3 November 2015

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE BUSY

Let me warn you: you will get nothing out of this post, you still have time to close the window and do something more useful, your life will appreciate it!


The title is kind of misleading, because if you're busy you already have stuff to do, which means that you don't need anybody to tell you WHAT to do. It doesn't work the same as saying "What to do when you're bored", so it makes no sense... I have an entire project that needs to be done by the begginning of next month, plenty of exams coming next week and lots of other work that I have to finish asap. The question is, why am I doing writing this post instead of putting all my effort into all these  tasks? It is called procrastination...and I'm the best at it, feel free to join the club if you can identify youself as one of us. 

Whenever I have to do something related with school I find myself thinking (in a very creative way) about other stuff, for example, when I have to study for an exam I like to google "how to be a good student" or "how to get an A+ without studying" and spend hours reading articles that won't help me because what I really need to do is STUDY! Yesterday I ended up taking a test to see what type of learner I was and it turned out to be kind of useful. Also related with studying: I go on Youtube and type "relaxing music for studying", I then click to the first video and start reading the comments which say: "thumbs up if you are reading this when you should be studying" and I think to myself "yep... so true". 

Now that you know everything that I do instead of school work, I'll tell you what YOU can do if you find yourself not wanting to do "important stuff" and you decide to PROCRASTINATE!!

- Watch videos on how to start having a healthy lifestyle and work out more (yes, I love to watch them while I'm eating a bag of crisps and drinking soda).

- Read blogs (I do it all the time) or books, or even cereal packs!

- Look for photography tutorials: Pinterest has the best cheat sheets regarding aperture, ISO...

- Sing up to an online course on EdeX, it is a website where they offer multiple courses for free and at the end you get a certificate (paying I think), so it's kind of cool.

- Reorganise your bedroom and tidy it up. Am I the only one who has this need of cleaning up the mess when I have tons of work?

- Take a look at the AppStore, you'll find plenty of apps that you didn't know that they existed.

- Start writing a book or a diary for yourself. You could also record a video of you talking and don't see it untill you're older (set a date for that).

- Read the Guinness World Records and/or try to achieve something never done before (without hurting yourself, be safe).

- Stalk your friends online and end up looking  your teacher's sister's neighbour's profile.

- Go out and do as if you where talking on your phone (when you actually aren't).

- Email me something at wednesday19th@gmail.com, I'll probably be procrastinating as well... 

- Bake cookies and eat them (the second part is the best one).

I hope you found something to do on this list! I'll try to post more frequenly from now on, I have to review my October goals (I'm a disaster) and set new ones. Before I finish the post I want to tell you that I've signed up to a course that has to do with growing your blog's audience. It is carried by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective (a blog I love) and I thought you may be interested in it. I don't know if you can join by now, but here's the link anyways :) Have a nice week!

10 October 2015

LET'S TALK ABOUT (WHAT'S BEHIND) MAKE-UP

About two or three years ago, I became obsessed with YouTube (I still am). I watched funny videos, prank videos, vlogs, decoration related clips... and make-up tutorials as well. Nowadays, there are these girls called "beauty gurus" who do make-up tutorials, hauls, tag videos, fashion/outfit videos and post them on YouTube. The thing is, I'm not even interested in make-up, I never wear it, but I reassure you that I could do a whole make-up look with the best products, a perfect winged liner and contour like a Kardashian (oh, yeah, and don't forget your brows!). I really enjoy watching how beauty bloggers/vloggers apply or review all these make-up products, it's like a hobby for me (it isn't as weird as it sounds). Today I'll be sharing my opinion on make-up. As I have already told you, I don't wear make-up at all, but I do appreciate make-up and I really admire people who can rock it. Since I haven't seen both sides of the subject, what I think may lack on perspective, but I do encourage you to tell me your thoughts in the comment section :)

The discussion comes when I ask myself: (1)do people wear make-up because they like playing with and they see it as an art/ a way to express themselves, (2)or they wear it to cover up their face because they feel insecure? I think this only applies to girls (at least, where I live, I have never seen a guy wearing a full-face make-up, you know right?), but if you're a boy, feel free to continue reading as well!

1. Hey! If you're one of those people who see make-up as an art that's awesome! I'm not only talking about an everyday make-up look, but there are also those dramatic looks that are really impressive. I do consider make-up an art, the difference is that the canvas is your own skin, imagine putting make-up all over your body?! That would be cool, like the music video for "Somebody that I used to know". Anyways, I'm beating around the bushes.

2. Now, to the ones who wear make-up because they feel insecure... I should say that there's no reason to do this because everybody is beautiful in their own way (and it's true), that society is trying to put stereotypes for everything and you shouldn't follow them (and you shouldn't), that covering your face won't help you to have a higher self esteem if the problem is inside yourself... blah, blah, blah. But what's wrong with wearing make-up if it makes you feel more confident? If when you're wearing it you feel like you're going to conquer the world? (get ready for my philosophical speech) We have to do what makes us feel good and there's no problem if make-up is involved with it. There's still time to work on our personal image and if you feel great with a smokey eye that's awesome! However, you need to learn to love yourself with and without make-up, because at the end of the day, your make-up runs out but your natural skin stays there (was that too poetic?).

I think the conclusion is that everyone wears make-up for a reason, so don't judge if you don't know what's behind it :)

25 September 2015

HEY WOMAN! THIS IS HOW TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES

During the 19th century, women had no choice but to work in order to financially support their families. They used to work in factories, or did domestic service for richer households. This was an addition to their regular unpaid work at home, which included cooking, cleaning, taking care of their children...  When the First World War was declared, a large number of men had to join the forces, that's why many women were asked to occupy these jobs. The history behind women and work goes on and on, and there are a lot of things that still have to change (why do women earn less than a man doing the exact same job? why isn't well accepted for women to certain jobs because they are supposed to be "for men"?), but we could say that nowadays, we have become a very important part of the working world. 

Because women earn less over their lifetime than men and live longer in retirement, they also tend to have less saved, that's why it is so important for us to start managing our money as early as possible. Part of the reason I'm writing this post is to inspire women to manage their finances well and help close this gender gap. 


When it comes to staying financially organised, my mother is my role model. She keeps control of everything money-related in our house and she does more than well. I decided it would be a good idea to share some of her tips, so here they are:



- Ask for your receipts to see how much you spend: one of the things I admire the most about my mother is how she collects all the receipts and keeps them in an envelope. At the end of the month, she uses Excel document to write down everything she spent, I recommend you to separate it in different sections such as food, clothes, gas...  This way, you have more detailed information and it's easier to see where most of your money goes.


Save now, benefit yourself later: Woman usually assign money-related tasks to their husbands, that's why sometimes, they face financial struggles later in life. The problem is that when husbands die, women often find themselves with less money than expected, and they don't know how to manage it. Free tools like Personal Capital's  retirement planner and calculator can help with this. It allows people to manage their finances and plan for retirement on a simple platform. So start saving now girls!! When I talk about saving I also include holidays and other things to treat yourself. It's also good to have savings for the unsexpected expenses you may have (like having to fix the toilet, breaking your leg...)


- Avoid wasting your money: it's sounds obvious and pretty hard to do, but if you have your list of expenses it's way easier. The only thing you need to do is check on what you spent the most money on and find out a way to change that. Let's say you go to Starbucks every morning... you could cut down on that, or maybe you go shopping when you're hungry and you end up buying more stuff that you weren't supposed to get (I don't know why all the examples that came to my mind are related with food...). I would recommend you to invest on a good coffee maker so you can have coffe at home and to have a shopping list with you (don't forget eat something before going to the supermarket)! Quick tip: if you want to spend less, go cash! Having your card with you makes you more likely to spend money. Plan purchases ahead and take the money you need for the week and forget about your card!

- Set up a budget: I love budgeting!! I may have inherited it from my mum. Wether it's a small thing like your winter clothes or a bigger one like buying a car, I think it always comes handy to have an aproximate budget so you don't overspend. Be realistic when elaborating it, I would suggest to set a lower figure to make sure you don't get any surprise. If it ends up being cheaper than you planed, save the rest of the money!  If you find something you extremely like that doesn't fit your budget, look for other places where it's sold and compare, compare and compare! You never know when you'll find an amazing deal.

That's it for today's post. I hope you found those tips useful and if you have any advice, don't forget to share it with me in the comments below! Have a nice weekend :)

Disclamer: all the pictures are from UNSPLASH except the first one.

21 September 2015

A PHOTOSHOT INSIDE AN ABANDONED FACTORY

Since I bought my DSLR camera I've never had the chance to do a proper photoshot with somebody until a few weeks ago. At first I used to ask one or my friends to pose for me in the middle of the street or something to start learning how to use my camera and figure out the settings. 

However, I wanted to take my photography to the next level and prepare something cool. I found this old factory which was pretty close from where I live and I decided that I wanted to go there and take some shots. This time I had everything on my mind, I had a mental picture of everything I wanted to capture, how I wanted the model to pose... So I called my best friend, send her some inspiration that I got from Pinterest and told her: "Yep, you need to wear this and that because you'll be modeling for me", and then, she was in! 

The day we finally went to the factory to do the shot, it was raining a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT, so the lighting wasn't really good (excuses of bad photographers). Anyway, I loved how they turned out, that's why I decided to share my favourite pics in here. I'm no professional or anything, I just enjoy taking pictures and this time I had the amazing opportunity to do it while hanging out with my best friend, so we both had a great time! The building was amazing, it was a ruin and it could fall apart at any moment, the first floor was covered in mud (because there's a river next to it), but the rest was more than fine. The last level had fallen years ago I gess, that why I could take the first picture you'll see. Overall, the building was exactly how I had imagined, which was an exciting discovery one we arrived there. I was scared that I would be a simple and empty place with nothing to work with inside, you know what I mean? But it wasn't! 

While taking this pictures I realised that using manual mode it's harder than it seems. At the beginning I tried to adjust the setting myself but I must admit that I finished using the automatic. Photoshop has been a great help when adjusting the contrast and the lighting. I only edited them a bit, lowering the brightness to give a darker look and increasing the contrast. Here's the final result, tell me your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any suggestion on how I can improve my photography skills don't hesitate to tell me!








7 September 2015

SUMMER NOTES AND PICTURES: PART #2

This second part of SUMMER NOTES AND PICTURES is more about details, little things that I thought I would capture. If you haven't checked the first post, click right here and you'll be able to read it :) In a week I'm starting school again... Ugh. Two months ago I was excited about it, but now that it is this close I would rather spend the rest of my life on holidays. The fun part is that I get to go "back to school" shopping. Anyways, let's do a "remember when" of this last summer before it's over.

Beach, beach, beach!! This summer I went to the beach a lot and I loved it. Sometimes I have the feeling that I don't really get that tanned, but looking through pictures I see that this summer I got tanned which is such an achievement for me (I'm very pale). I've always wanted to take a picture like the one above because it looks very tumblr, so I asked one of my friends to pose for me and here it is! 

This is what I call one the best breakfasts I have ever had (looks yummy, doesn't it?). I remember how tasty this sandwiches were (writing this I'm starting to get hungry). The place had the nicest decoration and overall it was very cosy. When I took my DSLR camera to take a proper picture I felt a bit out of place, but as you can see, it was totally worth it! Now I can look at it whenever I want.

Yes, this pic is from Amsterdam as well. Something that really caught my eye is the fact that there were flowers (and bikes) everywhere. I have always wanted to ride a bike with some flowers on the front. I guess some dreams take a little more time than others...

Pineapples in a wood box. There's this kind of hype towards pineapples that I still don't get, but these looked cute. There was an old man next to them, having some coffee and looking outside the window, isn't that romantic?

4 September 2015

SUMMER NOTES AND PICTURES: PART #1


I'm not going to say that summer is "almost" over because it is over. Today it was raining cats and dogs for the whole morning and I even had to wear my wellies. Although it's still hot where I live and I have a week of holidays left, the whole "back to school" vibe is really upsetting me... To properly say goodbye to those tree months of wonderful holidays, I wanted to gather some pictures I have captured and share them in here. They may not be completely related with summer, but they have been taken during my summer break.


Ripped jeans and neon sneakers. I have had these pants since I was in primary school. They are from Zara and I bought them in the kids' section. Even though many years have passed, they still fit me. When they ripped I thought it was the right time to get rid of them, but now homeless jeans (that's how I like to call them, with no offence) are in so I will continue wearing them until they totally break.



When you have a beautiful city, like Barcelona, an hour away from where you live, you can't help but visit it very often. I don't usually go to tourist places such as Sagrada Família, that's why I decided to visit it and take some shots. If you ever get the chance to go there, don't miss it! It is totally worth it. (fact: there was an audiovisual playing that said that it would be finished in 2026...I wonder if it's true...).


Story time!! I went to this cafe to have something to eat before going to Sagrada Família. This young woman was sitting next to me and as soon as I saw her I knew that I wanted a picture of the scene. I didn't want to disturb her so I asked for permission to take the picture of her and she agreed. She was extremely nice with me. I regret not having given her the link of the blog, but in case she ever sees the picture I want to thank her (it was my first time asking a stranger for a picture). It may not be the most perfect photo ever but I really liked the way she was in there doing her stuff and writing. 




Last, but not least, my trip to the Netherlands. I have chosen three pictures from Amsterdam to share in here. It was the first time I took my new camera to a place where I could actually use it and I had an amazing time trying out all of its features. The trip was a great experience, I've decided that I want to go back there at some stage in my life... maybe study in there as well or something. Amsterdam, you stole my heart!!

31 August 2015

17 THINGS I'VE LEARNED IN 17 YEARS


Last week I turned 17 and I can't believe I'll be 18 next year...And yes, one of the pictures above is that Hagrid gave to harry Potter. I had to put it in here, this what a fangirl has to do! Of course I have also learned other important things, but these are the ones I thought I would be sharing. Here they are: 

1. Spend time with your beloved ones, you don't know when they will no longer be there.

2. Being curious and opened minded is the key of learning. Having the willing to discover new stuff is really good, it means you have an active mind that needs to be feeded! 

3. Staying calm while arguing with somebody helps you control your emotions towards the person you're angry with. It's hard at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it naturally comes out!

4. What people think about you is their opinion, not who you are.

5. Accept constructive criticism.

6. Don't underestimate the power of a smile, it can brighten up somebody's day (even yours).

7. Move! Now that you're still young make time to run, jump, dance, even play around! Maybe tomorrow you won't be able to do it.

8.Travel as much as you can, at least for me, it makes me feel extremely free! When you visit a country, show interest for their culture and their habits, natives will appriciate it (speaking their language would be a massive plus as well!)



9. Collect moments, not things, but if you are kind of like me, only keep the useful and joyful things :)

10. Stand up for what you thing it's right, don't be afraid to speak up your mind in a respectful way, of course!

11. It's okay not to be okay. If you wake up one day and you don't feel like pulling a nice face, don't do it. You have the right to be upset and not pretend that everything is fine. Take your time to get better and whenever you feel like you're alright again, move on!

12. Don't be scared to ask. You will never know if you never even try.

13. Be ambicious and positive. 

14. You don't have to regret decisions you made in the past. It's called "past" for something. Learn from your mistakes and don't be too hard on yourself because at the end of the day, we're all humans.

15. School won't teach you everything, but everything you learn will always come handy. Never stop learning, keep constantly updating your knowlegde :)

16. There is no need to rush, there's time for everything. Everybody says that you only live once, that life is too short. In today's world we see tiny girls wanting to act as adults... I think that every stage of your life has to offer you different experiences so don't ruin it wanting to skip from a kid to an adult (for example). 

17. Learn to let go, even if it's painful. The best is yet to come!


23 August 2015

PROS AND CONS OF STUDYING ABROAD + MY EXPERIENCE

Two years ago, I had the amazing opportunity to spend a scholar year (9 months) studying in Ireland. I was still in high school, so I was pretty young and spending a long time away from home was such a challenge for me. Even though I had some hard times while in there, I wouldn't change it for anything and it is by far one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. 

Let's get into the point of this post. I'll be sharing some pros and cons about studying abroad. All of these are based on my personal experience, but I'll try to be as neutral as possible.

PROS

1. It makes you smarten up. When you're "alone" in a country you barely know (that was me) you need to be clever. You have to keep doing the activities you would normally do, the difference is that you are by yourself and it doesn't matter if you're shy or scared: you still have to buy things and go to places, so you better sharpen your wits!

2. It will teach you the value of money. Unless you're a rich person, you'll have to deal with X€ per month. I wasn't used to this at all, that's why it took me a lot of time to learn how to distribute my money so that I didn't spend it right away. Maybe you'll struggle the first months, but then you'll realise that "the real life" isn't as easy as it seems when you're living with your parents.

3. The amount of things you'll learn is overwhelming. I went to school every day, therefore, I learnt stuff, obviously. However, the most valuable things I learnt weren't in class. I discovered their culture, lifestyle, improved my English... Make sure you keep your mind opened, because you'll need to soak up a lot of information every day. As I said before (point 1), you'll grow as a person, but you won't realise that until you come back.

4. You'll meet amazing people. Whether they are your host family, new friends you've made, the shop assistant or your neighbours, chances are that you'll keep in touch with them. When you are alone in a remote place of the planet you always need somebody to lean on, and I reassure you that you'll find wonderful people with whom you'll become friends forever (as cheesy as it sounds).

5. The overall experience and the memories. I'll go deeper into that at the end of the post, but I just want to mention that you can never go wrong with going to study abroad. 

CONS

1. You'll most likely find people from your country. At first you won't think it's a big deal but I would recommend you to stay away from them (not in a bad way): if you want to learn the language and befriend other students it's the best you can do.

2. You may feel homesick or out of place. It is totally normal and it depends on your character as well. What you need to know is that it's only a matter of time before you get used to the place and the people. Sooner than you think you are going to be settled down and comfortable with everything. Try to remember that you have an incredible year (or month, or whatever) ahead and you'll make the most of it.

3. Money, money money. Studying abroad it isn't cheap. Normally people who choose to do it have been saving for a lot of time. You need to have money for the course, the living, the expenses you'll have in there, the plane ticket (remember that you may also fly home for Christmas or Easter, which means four more tickets).

4. Agencies want what's best for them so be careful, read the smaller print and choose wisely. A solution would be to go there by yourself, but in order to do that you need to have friends or family that could help you.


MY EXPERIENCE

Before deciding that I wanted to spend a year abroad, I searched online for information and talked to people that had already done that. Everyone gave me positive feedback and encouraged me to do it. The reason why I'm including this last section a part from the pros and cons is because unfortunately, my experience wasn't as incredible as I was told it would be. I might be in this 2% (approximately) of people that hasn't had too much luck and that's why I think it's worth sharing it. 

Earlier on, I told you that I was very young, that's why my parents and I agreed that I would stay with a host family. It turned out that the mother was the coordinator of all the students so everyone had to reach out to her if they had any problem with the family or whatever, which means that if I had a problem with my family (aka, her family) I had to tell her? Yes. I don't think the coordinator should have had a student, but that's not the point. At the beginning everything was okay, however, it didn't last for more than a month. I won't talk much about it because I think it's personal and I wouldn't like to offend anybody. The conclusion is that I didn't like the way I was treated. You may think: oh, but you only went there to sleep and that's it, is not that much. Well, it may not be that much but when you're away from home and the ones who are supposed to take care of you don't do it, it's really frustrating and it makes you feel unloved and lonely. Although it wasn't always easy, having a tough time has taught me many things that I wouldn't have learnt otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I still had an incredible experience thanks to the other people I met there. Everybody was aware of my situation and they were always there to help me and when I was with them I felt the most fortunate person in the world. These are the people who made my stay as awesome as it was and that's what is all about, keeping the good memories above the bad ones!!

If you have any questions of doubts feel free to leave a comment down below or email me!

21 August 2015

LET'S TALK ABOUT FEMINISM

We all have heard the word "feminism". Everything started thanks to Emma Watson, yes, the well known Hermione Granger. As a Harry Potter fan, I was watching some interviews on YouTube when I came across a speech that did for the United Nations regarding a project called HeForShe. This project is about rasing awareness amongst men to fight for equality between genres (I'm not sure if I support the point of the campaign... maybe I'll do a separate post about it).

At first I used to think that, if  a male chauvinist is somebody who denigrates females in the belief that they are inferior, a feminist would be someone who thinks that women are superior to men and stands up for it. WRONG. Since "feminist" means:

The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes

I consider myself a proud feminist. Then I wondered: "If feminism doesn't mean what I thought, there may be another word that describes so". WRONG again. I don't think there is any word to describe something that has never existed (if so, tell me in the comments!)

On the 8th of March we celebrate the International Woman's Day, but one day doesn't change much. Feminists have been fighting for decades and, although there has been a huge change, there are countries were women don't have the right to vote, decide what do they want to do with their body or even choose who they want to marry. Just because this situation isn't happening where you live, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. 

However, this "problem" does not only affect to women, remember, we're talking about equality, so why is not accepted for men to cry? Or why do they always have to put a brave face? Why can't they show their feelings without being judged or called "weak"? Why most of the times, men can't get the custody of their children after getting divorced? These are just some examples. As you can see there's a lot of work to do, society has also made huge damage and those influences have left scars.

I'm still a very young woman (can I consider myself a woman?), I haven't my own belifs yet (working on it) and I'm constantly trying to learn as much as possible. I'm very open minded and this sujbect is something that has truly inspired me. This is just a general idea but I really want to go in depth and really get involved in the movement.