A little update on life.

Hello all, and Happy Mothers Day! To all the beautiful and empowered women in the world, you are so important to the lives of everyone around you. I don't care if you're actually a mommy or not, today is a day for all of the motherly, caring, and encouraging ladies out there that have had some kind of impact on someone's life. YOU ARE LOVED. And we love and appreciate you so much, even if we can't show it every day. Unfortunately I won't be seeing my mom today, I got scheduled to work (retail... ugh!), but I hope that everyone gets to spend the day with a special woman, for my sake :).

On another note, yesterday I had the opportunity to volunteer at The Human Race in Santa Cruz, California! The Human Race is a nationwide, community fundraising event for nonprofit organizations. The Santa Cruz race in particular is a five mile walk/run, that encourages people to raise awareness and donate for a great cause. I worked the face painting booth all day, and all of the proceeds were donated to women and children in need! (Perfect fundraiser for today's holiday, eh?) Though the entire right side of me is sunburned to hell, I had a wonderful time. It was so great having a line of little kiddies (and adults) who wanted their faces painted by me! 

The only issue I had was time. I can say that I'm pretty good at face painting on myself, but my looks take anywhere from 1-3 hours. I have only painted on other people once or twice, and they still took a pretty long time. It's a lot harder painting someone elses face over your own; I know my own face, and I know I can sit still. Whereas others, (especially kids!) tend to fidget around a lot, and its hard to position your hands in a way that makes it easy to paint. Some of the full face paintings I did on the kids yesterday were taking a long time, and I could hear parents complaining that they 'didn't have 20 minutes to wait for a face paint'. Honestly, it's tough rushing through a painting, which I had to do a couple of times. And I felt bad because the paints I had to rush through, when I had a long line, weren't turning out very good at all. (Luckily they weren't paying me for them! Though I did get a few tips).

I realized that timing is just something I need to work on. I can't have 2-3 hours to do someones face, especially when I start doing photoshoots and things like that. I had such a good time yesterday though, and I'm so thankful that I was given that opportunity, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed the things I need to work on. All in all, it was a great experience!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Birchbox Goodies!

I received my very first Birchbox today! I have to admit that at first I was sort of disappointed; my friend posted her April box on Instagram, so I was expecting the exact same stuff that she got in hers. When I got mine though, it was sort of similar but had different, not as cool things. I then was told that they send you stuff based on the profile you've set up with their website, and I didn't even have mine set up! So May's box should be more fitting to my needs, but now that I've taken the time to read about my goodies, I am pretty satisfied!

Color Club Nailpolish in Heirloom Pearl // Harvey Prince Yogini Perfume // No. 4 High Performance Clarifying Shampoo // No. 4 Reconstructing Hair Masque // Sumitas Color Eyeliner in Deep Purple // KIND Snacks Healthy Grains Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt Bar // Fun tip for a rainy day #33

I still have yet to use everything, (the Healthy Grains bar was yummy!) but I'm mostly excited about the purple eyeliner & the nail polish. The shampoo and hair mask would probably be more exciting if I hadn't just bought and tried out a new shampoo and conditioner that I absolutely love, and I'm not changing! (Enjoy Luxury Shampoo & Conditioner, I definitely recommend!) But I'll most likely try the No. 4 out sooner or later.

(My fun tip for a rainy day!)

All in all, I'm glad I made the decision to invest in Birchbox. I'm still a little new to the beauty world, so it's nice to get samples of a bunch of different things that I can try out. If you do sign up to birchbox, just go to their website (birchbox.com) and you can either pay $10 a month (per box) or pay $110 for the whole year. I really think it's worth it!

If you do initially decide to purchase a Birchbox prescription, please click this link to subscribe! I get points for every friend I refer, and you'll start to get points too once you buy your first box :) Each 100 points is redeemed for $10!