iPhone Life// January

1// New Years Eve rocking some bold makeup 2// White nails 3// Beautiful morning sunrise on the first day back at school (which was kind of wimpy but this picture made the day a lot brighter! 4// Delicious Kale, roasted sweet potato, quinoa, and slivered almond salad

5// Stuck in acting class! 6// A perky little flower I spotted on a lovely walk :) 7// Bling with a fuzzy sweater always makes me happy

These are just some pictures from my instagram from the month of January so far, since it's been going bye so quickly!! I mean really it's almost over…nuts. I feel like I haven't had time to start anything because I've been worried too much about the future. I know I need to stop that and start thinking in the present moment. Ahhhhh. Right now I'm going to pick up a book at the library called "The Starch Solution" and I'm sooooo excited to read it. It's all about being on a high carb, low fat vegan lifestyle. It's nothing about losing weight or anything crazy like that, because that's definitely not something I need, but it's just about feeling balanced and whole through lots of fruits and veggies and stuff like that. Learning about food really interests me and I'll be making a lot more posts about it soon, and about my current diet and what's been on my mind :-)

Happy Wednesday!!

Maddie

Bordeaux

This beauty of a lip gloss I picked up at Sephora a few days ago with a gift card I got for Christmas, and after walking around the store second guessing myself if I should get it, I am sooooo glad I did. It's a lip cream from Bite Beauty called "Bordeaux" and it is the most gorgeous shade of plum and burgundy. I've been looking for deep purples like this to wear on my lips because I've been feeling a little vampy lately for winter haha, so this is the perfect color. It doesn't smudge at ALL. I wore this on New Years Eve from 10 in the morning until midnight and after eating and drinking it was still purely there. I was surprised, but then again the formula is so thick and pigmented its not gonna budge. 

I also loved wearing this because its all natural, and you can basically eat it, hence the name of the brand ;) which I thought was clever! It also smells like fruit, not too overpowering, but a nice scent. 

Would you try this dark color?

Maddie

Christmas Withdrawls

All of the excitement, the build up, the shopping stress, now it's all over. I have to say every year I always get pretty sad and depressed haha. Doesn't everyone?! My Christmas was very magical and amazing, I woke up right before 6 and heard my little brother rustling through his presents, so I put on my fluffy slippers and robe and joined him to stare at our beautiful tree. That has to be one of my favorite parts of the morning, is just staring at the ornaments, the glistening lights, and the beautiful packages under it :-)

My brothers and I always wait for our parents to get up before we open our presents, its just a tradition we started a long time ago. I'll make my parents fresh coffee and we'll turn on christmas music or the parades. We opened our gifts and had such a great time.

Then my mom and I turned into super mode and we cleaned up the house for the guests that we were having over for dinner haha! There really wasn't that much to clean but making the house spotless was a must. 

The rest of the day was filled with cooking and eating and resting. I made a marvelous tray of roasted veggies, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Mmmmm gosh I could eat it all again I swear. Then after our guests left and I cleaned up the kitchen, I took a nice long shower, put on my new pjs and snuggled up on the couch and watched some youtube, with some cookies of course!! 

Christmas is always such a special day of the year and its sad that it comes and goes so quickly. It seems like we just put up all our decorations! I'll share what I got in a post coming soon ;)

How was your Christmas if you celebrated? I want to hear all about it!! 

Maddie

Merry Christmas!

Merrrrrrrrry Christmas everyone!!! I seriously can't believe its here already. And 2015 is six days away…honestly insane. 

I hope everyone has an amazing day filled with joy and cheer and happiness :) It's been a long year full of confusion and craziness, but when it comes down to it all none of those feelings matter. Its all in the past and now its time to enjoy ourselves with our loved ones…

I remember when I was little, I would always be soooo excited to get gifts on Christmas, and honestly being a little kid who wasn't haha! But as I've gotten older, getting gifts really is the last thing I'm excited about. Decorating the house, the tree, baking christmas cookies with my mom, those are the best feelings in the world, and I'm trying to cherish them as much as i can because it's one of my last holidays living at home as crazy as it sounds. 

So I hope everyone has an amazing day, and you relax and enjoy yourself!! I love you guys :)

Merry Christmas xoxo

Maddie

New Room Decor

I finally got around to changing my room decor!! I am SO SO happy. I finally put on my new comforter, and today with my mom I bought all those pillows which I fell in love with. I especially love the big white furry ones, they caught my eye immediately. Everything in my "new" room is going to be kind of simple and white, with accents of gold, grey, and eclectic looking things. For Christmas my parents said they would buy all of the ikea furniture I was wanting, so I am so thrilled and thankful. I can't wait to get it and have everything in my room come together. I also got a cute white christmas tree and adorable teal buddha head too. I think the white fairy lights just add that feeling of coziness and warmness to the room :) Oh! How could I forget the new shaggy white rug haha! Its SOOO soft and fuzzy, but it looks really nice and fresh. 

How do you guys like it so far? I'll get better pictures of my whole room once I have my new furniture assembled and looking the way I want it to.

SO EXCITED. And there's only 4 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS. WHAT.

Maddie

Counting Down

There's only 8 more nights until Christmas morning.

I only have 2 more final tests to take.

Which means only two more days of school.

Which means I will finally be on Christmas break.

Which means I can do whatevvvverrr I want!

These last few days have been crazy. I can't wait until everything slows down and I can finally enjoy wintertime and the Christmassy feeling in the air.

Oh and did I mention I haven't done any Christmas shopping?

Nope. Not one gift. I mean honestly?!

But school has been going good. I have a little group of friends now, which I can't believe. The one girl that asked to walk with me during lunch introduced me to her friends and now we sit together and talk. It really has changed my time there a lot, I feel happier and everything. So that's good :)

What is everyone up to? I feel so out of the loop.

I think I might make a batch of cookies and some tea and try to relax.

Maddie

The Christmas Tag

Guys there's only 10 days until Christmas. Like what. I'm not prepared, at all. I haven't done any shopping, I've got finals to do, and I have been so busy with school, and did I mention I got a 24 hour cold/flu virus again? Literally what is wrong with me haha. I'm sorry I haven't posted much, like I said I wasn't home at all last week which really threw my whole schedule off. But thats over so everything should get back to normal. I found this tag from Alphabeth and really loved reading it, so I wanted to do it. Christmas is the beeeeest time of year and this made me really happy. So you're probably like okay let's read your answers already, lol!

1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie?

Probably Elf, or the Santa Claus movies with Tim Allen

2. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

My brothers and I have always always always opened our presents on Christmas morning. We usually wake up incredibly early, dig through our stockings, and wait for our parents to get up

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?

Hmmm, when I think of Christmas I think of being with my family having cozy movie nights in, eating homemade chocolate chip cookies and watching Christmas movies :)

4. Favourite festive food?

I eat this all year round anyway, but I love roasted sweet potato

5. Favourite Christmas gift?

I don't think I could choose! I remember many Christmas mornings when I cried because I was so happy. I loved when I got my first iPod, or my beautiful vanity in my room, my antique typewriter…i can't choose!

6. Favourite Christmas scent?

I have so many…i love cookies in the oven, cinnamon spice, apple pie, pumpkin pie…lol

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

Every Christmas Eve night, my mom and I bake cookies, everyone gathers in the living room on the floor/couches with blankets and pillows, and we watch The Polar Express before we go to bed :)

8. What tops your tree?

It depends, this year it's a star, last year it was an angel!

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) you always asked for but never received?

I don't really remember asking for anything crazy. I was always a good little girl so I got the stuff i wanted most of the time haha! ;)

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?Definitely just feeling grateful about having everything I have in my life. I love being with my family, decorating the house, creating delicious holiday recipes, going to see Christmas lights around town, having fires in the backyard with blankets and smores, playing Christmas music loudly through the house..so many things!

Well now you know how I get on with Christmas. I would love to read your answers to these, so I tag whoever is reading this! Leave your links below :-)


Have a great Monday!

Maddie

iPhone Life

1// Feeling joyous

2// Winter nails (essie a list)

3// First chilly day calls for a sweater and boots!

4// A pretty rose in my school garden

5// Rainy mornings <3

6// Soup and sushi with mom

7// Yummy breakfast of almond butter and blueberries on toasted raisin bread

8// Piling on everything from the whole foods salad bar

I want to do more of these, they're fun haha! Just a peek into my daily life from my iPhone ;) This week went bye fairly quickly. It was my moms birthday on wednesday so I bought her balloons and flowers, and surprised her with a few gifts. We also went out to dinner and I got her a beautiful fruit tart :) Now I am trying my hardest to decorate the house and my bedroom for Christmas…so far I have my white fairy lights up around my window, a mini christmas tree, and some other little knick knacks. But thats about it! Besides getting through school also ;) 

What are you guys up to this weekend? We have a family friend coming in so hopefully we will do something fun together since I haven't seen her in YEARS. 

Maddie

School is Cool?

Okay so today…at school…I actually enjoyed myself. I had a good time, and I felt happy. Am I really typing this? Yep I am. And today during lunch, two girls, really nice girls, came up to me and sat with me. And we talked, and it was SO nice. I don't know why this is happening, but I have a feeling its because I've changed my way of thinking dramatically. I don't wake up depressed and mopey anymore, I wake up energized and ready to conquer my day. Instead of walking with my head pointed towards the ground, now I walk and smile to someone who looks at me. It's so refreshing, and almost insane that I got stuck in that rut to where I almost didn't care if I was happy or not. I have to say, it's weird that I'm enjoying school more. I've prayed to the universe to help guide me in the right direction, because I've felt very lost. And I'm starting to feel okay with that. I know I need to relax and understand that I'm young and I don't need to plan out my life right now. But I'm the type of person that likes plans, so. I've got to work on that. I've prayed to make friends, and to get a job, ad I really have a lot of faith that everything is going to fall into place. I know it takes time, I just want it all to happen quickly. 

So this was a post I never really thought I'd write haha! Surprised but very happy. And I'm so happy that I can be in this mood around Christmas time because well this is the most wonderful time of year :)

I love you all so much just so you know, and I hope you're having an amazing day or night whenever you're reading this <3

Maddie

Happy Thanksgiving!

To my fellow Americans, I hope you have a beautiful and safe Thanksgiving!! I'm headed a couple hours away to my cousins house for the day :) I have plenty of crazy family to keep me busy haha! My mom and I cooked our feast, a huge turkey, stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Mmmm I can't wait to eat it. Since there will be so much family in one house, there's usually  multiple tables of turkeys and other sides so I just eat what my mom makes because I'm not gonna lie she's the best cook in the family ;)

After we eat our Thanksgiving dinner my cousins and I have a tradition of playing either a family football game or baseball game until its dark outside and time for dessert haha! It usually gets freezing cold and we all end up snuggling together inside with hot chocolate and a Christmas movie :) Isn't that the best feeling? I love being with my family, especially now because I haven't seen them in over a year which is sad and insane!

Does anyone have any traditions or anything special planned for turkey day? :) I wanna hear all about it! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Maddie

First Experience: Boxing Class

(my free wraps i got ;) )

I finally did it. I went to my first group fitness class and I absolutely loved it. AND its at a boxing/kickboxing club so close to my house, which makes me even more excited to go since i've been looking for this for months. I got this coupon where I have an unlimited amount of classes for free for the next two weeks, and let me tell you I plan on going as much as I can.

When I walked in I was a little nervous, but it wasn't too crowded and there were people at all skill levels which made me feel a lot more comfortable. As soon as we started, I got all pumped up and gave it my all. Hitting that boxing bag (and maybe pretending it was some people that pissed me off last week lol) made me feel SO invigorated and confident. During the active rests we did lunges squats and different toning exercises and it was basically amazing haha. It was definitely hard and near the end i was counting down the minutes, but i honestly cant wait to go back. The trainers were so so nice and i felt like i had been going there for a while even though i had never set my foot in the door! 

Going to that class on Saturday morning helped me overcome a little fear I had of public fitness places haha but hey that's what life is about right?! When I got done I went to whole foods and made the most amazing salad bowl from the salad bar with roasted sweet potatoes, brown rice, arugula, walnuts, shredded carrots...ugh yum. Then I got home and took a power nap for about an hour and woke up very very sore haha! But I plan on going again today or tomorrow ;) 

I hope you're having a beautiful weekend!

Maddie

Winter is that you?

There is actually 46 days until Christmas....I mean really? Where the heck has time gone? As excited as I am for the upcoming holidays, I just want time to slow down, just a little bit :) 

Are you excited for Christmas?! Did you buy any countdown apps? <3

Maddie