JustiX

In 12 hours, I will be at SFO with a ton of high schoolers and my best friends as we embark on a journey to raise awareness about the heavy injustices that occur all over the world.  Words cannot explain how excited I am, since this is my first year going as a chaperone.  

Four years ago, I graduated from the group and went on the international tour to Denmark and England.. After I left, I made a promise to myself to become a chaperone as soon as I was eligible, since this group has made a tremendous impact on my life. 

Now, I am sitting in my room looking at my semi-packed suitcase, excited to see what's in store for the next two and a half weeks.  What I am really looking forward to, is experiencing this trip from the other side.. as a person who has been through the group, but is still greatly affected by the experiences and yearning for more nourishment in my faith journey. 

If you want to follow along, I will be helping with the website by posting photos and doing video blogs, sharing our everyday experiences and #JustiXTourLife

http://www.starfiresingers.com

Bye for now,

-nalovita. 

Urges?

Have you ever had the urge to just change it up?

That is happening for me, right now!

Bye for now,

-(purplehairednalovita)

Grace

I struggle.

Why? Life is just constantly throwing new battles in my way, and I question how to handle these situations.  My current struggle is how I handle the emotions that these situations put me in.

Do I lash out and say every honest thought in my mind?

Do I surpress and keep quiet and let it eat away at me?

Do I communicate to the source or to the people I trust?


How do I handle these issues with grace?

Bye for now,
-nalovita.

Once Again

It's been a while.

I don't know if anyone actually reads my blog, but if you do.. hello again! To myself looking into the past, I hope you're doing well.  To the one person who stumbles across, welcome.

So it has indeed been a few months since I've blogged, but that is due to the technical difficulty of having a entirely cracked monitor on my MacBook Air ( 1st Gen ).  There was a series of unfortunate events, that make me seem like a whiney 1st world citizen.. but nonetheless unfortunate.  The "trilogy" ( My iPhone, iPad, and Macbook) were severely damaged.  Luckily my phone and pad were easily salvaged for it was more cosmetic (cracked screen) damage, but losing my computer caused me to completely neglect my blog.

Now! Thanks to my very generous dad, I am broadcasting from an updated system, and ready to embark on to the next thing that life has to face.

In a few weeks I will be headed off the U.K. with my former choir Starfire as a chaperone.  I am so excited, for this is my first year of many to be re-living the experiences in another way.  I will be updating their website, and utilizing many social media outlets to document the experience for everyone who wants to come along.  (I will definitely be elaborating on this more in the next post)

I am settled in to my new apartment, which has been quite the experience, for I am learning a lot of new things.  The summer has just offered me a lot of opportunities to be busy, and maximize my time with the kids I take care of.  As my last year of college approaches, I am thinking of options of what I am going to do after I receive that diploma, since they are endless.


I need to get to bed now.. I am glad I am back on this.

Bye for now,
-nalovita.

What I Wore Today: Sunday Best!

School. Moving. Finals. AH. I'll be back soon.

For now, here's my outfit for today, I'm gonna tell you secret, I wore the same dress last night at a jazz show in SF! I can't get out of it :)

Hat: Ross

Dress: Stylemint

Shoes: Therapy ( Seychelles - Cayenne )

Bag: TJ Maxx (London Fog)

Watch: Urban Outfitters

Bracelet: Bead for LIfe

I look at this, and see the weight I've put on since I halted from eating anything healthy at all, and just consuming whatever's convenient. That will change soon. Need to be aware of what's happening to my body.  I will lose some weight!

Bye for now,

-nalovita.

My Year on Campus + Apartment Hunting

 In a little more than a month, I will be moving out of my on-campus apartment after my first year at my university.  Let's just say my experience was good, but I am ready to move on.

I lived in a 3 single-bedroom suite with two other girls, and for the duration of the semester, we probably spoke to each other about 10 times at the most.  We could not be any more different! I find this weird, but we're not even friends on Facebook.  There was not a connection made, and I hate it.  After I transferred from a local community college, I was excited to establish relationships with the people I was going to live with.  Our relationship consisted of telling each other when we didn't do something right, or sending each other passive-aggressive texts when we were displeased about something.  I am so done, and so ready to move on.

Now, one of my best friends Erica and I have made the decision to move in together for the next academic year in a 2 bedroom apartment, just a few miles from my University.  What is so great, is that we have a great friendship, and we both live similar lifestyles.

             How we are the same:
             - We are both in serious, long-term relationships.
             - We are both students.
             - We are both working in similar fields.
             - We both love the Giants

How we differ:            

-I am pretty high maintenance, (super girly-girl) she isn't . 

too much of this in one place could be detrimental

- She  will be pursuing her credentials for teaching, while  I'm still doing undergrad  work.

-  My boyfriend is going to be living across the street, weird.

For our apartment hunting process, we began early.  Since she is still living in Central California, finishing up her undergraduate studies, we had to stretch this process out for more security.  We set a budget, browsed various website and set up a top 5 list.  

Originally, we planned on a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment, since that always seems to be a cheaper option, and I don't really find it necessary to have my own bathroom.  (I have been able to share a bathroom with 2 other girls seamlessly.)  We also wanted to be near the highway for accessibility to school and work, as well as in between our church and school.  We definitely did NOT want to live in the downtown area, since it is just plain-old-sketchy, and as two women, we did not feel comfortable making that decision.  

Last week, we scoped out our top choices, and I really liked a few, but some were a little over our budget.  Then we were referred to an apartment complex that is relatively close to my boyfriends, AND it fit right in our budget.  Both Erica and I are very familiar with that area, and feel that it is safe, and accessible.  The perks of this apartment is that it is 2/2 and the rooms are on opposite sides of the apartment.  We both fell in love instantly, since we know we do want our personal space while we live together as well.  The kitchen/living area is what separates our rooms, and both rooms are the same size! ( I was worrying about who would get the larger room/closet space/etc) But with the even shared space, we can split right down the middle!

We are planning to give our deposit in the next few weeks, and discuss move-in times soon! I want to have a good amount of time in this apartment over the summer, just because of how close it is to where I work, and before we go on tour.  You have no idea how excited I am for this, because Erica and I are friends, and we are able to build on our friendship with this experience. 

Bye for now,

-nalovita.

My Everyday Makeup Routine

A few years ago, I had my routine up on YouTube. Now, my products have changed, and they probably will again, but I finally found products that work so well with my skin!

Foundation: On special days, I use Revlon's "Nearly Naked" Foundation, which I think is meant to be a rip off of Urban Decay's Naked line, it has really light coverage, but I don't need that much since overall, I feel that my skin can support itself.

Everyday, I go for Loreal's Magic BB Cream.  I honestly don't know what BB creams are meant to do, but this product is just like a tinted moisturizer, and evens my skin tone. 

After I apply my concealer, I set my Foundation/BB Cream with the Matte Bare Essentials Powder foundation in medium beige.  My mom introduced me to this brand and I have stuck with it since. 

Concealer: I go back and forth between the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, but since I have some hyper-pigmentation problems from a few zits in the past months, I needed something with a little more coverage, so I switched over to the Loreal True Match Crayon Corrector. I love it, since it is exactly my skin tone. I usually get my dark spots, under my eyes, the sides of my nose and some imperfections and blend it in. 

Highlighter: I just got the Benefit High Beam highlighter, and it is beautiful! Gives that extra boost in my skin.  Before I shattered my Naked Flushed Palette ( Bronzer/ Blush/ Highlight Trio) I used the highlighter in the palette, it is great too, but too soft. 

Blush: I also go back and forth with the Urban Decay's Flushed Palette, and Benefit's Bella Bamba blush, it depends whether I am going for a lighter color or not. 

Contour: Flushed Palette!! :)

Mascara: I absolutely love Maybelline's Mascaras, especially the Colossal and Falsies.  First I apply 1 coat of the Waterproof Falsies, and then 1 coat of the Waterproof Colossal.  I have to have waterproof formulas, because I have eyelashes that just stick straight down, and can't hold a curl, and I feel that these formulas do wonders for me.

Liners:  I am usually always wearing some sort of cat-eye or eyelid liner, I just feel that it makes my eyes appear larger.  I used to use the Urban Decay liquid liner, but I felt the finish was too shiny.  Now, I use the Milani Infinite Liquid Eye Liner, and it has more of a matte finish, as well as a thicker formula.  Only downside is that it transfers and takes a while to dry, (So I can't look up when it's drying..)

For Pencil liner, I usually gravitate to my UD 24/7 Pencil liners.  I feel that they don't smudge, and I have an array of colors.  I usually use the color demolition (dark brown) so it's not too dark.

Eyeshadows: I swear by all the Naked Palettes, they are quite the investments, but last so long ( I have yet to hit pan on any of them, and I use some sort of eyeshadow everyday!) Lately, I've been using the Basics Palette, since they are matte, and easy to wear. 

If you are just beginning trying to wear makeup daily, or have been trying and not succeeding in finding what suits you, just keep on experimenting.  Ask for samples if you can, so you don't waste a ton of money. 

Bye for now,

-nalovita.