Last day of 2013..

Hi friends! It's been waaaay too long since I blogged but I think it's about time I get around to it. It's almost time for another year, so it's time for me to look back at those resolutions that I first blogged about (yowza) and see just how well I did. 

1) Cut out negative&fake friends: Check! Wahey, I actually did this one! I had a really good year in terms of friends towards the end. I've been super good about being real with my friends and it's turned out awesome. I finally have people in my life that are genuinely kind people and who sincerely care. It's comforting to have people in my life who are actually interested in what I'm talking about and can share genuine laughs with rather than fake friends who are just pretending, and then it just feels awkward like you're boring them. 
2) Be healthier... uhhhhh no not really at all. That's a hard one. 
3) Journal and blog more: this one I did with respect to the journal part... not so much the blogging part. 
4) Become more organised and procrastinate less: yeah no. This is not one that happened either. Oopsies.

Here's to hoping that next year I'll stick to my resolutions a little better! I hope you all enjoy your New Year's Eve! 

I'll be posting a basic beauty guide to handle the winter months soon after the new year... it's gonna be a good one!

Writer's Craft Assignment, Harry Potter

Our assignment was to write about someone receiving and about to open a letter, with the piece ending with the action of opening the letter. The objective was to make the reader aware of how the recipient feels about getting the letter, and eager to find out what it contains. I really wanted to do something like a muggle-born getting their letter to Hogwarts or something, but as I was writing it I quickly decided that it would be much more interesting if it was Hermione... Let me know what you all think! 

           "That morning, she awoke with a start. Shaking off the odd feeling she had, she went about her morning normally; she brushed her teeth slowly and carefully, and attempted to tame her bushy curls. She got dressed and crept downstairs to eat the delicious breakfast her parents had made for her before heading off to their practice. She loved to read while she ate, in fact, she read whenever she could. She had just started a new book when the family cat jumped onto the table and spilled her tea. She ran hurriedly to clean up the mess, and then went to put the cat out where he could dry off without making a mess.

As she knelt down to the steps where she placed him, she noticed a letter. She was so distracted by this peculiarity that she didn’t notice the tawny owl flying away just above the row of houses. ‘How bizarre…’ she thought, she thought, no one ever left mail on the steps. Curiosity brewing inside her, she gently picked up the letter. The first thing she noticed was that it was heavier than normal letters, it had thicker, old looking paper. ‘Parchment? How very peculiar…’ she thought. She had only ever seen it in museums that her parents took her to. She wondered who was writing to her parents in such a fashion, and with such an important looking wax seal as well. When she flipped it over she nearly tripped over the cat, the first thing she saw there on the front, in velvety green ink was a perfect “H”. The letter was not addressed to her parents as she had assumed, but to her.

She sat quietly down on the steps, the cat nestled up against her feet. She stared at the letter, unsure what to make of it. The return address was equally as puzzling, it sounded like something made-up from one of her books. She was shaking, half with excitement, half with complete and utter terror. She stared at the letter for only a moment before she placed it neatly on the kitchen table and walked away. It was hardly 10 minutes before the curiosity had completely eaten away at her and she snatched up the letter and glared at the return address. ‘This couldn’t have to do with… No one even knows.’ she said quietly, the cat gave her a weird look. It was her most well-kept secret, she was the only one who knew, so why were these people writing to her, was it some sort of joke? Who would do this, how did they know? She put the letter back down and walked out of the room, sat down on the sofa and stared at the television. She glanced back to the kitchen; she had to open it- she just had to. What if somehow these people knew her secret? But, what this was real, what if she wasn’t a freak? She jumped off the sofa and grabbed the letter again. She was so tempted to open it, but something was holding her back, she turned it over to the front again, where her name was written. Slowly, she moved her eyes up to the return address. There it was, the word that had caused her such suspense;’…witchcraft’ it said. For a moment she hesitated, everything logical told her to throw it away, but in a moment, she would tear the seal open and hungrily read the words written inside."

Dear fellow bloggers:

Hi guys! My name is Sabrina, I'm 16 from Canada, and I'm a total awkward weirdo that posts random blogs about anything from fashion to books to travel. I wanted to make a post to see if I could find anyone else out there blogging about random cool things that I could follow cause most of the blogs I follow are extreeeemely boring. So if ya want me to check out your blog just post a comment or something, I pinky swear I'm nice! :) sidenote: I teach little kids how to swim right, and it is positively depressing how many of them have no idea what a pinky swear is. 

Anyways if you wanna check out some of my posts and give me some feedback that would be lovely too :) I know it's pretty dry so far.. I'm not too consistent but I'm hoping to spiffy it up a bit soon!!

So yeah, let me know about your blogs!! 

xx

Les Misérables

OK... so I know I`m a wee-bit slow on the up-take but I *finally* watched Les Mis earlier this month, after seeing all the fuss at the Oscars I just had to....  I cannot even reiterate the new found love and appreciation I have for Les Mis and, more importantly, Victor Hugo and french literature! Ou la la..

SIDENOTE: this time last year I was travelling through France and Italy with school, our first stop was Paris. While we were there we visited La Place des Vosges, where Victor Hugo used to live, back then I knew him only as the guy who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now I can finally really appreciate the amazing writer he was, I can't get enough of it now... good thing Les Mis is so long... (like really?! holy moly, I did NOT expect that..)

So anyways, I now have the Les Mis soundtrack which I am amazed by; the fact that they sung live on set blows my mind... ooff. AND I picked up the book at Chapters earlier this week... it's very intimidating to say the least but I'm determined to read it. 

Finally, if you are like me, and absolutely *die* for history, literature, cinema, music and broadway THIS IS YOUR HOLY GRAIL. Also, if you are like me and love Les Mis a ridiculous amount: you rock, don't ever change. 


Anyone get the Lizzie McGuire reference? no? just me? ok. 

Quick Update!

Hi guys!! Sorry I've been a-wall for the past little while but I've been trying to focus more on school and 'participating' in life... (notice the Perks reference?no?.. Ok) Basically it's a new semester, I hate school (still), and I'm antsy to get this year over with...! On the bright side, one more week until march break!!! What are your plans? This time last year I was gearing up for a tour of France, Monaco and Italy... the year before that, China! This year I get to stay at home. Yay. I have a tonne of family coming to town, which means my week will be filled with plenty of family fun! #yuck. I hope you all get to travel and do fun things on your march break! 

My next post I think will be an ode to my past March break travels, sigh. I miss that. :(

xox

Sabrina

DIY: Fringe Scarf

Hey friends!

So here's a cool DIY idea I found on pinterest a couple weeks back. Basically just find an old shirt, (I looked through my bag of clothes that were headed to the thrift store) and find a top that's suited to your size/colour preference. I found this bright pink mid-length slouchy top, it wasn't my first pick but it was the best option I had! So next, cut horizontally across the shirt just underneath the arms, (or shorter depending on how long you want the fringe to be). Next, cut the preferred width and length of lines vertically (from the bottom upwards), after that pull each of the individual fringes to loosen them up and then pop it in your drier for about 10 minutes and VOILA! :) Here's a quick pic of my scarf (don't mind the super cute tye-dye pajama shirt):

ALSO: Here's the link to the pinterest post in case my instructions were a little confusing :):

http://pinterest.com/pin/502503270892451764/

It doesn't call for the scarf to be put in the drier but I found it helped make the scarf look less DIY and more official hahaha :) Enjoy! *Also feel free to check out my pinterest ;)

This super easy and super green(can I get an environmentally conscious hoorah? no? ok.) DIY project is perfect for a handmade addition to a gift, I gave mine to my mom for her birthday, and she loved it (despite the awkwardly cut fringe... I did it at 2am, don't judge)! 

Okay guys that's all, let me know what you think and how it goes if you try it!! Also, feel free to get creative with the other bits of fabric you have leftover, (I made some scrunchies and a headband)!

XX

SabrinaMara

Eleanor Calder: Style Crush OTW

Hey guys!! I've decided to start doing this little thing I like to call 'Style Crush of the Week'.... So I'm going to kick it off this week with one of pop-culture (and fangirls everywhere)'s most loved fashion icons: Eleanor Calder!!

Okay so technically she's not really a celebrity or anyone who would normally make the style crush of this week but lets face it this girls' fashion has taken social media world by storm. Just look at how many girls do the 'Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge' just to fit into the same size jeans as her... (sad, I know, but it IS a good work out.. #guilty).
So celebrity/icon/role-model or not Eleanor's got fantastic fashion sense, and when I came across a blog posting that had a break down of several of her masterpieces I HAD to share it with all of you:

http://sandraschoice.blogspot.ca/2013/01/style-crush-eleanor-calder.html

Check it out, and even if you aren't able to get the exact pieces for whatever reason (no one likes a copycat anyways), you can use it to inspire some unique looks of your own!!So give it a looksy and let me know what you think, and show off some of your own renditions of Eleanor's style, I'll be uploading some of my looks to my Google+ account later this week so check that out too if you're interested! Cheers!


Hope everyone's having a lovely week!!

xx
SabrinaMara

P.S. I'd love to know what all of you think of this idea so drop me a comment!! lotsa love

New Year, New Me!

2013 Marks new beginnings all around :)

Hello friends!! Here's my little spiel on New Years, resolutions and me! :) Let me know what you think!

New Years:

Although I don't necessarily agree that we should all start trying to become better people because it's a new year- we should be doing that all the time- I don't think it's a BAD thing that people do so, better late than never right? And if the new year gives you the motivation to make good changes in your life than huzzah for you!

For me, this year will be filled with a lot of new changes, I think on New Years a lot of people realize how fast life passes by; in a blink of an eye another year filled with triumphs and hardships has passed you by and you've hardly even realized it! THAT'S why at New Years, we make decisions to make this next year better than the last, because we know it could very well be our last... In this day in age death isn't something that's held close to many people, we don't realize how real it really is. New Years I think holds a representation of how our time is limited... and as much fun we have on New Years, there's also a seriousness to it that brings life into perspective. That is why on New Years we decide to be better people, to make our time count. 

Now that I've made this as morbid as it could possibly get (oops, sorry!!!), it's about time I get to some of my resolutions! At first I had no idea what my resolutions would be or if I would make one or any at all, but after a couple days I started seeing or doing things I wanted to change. 

My first and biggest resolution is to BE HAPPY! 

This starting with ME. I decided to start every day with a smile, this was something I thought of during a rough patch... you just have to realize that every day can only be as bad as you let it, so long as you start your day with a smile and/or do something that makes you feel good, your day can't be that bad. 

The next thing is to cut all the fake friends out of your life. I'm still in high school so I have a LOT of that going around and to be honest it's just not worth it. Apparently unlike other people at my age, friends are something that are very important to me; I believe it's important to surround yourself with genuinely good people who support and love you, not just your best bitches and drinking buddies. You don't want to be around people who just make you feel bad about yourself in order for them to feel better, which I most definitely was. So rather than play along and pretend that it's okay I decided to focus more on the friendships that make me feel good about myself rather than those that create stress and make me upset.

This is me and my best friend Kelsey, she's the one person who has always been my friend and this year I think it's about time I stop taking that friendship for granted. :) Don't mind our EXTREMELY attractive faces ;)

Another resolution of mine was to just generally lead a healthier lifestyle... That doesn't necessarily mean going to the gym every day and cutting out all sweets, because I mean really, let's be realistic.. It just means that I'm going to choose more healthier foods that give me energy as well as getting in a good amount of exercise regularly. It doesn't mean I'm not allowed a day off to relax :) But it DOES also include having a healthier mind as well, which is why I've gotten my new Yoga membership and is also why I'm trying to cut the negativity out of my life^^^^ and be happier :)

My second last resolution is to blog and write in mt journal more... I want to remember these days so it's important for me to write them down. Also, i want to start getting my thoughts out there through this blog and share some of my thoughts, crafts, tips and experiences with all of you! :) An extension of this is to keep doing art, recently I've been drawing and sketching more often to help get some emotions out and I feel so much better! Also I'm intrigued by all the different techniques and want to learn more... I think I suppressed my artistic side in the past because I thought I was no good, simply because what I drew or painted wasn't conventional, so I tried being good at science and things that I'm REALLY not good at (especially chem), but I've started to overcome that and do art just because I want to not because other people do. :) (And you should too).

MY LAST RESOLUTION! Is to become more organised and stop procrastinating so much! Being in IB (International Baccalaureate, no I'm not a smart kid, I have no idea what I'm doing), and working as a swim instructor at the same time has me completely overwhelmed and stressed out most of the time, so hopefully by being more organised (I bought and use a day planner, WOO) I'll be able to eliminate a lot of the stress... Unfortunately I'm not as good at the 'stop procrastination' part... I have a paper due tomorrow that I still have to start :) oops. 

About Me!

Well that's all so far for my resolutions! Since this is my first post I figure I should put a little background about me out there too. My name is Sabrina and I'm 16 years old, I'm an absolute animal adorer, I have two dogs named Cordie and Butch who are the absolute loves of my life, and a fish named Pinkie who refuses to die no matter how many times I mess up. I live in Northwestern Ontario, but I LOVE travelling, (4 continents in 3 years say what?), I'll probably do a couple blogs about my past trips (and future too hopefully!) but this blog will mainly be filled with DIYs, artwork, crafts and beauty tips! I'm a fashionista in the making, although I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing after high school, I know one thing and that is fashion.

Thanks for reading!! :)

XX

SabrinaMara