Mikaela & Kirsten

This is no make-up Mikaela and I feel beautiful! My body is still a bit chubby but we’re working on that battle due to my love for dining out. But, living in year 2018, the year the “feminazis” take over cause we all know who run the world (cue Beyoncé), women should be empowered by themselves and feel beautiful in their own skin! Yes, I am a girl who absolutely loves makeup and getting all puurrrrty, but as laziness overcomes me in the morning I’ve found myself going out in the world makeup-less. Mikaela circa 2017 would have never left the house without makeup but as my confidence has grown over the past year or so I find going out bare faced to be refreshing. Women like Alicia Keys have embraced their natural beauty, and I thought to myself, I should be able to, too! I honestly can say it has helped boost my self-confidence but also the love for myself. I challenge & encourage everyone to at least try to go bare faced for a week (or even Monday-Friday) without any makeup and see how it can change the way you feel about yourself. Cause girl you’re beautiful! Xoxo, Mikaela

Tuesday’s are foodie Tuesday’s & impromptu photo shoot days with one of my best friends, Alyssa. Photography is something I’ve been interested in and love to do as a hobby. Photo shoots are always fun if you wanna do something different with your best friend! You’d be surprised the places you can go to just in your city, it causes you to be creative. Our shoot was in a park in Frisco then going to the downtown historic center. Plus the it was a great way to put my new xomandysue shirt to good use.

As spring arrives around the corner, it’s that time of year where your parents yell at you to clean out through your belongings because the Justin Bieber shirt in your closet is never worn but you keep it every year just in case it comes in use one day. Well, Spring is a symbol and time for renewal, even if it's not material. I started off the year with a resolution: to live my happiest self, something which I believe is more attainable than having the body of Margot Robbie. As a girl who fails every year at her resolutions, I figured this to be more of a lifestyle change than just a 2018 thing. Spring is the perfect time to get yourself back in gear so I thought why not leave some tips on how to live happier days!

1. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO MATTER

Living in a generation with eyes on you, in person or online, you want to please people, but the world ain’t no sunshine and flowers. As you get older you realize that your group of people will continue to get smaller, but trust me it’s a good thing because the people who truly love you will stay by yourside. A lot of people have been dropping out of my life, which was really hard for me to cope with, but once I realized the people who truly loved me, none of it mattered!

2. LIVE FOR YOU

“Not me, not Hermonie, You!” (If you understand then I love you.) I found that I was living a life trying to please everyone. As someone who cares for others, I found my focus of my happiness to be through others, even if it meant for me to sacrafice my true happiness. Once I started to focus on myself life seemed so much better. So go and focus on your future even if you're an Arts major of some kind and your parents think there’s no way you make an actual living but its what makes you truly happy. 

3. CAREFREE BABY

As a struggling college student, stress is an inevitable symptom. Focus hard on yourself and your future, but still, allow yourself time to do what you want. Its always good to have a stress reliever whether it be watching The Office every night until 2am or writing a song about a boy in your government class who makes you all bubbly on the inside. 

I found that by changing a lifestyle, I’ve never been happier in my life. It may seem like a HUGE lifestyle change, but it is just changing little things that could have a huge impact on your daily mood. *DISCLAIMER: one may still experience bad days, just remember what you can do to pick yourself back up.

xoxo,

Texas Tulips

This past weekend Mikaela and I went down to Texas Tulips in Pilot Point, TX and it was such a cute way to kick off the spring season! Texas Tulips is a tulip field that is open every year from about late March to early April, depending on the weather and the tulip season. They grow around 90 different varieties of tulips all for the public’s picking. The general admission fee is only 3 dollars, and it costs $2.50 “per stem” for the flowers you pick, which is a great deal for freshly picked flowers!  

As for the experience of it all, the first thing you have to do is wait in line. This line can get kind of long if you go on a really nice day and around noon, but moves pretty quickly. Upon entering the field, the first thing you need to do is retrieve a tulip basket to keep your beautiful, fresh tulips in. Mikaela and I opted for only one, as we were compiling smaller bouquets. After that, its time to start picking - you can roam the fields freely and pick as many flowers as you like (or take as many pictures IN the flowers as you like). For us, we spent around 2 and half to 3 hours taking pictures and wandering around the field to find the perfect flowers, but it’s really up to you how long you want to spend there. If you go on a temperate day, I can see how this could easily turn into a full day occasion.

At the end of your endeavors, there are multiple wrapping and payment stations that you can go to. These lines were, as you can probably assume, also pretty long, but went relatively fast. Once you get up to the front of the line, the volunteers will take your payment (they take both cash and card) and wrap up your tulips in the paper of your choosing. After that, you’re free to take your beautiful tulips home!

Overall, Texas Tulips was a fairly fun and exciting experience, especially if you love tulips like I do! I would definitely recommend this activity to people of all ages as it is a fun, affordable experience.

If you would like more information on Texas Tulips, visit their website at https://texas-tulips.com/

xoxo,