YOLO...? Gosh, I'm sorry :P

Today, I wanted to do a more personal post. My experiences, mostly in the past year, have influenced the way I already live and the way I'm going to live the rest of my life. In high school, I fell in love with theatre. It was what I loved to do; I was the theatre girl. When the time came for college, however, I figured that acting would be a completely unrealistic and ridiculous career to pursue. Who actually makes a living acting? Very few people. So, I decided that I was interested in psychology and that was it. I committed to the University of Cincinnati and began to study psychology. I quickly realized that psychology wasn't for me and that if I kept at it, I would be miserable. I needed a change.

I was in a theatre club at the time, but I felt as if I needed more. I had made friends with a few Dramatic Performance majors at CCM, or the College Conservatory of Music, at UC and was inspired by them almost immediately. Their talent is amazing and I still admire them greatly. I was just sitting in my dorm room one day, thinking about my future (as one does), and suddenly, something hit me. What is the point of your life if you're not going to be able to enjoy yourself? Sure, working is necessary and is rarely super fun, but one's career should be something that you are at least interested in. I decided then and there that I would audition for CCM's Dramatic Performance department. Why not? What did I have to lose? If I was successful, I would be able to pursue something that I'm truly passionate about and if I failed, I would at least have learned some life lessons. So, I took the plunge. 

My headshot hahahaha. S/O to my dad for taking it in my dining room!

I prepared for my audition for months and struggled through all of the awful paperwork needed to apply to college. I did it all by myself and, let me tell you, it was SO MUCH FUN :/ I got help picking out monologues from some beautiful, lovely drama students friends of mine and they helped me to prepare. I am seriously so grateful that they did. I had no idea how to conduct myself in a serious audition and they helped me so much. My audition went well. I was terrified and nervous, but confident and excited at the same time. It was truly an incredible experience. As I left it, I was amazed at myself. I'm not someone to take a lot of risks, so taking this risk to try to make myself happier in life was kind of amazing for me. All I could do was wait. I waited for about two or three weeks, and then received a letter from CCM. Unfortunately, I didn't make it.

I was devastated in the moment. I couldn't think of what to do since I had no idea what major would be good for me now that the only one I wanted was out of the question. For a few weeks, I floundered around trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life, but eventually everything calmed down. After a few months, I started to really value the experience. I really went for what I want to do with my life. I took a chance and really, seriously tried. I still have the same dream and would eventually love to still be an actor, but the plan has changed now. I want to pursue an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Dramatic Performance from another school sometime in the future. Right now, I'm focusing on my English degree. I am just so glad that I had my weird epiphany at the end of last September. If I hadn't realized that I would be wasting my life if I pursued anything but what I love, I would have trudged through my college years studying something I don't care about, furthermore leading to a career I don't care about. I'm not about that life. So, as much as it sickens me to say it, YOLO. It's super true and it applies to almost everyone. Taking risks is how lives change, usually for the better. So, if you're nervous to do something or don't feel like taking a risk, take it anyway. Who knows what it may lead to, or what it will change about you? 

Stress

So, it has come to this. Finals have begun for many of us in the world of education and I couldn't be more sad/perturbed/anxious about it. I have always been a person who worries an awful lot about essentially everything. Relationships with friends and family, commitments, and I'm such a hypochondriac it's not even funny [flu season, am I right? :( ] But, probably more than anything [except the hypochondriac thing], I worry about school and my grades. I know that my family is paying an awful lot for my education and so I stress out about making the most of my education and making sure that I do well. This can, and does, create some problems when it comes to actually doing the work that I'm required to do, however. The thing is, when I begin to stress about all the work I have to do, I kind of shut down and can't really accomplish anything because I'm spiraling in a whirlpool of my own stress and anxiety. This was a very big problem for me in high school, and has calmed down somewhat in my college years so far [thank goodness!]. Because I have dealt with it for so many years, I thought I would share a couple tips that have been effective for me when it comes to dealing with stress.

1) Take deep breaths and count to 10 when you start to feel yourself panicking. This almost always helps me calm down and gives me time to concentrate on my counting instead of freaking out about all of the work I have to do. Ironically, I learned this from an ex-boyfriend of mine that ended up causing me incredible amounts of stress...moving on.

2) Make lists. I love organization so much and I feel like such a weirdo about it sometimes. Being organized makes me feel so much better and so much less stressed about my life in general. Although it may be a bit daunting to see all of the things you have to do written out in black and white in front of your face, it will feel so nice to check the things off of your list in the long run. Also, writing to-do lists generally help me remember things that I otherwise probably wouldn't have.

3) Give yourself breaks and time to sleep. I have never pulled an all-nighter in my life. I don't feel like it will give me any more productive time to get my work done. I mean, I'll probably just end up perusing YouTube anyway. Breaks and sleeping give your brain time to recharge and process what you've just crammed into it. Don't bully your brain by constantly pummeling it with information for hours on end. It will not be a happy brain in the long run.

4) If you let yourself start to really panic, walk away from the project/stress maker for a while. This one sort of goes with the one above, but I decided to make it it's own tip. When I was in high school, I would have legit panic attacks about Honors Chemistry. I couldn't wrap my brain around it and to my mind, which wouldn't accept a B grade at all, the C's I was getting in that class were devastating to me haha. When I started to panic, I had to walk away from the homework I was doing and go relax for a while. If I tried to keep going, I would only exasperate myself more and more until I reached a really unpleasant breaking point. Don't let that happen to you!

These are four tips that have helped me throughout my time in education, and I'm sure will continue to help me in the coming years. I seriously cannot stress organization enough; it will diminish so much extra, unneeded stress. And be kind to yourself over finals week and the weeks leading up to it. You have a lot of work that needs to get done, but you're also still a human that needs to be kind to yourself to remain happy and healthy. Best of luck on finals to everyone and Happy December! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I, like most everyone else, am thankful for so many things in my life. I have a wonderful family. My mother, father, and grandfather in particular have given me so many amazing opportunities, namely the opportunity to go to a university that I truly love. If it weren't for them, I would be struggling to pay myself through school. I really can't express enough how grateful I am for that in particular. I'm also thankful for my brother, a friend who I will never grow apart from. Even though we bicker constantly, I am so grateful for his consistent support and friendship throughout the years I've known him. The rest of my family brings me so much joy every time I get to see them. I cannot imagine life without them and I don't care to.

I'm also so thankful for my friends, new and old. Having old friends is such a blessing. To come home from school after months of not seeing each other and to just pick up where you left off is amazing and beautiful to me. I love getting the opportunities to see them and I've loved seeing them over the past few days on my Thanksgiving break. My new friends at the University of Cincinnati are also so incredible. I'm pretty terrible at meeting new people, and the fact that the people I have met have been just the right people for me is amazing :) I adore them so much. They have made me feel so welcomed and so loved in this completely foreign environment that honestly scared me so much when I arrived (Adam, Rachel, Rachel, Kaitlin - I'm talking to you!) I can't forget talking about my boyfriend, who is one of the best people I have ever met. He is so caring about his friends and the people he is close with and goes out of his way to treat me and his other friends so well. I haven't been with him for very long, but I hope to spend a long, long time with him.

Everything else is such a blessing, as well. The opportunity to cultivate my education at such a wonderful university. The fact that I have a roof over my head now (at my parent's house) and at school. The fact that I have a job. The fact that I am happy with where my life is going and with what I am working for. I have so much to be thankful for and not enough room (or time for that matter) to write it all down. So, keep your blessings in mind this holiday and let the people you care about know that you're thankful for them. They may already know, but it can only spread happiness to tell them.

P.S. Eat so much turkey. 

Fall Favorites!

So, here we go with trying to do something beauty related! I love fall as much as everyone else, it seems. I look forward to it all year because although I'm not such a fan of bitter cold, I love the chilly weather for layering sweaters and scarves and I love the warmer and more muted colors. So, here I've found a few of my fall makeup, beauty and random favorites to share!

Essie Penny Talk, Revlon Bold Sangria, and one from Urban Outfitters whose name I removed because I'm a damn fool.

Nail Polish: I am kind of a nail polish junkie. My nails are usually painted (except for in the pictures later as you'll see, for whatever reason). I love darker and warm colors for fall and these three are amazing. Of course Essie is always amazing and this bronze color is shiny and wonderful. Revlon ColorStay is my favorite drugstore nail polish brand, however. The color stays and doesn't chip for the longest time and you really only need one (maybe two) coats to get an opaque color. Urban Outfitters also has really amazing nail polishes and they're really cheap!

Revlon Lip Butter (Raspberry Pie), Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain (001 Honey), Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks (01 and 103)

Lip Color: Lipsticks are really nice for fall, I think, because lots more neutrals come out of our closets and it makes outfits a bit more exciting. I'm all about lasting power of lipsticks, and the Kissable Balm Stains and the Kate Moss lipsticks definitely have that! The colors are so nice and pigmented in both of these products and they don't dry out your lips or feel sticky and awful. The Lip Butters don't last as long as these other products, but I've found that if you blend them into your lips a little after putting them on, they kind of act like a stain. I love all of these colors for fall. 

Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in 510 Precocious

Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo in 25 Bad to the Bronze

Eyeshadows: I have blue eyes so I'm all about neutral colors all year round, but I think warmer colors are so nice for fall. My all time favorite eyeshadow is the Maybelline Color Tattoo shown above, layered with a few other colors from another Revlon eyeshadow quad in Decadent. Bronzy colors with blue eyes are lovely, I think. I also love using the two bottom colors from the Precocious quad above (the lighter and darker pink) on my eyes in fall. 

Bath and Body Works Stress Relief Lotion in Eucalyptus Spearmint

Lotion: My hands get fo realz super dry during this time of year, and this is my absolute favorite scent from Bath and Body Works. Seriously, go to Bath and Body Works and sniff it immediately. It's really relaxing and smells fresh and lovely. And it is really moisturizing so it's really beneficial for your skin.

Black Booties - H&M, Backpack - Urban Outfitters

Black Leather: Only just this fall, I've really started loving black leather. To me, it looks badass and sophisticated at once and is really a fall staple. These booties from H&M are really nice and make me feel really elegant. They add just a few inches of height, and as I'm about 5'2", I need all the help I can get. As I am a college student, I need a backpack and this one from Urban Outfitters is really sturdy and stylish.

Lipton Green Tea, Lilly Pulitzer mug

Tea: I can't drink coffee. I really don't like the taste and it makes me feel extremely sick (especially Starbucks). The only coffee I can drink is UDF French Vanilla coffee. Really random, but it's so delicious. ANYWAY. Instead of coffee, I drink so SO much green tea to get my caffeine fix for the day. It's also a lot better for you than coffee. I think it has something to do with antioxidants or something? I also always drink tea (and soda and all dark beverages) with a straw because it helps to not stain your teeth. I have a thing with my teeth...don't worry about it.

Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice: I know I just got done talking about how sick Starbucks makes me feel, but this little baby has no coffee in it so I could drink it all damn day if I wanted to. I'd probably die from all the sugar, but I would be in a wonderful-tasting heaven while I did it. This drink is absolutely amazing. It tastes like apples and caramel and vanilla and fall and amazing. I love it so much and you all should go out and try it right now!

Healthy Choice Top Chef Ravioli & Chicken Marinara meal

Easy Meals: Very random, I know. Like I've said before, I'm a college student and I hardly ever feel like cooking so meals like this save me. I particularly like this one because Italian food is my everything and it's actually really good. You wouldn't think that a "Healthy Choice" meal would be all that good, but I highly recommend it.

So, there are all my fall favorites! I hope you enjoyed them :) I'll post again soon! G'bye!

Figuring Life Out?

And now it's November and I'm terrible at this already haha. Oh well. At least I have come back to it. I just wanted to talk about life, what's been going on, and what I'm actually thinking about for this blog. 

I have begun my sophomore year at the University of Cincinnati, and despite some horrifyingly awful, senile professors minor stresses and struggles, it's been pretty solid lately. I'm progressing with my English Literary and Cultural Studies degree and I'm even thinking of adding a minor in French to my plate! I'm really excited to see where that takes me. I'm also the secretary of a theatre group on campus called DAFT (Dramatic Arts for Thespians), which is busy but rewarding and so much fun. I have some of the best friends ever and I recently found a wonderful boyfriend who makes me so happy. So, now that everything has settled down (as much as it possibly can at this point in the semester), I really want to turn my attention back to my blog.

I have always loved reading blogs, particularly beauty and fashion blogs, since I'm really into that kind of thing. I think I may want to give that kind of thing a go, since I do have some stuff to say and I think it would be so fun to share my style on the interwebz. My inspiration for this is Zoella, a beauty blogger online. She has a really wonderful blog and an awesome YouTube channel (I'll link both below) that I've really fell in love with and I've decided to (attempt to) follow in her footsteps and create a cool beauty and fashion blog with other bits and pieces from my life thrown in there, as well. So, there's my plan! I'm excited to begin and see where this might take me. Till next time! :)

http://www.zoella.co.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRV5AVOlKJR1Flvgt310Cw

Hello!

I've always really wanted to do one of these, but I never thought I'd ever have anything meaningful to say. I've never been one to do any kind of creative writing or journal writing, but I've always loved the idea of it. It's a fantastic way to organize your ideas and to expand and develop your thoughts into something more insightful and valuable. So, now that I've spent all this time thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a blog and to write down thoughts and things, it seems like it might be a good time to give it a shot.

So, hello! My name is Emma and I am a student at the University of Cincinnati. I like theatre, literature, people, makeup, movies, and lots of other good things that I'm sure I will talk about in future posts. I don't really like this part of describing myself, so maybe you (whoever you are [hello by the way]) can infer things about me from the future posts that I will write. That will honestly be the hardest part about this: writing posts regularly and keeping this up. I do stick to things, but it does take me a hot sec to get into a groove and a routine so we shall see how that works out.

I still don't know what this blog will be about, but I think we shall just have to wait and see. I got the final kick in the pants to start this blog from the book Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. This book was so inspirational to me personally, and I'll explain why in my next post. In short, it's a very short and valuable book on how to access creativity, but it's not just for artists. It's for everyone! I find it to be a very insightful and delightful book and I can't wait to talk more about why I love it.

So, in conclusion, hello to me and hello to you! I'm excited about this blog and I can't wait to see where it will go. Thanks for your time and goodbye!