Friday Fives: Music & Instagram Diary

Happy  Halloween!!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful day filled with candy and great times with friends and family! This will be a relatively brief post because I should be heading over to a party now, but ya know, I can be fashionably late. 

The majority of my posts this month were OOTDs. The titles of these post weren't in the style of what I typically do. These titles happen to be my favourite songs at the moment. For anyone who made the connections that they are songs, well done! *sends virtual candy as prize*

The posts

Human

Lullaby

Sometime Around Midnight

A Maker Of My Time

Whispers 

(I didn't actually get around to making this post :/)

The songs

October's Instagram Diary

Let me know what you think of the songs!

Have a lovely day and stay fabulous!!

~Moll

A Maker Of My Time

Perhaps you've noticed this, perhaps you haven't, but I haven't been posting too frequently this month. My hope was to maintain the level of activity of last month, but alas, October is coming to a close and I have fallen short.

This did not occur for laziness or procrastination (despite having implied that in this post). As we all know, the academic year rolled around not too long ago, which has affected many of us bloggers and our schedules. School can be a lot of work; especially if you're a) pursuing a career in the medical field, b) considering it, or c) just trying to do the absolute best you can in any field of study. It can be very time consuming... and stressful.

On top of my studies, I've been on a health kick/intense pre-ski season workout regime. (More posts about that to come!) Unfortunately because of primarily these two reasons, blogging has gotten the short end of the stick. Now I really have to treat it as a hobby, or a "when I can scrounge up time" type of thing. *boo :(*

For a while, blogging was my preferred way to de-stress, so I'd make time for it. However, now that I've been exercising more, which requires me to be outside a lot, I've been favoring that as my way to relax. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy every minute of blogging, but there's just something about nature and being disconnected from technology and social media that's sooo refreshing. Experiencing it first hand by spending free time outside, I can say that nature is honestly the best therapy. 

"The mountains are calling and I must go."

~John Muir

My best friend has been feeling the same way as myself in the fact that we really needed a chance to take a step back from work and re-energize in order to keep moving forward. Spontaneously on a Friday afternoon, we decided that would be as good of time as any to pack up and go somewhat off the grid for the weekend. We went on a really long drive to get to her winter home and just chilled. We hiked, explored, unwound, and just enjoyed nature at its finest.

Typically my posts are fashion and beauty related; however, this one is completely lifestyle. No outfits. No makeup. Just pictures of Mother Nature. She's the focal point of this post. Plus, I only sported athletic gear and a bare face that weekend, so that's not necessarily a "must see" haha

Have a lovely day and relax!! 

~Moll

Sometime Around Midnight

I don't think any of you know this, but I absolutely love stargazing. Like anyone else who enjoys it, the peacefulness is what always draws me back. There's just something about resting on the ground and turning your head to the sky that is so soothing. What really attracts me to stargazing, though, is the fact that I become aware of how insignificant I am, and in turn, how small all of my problems are. It's a great chance to put everything in perspective and to practice mindfulness. 

So easily we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the world and the daily stresses that quickly pile up. We fail to realize that most of our problems won't affect more than maybe a few days of our life. I am one to do this quite often between my studies, volunteering, and work. Sometimes it's difficult to keep the balance. That's why it's so important to practice mindfulness and give yourself a break every now and again.

That's exactly what I did Saturday night. One of my ways to de-stress is in fact to lay outside for a couple of hours and gaze at the stars. Occasionally I'll do so on my own to fully unwind and be alone with my thoughts, but sometimes it's nice having company. I happened to want company Saturday, so I dragged my best guy friend along. Luckily he was willing to since he also loves stargazing. 

We went to our town's jungle gym around 6 pm and stayed there until 1 am. Gently swinging on the swings, simply sitting on the bridge that connects each part of the jungle gym to watch the sunset, and chatting was lovely. Eventually we put a blanket on the ground and just laid there, willingly being enveloped by the silence of the night. Though, we did go play on the jungle gym a few more times, just like the good ol' days haha

I asked him to take a picture of my outfit at the jungle gym; however he had his hand over the flash and cropped half of my face out of the shot...

Sweater: Target
Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Zumiez
Cut Out Boots: DSW
Necklace: Kohl's
Satchel: Target
Scarf: Antique shop

The majority of my day was spent outside. Keeping that in mind, I kept my makeup light. Just a bit of eyeshadow, mascara, a couple of face products, and lipstick. I love how lipstick finishes off a look! It makes it seem as though more effort was put in.

Sorry that the lighting is weird!

EYES
 ♥CoverGirl Lashblast Fushion Mascara
♥an orange-brown & brown colour from the
e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette

BROWS
 ♥Sonia Kashuk Tinted Brow Gel
♥a matte brown from the
e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette

FACE
♥Almay Clear Complexion Concealer
♥Maybelline Fit Me Pressed Powder in Porcelain

LIPS
♥FLOWER Lip Suede in Berry-More

Do you enjoy stargazing?

 ~Moll

Lullaby

Today's outfit was quite summery. It definitely doesn't seem fitting for mid-October; however, today felt like an ideal day in August. The sun was out and it was warm with a slight humidity. Lately it's been feeling like winter, so today was a nice break from that. Thank you, Indian summer!

What was also nice about today was the fact that I finally had a chance to wear a skirt I whipped together. Me being me, I made this floral, soft coloured skirt in late September when it was out of season. I thought I'd have to wait until next year to wear it, but thankfully it was such a beautiful day, so I had the perfect opportunity to debut my creation. Magnifique, oui?

Top: J.C. Penney

Skirt: Homemade

Boots: Walmart

Watch: Target

Clutch: (my favourite) antique shop

Have a lovely day and stay fabulous!! 

~Moll

A change.

This year has been quite the whirlwind so far. Don't get me wrong, it's had many fantastic moments, but plenty of rough patches. From various problem spots, I yearned for some sort of change. My hair posed as a perfect outlet.

Feeling the need to change something was one of the reasons I dyed my hair, but frankly I just really wanted to. I can't tell you how long I wanted to have it done. Up until this point I was not content with my natural colour. There wasn't much warmth to it and I wasn't fond of the ashy blonde-brown undertones. It looked very drab. However, if I was exposed to bright natural light my hair would have a caramel ting to it, which I really liked. If only it were like that all of the time. *sigh* That is why I opted for a darker, richer tone.

For a while I was nervous about getting my hair done because of the harsh chemicals used. That being said, I had my hairdresser use a semi-permanent colouring since it isn't as damaging to the hair follicles as a permanent dye. Also, because I had it done at a salon, the quality of hair dye used is simply better than the boxed ones that can be store-bought. To Jen: You did a fantastic job, as always. Thank you!

Whilst snapping pictures of my hair, I took random shots, as well. Several of them I happen to like, so I figured why not include them in this post. :)

Parka: Hollister

Top: Macy's

Pants: Delia's 

Necklace: Kohl's

Cut Out Boots: DSW

Hat: Forever 21

Burberry Nails

Have a lovely day and stay fabulous!! 

~Moll

Burberry Nails

*please excuse the poor lighting... these were taken at 7:00 pm :)*

Materials:

Base coat

Top coat

Black polish

Tan polish

Thin tip polish in black, white, & red

Steps:

1. File and shape your clean nails if you so choose. *Remember to file in one direction to keep your nails strong and in tip top shape!*

2. Apply the base coat to your nails to prevent staining.

3. Apply the tan polish to your accent nail.

4. Using the thin tip white polish, create a thick cross shape on the accent nail.

5. With the thin tip black polish, draw a line down the center of each white block and on the edges.

6. Diagonally from the overlapping of the white area, have two red lines intersect there.

7. Paint the rest of your nails black, white, or red to pull from the detail of the Burberry pattern.

8. Apply the top coat.

Have a lovely day and stay fabulous!!

~Moll