Christmas 2015

Hello lovelies!
Another Christmas has came and gone and soon we'll say goodbye to 2015 as well (and I'll be correcting the date for another six months from 2015 to 2016). I feel like every year goes by quicker and quicker, someone should seriously get it a speeding ticket already!
I currently have holidays and finally I got some sleep. I wish I could say I was really productive these few days, but honestly I spent days in my pjs watching different Christmas and not Christmas movies (you should definitely watch Mike says goodbye!, a really good movie) and reading, reading a lot. I was fortunate enough to get quite a few books for Christmas (Santa knows me so well haha). I am actually a horrible owner of books, I still have a few from last year that I haven't read yet. I know, know, but it's really hard with everything we have to read for school and it just doesn't feel fair to the book not to devote all my attention to it.
This December was once again packed with exams and I must admit, sadly, that I didn't have much time for fun festive activities. I am one of those people who love Christmas more than anything and I own too many Christmas sweaters (I am still looking for new ones, guilty) and decorations. Not to mention my obsession with gingerbread men which I believe all my friends know for it, judging by the presents I've received this year. I probably love December that much, because I have great memories from my childhood when we didn't have to worry about exams yet.  If I could change anything in our schooling system I would definitely extend Christmas holiday throughout December even if that meant shortening summer holidays. In most of the countries they at least have holidays before Christmas eve while we have to go to school on the 24th of December! I must say I was quite cheerful despite all that, weirdly festive according to my family. Since the 1st of December I've been subconsciously singing Christmas songs and been unusually happy most of the time (I am usually not the most joyful person). I am glad that I've managed to get into the festive spirit unlike most of the people my age that I know.  But thinking about it it is really not as magical as it used to be. For one I now know that Santa isn't real. Imagine if he was? That would be the coolest thing ever! I will definitely try to conceal the truth from my children for as long as possible. Secondly, it may feel this way because of all the videos on you tube showing you tubers having perfectly decorated houses, gorgeous Christmas trees and lots of time for being festive. To be honest those videos also made me more excited for Christmas, so I guess they had double effect. Anyways, I still had a lot of fun with my family and I also got some pretty cool presents. If you want me to write more about our Christmas traditions let me know in the comments. Also let me know if you want me to do a "What I got for Christmas" post, because I'm not sure if anyone's interested and it seems to me a bit like bragging, although I know some people honestly enjoy reading this kind of posts.

Hmm...oh right! I almost forgot to tell you! Tomorrow I am flying with my family to Singapore and then we're going on a cruise visiting places in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bali. I'm soo excited! I haven't packed everything yet (as usual) and we're leaving tomorrow morning, so it probably won't be the most exciting New year's eve. We'll probably just watch Modern family or Friends, which is in my opinion still a fun thing to do on a last day of the year. Do you have any more exciting plans? Wherever you are, stay safe.

Also, this blog reached more than 1000 views a few days ago! I know this might not be a lot for some bloggers, but It was really exciting for me! Thank you so so much! You are the best! I wish you lots of happiness, health, luck, love, good music, delicious food & unforgettable vacations in new year! See you in 2016!

                                                                      xoxo

My first day of sophomore year

I got this idea while trying to fall asleep yesterday (I get the best ideas when I am about to doze off. Maybe that's why It takes me so long to fall asleep? Hm....)  to write this post like something that I would write in my diary. Tomorrow on the first of September I am starting a new school year and I thought I'd be fun to share my feelings with you. Just an excuse for me to have a whole post to ramble on to be completely fair with you. 

It's the last day of holidays for me.  I honestly have no idea where the summer have gone. I mean just  a few days ago I was saying good bye to all my classmates (trust me, it was a happy kind of good bye) and thinking how I have more than TWO MONTHS to completely forget about school and only have fun written all over my calendar.  But let's be real, I've been dreading September since the middle of July and it have only got worse every day. So now I'm here all prepared with new notebooks and a carefully chosen outfit for tomorrow (I've only spent like two hours thinking about that). I feel really hyped and I have no idea if that's stress or excitement. There, I said it. I think there is a small, very small part of me that is actually looking forward to a new school year. That's been really bothering me, because all my friends and my brother are basically crying over the fact that we're going back to and I really do consider them normal. The thing is that school definitely brings more bad things than good, just thinking about all the stress, people staring at you in the halls, forced socialising because you don't want to be a class freak, zero hours of free time and countless hours of studying makes want to crawl under my sheets and never come out. On the other hand I just can't stop thinking about how much I want to learn new things and give my brain something else beside pondering what to eat for lunch. As a quite organised person I also kind of like the routine that comes with school and all the schedules I make up in my mind (though my other family members probably don't agree with me). No more hours passing without me doing anything worth mentioning if I want to pass the year, but also no more hours of watching my favourite you tubers or searching for new music artists. Do you see what I mean? All my excitement will probably disappear tomorrow morning at 6am when I'll have to wake up for school, but I'll try to stay positive about the whole thing. I mean in the end you're the only who can decide whether you're happy or unhappy in life and I'm really trying to have a better approach to all the obstacles that get in my way. We'll see if I'll be so upbeat tomorrow when I come home. Till then adios amigos!

I survived. But it was hard, very hard. It's just the first day of school and I already want to stay in my bed for the rest of the school year. To think I was excited! Ha, definitely not anymore. Even the most positive people would lose their motivation after two hours of listening to our Maths teacher telling us how sophomore year is the hardest of all years, because we'll be learning completely new things. He also said that that's the year when hormones strike. Well thank you, that's really a great way to make students feel confident about the new school year. But it wasn't just our Maths teacher, it was getting worse with every teacher. They just kept on telling us how we'll have the hardest subject matter this year. Chemistry, Physique, Maths...my favourite subjects (note the sarcasm). I was surprised that we didn't get loads of homework on the first day already, because it seems like we'll have an additional month of school if they want us to learn that much. You may think that I was happy to see my fellow classmates? Um, to be honest I've been hanging out with the ones I actually get along with in the summer as well and I really didn't miss the others that much. Not to mention all the other students in our school. If you don't know yet, I really really don't like crowded places which is basically a definition for a high school. Everyone is taller or at least looking older, so I feel like a twelve years old kid among all this confident cool teenagers. I mean walking in the school halls you see so many different fashion styles and everyone looks fabulous. And than there's me, in plain jeans and a sweater, carrying an embarrassingly big school bag, feeling like a mule. I really want to try some new styles, but firstly I am not confident enough and secondly I would have to throw away most of my clothes. Yeah, my taste in clothes changes a lot, you can read all about my not so fabulous style struggle here. I'm going shopping tomorrow and I might buy something different. I hope I don't change my mind till then...that would be totally me. So this have changed into a complete diary post very quickly...I have to stop before I start telling you about what I ate today heh. The point is that I'm the opposite of happy to be back in school right now and I don't think I'll change my mind anytime soon.

So I wrote this a few days ago. Since then a lot have happened and I definitely still have a lot to say about school ands school related matters, but I'll leave that for another blog post, of course if you'd even like to read more about school? I totally understand if you're sick of it already. I really do hope however that your first day wasn't as bad and that you're excited for the new school year. Good luck and talk to you soon!
                                                                     xoxo

Presents that we either cherish or leave to the dust

Presents are one of the hardest things to choose. You can either make the person absolutely adore you or really dislike you with what you choose to wrap in a shiny paper. With my birthday only one month and a half away this is more than an appropriate topic for me to write about. It might sound weird but I'm quiet obsessed with surprises. I think my family is pretty sick of it, because I insist on not seeing any of my presents before Christmas or my birthday or even telling them what I wish for. I mean of course I eventually have to spill it out because they usually don't get my hints throughout the year (surprise, surprise), but I always ask if they can add something that I didn't wish for. On the other hand, I'm mostly not very happy with gifts from my other relatives as they don't know me that well and in consequence I end up with multiple board games, books about history and shower gels. The hardest part is definitely smiling and faking the excitement while ripping off the wrapping paper with them standing right next to you waiting for your reaction. I guess making a wish list really does make sense now that I think about it...

It was much easier when I was younger. Firstly,  I would write a letter to Santa Claus and secondly,  I was being pretty obvious about my wishes, usually some toys or DVDs or something like that. I would also get new clothes as well but nowadays my fashion taste couldn't be more different than my mum's so there's no point in her buying me new clothes. Getting clothes that you don't like from your parents is a nightmare, trust me. You actually have to wear them in public and not just occasionally on birthdays and holidays, because you see your parents every single day unlike your aunties and uncles. Eventually they'll say something like: ''Honey, did you forget about the lovely fuzzy sweater that I got you for Christmas? I really thought that you like it.''  Now you can either wear that fuzzy sweater in a horrible bright pink colour the exact same day or hear about how ungrateful you are until you do something worse than disliking your Christmas present so they forget about the whole thing*. On the positive side,  they won't try to buy you anymore clothes. To be honest, my parents would probably love to just give me money, so I can buy whatever I want, but they know how much I would hate it. I just think it makes a difference when someone really makes an effort in choosing a present that is the most suitable for you.

I really don't know how to explain my love for surprises, but I love the excitement and warm feeling that I get when I don't know what I'm going to get as a present or what will happen next in a book or  in the next episode. Maybe my ''obsession'' started in the fourth grade when we were on holidays in Florida. We flew to Miami and all I knew was that we were going to Walt Disney World. While we were driving towards Orlando we passed a cruise terminal with Disney Cruise Line ships. Being huge Disney fans me and my brother were really excited to even drive pass them, because we had this idea in our minds that cruises with Disney chips are really expensive and practically only possible for us in our dreams. So when we drove to the terminal's parking lot we had no idea what was going on. When our mum told us that we're going on a cruise with Disney Wonder to the Bahamas there were probably fireworks exploding in my mind. Just imagine a nine-year-old girl finding out that she'll spend next four days on a cruise ship with Mickey and all his friends. No wonder I'm such a huge fan of surprises now, though it would be really hard to surprise me more than that. Dear parents, friends, future boyfriend you have a challenge now. I drifted away from my main topic again, didn't I?

There is one thing even better than receiving gifts though, at least in my opinion. Don't you just love the feeling when you give a gift to someone that they didn't expect at all but were secretly wishing to get?  The happy and excited face that they get just makes my heart melt with happiness. Well, sadly it doesn't happen that often, because like I've said before, it's really hard to pick out a gift for somebody that you don't know very well. I almost always get something great for my best friend because I know her so well, but it's much harder with everyone else. I hope I am not the only that asks birthday girl/boy's friends for some hints before hitting the shopping centre. Although you can't really completely fail when it comes to girls. You can always get her a new lipstick, earrings or any other accessory, of course according to her style.  But when it comes to buying gifts for boys, phew, that's hard. I think  the easiest way is to find out which  computer/PlayStation game they want (if it is not too expensive) or what sport they practice, so you can get them like a new soccer ball or something. iTunes gift cards are a good idea for girls and boys as well, just make sure that they own any of the apple devices (basically everyone nowadays).

I think that's about all about presents that is on my mind right now. I hope that you got some useful ideas for gifting your friends and family or that you at least enjoyed this post. What is your ''safe'' present choice?
                                                               xoxo


*Please keep in mind that I'm exaggerating a bit and that my parents would never do something like that, but than again they refuse to buy me any more clothes on their own anyways. Probably because something like that happened. I'm just not good with disappointing people.

Popular?

I've just finished an amazing book and I really want to share it with you. It's about how to be popular. Something I believe many of us wonder about. At least I can say for sure that since the day I first stepped in school I've always had different thoughts about it. I used to think that popular people are pretty, slim, sporty, liked by everyone, well basically perfect human beings. But we know there's no such a thing as a perfect human being, right? I am not really sure why I got that image, probably because of typical American teen movies with cliques and everything (And I still enjoy watching them haha). I am still not sure if American high schools function like that? I am a bit confused, because it is even in the books! And that brings me to another question: are popular people always mean? If I searched for the answer (again) in the books and movies I would have to say "yes". But I believe in real life that's not true. There probably are some mean ones out there too, but if you want to be popular in real world, isn't that basically being liked by many? How can you possibly be liked if you're mean? I admit that whenever I spot someone popular (I mean how do I even know? it's not like it's written on their foreheads or something haha), I always feel a bit intimidated. I know it's wrong, but some of them just seem cold to me. Of course there are some really nice and friendly ones as well, but I don't often have a chance to see that, because I don't have the courage to start a conversation with them. I just always think that they will look down on me because I am not as pretty and trendy as them. That's another thing that I've noticed: popular people are usually naturally pretty and if they're not naturally gorgeous, they still look amazing because they think  they are. They always have perfect make up, nails, hair...that makes your wonder how much time they spend on those things? But I don't mean it in a negative way, I think every girl/woman should spend some time for themselves. Whether you do your nails, try new hairstyle or just watch another episode of your favourite series....you should always have time to show some love for yourself. If you're content with yourself, you have this kind of happy glow around you, that just attracts people. I still have some work to do about that. I believe the secret lies in being confident and open to others. If you have this kind of attitude, people just go to you and try to be your friends. You just have to take time for your friends, really listen to them and make them feel special and aware that you care about them. If people see how wonderful you are, they'll want to have you as their friend too. And if you ask the popular people if they consider themselves popular, you could be surprised to get a "no". So...is that just something we, less socially active teens had invented? Who is actually popular? I believe that everyone has its own definition. For me it is someone who likes himself/herself, treats himself/herself and others nicely, is outgoing, friendly, always ready to help or make new friends and interacts with a lot of people. Sooo, if that's true, anyone can be popular, right? You just have to find the courage to speak to people, because mostly they're just like you, waiting for someone to start a conversation with them. After reading this book I will definitely try to make some new friends next year and if you want to, you can try it with me as well? :) Of course there's nothing wrong with sticking with your squad, this is just for those who like me often have this kind of thoughts "I am on the same bus with this girl every day...should I say "hi" and introduce myself? Oh no, she doesn't seem like she wants to talk to me. But I seem very distant too, don't I? Well, maybe I really should..." *steps forward to the girl* "Oh no, who am I kidding, she will think I am a total weirdo." This is so me haha...But I am ready to change, because I really can't stay this shy my whole life! Just think how many wonderful friendships I am missing out! It kind of makes me sad. These are just my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the post and that I presented the word "popular" in a new way. If you want more about this topic, definitely read this amazing book: Maya Van Wagenen: Popular. And comment your thoughts about it! Lots of love to you all lovelies and best of luck if you still have exams! <333

                                                                            xoxo

Be yourself, everyone else is taken

I was thinking today and I realised that there is so much stuff about me, that only my family knows.  I'm generally not so much of an open person and I think before I say something, but that's really weird. Like people don't even know the real me. Obviously I had friends before, but most of them turned out not to be so great, so maybe that made me more careful with trusting people? For example I became friends with someone and I was so happy, but then they started doing weird stuff, being mean, bossy, even started taking advantage of me. And poof, end of the friendship. Usually it even took an ''outside'' person to tell me that it's not good for me to stick to it.  Now in high school I have friends that I actually feel comfortable around and I finally started to open up. And guess what? We're similar in so many ways! If you think that there're things that only you do, think again. And it's so much fun to find people with a similar sense of humour and way of thinking! And actually saying what's on your mind feels so good. I always thought that ''I'm being myself'', but now I see how different this is. And for some time I thought friendships like that exist only in books and movies, but I was proved wrong, because there're still great people on this planet. :) 
One of the fears we probably all have is being judged. This is one of the main things that keeps holding me back in my life. I always admired girls and boys, who are confident enough to be unique, who change something about themselves only because they want to, who aren't afraid to show others who they really are. I used to thinks those were  all the pretty girls and attractive guys, but my mum told me that usually the most ''perfect'' ones are the least happy with themselves. That even models and celebrities feel really insecure about themselves. That in a way makes me feel better. Nobody is perfect, so don't be afraid to show your real you. Probably all people won't like you, but they wouldn't even if you pretended to be someone else. What matters the most, is that people you trully care about will and you'll feel much more comfortable being around them.
I hope this post helped you! I know it's all words and that it's harder to actually do it. Trust me, I've been there. But I don't want you to waste a minute of your life, not being the happiest you can be. :)
                                                                             xoxo

Hi, I'm a perfectionist.

I'm a perfectionist. I've been for a long time now and whenever I tell it to someone, they think that that's actually something good. But it's not, not at all. I am writing this now, because I've just read an article about it. Did you know that perfectionism lead to many psychical diseases? It does. And did you know that perfectionist eventually can't do the best he/she can anymore, so for example a great  student start getting bad grades. It also impacts your psychic feeling, which I can see, because I've been really depressed, tired and stressed lately. Perfectionist also have a lack of imagination and creativeness. You probably already know what perfectionism is, but you have to know the difference between perfectionist and ambitious person. They both have big goals for future, but the ambitious one actually enjoys achieving them, but perfectionist can only think about it he/she was good enough, if he/she really did the best. As you can see we're never content with ourselves, we just have to keep proving that we're good enough, which is sick! I know how it feels, because I never feel worth it and I always worry about the smallest mistakes that I've made. It also deprives me of the awesome feeling when you do better than your average. If you're average grade is B, then you're so happy when you sometimes get an A. But if your average grade is A, you just can't get better! I think what I am mostly scared of is teachers being disappointed in me or classmates making comments like ''Wow, you got a C? Really? How did that happen?''. I would probably start crying. I guess I just can't take the criticism? I don't know. I just know that I have to change, sooner better. This is really taking over my life. I feel like I don't even enjoy my life anymore. I believe I am not the only one, so if you have any idea how to change, please help! Any advice or a share of your experience will be very helpful. At least I'll know that I'm not alone. And if you have any question, please ask, I'd love to help. I realised that I'm way better it helping people solve their personal problems that my, haha. :) I'm so sorry for such a gloomy post. I promise to post something happy on Wednesday! Lots of love for you all!

                                                                          xoxo

Style struggle

When I look around in my high school, I see so many people with such great unique styles and I always tell myself that I have to make my own style as well. But here's the problem. I like so many things from different styles, like I love shirts and jeans, but I also love skater skirts and dresses and floral pattern. I love cute graphic tops and I also want to dress more elegant. So when I come to the shopping mall I firstly don't even know to which store I should go. Besides, I go shopping on such rare occasions, usually when I really need something (because of the ''never enough time struggle'') , so I don't really have much already chosen. The other thing is that I'm not confident enough, to buy some pieces. My clothes are really very plain, jeans, lots of sweaters (I got way too many Christmasy ones) and actually just a few things that I actually like. That's probably also because I change my taste in clothes so quickly that I shouldn't be allowed to buy more than 2 things at once. That's what makes shopping even harder. I never really know if I should buy something, so I end up trying on for hours and then buying two things or nothing at all. My mum says that I am a very unsatisfied person and that I never like anything, but that's not completely true! I'm just not sure anymore what I like. If I see a girl what an outfit that I really love, I'd feel like a copy cat if I bought something similar. I kind of envy girls who start wearing something cute and it later becomes so popular, that when I notice it, so many people are already wearing it. Then I kind of don't want to have it anymore, because how can stay unique that way? Also, like I mentioned before, my style is very plain, nothing bold, so I think that if I started wearing different clothes people would give all sorts of mean comments, which I couldn't bear. I know, I'm a little bit pathetic. I hope I'm not the only one feeling this way. If you have any advice or tip that would help me, I'd be very happy to hear it. Thank you so much for reading this weird post, haha. :)
                                                                  xoxo   

How to study...and get good results!

I know many of you guys struggle with school. You  never seem to find that perfect way to score an A. Some of your classmates get great grades and no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you don't care, you would much rather bring home a good report as well. Don't worry, I have some helpful tips that will help you for sure.  :)

1. Don't start studying a day before test
I know you're sick of people telling you this, but trust me, one day before the test, you just can't get everything in your head. I mean, poor brain, all of a sudden it has to memorise so many new words and then there's also stress and fear...that's just a perfect formula for a disaster. So try to start studying at least 3 days before the test, best on the weekend before test. If you know you'll have a lot to learn or that you really don't understand that topic, try to find help  in advance. I know it sucks to study when you don't even understand what you're reading.
2. Pay attention in the class
This one is a life saver. I mean, books are great and all, but sometimes teacher explains in a different way, that's easier for you to understand. Texts in books can be pretty complex. And it's easier to study when you already know something from the class, so instead of day dreaming or chatting with you friend (it could get you in trouble anyways), listen & write notes. If you listen in class you may won't have to spend so much studying and you'll have more time for shopping or anything fun to do with friends. :)
3. Do your homework
I mean really do it, not copy it from your classmate just before the class. If you do homework, that's like checking how much you actually understand and if you maybe don't understand something, you can go to the teacher, so she can explain it to you, which is also another tip:
4. If you don't understand, ask
This one is very important too. If you don't understand something ask! You can ask your teacher, friend, classmate, brother, sister, parents, anyone really. Just don't say ''Well, I kind of get it. That's OK.'' No, because the next thing you'll learn will probably be connected with the last one which you don't quiet understand, so now tell me how will you understand this?  Nuh-oh, you have to make sure everything's clear to you.

5. Really study

You know when you say you'll go studying and you go to your room & open your book and start reading? Well, about that reading. When you read, make sure you're really reading, you have to concentrate and try to memorise as many things as possible. If you can't remember some definitions, read them again and again until you do. And if there's a picture beside it, maybe it will help you to connect it with the definiton. And try not to think about other things while you're reading. If something really bothers you, like I don't know, what we'll be for dinner this day, go and ask your mum before studying, that would definetely concern me, haha. Just make sure that you you're thinking while you're studying, because if you're not, it's just the same as if you aren't studying at all.
6. Take a break
When you end with one subject, take at least 15 minutes long break and do something that doesn't include a lot of thinking & memorising. You can take your dog for a walk, listen to some music, call your friend, check facebook/twitter/instagram, etc., because if you go on to studying another subject, you'll end up mixing up everything, which you don't want. Besides, it's nice to take a break, just don't make it too long. ;)
7. Make flash cards
When there's really a lot to study, it's easier to write down the important things from books. Definitions, formulas, short sentences, maybe just words which help you remember the rest. Flash cards are very useful also for things you can't memorise no matter what. If you write it on a flash card and put in on your desk, you'll see it every time you use your desk and eventually you'll manage to remember it.
8. Revise just before you go to bed
I don't know if this works for everyone, but If i revise just before I got bed, I usually memorise most of it till morning. So try this out and maybe it will help you as well.
9. A day before the test question yourself
To really make sure you know everything, ask yourself questions that you think might appear in the test. When you answer, check the correct answer in the book. Even better if you ask your friend to ask you. This makes studying more fun. :) And don't forget to return the favor!

So these are all the tips I have. I really hope you can find them useful and I hope that I helped you at all. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for reading!
                                                                           xoxo