Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover

Most grow up with society telling them not to judge others. Yet, it seems judging others is an undeniably large factor used to organize people within a society. It is human nature for people to be competitive as well as curious of our "competition". We pick apart others until we find something we are more superior at then they are. In many circumstances around the world it has gone too far. From beating on the "nerds" in highschool to criticizing the "black" president because of his race. 

I believe we are all individual souls. Everything about you, your personality, likes & dislikes, talents, etc are all etched into your soul. This body your soul lives in is just that, a body. Now there are a few ground rules to this body of yours. You must feed it and water it a proper amount and take it out for a walk now and again. So really it shouldn't matter at all how we look, because everything about us, our soul, is inside. 

This brings me to the main topic of today's post: A permanent expression of art... Tattoos. It really grinds my gears when people feel they can negatively judge another human because he or she has decided to permanently decorate their body with ink as a form of art and expression.  What is it to them? 

I've had this conversation with my Baba (Grandma) countless times, and she still views tattoos as emotional issues. For example, in her mind if someone gets a tattoo it means there is obviously something wrong in their head... excluding David Beckham and Adam Levine. (SO HOT!)

Personally I love tattoos, especially if it's great ink with an amazing story. I have two tattoos now with more to come. I think my stories behind them are pretty interesting as well. 

1st Tattoo: "No Regrets" 

So back in 2010, nearing the end of my Brazilian student exchange trip a group of us decided to be a bit daring on the last

evening of our Northeastern Coast trip... Long story short, ten of us from all around the world got naked and went swimming, little did we know that breaking into a closed pool and being naked in front of others who were not all at the age of 18 at the time, would lead to a urgent deportation from the country... not my proudest moment at the time, I must admit that I was quite ashamed coming back to my small town home where everyone clearly knew yet feared to ask any questions in my presence. My grandparents had even tried to convince me to play it as homesickness rather then the truth. Not going to lie, that route was tempting at first. Now I live to tell the story proudly as not many people can say they have been skinny dipping with ten people from around the world OR have been deported from Brazil! I do not regret one moment of that night. 

2nd Tattoo: Wild roses  

As I believe I have mentioned in my first post? Maybe? Unless I took it down? I'll have to check. Anyway, when my little sister and I were quite young we 

suffered two traumatic experiences, both with the loss of a parent. My dad, who had been in a car accident, passed when I was 7 years old and my mom, who had been really sick, passed only one year and three days later. This led my sister and I up to good ol' Northern Manitoba to live with our Baba & Dedo (grandparents). Even though it has been many many years since all this happened it still stings and there is never a day that passes where they are not on my mind or in my heart. They were beautiful people with great big hearts and I am so lucky to of had them in my life. 

I had been planning this tattoo for about five years so that I could be certain this was exactly what I wanted. I'm still not sure how my parents ended up in Alberta, seeing as my dad was born and raised in Manitoba and my mom in Ontario, but regardless my sister and I were born in Calgary. Alberta is where all my memories of them are so I decided to honor their memory with the Alberta Wild Rose. They smell so sweet and are so delicate and beautiful. I still have a few more hours of work left until it is complete but i'll be sure to post a finished photo of it once it is! (Fingers crossed it will be in a few weeks!) My tattoo artist is a total sweetheart and amazingly talented. 

I still have many more tattoos that will eventually decorate my body but I made a promise to myself that I will only get one per year max (in the month of March). Some say tattoos are addicting and that is no lie, this is something I would never want to get too carried away with. 

This year my sister and I have talked about getting a tattoo together. It's still up in the air, and since this will be her first one I don't want to rush or push her into anything. 

Here are a few of my favorite tattoos:

Live Free

XXOX

"If your dreams don't scare you they're not big enough."

So i've been having kind of a boring day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed with my head feeling like a giant balloon that is stuffed with fluff. After hanging out in bed, watching The Big Bang Theory I soaked in a bubble bath for well over an hour until my fingers were so pruned it made it hard to text.

Something everyone should try at least once is listening to music 

with your head underwater. It gives it this really dream-like quality, especially if its chill tunes like music 

by Lights or City and Color. 

{Bubble baths always make me feel happier!}

So while spending time underwater
I started thinking about all the things I want to do
to make this year better then last year,
and the years prior to that...

... I am most definitely a fan of making lists. 

Sometimes I even make lists of list to organize my lists. 

Maybe i'm even a tad O.C.D. when it comes to things, 

but they help me keep peace of mind and usually quite organized. 

My most recent lists have been filled with daily chores and things to do like homework (which still hasn't been touched yet... and groceries). So now its about time I get my act together and generate a list that will effect my life this year in a positive, productive and spiritually rewarding way. 

Here we go!

16. Drink more water

15. Start playing piano again

14. Draw, sketch & paint more

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

13. Take more risks

12. Eat more watermelon

11. Embrace the color mint

10. Wear more dresses

9. Learn how to use my new camera and take lots of good photos

8. Grow my hair long and wear it like a hippie with flowers, braids and headbands

7. Run in a Cancer Awareness marathon 

6. Be happier

5. Throw away diets and live an all around healthier lifestyle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4. Help my Dedo in the garden all summer long and grow daises and Tayberries

3. Accept that the challenges in my life are in no way a punishment but are just there to make me stronger & more understanding as an individual

2. Get accepted into Complections International Academy of Make-up Artistry 

1. Kick ass at the academy and prove that I can make a living doing what I love

... mine terrify me.

That's a pretty big list to live up to but by taking one day at a time I plan to seriously take a closer look at my life and how I spend the minutes it by trying my best to incorporate these goals into it. I want to make this year of life count. I want to make my life worth living. 

DIY: Sock Bun!

So the DIY: Sock Bun was previously planned as my Valentine's Day post but turns out I had the BEST VDay in the history of VDay's for myself and totally forgot to post all this... oops! I still can't believe how great last night was.. such a relaxing and happy atmosphere. A wonderful evening filled with friends, great home-cooked food, good tunes, rhubarb-strawberry pie and The Vow! Needless to say my no carb/sugar diet was put on hold so as to thoroughly enjoy this evening ha ha. Totally worth it!

So here is a little re-cap of the evenings festivities:

The lovely ladies:
Kayla munch'in on pink rice krispies + Michelle chopping up some celery for the salad + Denae cooking some special spaghetti sauce for us + Last but not least Caitlin (roommate) seeing what she won on her scratch & win valentine from me :) 

I even got a beautiful surprise on Valentine's Day! 

So pretty :) & they smelled soooo good!

So now that VDay has passed time for some new topics on this blog! I am still trying my best to incorporate information pertaining to the Fight Against Breast Cancer and if anyone missed the fun game I wrote about you should check it out asap!

Ready for the DIY Sock Bun? It is so easy and works like a charm to get those perfect big buns like the celebs wear! (Here are some pics to prove it!)

 BUNS! BUNS! BUNS!

 Here is how you can re-create these amazing buns without the help and cost of a personal hairstylist:

Product/Supply List: 

• Samy Fat Hair amplifying hairstrap
• TRESemme heat protection styling spray
• One clean sock (The longer the sock the larger the bun. Try to get one closest to your hair color!)
• Hair elastic to match your hair color
• Bobby pins to match your hair color
• Extra accessories to add to your finished look (bows, clips, headband, etc)

 

(Bows are from Forever21)

Yes the sock is clean ha ha it is just darker from wear & tear.

Step 1: Cut a hole in the toe of your sock

Step 2: Roll the sock up.

It helped me to slide the sock onto my arm and roll down, ending with the toe to give it a tight finish

(This is how your sock should look once it rolled, the top and the bottom)

Step 3: Curl your hair into loose waves to create a bit more volume and make it easier to roll the hair

Step 4: Secure hair into a ponytail to the height you would like your bun to be

Step 5: Pull hair through the rolled sock and wrap ends around and tuck under

Don't worry if it the ends don't all corporate, once you start rolling it'll get easier to tuck them under. 

Step 6: Continue rolling until the bum is tight against your head and secure with bobby pins as needed. This is when you can decide if you want more of a texturized, messy bun look or a polished, sleek look.

Step 7: Spritz lightly with hairspray once you've gotten your bun the way you'd like

Step 8: Add any extra accessories you want. I chose to add a light pink bow :)

So there you have it! The DIY sock bun :) Enjoy!

Peace

XXOX