The Girl From Golden

*EDIT: I wrote the following a year ago, June 2015, shortly after graduating high school and entering an existential crisis I am sure will last the remainder of my life. Enjoy.*

I always thought that the second I could, I would get a one ticket out of my hometown. I remember being fourteen or fifteen and talking about how this town sucks you in and sucks the life out of you to the point where you go from being someone who could actually be someone to being someone who's completely fine with the prospect of no job prospect and the five year plan of coolers on a beach.

And now... I'm that person.

I'm friends with the "older kids" who get stuck in Rockaway. I guess it was naive of me to think this, but I never thought that it was going to be me. I never thought it was going to be my friends. I never thought that I would be a high school graduate, going to school nearby in the fall, and that I would be thinking about the next the five/ten/fifteen years and seeing this town in that vision of my life.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I just know that I'm scared shitless that I'm going to stuck here.

So, for now, the plan is to go to beach, write songs, and think about the next five years as they come.

An Open Letter to My Dog

An Open Letter to My Dog

Dear Suzie, 

The Queen on Her Throne

It's been a good 12 years we've had together. We grew up together and I wouldn't trade some of our memories for the world. Over the past decade and some, you've taught me a lot, but the one thing that stands out right now is that you, Suzie, are an asshole. 

Yup. I said it. I'm calling you on it. You pee everywhere. We TRIED to housetrain you. We let you outside. You are unrelenting, and personally I see this as a blatant act of rebellion. I think you laugh a little each time. 

Suzie, I love snuggling up with you on Mom's chair. It's great. Warm. Fantastic. But, there's something you seem to be confused about. When I get up to get a blanket, it is NOT an invitation for you to shift into my spot, occupying the entire center of the chair. This would tolerable if you would move over when I basically sit on you. But do you?

No, Suzie. You don't.

You stay right there. Underneath me. This isn't a good choice bud. That's how you get smooshed. You may be the largest of the toy breed, but you are still much smaller than a human being. And underneath one is not the best place for you to be. You belligerent asshole. 

And I love you that much more for it. 

Sincerely, 

Theresa 

 

Rimmel London New Moisture Renew Lipstick!

Hey everyone.

So this has been a whirl wind year or so, and I will make a post about everything (probably a series of "What I've Been Up To" post), but right now I have something new and extra special.

I signed up for Influenster  a while back because some Youtubers I liked had accounts and I thought it was interesting. I never really did anything with it though. Once in a while when I was bored I would go on and fill out the questionnaires that they have and eventually I racked up a lot of points from these quizzes. About a week ago I got an email from Influenster telling me that I was a contender to become a member of the VoxBox program. VoxBoxes are products sent for you for free, for your consideration. You receive a product and you're invited to give your feedback through social media. It's a great program and I was super stoked to have a chance to be considered.

Then today, I came home from school and saw that I had a little package. I was completely taken aback since I hadn't ordered anything. Upon opening, I came to discover that I had in fact been chosen to receive a VoxBox.

My first VoxBox is from Rimmel London and it is their brand new lipstick Moisture Renew in the Shade 360 "As You Want Victoria".
Let's start off with the branding. The paper that was included with the lipstick claims that it is an "intensely moisturizing lipstick that doesn't compromise on color." Both parts of this statement hold true. The lipstick is very pigmented, and you get great color with just one swipe on the lips. This product also moisturizes just like a high end lip balm or cream. The formula is not too oily but it seems to smudge quite easily, so I am wondering how this would work in a day to day application. Just as a quick digression, the lipstick smells fantastic as well. It smells like the high end lipstick that grandmas use. If you know the smell, you know what I mean.

The only gripe I can muster about this fantastic product is the shade. "As You Want Victoria" is a very vibrant berry red and it is a little harsh on my pink toned very fair skin. My mom, who has olive toned skin, tried it, however, and looks simply stunning, so it's definitely just me.

So all in all I would give this product a 9/10 just because the shade isn't right for me. Otherwise it would be a perfect 10.

I'll talk to you guys soon.
xoxo
Theresa


*DISCLAIMER* I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

I Can't Wait to Move

So, I've just gotten home from Virginia because I went away for the weekend. I was supposed to fly home yesterday, but my mom got ill and blah blah blah, we had to fly home today. I'm like freaking out because I missed my Maths midterm, and I have my WHAP final tomorrow and just gah. This is not good. I have to make up my Maths midterm and all that crap. Like, life sucks right now.

I seriously can't wait till I move to Virginia. Like, in less than three years, I'll be living there. That's so awesome to think about. See I'm going to uni down in Virginia, like no matter what. Even if for some  bizarre reason I don't get into any schools, I'll go to Germana Community College. Just realized that totally gives away my future location. Oops. Don't stalk me and murder me in my sleep, please.

Any way. I'm really upset today. Last night, I made a video and I worked SO hard on it. I even came up with an intro for my vlogs to set them apart from my music videos. Seriously, just the editing alone took my like an hour and a half to two hours. And then the 16 minutes of filming, and then recording the voiceover, and a bunch of stuff. Then rendering took an hour. So, I spent close to three and a half hours just making this video ready to upload. So, when I watched it for the first time, all the way through with fresh eyes, was this morning. And I was SO proud of it. I honestly think it's some of my best work and it's something I would watch. Like, I don't upload anything that I wouldn't watch, or that I don't like. But I'm just so proud of this video.

The video's a sharp tongued, quick cut, list of reasons why I'm screwed up. It's a funny video. Before I uploaded it, I showed it to my aunt, who thought it was hysterical. So, I sat at the kitchen table and uploaded the video. I was so proud of it, I showed it to my mom, my grandma, and even my four year old cousin. I couldn't wait to show it to my dad. So, when I got home, I got out my computer and loaded the video, expecting my dad to think it was cool and be proud of me. This was not the case.

My dad hated the video. He said I poked fun at everything that our family is about. He didn't have a single nice thing to say about it, which hurt since I had worked so hard.

So, this is why I'm upset.


Books: 1
Journeys: 2

Officially Switching to Mac

I got a 2012 13 inch MacBook Pro for Christmas this year, and I've been using it nonstop since receiving it on Christmas Eve. But, I never did transfer my pictures and videos and documents from my old clunker PC. Sidenote: have you ever heard of Kars 4 Kids? Well they take old clunker cars and sell them for scrap and give the proceeds to kids in need. Someone should do this with out computers.       1-877-KOMPS4KIDS?  So, here I am, sitting at home because I have this flu, which is a killer this year BTW, and transferring everything from the past three years of my life onto an external harddrive and then getting the stuff I really use like pictures and such onto my new beautiful shiny MacBook. 

Let me digress for a second. When I told people that I was hoping to switch to a Mac this year, I got a bunch of responses that were all along the same line.  "You just want the shiny little apple." "Well that's gonna be a hard adjustment..." "Ugh! They're so not user friendly." 

Umm, no, I do not just want the shiny little apple. I really do enjoy Apple products. They are very well made and the Apple customer service and the treatment you're given is definitely superior to most PC companies. I mean, with my Dell Inspiron, I've shipped it off to God knows where so many times. They keep it for weeks and don't keep you updated on what's going on with your computer. With Apple products, you just bring them in, and they help you out. 

And it wasn't a hard adjustment at all. As a matter of fact, I'm having trouble using PCs, now. Macs are so user friendly. The setup of a Mac (and this is true with iPods and iPhones as well) takes like 5 minutes and you're done. 

Ok. So that's all for my rant. 

Books: 1

Journeys: 0

New Year's Resolutions

I haven't written on here since the 27th of August. That's over four months. That's insane.

The past four months have passed in a blur. I'm not even kidding. First I started school. Then, Hurricane Sandy hit and my town was devastated so I went to live with my aunt in Virginia for a little over a month. That brings us clear of November and into December. On the 23rd, my uncle passed away due to complications of lung cancer. Now, here we are: January 9th.

Now, that we're all up to date on the goings on, let's get on to the title of this video.

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so I know that a lot of people have a hatred for Resolutions. Like, some people even hate the word. I don't really get that. Like, seriously. Resolutions are awesome. They give you a chance to examine your life and think about the things that you should be doing, or want to be doing, or that you shouldn't be doing. Even if you don't make a single change in your life, you'll still have thought about it and that means that you know that that is a change you need/want to make.

That being said, I like to keep my resolutions small-scope. Working towards a larger goal. Baby steps. So, here are my resolutions. Some may sound a bit familiar.

1. Read 50 books in 2013 that I have never read before.
2. Keep an awesome diary. (Writing down why each day was awesome. I did this for half of 2012.)
3. Eat more healthy food. (I love healthy food, and want to eat more of it.)
4. Study and work harder in school. (I haven't been applying myself as much as I could be.)
5. Get my first job. (Okay, so this summer, I want to get a job as a camp counselor, and then in Sept. my friend and I are going to get jobs as Starbucks Baristas.)
6. Go back to S4TR. (A Therapeutic Riding Program that I worked at last year.) 

So, what am I tracking on this blog in 2013?

I am going to track out-of-state/out-of-country travels! This year is going to be full of travel for me, including three trips so far to the west coast, so I thought that this would be a good year to do this. 

Okay. So, I guess this is all that I have to say for this post. I just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky today and I have to say, it was amazing. Now I'm starting The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. I think I'm going to do a book review soon. Probably a written one, on the blog, rather than a video. 

Okay, my lovlies! Until next time!

Books read: 1

Trips: 0 

Getting Some Things Down In Writing

Hello.

I go back to school in two weeks and I can't keep myself from thinking about how I want this year to be Different. Brilliant. I really want to talk about this on the internet and I don't want to make a video about it until it's official, or even semi-official. So, here I am. Talking about this here.

Okay, back in July I contacted Lori Earl, mother of Esther Earl, HP fan and nerdfighter extraordinaire. Yes, I am talking about the Esther Earl to whom John Green dedicated his most recent book, and the same one died from thyroid cancer two years ago at the age of sixteen. Last year, her mother and father founded a nonprofit organization called This Star Won't Go Out. Their goal is to carry a bit of that burden for hurting families through financial gifts. They do great work.

So, back to what I contacted Lori about. I want to do some sort of fundraiser with TSWGO. She very quickly responded to me and gave me numerous examples of what I could do. What I'm going to do is sell TSWGO bracelets at my high school. My school has fundraisers multiple times a year, and they usually involve bracelets. Lori told me to just email her telling her how many bracelets I need, and she'll send them to me to sell for whatever donation. The only hitch in this plan is that I will need to work heavily with my dean and guidance counselor. Eh.

Despite the fact that I would have to work with administration, I still really want to do this. Even more, I feel I need to do this.

For now, Internet. Good bye.