Picture Day Do's and Don'ts

I had my very first picture day last year at school. And it was awful. I showered the morning before and didn't even touch my hair so I had no idea what it looked like. No makeup, also. The photographer kept getting me to move my face in awkward positions and when the pictures came back it didn't even look like me; more like some gremlin with only one eye and the awkwardest smile ever. They were terrible and I hated them. 

Luckily, this year I am much more prepared, and now, thanks to these tips, you too can never suffer another embarrassing school photo. Hopefully.

DON'T

-Do anything drastic the night before or day of. The worst thing you can do is decide to try out a new acne cream or a facial peel that makes your skin's worst day look good. Ditto for trying out new makeup products or hairstyles. Stick with what you know makes you look good.

-Smile too early. If you have to hold your smile for five seconds, it WILL look more and more psychotic after every second. Trust me. Most photographers will count down. Aim to smile at around two or three, NOT five or six.

-Do a fake smile. There is absolutely nothing worse than a fake smile. If you have a genuine, happy smile almost everything else can be forgiven. But with a fake smile, everything looks bad.

-Wear very glossy lipgloss. This will take over your entire photo and you will look back on it and regret it. Trust me. Lay off of it.

DO

-Wear makeup. I mean, you don't have to, but it does help A LOT. One of my least favourite things about my photo was how my eyes had completely disappeared and my face looked washed out. Don't wear a crazy smokey eye or bright red lipstick or anything, but a little bit of foundation, some bronzer to avoid washing out, blush and a neutral or sheer lipstick/stain will go a LONG way. ESPECIALLY eyeliner and mascara to make sure your eyes stand out. Don't do anything unnatural or that you haven't tried before.

-Practice. I know this sounds stupid, like who practices for picture day? But if you practice your smile every day for two minutes in the mirror for a week, you will feel much more confident knowing what you're going to do on the day of. Picture something that makes you happy and get used to the way your smile feels. 

-Get comfortable. When you arrive at the photo-taking-place, make yourself as comfortable as you can, or at least fake it. Awkwardness does show through in photos, so be confident.

-Keep your hair framing your face. This is true for 99% of people. Go for MORE volume in your hair as opposed to less, as I always find that the camera tends to shrink hair a little bit and make it look more flat. Curls can be very flattering as well, but whatever you do make sure you've done the hairstyle more than once so there's no surprises on picture day morning.

One Very Bad Day

~A day in my life: September 24, 2013~

7:15 a.m.: wake up. unwillingly leave my warm bed for the cold of my res room.
7:20 a.m. shower. manage not to drop anything on my feet.
7:40 a.m.: morning routine & get dressed
7:45 a.m.: breakfast. cereal.
8:00 a.m.: piano lesson. note to self: must. practice. more.
8:30 a.m.: go back to res room. do math catch-up from yesterday amidst much hatred for precal.
9:30 a.m.: biology
10:25 a.m.: chapel. watched weird video about breathing that made me acutely aware of my breath for the rest of the day.
10:50 a.m.: pre-cal. spent most of class trying to keep mucus IN my nose.
11:45 a.m.: lunch. bad soup + kitchen duty
12:45 p.m.: senior choir. boring.
1:45 p.m.: Gym class. we played volleyball. my team cheered when I got it over the net, but only because it happened so infrequently. Note to self: suck less at volleyball
2:45 p.m.: Digital photography. Headache worsened and voice dropping pitch faster than a squirrel on caffeine.
3:40 p.m.: school over. get changed and decide to go for walk with friends.
4:00 p.m.: friends ditch me for precal, so I do homework too.
4:30 p.m.: finally go on walk.
4:35 p.m.: discover that boy who I like has a thing with someone else.
4:45 p.m.: study precal and eat six wagon wheels.
5:20 p.m.: go to room and watch Juno and feel miserably sick and ugly and unloved and mad at the world.
5:45 p.m.: girl from my mod comes in to tell me that I'm on kitchen duty.
5:50 p.m.: drag my sorry butt out of bed to wipe old food.
6:20 p.m.: finish movie
7:00 p.m.: attempt to practice, quit.
8:00 p.m.:  precal study sesh. hate life even more.
9:00 p.m.: practice piano in chapel. sounds bad. continue hating everything.
9:30 p.m.: eat junk food and more precal
10:00 p.m.: go to bed and listen to sad songs on repeat while NOT thinking about guy I like because I don't actually like him anymore and I never really liked him ever and it would be stupid to be sad about a guy I barely even knew.
11:00 p.m. try to sleep.
11:15 p.m. roll over to try to drain mucus out of one nostril to the other
11:30 p.m. plan fails miserably, resort to mouth breathing
12:00 p.m. sleep

Fall Fashion Tips for Teens on a Budget

This last week my whole school went on a retreat at a Bible camp. And it seemed like I left in Summer and got to camp in Fall. I did bring fairly warm clothes along but in a series of unfortunate events which I might explain in a future post, my outfits were a little weird that week. But I have been needing a lot fall clothes recently and I haven't been wanting to spend as much money. I've discovered a lot of things that will help any other teenage girl wanting to get together a fall wardrobe on a budget. Please bear in mind that this is my fashion sense and you may not like all the ideas here. Feel free to adapt or change anything you want.

Tip #1: Know what you already have

This might seem stupid, but many times you can lose track of clothing especially if you box things up for different seasons. Make sure all your warmer clothes are out and in the most visible section of your closet or dresser. Try on any clothes you aren't sure will still fit and donate or throw away anything that doesn't to make room for your new clothes. Make a list of all the things that you need after you know what you already have. 

Tip #2: Wear summer clothes with layers

One of my favorite outfits for fall is a pretty summer dress layered with thick leggings and a cardigan or sweater. It looks very cute and will still keep you warm, plus it's re-using summer clothes you would otherwise not wear! The same concept can be used with jumpers, skirts, and even shorts with colorful leggings if you're adventurous. Layering can transform just about anything. Experiment with this.

{image credit chictopia.com}

Tip #3: Thrift it!

Thrift stores are the best places to get a lot of clothing and most of the stuff there is between 1-10 dollars. Oversized sweaters are the best for fall time and you can find them at almost every thrift store. Sweaters are great because it's almost one size fits all. I find that because I have very long legs it's almost impossible for me to buy pants at the thrift store, but that doesn't mean you can't. (it just means I'm very jealous of you). Check out your local secondhand store, I promise you won't be disappointed OR broke afterwards. 

{image credit bostonianway.wordpress.com}

Tip #4: Buy staples

And no, obviously not the metal kind used to impale papers with. Staples are pieces that go with pretty much everything and are good quality and fit well. They are the things to spend money on as you will wear them the most. Below is my list of fall staples:

• Thick black leggings 
• Dark jeans 
• Button-up black cardigan
• Oversized warm sweater
• Warm fall coat or jacket
• Brown or black mid-length boots
• Warm socks

Tip #5: Don't be afraid of the internet

Often times you can get great deals on clothing on either online shopping sites or the online version of an actual store. Google whichever item you're thinking of buying and see if you can get it cheaper online (though make sure to look at the return and shipping policies first). 

That's it! I hope you enjoyed these tips and will make use of at least one of them. I have personally used all of them so I can vouch for their effectiveness. Also, it never hurts to ask your parents, especially your mom for a shopping trip. Chances are if you shop with her she'll be more than willing to shell out on some classy pieces you both like.

Happy fall, everyone! 

Living in Res/First Week of School

So...where have I been for the past, oh, ten days or so? Other than not on the blogosphere. (Man, I've always wanted to use that word. Blogosphere. Blogosphere. Blogosphere.)
Well, as you may or may not know depending how faithfully you read this blog/how clear I am when I'm posting, I am staying in residence this year at my private school. I did go to this same school last year, but this time I'm boarding there Monday-Friday.

I am a massive introvert. I do not possess what one might call "social ease", which is in my mind being able to put people at ease who you don't know well. Not being awkward in a social situation. Not eating an entire supper without saying a word while carrying out imaginary conversation with your enchilada in your head. Um, I didn't do that.

This is probably no news to you. But it should tell you that my expectation of enjoying res was pretty low. Very low. Extremely low. Why would I, a self-proclaimed anti-social people-hating socially-awkward home-loving person ever decide to abandon my home and family and journey off to a place a whole 45 minute drive from home so I could spend practically every waking minute with people who I barely know??????????????

The Answer: I don't really even know.

Honestly.

I could elaborate, but it would just get more confusing, so instead, onwards to how the first week actually went (or week and two days, rather).

Thursday was the registration/move in day. I arrived at around 4 with my mother and got my key. This was way too exciting for me. I love keys. I love having keys. I love locking and unlocking things. Don't ask. Anyways, to my surprise people actually seemed happy to see me and I got a few hugs (not a good surprise there, though). All of these people I hadn't seen in practically three months and now we were friends again. Weird. Anyways, after hugging it out and then transfering buttloads of stuff from the trunk of our car to my room, I got to unpacking.

My dream job would definitely be unpacking. Seriously, I love going to hotels just to unpack, fold, line up, and put away my stuff. It is an addiction. So I unpacked and moved stuff around and put stuff away to my heart's content. I have a really awesome bathroom mate who is super nice and I actually know fairly well, which is great.

After all that unpacking business, I went to supper with some of the Grade 11 gals and then wandered around the school until the opening ceremonies, which was basically the principal talking. Snoozefest.
Then I had a mod meeting (the residence at my school is organized into Mods which have six or so rooms in each of them) and met the other girls who are all very nice.

And when I went to bed, I remember thinking: "This is too good to be true. My day was way better than expected, I talked to people and it wasn't socially awkward and I'm so happy right now I just wish every day could be this good,"

And I went to bed that night in that strange place feeling happy and at peace with myself. And it was wonderful.

The rest of the week? It definitely had it's ups and downs. There were times I felt cared for, appreciated, and socially adept. There were also times I felt antisocial, lonely, and clingy. But in general? The week was far better than I'd hoped for. So I'm taking it as a success, a resounding, hearty success and I'm going to go back next week with an open mind, and a hopeful heart.

Life & Feather Update

Ha. Ha. Ha.
Success. Dedication.
I laugh in their faces.
Because that's easier than facing them and admitting that I let both of them down.
I have not been writing.
I have not been cleaning.
I have not been eating slowly.
I have failed in every way in all of my feathers. Big. Fat. Fs.

But you know what the funny thing is?

Somehow, I don't feel bad.

And that, strange as it is, is most definitely a good thing.

You know what it means?

My perfectionism is loosening its constricting grip. I'm learning to work with myself and be happy with myself.

I've failed, yet I don't feel like a failure. I feel like my life is more under control than it has been in a long time. My room has boxes and crates and bags and clothes everywhere in preparation for moving, moving OUT and I feel oddly calm and controlled.

What is this? Am I maturing? Is that what this is?

Or am I perhaps getting used to my failure?

I don't know. Either way, I feel like I'm no closer to figuring out what this blog is supposed to be doing.   Or, for that matter, what I'm supposed to be doing with this blog. But the feather thing is, perhaps, going to take a sabbatical.

I would appreciate so much if whoever reads this would take the time to comment on what kind of blog you think I should write. A personal/lifestyle blog? A project blog? A beauty blog? What am I? 

Love you all.