Favorites: November

So, I know that monthly favorites are usually done at the end of a month, but I just had so many favorite things already this month that I decided I would go for it. Most of these items are beauty products because for some reason these past few weeks I have decided to try out some new products. I have learnt to love many new things and have added them to my normal routines.

Bumble and bumble Curl Conscious Reactivating Mist
This is my all time favorite new hair care product. If you are a curly girly and have not yet tried this stuff, then you are missing out. It is absolutely unbelievable! I use it after every shower when my hair is damp, but I found it's best use is when you spray it in before bed. If you have curly hair then you know that second day curls are just never as good as the first. But when I wake up after having sprayed the mist in my hair, the curls are sometimes even better then the first day. I can now wear my hair down two days in a row instead of hiding my hair in a bun when the curls are less then satisfactory.

DevaCurl 'DevaFuser' Diffuser
Another great product for curly hair. Diffusers are meant particularly for curly hair, but I have never found one that I liked. My hair always gets really frizzy and the curls don't last. But then I discovered this super special one. The shape is specifically made so the airflow is 360 degrees around the hair. This way you can stick the diffuser inside the hair as if using your hands (hence the shape), and just dry away.

My Nail Polish Collection
For a very long time, I have been a nail biter. It has gotten to the point where I just don't think my nails are as healthy as they could be. So, I decided would start painting my nails more often in order to refrain from destroying them. I store my polish in a tin box I got in London (best box ever), and it only holds a small amount but I have a very specific taste in polish color.

I basically only wear shades of blue and black. Here are my favorites right now.

Fujifilm instax mini
As an aspiring photographer, I just love when a photograph looks really old. Old family photos from the 80s and 90s are so beautiful. The colors are brighter and everything looks really retro. That has a lot to do with polaroids. Unfortunately, the Polaroid company went out of business. Luckily, fujifilm has created their own instant cameras that work just as well, and they are mini! Love love love this camera. It took me a bit of time to really understand how it works and get the best images, but it is totally worth it. If you are looking to buy one, try amazon because they are much cheaper Urban Outfitters.

Smith's Rosebud Salve Balm
Its getting colder and my lips are getting dryer. I put this balm on every morning as part of my routine, and it stays on forever even through eating. It keeps my lips moisturized and looks really pretty on. 

Benefit Rockateur Blush
I bought this product a while ago, but only started using it pretty recently. It adds the perfect amount of color to my face in the morning and is super build-able. That way, if you want a more subtle glow it works as both a natural color and a highlighter. Super subtle natural color that works with every skin tone.

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: The Star Spangled Banner

Favorites: 5 Single Season TV Shows Worth Binge-Watching

Source: http://giphy.com/search/watching-tv/3

If you didn't know this yet, I am a huge TV watcher. I watch multiple shows on air and a ton of shows that have finished. But, my favorite shows to watch are shows that got canceled and only have one season. It's like watching a movie, but it ends on a huge cliffhanger. Single season shows are easier to watch because they don't take up as much of your free time by being fully committed, and sometimes (even if they were cancelled) they are the most entertaining... but some are just plain trashy, and thats fun too.

  
#1
Emily Owens M.D.

This is my number one favorite single-season show. The main character, Emily, is played by Meryl Streep's daughter, Mamie Gummer. She is a shy and quirky doctor, with more potential than she believes, and who was glad to be done with high school. Turns out, working at a hospital is very similar to being in high school...
I cannot recommend this show more! You will fall in love with all the characters, cringe at all the awkward encounters, and get to see some cool (and not too gruesome) surgeries. Ends on the best and largest cliffhanger

#2
Freaks and Geeks

Hilarious, great cast, and ahead of it's time.

#3
My So-Called Life

Super retro, relatable, and intriguing....Oh, and jared leto.

#4
Jane By Design

Cute clothing, adorable characters, and some good ol' fun.

#5
Hellcats

trashy, but in the best way possible.

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Bei Mir Bist Du Schon - Ella Fitzgerald

Favorites: 10 Reasons I Love Autumn

There is just something about Autumn that makes me extremely happy. I used to tell myself that Summer was the best season, but I had only trained myself into thinking that because I am a leo.
I have finally accepted that fall is my favorite season. The weather is no longer boiling hot or making me sweat through my clothes. It isn't even really cold enough for me to complain either. In the words of Goldilocks, the temperature is just right. 
Some reasons that I love Autumn mainly have to do with the return of many clothing items that have been out of my closet for far too long. But, I also just love the little things that make this season the perfect transition from Summer to Winter.

1. Outerwear

2. Deeper Clothing Colors

3. Themed Starbucks 

4. Scarves

5. Hot Drinks

6. Apple Picking and Other Crisp Outdoor Activities

7. Booties

8. Berry Lipstick

9. The Idea of Pumpkin Food... even though I don't even like pumpkins

10. And, of course, Taking Pictures of Colorful Autumn Leaves

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Don't Know Why - Norah Jones

Favorites: My Lunches in SOHO

Chobani SOHO

On the corner of Prince and W Broadway is a cafe that serves food all based with Chobani yogurt with a Greek twist. I got Chobani yogurt with peanut butter, peanuts, grape jelly, and sliced grapes. Sweet and savory at the same time.

The Cupping Room
Slightly on the expensive side if your just going for lunch alone, but super delicious. It was mainly brunch food so I got Eggs Florentine with fries. 

Hampton Chutney Co.
South Indian inspired food. Their main dish is their super long Dosas, but I opted for a tomato, mozzarella, and avocado salad with tomato basil dressing (basically a tomato basil mozzarella sandwich but as a salad).

The Frog's Crown Bakery
Serves empanadas, pastries, and other Latin dishes. It's an adorably small cafe with minimal seating, and decorated with many "frog prince" painting and sculptures. I ordered two empanadas that were perfectly filling.

Vive La Crepe
Who doesn't like crepes? I normally go for nutella crepes but the savory crepes at Vive La Crepe looked so much more appetizing, and I sure wasn't wrong... but I'll probably go back for some nutella ;)

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Creep - Radiohead

Favorites: May (and dealing with stress)

May, along with everything else, is coming to a close. The end of May and beginning of June is one of the more stressful times of year. School work starts to pile up, summer plans need to be finalized, and the anxiety that comes with finishing one grade and moving on to the next is a lot to handle (especially if that next grade happens to be your senior year of high school...eeek!).

There are a lot things people do to keep their stress level from reaching its maximum, but for me its pretty simple. I just try to focus on each day as they come and pay attention to the positives.

Here are some of my favorite things from the month of May that kept me sane:

One

Do one fun thing at the end of every day as a reward for working hard. This doesn't mean procrastinating and doing that fun thing instead of homework, it should just keep you motivated. I started a new TV show from the mid 90's called 'My So-Called Life'. Its is a story about teen angst. The main character, Angela, is a 15-year-old girl who faces the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and dealing with friends, guys, parents and school. It is so good, and I love ending my day with Jordan Catalano ;)

Two

Pamper yourself. Sometimes taking a long hot bath with a soothing bath bomb is more than necessary. Maybe even wear an item of clothing or an extra makeup product to help boost your self confidence. Last week I took a much-needed bath with my Lush Cosmetics Twilight bath bomb, and I also bought a new Lip Balm just for fun.

Three

When you're hungry, eat. Have a small snack before or while you work to keep your mind off your stomach. When I get hungry I make myself a bowl of mixed Erewhon Organic Cereals (you can find the brand at Whole Foods). The brand makes all types of delicious healthy flavors; my favorites being Quinoa & Chia, Buckwheat & Hemp, and Crispy Brown Rice. Mixing them all together makes for a totally healthy and totally filling snack.

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Lean On Me - Bill Withers

Favorites: January (Netflix edition)

I know that I am way behind the game, but I now officially have a Netflix account! Since my family finally decided to get it I have been using it constantly. I watch a couple episodes every night, and sometime I even watch an episode or so on the bus to school. This week we had two snow days and you wouldn't believe the amount of movies I watched. Sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time online, but who doesn't. Thats just today's culture. Now that I have access to all these shows and movies I can watch the shows I have always wanted to watch, and it also provides an easier way for me to watch my current shows commercial free and in HD. 
Basically this post is just a quick list of the shows I am re-watching, the shows I watch, and the shows I want to watch in the near future (if somehow I can find more time in my oddly spare free time).

re-watch

Friends

I guess you can call me a hipster, because I watched friends before it was on Netflix (ok...I tried to be funny). I cannot tell you how happy I am that this show is available, because now I can watch it whenever I want and it never gets old.

How I Met Your Mother

Another one of my all time favorites, and I am looking forward to watching all of these episodes for the 100th time.

Freaks and Geeks
A classic feel-good show that (once again) never gets old. Unfortunately only 18 episodes are available, but that isn't keeping me from watching them over and over again.



watching
Baby Daddy
I watched this show when it first took off (I think it was a year or two ago), but then there was this weird pause in the middle and I guess I though it got cancelled or something, so I stopped watching it. Then I recently saw that there were 3 whole season on Netflix, and I binge-watched them all in the span of basically a week (they are so addictive). Now I am just waiting for the fourth season to go up, or else I will have to keep waiting for wednesdays to come before I can watch the next episode. 

Parenthood
Unfortunately, the finale season of Parenthood is not on Netflix, but if you are looking for a heartwarming drama about the most amazing and funny family ever, you have to watch this!!

will watch
Gilmore Girls
A lot of my friends have recommended this show to me because of it's similarity to Parenthood, so when I have a few less shows to watch (or I find myself having way too much free time) I am definitely starting this show.

New Girl
I used to watch this, but for some reason I stopped. Now that it is on Netflix I am definitely starting it back up soon.

Melissa and Joey
This was recommended to me because of Baby Daddy, and to be honest I have always had my eyes on this show. I will probably start watching this at some point.

I watch way too much TV

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Feel Again - One Republic

Favorites: October

October is coming to an end, so I decided that (since I haven't done one in a while) a 'favorites' post was due. These are just a couple things I have been absolutely loving throughout October, and will probably continue to love for much longer.

#1

White High-top Converse

I wear these shoes pretty much everyday. They are perfect for casual days but you could even get away with wearing them with something nicer like a dress or a skirt...just maybe not too fancy.

#2

Essie Licorice Nail Polish

I tend to be afraid of wearing any nail polish color that isn't black or some shade of blue, so this classic essie color lasts super long (which is great since I am a huge nail biter) and even when it does chip, it still looks pretty awesome.

#3

A to Z

I have recently started to watch a ton of TV shows, like a little bit too many, but one show that I love is called A to Z with Ben Feldman and Cristin Milioti (who I loved from How I Met Your Mother). It is basically a show about the relationship between these two characters Andrew and Zelda, hence 'A' to 'Z', and is a super cute entertaining comedy. You should all start watching it.

#4

Sudoku App

I know this sounds weird but when I was younger, like probably around age 8 or something, I loved playing Sudoku. For those of you who don't know is a logic-based number-placement puzzle game. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9. Anyways, I was obsessed with it and would play it in the on an airplane...pretty much everywhere. So a couple weeks ago I decided to get a sudoku app and haven't been able to put it down since. ;)

#5

Sephora Collection Rouge Cream Lipstick
in color Courtisane 02

and

#6
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette
I was very inspired this fall to try out a darker red lipstick color. This stuff stays on all day and barely looses its color. I only had to re-apply like once through the whole day. It was just really fun to wear, and it made it really feel like autumn outside.
For the eyeshadow, I found that the pink colors worked perfectly for my skin tone and they are light enough that if you want to create a subtle eye look it is easy to do, and also easy to build up for a darker look.

#7
Madewell
I have recently become a huge Madewell fan. Although the clothing there is super super SUPER expensive, I could spend hours in the store walking around and just admiring everything. Their jeans are amazing, and their sales are actually not half bad. You could get a reasonably priced shirt that is super cute and really high quality, so that price is totally worth it.

#8
DevaCurl anGel
If any of you have curly hair, then you can understand the struggle of finding the right hair product for your type of curls. I began using this product this month and the difference between what my hair used to look like and how it looks now is so substantial that I am never going back. The anGel product is a hair gel but it doesn't make my hair crusty and lasts literally 24 hours. It also works for any type of curl, so if you need a new product try this out.

xoxoxo

Nina

Song stuck in my head right now: Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and Kiki Dee