Monday Mantra ☮

Happy Monday beautiful people!! I hope you had a nice weekend :) I was able to write a lot and get some of my creative ideas transferred into my journal..Lately I've been taking more me time and less time on social media..which can be tough because having a blog and youtube channel (soon!!) requires hours of time on the internet. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to read blogs and get inspiration through the internet, and sometimes I find myself sitting in one place for hours and hours...oops haha. Anyway, it's always good to just unplug, even for a day, or a couple of hours at least. It really helps to get back to life right now in the moment, and believe it or not that's sometimes when I get some really good ideas :)

SO, I want to share a new little series on the blog called "Monday Mantra." I am a person who lives by quotes, and if you don't believe me just look at my Silver Lining pinterest board ;) In the mornings or especially before I go to bed, I love to read a couple of really nice quotes or sayings. It leaves me wondering and happier in general.

When I read this it really stuck with me. Over the past year, I have struggled with being happy with myself, my life, school, you name it. Typical teenage girl problems. It's hard to explain, but on some days I'll be really happy and positive about life, and on others I'll want to curl up in a ball, eat chocolate and cry. Crying is good for the soul, but not every single day. I'll admit it, last year I probably cried once a day. And i'm not even exaggerating. It's just something I dealt with, and a big part of this "depression" i had was fear. Fear of putting myself into the world. I was afraid to walk into a beautiful little stationary store to pick up a job application. I know right? But I thought way too much into things. Like, "what if I'm not a good enough employee?" "What if I can't help a costumer the right way?" "What if they ask me to do a couple of things at once and I can't handle it?" These questions went around my head 300 miles per hour and I couldn't get myself to shut up. Not to mention, I am a very mature person for my age with amazing grades, and I was putting myself down terribly. 

This went on for about 6 months, and I never got the job. Well, I never returned the application. I don't regret it, because right now I'm babysitting and earning good money, so I can't worry about what "would have happened." Life doesn't work out that way. If something doesn't go the way you originally planned, let it go. You have to let yourself bloom the way you're meant to. Getting back to the quote, you can't always think too far into the future. Sure, it's always good to plan some things out in advance, but people change. Heck, if I knew I was starting a blog and a youtube channel 4 or 5 years ago, I would of laughed and not really understand it. People who don't worry about the future find what they love to do easier. It's just something as simple as watching your favorite movie or going to a sewing class. You eventually find what you love to do, and you can create something out of it :) Like me and writing, photography, fashion...i created this little space. And i can't wait for it to grow ♡

And once you "blossom", the rest just falls into place ☼

I hope you guys like this new series and I can't wait to share more with you!

xx, Maddie

Face of the Day

I'm somebody who could literally wear 50 pounds of makeup and not care or wear no makeup at all and not care. For my birthday, I wanted to look pretty but without packing on a ton. you get what I'm saying? i hope so. I did my regular foundation and concealer routine, but since I'm getting darker and darker (yayyyyy summer!) i've had to bronze up my face a bit more until i get the right foundation shade. My favorite bronzer is "hoola" by benefit of course! It's perfect for when I'm as pale as a vampire or a little darker like I am now :) 

I never fill in my brows, as they are already pretty dark and bushy...i need to get them waxed or plucked pretty soon now haha. I wanted to do a shimmery pink on my eyes, to match my skin tone too. So i went with my maybelline quad in "coral chic" and used those colors around my eye lid. The highlight color in the quad has amazing pigmentation and did its job right! 

Then I took "dark horse" from my naked 1 palette and put it on the outer third of my eye, since the color in the quad wasn't dark enough for me. After that I just blended and blended and blended (really thats the key here). And like I do most days, I line my eyes with the L'oreal Voluminous smouldering eye pencil. I don't have anything to say about that bad boy, it never fails me. Then for lashes I curl them, and pack on the mascara. Seriously this is my most important step. I do at least 2 coats every time haha. On recommendation from one of my favorite youtube beauty gurus Nicole Guerriero, I use the L'oreal Voluminous Original. 

So that was my face on day one of being 17 :) 

xx, Maddie 

It's my birthday?!

Yep. I turned 17 yesterday. Honestly, I'm a little more scared than i am excited! No i'm still happy to be 17, but really? I don't understand where the time is going. I woke up at 6:00 in the morning and I was surprisingly not tired at all, so I just stayed up. I actually caught up on my youtube subscriptions and read some blogs for a little while!

When I walked out to the kitchen, my mom surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bunch of balloons. Ah I love her :) 

This is what I ended up wearing. It's just a basic romper, i got it at a little store/boutique in Ventura, California last summer. I was swimming earlier so that was the quickest thing to throw on! Please ignore my hair though...it definitely wasn't having a great day. *face of the day is coming soon* 

If you know me, know you that i will do anything for Persian food. So that's what we ate for dinner *insert giant smiley face emoji* The restaurant that we go to is definitely authentic food, and everyone that works there is Persian! They bring out fresh pita bread that smells heavenly, and for an appetizer the waiter will set down a big round bowl of hummus, dolmeh, tomatoes...it goes on and on. I ended up ordering a vegetarian vegetable kabob with basmati rice and hummus. I nearly finished it, and if you saw the portion sizes you would think i'm insane. but it was delicious and we had a great time :)

So being 17 is a little crazy to me, but I'm already feeling a little more grown up. I'm just so excited to finally start posting on my blog like i actually mean it. 

xx, Maddie

Currently Loving: My favorite bracelet

This is just a quick little post i felt like writing..Recently, I have been wearing a certain bracelet every single day. I really love it a lot, especially because it means something special to me.

My mom bought this for me after she saw me eyeing it in a little boutique. We know the designer of it, so that just made me want it even more! I saw my mom sneak away with it, and i think she might of thought i didn't see her. hehehe. 

Well, long behold i found it in my Easter basket :) i was so excited. but enough of that, I want to tell you what it means. This bracelet was made from Lapis, turquoise, clay beads, and swarovski crystal. It's called "Lord of Success" and it was also blessed. It protects, removes obstacles, gives knowledge, wisdom, and wealth. The elephant is a symbol of courage, strength, luck and longevity. The Lapis is protection and psychic awareness. 

To tell you the truth, I feel stronger when I wear this. It calms me and gives me a good feeling. So, that's why I've been wearing it! It's a little different than what I would usually wear or pick out, but after looking at it, I do think it's beautiful.

Do you have any interesting jewelry items?

xx, Madison

Family Festivities

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day off (i'm pretty sure this is only in the states though...) I've been busy with my new camera (eeeep!!) Yes you read that right: I finally FINALLY got my the camera i have been wanting for ages. It's the Canon rebel t3i. Literally I cannot contain my excitement. My dad and I went to Best Buy yesterday and I spotted it within seconds of walking in the store. Since it's a holiday weekend, it came with a special package, so I also got this amazing lens to come with it for 50% off too. I was soooooo excited :)

After coming home I basically ripped the box open and got straight to figuring out the contraption. I know it's daunting at first but I'm good with technology, so I know I'll figure out all of the functions soon. I didn't have much time before I had to get ready to leave, my family and I were going to see more family that we hadn't seen in a while, so I thought, why not bring my new camera?! ;)

I only got a couple of shots because the battery wasn't fully charged and, if I have to be honest, i deleted a bunch because I still don't think i'm that great at it yet. But no worries, im definitely learning haha. Ps this took about two hours to finish because the software that came with the camera decided not to work with the operating system i have on my computer!! Don't worry i fixed it ;)

I know these pictures aren't that great but it's just a little snapshot of what I saw while i visited my family. We had a delicious fruit tart, and we sat outside and saw those beautiful mountains. 

I hope you had a beautiful weekend too! <3

xx, Madison

*i also changed my blog name, i just wasn't liking what i had, and for future purposes I just decided to go with my name*

Sunny Saturday Morning

Today I went to my first yoga class in a really long time, probably since I was 10 or 11, so six or seven years ago. It was actually really amazing, and such a relaxing thing for me to do. After a lot of emotional things going on, I think I really needed a class like this. It wasn't just an easy yoga class either. I actually got pretty hot and sweaty doing some of the moves! Which is good, because I like a challenging yoga sequence. 

The yoga instructor talked about overcoming obstacles and releasing fear through our breath. Just breathing through all of these different challenging stretches really helps to remove blockages throughout the body, if you know what I mean. I really liked one part of the class, where we were all in child's pose, and it looked like we were bowing or surrendering ourselves in front of the teacher. She said that surrender doesn't mean to give up, but to let go of something. And that really stayed with me. I think it taught me that even if we "give up" something it doesn't always mean we're throwing in the towel. It just means we know enough was we need and what we don't need, and that it's okay to let go. 

The teacher said some really great things throughout the class, but I just wanted to share some of what she said with you. Maybe it will help one of you, or maybe it was just a quick little story to read :-) 

Have a beautiful weekend!!! 

xx, Maddie 

Summer Lovin'

It's finally here! Well for me anyway. Say hello to those warm sunny days and endless nights. Summer is probably my favorite season, especially because school is finally over and you can basically do whatever you feel like doing (i guess if you're not a proper adult yet). It's gotten pretty warm where I live so I've been out a few days trying to get SOME kind of color into my complexion. It's kind of creepy how ghostly I can look over the colder months.

Here are some things i've been really getting into for the new season:


White Nails

Dewy Skin

Crop tops

Messy hair

What have you guys been loving recently? 

xx, Maddie