HOW TO DEAL WITH FRUSTRATION

I usually like to start writing my posts really casually, you know, talking a bit about what has been going on with my life or sharing any anectode that happened to me recently. A few minutes ago I was loggin into my Bloglovin' account and I realised that it had been ages since I went there for the last time... Now I have plenty of opened tabs to read blogposts, which is exciting! Anyways, let's move on to the actual post.

I'm such a perfectionist and when something goes wrong I make a big deal out of it, when there's nothing to worry about. I still have to learn how to cope with those situations, but meanwhile I get so frustrated, an it's depressing, believe me. The smallest thing can completely change my mood and I'll become really mean, which is something I'm not proud of, because I end up hurting (not physically) people around me when it's not their fault. However, I've been trying to improve my behaviour towards the issue and, even though I have a lot to improve, I think I can teach you some steps you can take if you are like me and you get disappointed very easily:

1. Learn lo lose: you won't always win and it is not a problem! Many things can be learnt from your defeats. If your really want something, keep trying.

2. Don't take it personally: sometimes people say things without knowing how they're going to affect you. Ignore those comments, they are most likely to be harmless. Don't waste your precious time thinking too much about it (says someone who does it all the time...).

3. Don't give up and remember why you started: never forget your main motivation and how excited you where at the beginning of your journey. It's okay to have ups and downs, you just have to keep going, because the best is yet to come! Yey :)

4. Take time to assume that not everything goes as you expected. Your thoughts won't change overnight, but you can train your mind. Think about what makes you upset or disappoints you a few days after it happened, everything looks clearer with a cool mind.

6. Try to think about the situation from another point of view, what would someone else do? Sometimes it is easier to think about your "problems" as if you were another person. Try doing this exercise ;)

5. Talk about it with people you trust. Sharing your feelings with your friends and family is not something you should be afraid of, further. In my case I find it really hard because I don't want to disturb them, but after you have explained what's on your mind it feels great.

I took this picture back when I was in Amsterdam and I think it's lovely :)

Before I go I would like to add that there's nothing wrong with not having everything planned out in your life and it's fine to feel under the weather when things don't go as you'd expected. Life is awesome and chocolate is always there for you!! No, I'm joking, but seriously, there's always something that will brighten up your day, you only have to figure it out. 

WATCH OUT 2016, HERE I COME!

Hello from the other siiiiideee (of the screen)! Yes, I have been away for a while but new year is the best time for a come back, and I couldn't be more excited. I know I'm a bit late for all the new year related posts, but it's fine. This whole blogging thing always goes very early! Anyways,  I think I should start with my new year's resolutions... Well, I'm not the best at making goals and sticking to them, I don't know if you remember that time I tried doing it monthly and I failed... However, I will try (again) and see if this year I can achieve them all:

1. Learn how to make decisions: I'm the most indecisive person in the world and whenever I have to choose something (even if it's something as simple as: what do I eat?) I don't know what to pick and I become really nervous.

2. Think before I speak: it's a mistake I have to change. It's not that I don't think at all, but sometimes I say things that may offend people and I regret it. The resolution would be to choose wisely my words so I can control what I say.

3. Stop apologizing when it's not necessary: I constanlty say "sorry" or "forgive me" for no reason and I want to stop that because it seems as if I was a very insecure person and besides, I don't like people who do the same.

4. Exercise twice a week... I'm not going to say anything about this one because it's the typical fitness goal that appears in everybody's resolution list. Let's hope I can make it, it's pretty realistic isn't it?

5. Post once a week: (from now on) I'm still a student so I don't have much time to dedicate it to my blog. Since it's something I really enjoy I've decided to continue posting regularly. 

I think what happens to me is that I set up unrealistic goals for myself, therefore I can't accomplish them, so this year I tried to make them more realistic, if that makes sense. I will also try to make monthly/three months goals (mainly with blogging but also other stuff) to keep track of my process and stay motivated.

At the beginning of this year I was in Ireland, a place that brings me the nicest memories ever. What else can I ask for? 2016 has been great so far, it can only get better. I wish you all an amazing year and I'll see you around :) xxxx


PS: I wanted to thank all the people that has read the blog during my absence, The number of views has been great guys! Thank you so much.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE BUSY

Let me warn you: you will get nothing out of this post, you still have time to close the window and do something more useful, your life will appreciate it!

The title is kind of misleading, because if you're busy you already have stuff to do, which means that you don't need anybody to tell you WHAT to do. It doesn't work the same as saying "What to do when you're bored", so it makes no sense... I have an entire project that needs to be done by the begginning of next month, plenty of exams coming next week and lots of other work that I have to finish asap. The question is, why am I doing writing this post instead of putting all my effort into all these  tasks? It is called procrastination...and I'm the best at it, feel free to join the club if you can identify youself as one of us. 

Whenever I have to do something related with school I find myself thinking (in a very creative way) about other stuff, for example, when I have to study for an exam I like to google "how to be a good student" or "how to get an A+ without studying" and spend hours reading articles that won't help me because what I really need to do is STUDY! Yesterday I ended up taking a test to see what type of learner I was and it turned out to be kind of useful. Also related with studying: I go on Youtube and type "relaxing music for studying", I then click to the first video and start reading the comments which say: "thumbs up if you are reading this when you should be studying" and I think to myself "yep... so true". 

Now that you know everything that I do instead of school work, I'll tell you what YOU can do if you find yourself not wanting to do "important stuff" and you decide to PROCRASTINATE!!

- Watch videos on how to start having a healthy lifestyle and work out more (yes, I love to watch them while I'm eating a bag of crisps and drinking soda).

- Read blogs (I do it all the time) or books, or even cereal packs!

- Look for photography tutorials: Pinterest has the best cheat sheets regarding aperture, ISO...

- Sing up to an online course on EdeX, it is a website where they offer multiple courses for free and at the end you get a certificate (paying I think), so it's kind of cool.

- Reorganise your bedroom and tidy it up. Am I the only one who has this need of cleaning up the mess when I have tons of work?

- Take a look at the AppStore, you'll find plenty of apps that you didn't know that they existed.

- Start writing a book or a diary for yourself. You could also record a video of you talking and don't see it untill you're older (set a date for that).

- Read the Guinness World Records and/or try to achieve something never done before (without hurting yourself, be safe).

- Stalk your friends online and end up looking  your teacher's sister's neighbour's profile.

- Go out and do as if you where talking on your phone (when you actually aren't).

- Email me something at wednesday19th@gmail.com, I'll probably be procrastinating as well... 

- Bake cookies and eat them (the second part is the best one).

I hope you found something to do on this list! I'll try to post more frequenly from now on, I have to review my October goals (I'm a disaster) and set new ones. Before I finish the post I want to tell you that I've signed up to a course that has to do with growing your blog's audience. It is carried by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective (a blog I love) and I thought you may be interested in it. I don't know if you can join by now, but here's the link anyways :) Have a nice week!

LET'S TALK ABOUT (WHAT'S BEHIND) MAKE-UP

About two or three years ago, I became obsessed with YouTube (I still am). I watched funny videos, prank videos, vlogs, decoration related clips... and make-up tutorials as well. Nowadays, there are these girls called "beauty gurus" who do make-up tutorials, hauls, tag videos, fashion/outfit videos and post them on YouTube. The thing is, I'm not even interested in make-up, I never wear it, but I reassure you that I could do a whole make-up look with the best products, a perfect winged liner and contour like a Kardashian (oh, yeah, and don't forget your brows!). I really enjoy watching how beauty bloggers/vloggers apply or review all these make-up products, it's like a hobby for me (it isn't as weird as it sounds). Today I'll be sharing my opinion on make-up. As I have already told you, I don't wear make-up at all, but I do appreciate make-up and I really admire people who can rock it. Since I haven't seen both sides of the subject, what I think may lack on perspective, but I do encourage you to tell me your thoughts in the comment section :)

The discussion comes when I ask myself: (1)do people wear make-up because they like playing with and they see it as an art/ a way to express themselves, (2)or they wear it to cover up their face because they feel insecure? I think this only applies to girls (at least, where I live, I have never seen a guy wearing a full-face make-up, you know right?), but if you're a boy, feel free to continue reading as well!

1. Hey! If you're one of those people who see make-up as an art that's awesome! I'm not only talking about an everyday make-up look, but there are also those dramatic looks that are really impressive. I do consider make-up an art, the difference is that the canvas is your own skin, imagine putting make-up all over your body?! That would be cool, like the music video for "Somebody that I used to know". Anyways, I'm beating around the bushes.

2. Now, to the ones who wear make-up because they feel insecure... I should say that there's no reason to do this because everybody is beautiful in their own way (and it's true), that society is trying to put stereotypes for everything and you shouldn't follow them (and you shouldn't), that covering your face won't help you to have a higher self esteem if the problem is inside yourself... blah, blah, blah. But what's wrong with wearing make-up if it makes you feel more confident? If when you're wearing it you feel like you're going to conquer the world? (get ready for my philosophical speech) We have to do what makes us feel good and there's no problem if make-up is involved with it. There's still time to work on our personal image and if you feel great with a smokey eye that's awesome! However, you need to learn to love yourself with and without make-up, because at the end of the day, your make-up runs out but your natural skin stays there (was that too poetic?).

I think the conclusion is that everyone wears make-up for a reason, so don't judge if you don't know what's behind it :)

HEY WOMAN! THIS IS HOW TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES

During the 19th century, women had no choice but to work in order to financially support their families. They used to work in factories, or did domestic service for richer households. This was an addition to their regular unpaid work at home, which included cooking, cleaning, taking care of their children...  When the First World War was declared, a large number of men had to join the forces, that's why many women were asked to occupy these jobs. The history behind women and work goes on and on, and there are a lot of things that still have to change (why do women earn less than a man doing the exact same job? why isn't well accepted for women to certain jobs because they are supposed to be "for men"?), but we could say that nowadays, we have become a very important part of the working world. 

Because women earn less over their lifetime than men and live longer in retirement, they also tend to have less saved, that's why it is so important for us to start managing our money as early as possible. Part of the reason I'm writing this post is to inspire women to manage their finances well and help close this gender gap. 

When it comes to staying financially organised, my mother is my role model. She keeps control of everything money-related in our house and she does more than well. I decided it would be a good idea to share some of her tips, so here they are:

- Ask for your receipts to see how much you spend: one of the things I admire the most about my mother is how she collects all the receipts and keeps them in an envelope. At the end of the month, she uses Excel document to write down everything she spent, I recommend you to separate it in different sections such as food, clothes, gas...  This way, you have more detailed information and it's easier to see where most of your money goes.

- Save now, benefit yourself later: Woman usually assign money-related tasks to their husbands, that's why sometimes, they face financial struggles later in life. The problem is that when husbands die, women often find themselves with less money than expected, and they don't know how to manage it. Free tools like Personal Capital's  retirement planner and calculator can help with this. It allows people to manage their finances and plan for retirement on a simple platform. So start saving now girls!! When I talk about saving I also include holidays and other things to treat yourself. It's also good to have savings for the unsexpected expenses you may have (like having to fix the toilet, breaking your leg...)

- Avoid wasting your money: it's sounds obvious and pretty hard to do, but if you have your list of expenses it's way easier. The only thing you need to do is check on what you spent the most money on and find out a way to change that. Let's say you go to Starbucks every morning... you could cut down on that, or maybe you go shopping when you're hungry and you end up buying more stuff that you weren't supposed to get (I don't know why all the examples that came to my mind are related with food...). I would recommend you to invest on a good coffee maker so you can have coffe at home and to have a shopping list with you (don't forget eat something before going to the supermarket)! Quick tip: if you want to spend less, go cash! Having your card with you makes you more likely to spend money. Plan purchases ahead and take the money you need for the week and forget about your card!

- Set up a budget: I love budgeting!! I may have inherited it from my mum. Wether it's a small thing like your winter clothes or a bigger one like buying a car, I think it always comes handy to have an aproximate budget so you don't overspend. Be realistic when elaborating it, I would suggest to set a lower figure to make sure you don't get any surprise. If it ends up being cheaper than you planed, save the rest of the money!  If you find something you extremely like that doesn't fit your budget, look for other places where it's sold and compare, compare and compare! You never know when you'll find an amazing deal.

That's it for today's post. I hope you found those tips useful and if you have any advice, don't forget to share it with me in the comments below! Have a nice weekend :)

Disclamer: all the pictures are from UNSPLASH except the first one.

A PHOTOSHOT INSIDE AN ABANDONED FACTORY

Since I bought my DSLR camera I've never had the chance to do a proper photoshot with somebody until a few weeks ago. At first I used to ask one or my friends to pose for me in the middle of the street or something to start learning how to use my camera and figure out the settings. 

However, I wanted to take my photography to the next level and prepare something cool. I found this old factory which was pretty close from where I live and I decided that I wanted to go there and take some shots. This time I had everything on my mind, I had a mental picture of everything I wanted to capture, how I wanted the model to pose... So I called my best friend, send her some inspiration that I got from Pinterest and told her: "Yep, you need to wear this and that because you'll be modeling for me", and then, she was in! 

The day we finally went to the factory to do the shot, it was raining a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT, so the lighting wasn't really good (excuses of bad photographers). Anyway, I loved how they turned out, that's why I decided to share my favourite pics in here. I'm no professional or anything, I just enjoy taking pictures and this time I had the amazing opportunity to do it while hanging out with my best friend, so we both had a great time! The building was amazing, it was a ruin and it could fall apart at any moment, the first floor was covered in mud (because there's a river next to it), but the rest was more than fine. The last level had fallen years ago I gess, that why I could take the first picture you'll see. Overall, the building was exactly how I had imagined, which was an exciting discovery one we arrived there. I was scared that I would be a simple and empty place with nothing to work with inside, you know what I mean? But it wasn't! 

While taking this pictures I realised that using manual mode it's harder than it seems. At the beginning I tried to adjust the setting myself but I must admit that I finished using the automatic. Photoshop has been a great help when adjusting the contrast and the lighting. I only edited them a bit, lowering the brightness to give a darker look and increasing the contrast. Here's the final result, tell me your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any suggestion on how I can improve my photography skills don't hesitate to tell me!

SUMMER NOTES AND PICTURES: PART #2

This second part of SUMMER NOTES AND PICTURES is more about details, little things that I thought I would capture. If you haven't checked the first post, click right here and you'll be able to read it :) In a week I'm starting school again... Ugh. Two months ago I was excited about it, but now that it is this close I would rather spend the rest of my life on holidays. The fun part is that I get to go "back to school" shopping. Anyways, let's do a "remember when" of this last summer before it's over.

Beach, beach, beach!! This summer I went to the beach a lot and I loved it. Sometimes I have the feeling that I don't really get that tanned, but looking through pictures I see that this summer I got tanned which is such an achievement for me (I'm very pale). I've always wanted to take a picture like the one above because it looks very tumblr, so I asked one of my friends to pose for me and here it is! 

This is what I call one the best breakfasts I have ever had (looks yummy, doesn't it?). I remember how tasty this sandwiches were (writing this I'm starting to get hungry). The place had the nicest decoration and overall it was very cosy. When I took my DSLR camera to take a proper picture I felt a bit out of place, but as you can see, it was totally worth it! Now I can look at it whenever I want.

Yes, this pic is from Amsterdam as well. Something that really caught my eye is the fact that there were flowers (and bikes) everywhere. I have always wanted to ride a bike with some flowers on the front. I guess some dreams take a little more time than others...

Pineapples in a wood box. There's this kind of hype towards pineapples that I still don't get, but these looked cute. There was an old man next to them, having some coffee and looking outside the window, isn't that romantic?