforsammy.tumblr.com)

So, now that you know some of my fears, I want to know yours! Are you scared easily? Do you thrive when you are scared? What are your favorite scary movies? Let me know! 

Yay for it almost being Halloween!!!

Spiders and the Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, the Flash-Stringing, Ringing, the Cr-Crash-Dinging....

Yeah. You get the point, 

-Brooklynn.

#WhatMakesMeHappy || On Twitter Today

Heyo!

So earlier I was scrolling through the twitterwebs and I stumbled upon the #WhatMakesMeHappy tag and it looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a go!

#WhatMakesMeHappy?

1. YouTubers! Ayo! I am constantly on YouTube watching all of my faves! Here are some of the best, check 'em out!

Zoella

 (& her other channel MoreZoella!)

Zoe is just lovely, and I am addicted to her fashion & beauty vids. Her blog is also fab, check it out here!

Sprinkle of Glitter 

(& her other channel Sprinkle of Chatter!)

Louise is so hilarious, and her daughter Darcy is just too cute. I am obsessed with her beauty & haul videos, and pretty much everything she posts about her life is really fun and interesting! (aaaaand her and Zoe are best friends so watching their friendship totally makes you feel the love. Here's her blog too!)

BitsandClips

Marie is an amazing mom, and her videos are always adorable. (and hilarious!) Here is her blog, its awesome if you like DIY, cooking, and family! <3

There are tons more that I love: Bethany Mota, Joey Graceffa, charlieissocoollike, dailygrace and so many more.....go watch a vid or two! (or three, or four, or five....hours worth because trust me you wont be able to stop!)

2. My lovely, Ed Sheeran! I thought I should get a bit of fangirling over with early in the blogging game. Those who know me, definitely know my love for this beautiful redheaded angelvoice. (..yes. That is his identifier.) His most recent album, X, (pronounced "multiply") is flawless. It is the perfect mix of pop, rap, and raw emotion, which isn't so common for some music these days. The lyrics are poetry on their own, and even more breathtaking with his guitar and harmony. So, yeah. *full on swoon* Buy the album here! 

                                                                                       

3. All movies! Always! Whether its a chick flick or a jaw-dropping thriller, I LOVE 'EM. Some of my absolute favorites are: The Dark Knight trilogy, all of the Harry Potter movies (obviously), Romeo and Juliet (all versions except the 1996 version...though Leo makes a lovely Romeo <3), and The Fault In Our Stars. Because I am a sappy female who enjoys Ansel Elgort. 

I am a happy girl! :)

Hilarious YouTubers, redheads, and John Green,

- Brooklynn.