My Sweater Weather Playlist

I'm a little scared for saying this because I might potentially jinx it, but Kuwait's weather has finally started cooling down! This excites me a lot as "in-between" weather is my most favorite kind of weather!

I thought I would put together a playlist of some of my all-time favorite songs that are perfect for this time of the year. I always, always associate cold weather with snuggles, warm drinks, books, cozy clothing and music like this.

Sunday Morning | Maroon 5

Thinking Out Loud | Ed Sheeran

Wake Me Up | Ed Sheeran

Why Georgia | John Mayer

Nerdy | Busted

Fast Car | Tracy Chapman (Boyce Avenue feat. Kina Grannis cover)

True Love | Coldplay

The Scientist | Coldplay

Fix You | Coldplay

Chasing Cars | Snow Patrol

Last Hope | Paramore

Gravity | Sara Bareilles

You and Me | Lifehouse

Already Dreaming | Nicholas Wells

Sympathy | Googoo Dolls

Somewhere Only We Know | Keane

Remembering Sunday | All Time Low

Planes, Oceans and Symphonies | Weatherstar

Let Me In | Grouplove

The Man Who Can't Be Moved | The Script

All Too Well | Taylor Swift

Ours | Taylor Swift

Are you all as excited about the weather cooling down? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! I hope you all have a wonderful "in-between" season filled with lots of warm hugs and snuggles.

Kisses,

S

Life Update + Quitting Blogging??

Hey guys! I cannot even put to words how much I've missed blogging here! Ever since I started my new job, it's been taking up a ton of my time and although the working hours are so much better than my old job, I feel as though I don't have as much free time as I used to. Anyway! I wanted to make this post today as a little update about what's going on in my life.

I don't know if I've ever spoken about what I do before, so I guess now would be a great time! I'm a nurse and currently, I work at a dental center. Nursing, career-wise, is very versatile but never did I think I'd be working in the dental area! It's all very new and exciting to me so I've just been spending most of my time trying to learn all these new things. Consequently, I pushed my blog aside, convincing myself that it was impossible to find the time to still do this with the schedule I had. However, I'd always keep having these little spurs during the day where I'd get an idea for a post and it would get me so excited but I kept pushing it away because, like I said, I "didn't have the time".

So, sadly, I have decided to quit blogging.










SIKE! I hope I got you there! I'm totally kidding. ;))

While I may not be going to post as much as I used to, I'm still going to try my best! Some of them are going to be a little random, some a little short, but I'll be posting nonetheless. This place has become my little creative bubble that I don't think I could ever quit doing it!

Kisses,

S

My Top 10: 'The Fault In Our Stars' Quotes

So, a couple of weeks ago, I voluntarily let myself on an emotional roller coaster and went to see The Fault In Our Stars. I was anticipating the release of this movie for quite sometime now and I'm happy to say that it did not fall short of my expectations! It's been quite a few weeks already but I'm still so attached to the story, I felt it only necessary that it makes a feature on my blog. 

In today's post, I wanted to share my most favorite quotes from the book! Feel free to share your personal favorites in the comments below! :)

1) “I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend.”

2) “That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.”

3) “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

4) “I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”

5) “Oh, I wouldn’t mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.”

6) “My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations”

7) “You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice.”

8) “You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world but you do have some say in who hurts you.”

9) “Grief does not change you. It reveals you.”

10) "Okay?" "Okay."

♥ “The voracious ambition of humans is never sated by dreams coming true, because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again.”

♥ “Dad always told me that you can judge people by the way they treat waiters and assistants.”

♥ “The marks humans leave are too often scars.”

♥ “You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.”

I may have had to cheat a little and give you more than 10 but I couldn't help it! If you're looking for something to read this summer, I would highly recommend checking out this beautiful book by John Green. I keep re-reading it and I still gush over the story every time! :)

Kisses,

S

What I Loved in April (&) May!

The thing with time is that it doesn't stop for anyone, no matter how unprepared they may be. I can't believe we're halfway done with 2014 already!! Isn't it crazy how it just breezed by us!? Well, I hope you're all doing amazing nonetheless! I missed putting up one of these posts for April and I'm a little OCD when it comes to things like that so I'm combining it with this month's post! ^_^

Music

The first thing I want to talk about is music! Over the last two months, I discovered a lot of new music that I've really been enjoying! I actually worked together with The Girl in the Moonlight and we guest posted on each other's blogs sharing our favorite songs for Spring. If you missed those posts, you can check them out HERE and HERE! Specifically, music from Us and Dan + Shay stood out a lot to me.

Kiehl's Hand Salve

I've previously raved about Soap & Glory's Hand Food and although it's still one of my favorite hand creams, I've found another worthy opponent. This one however doesn't leave a scent behind so I've really been loving it! It sinks into my skin flawlessly and really nourishes and soothes it.

Pink Sun Kissed Body Mist

I think this scent is the epitome of summer! It smells of coconuts and vanilla and every time I put this on, I can almost feel I'm on a tropical island sipping on piña coladas. Ah.

Clarisonic Mia

My Clarisonic has been showing me a lot of love these past few months! Early this year, I started to break out really bad and it was mostly hormonal break outs. I've been using this together with my Aveeno cleanser to wash my face every night and it's been working really nicely for me so far! It leaves my skin feeling really clean but not tight, which of course is always a great thing.

Forever 21 spiked sandals

I basically live in these shoes now. They magically go with any outfit I put on so I've really been getting a lot of use out of them.

Banana soy shakes

I've been making myself one of these "soy" shakes for breakfast every morning and they're the perfect thing to start your day with. I'm aiming to have a recipe up on my blog sometime soon! Fingers crossed I get around to it haha!

Support stockings

This might be a little random but if you have to stand for multiple hours daily, you know that these babies are life savers! Varicose veins aren't cute, guys!!

Demi Lovato's book - Staying Strong

I'm absolutely in love with this book! The closest thing I can describe it to is a best friend who gives you little motivational messages every day. Some days, the messages speak to me directly -  it's both crazy and amazing at the same time. I'm always recommending this to everyone I talk to,

Crime and Investigation Games

I don't know why it took me this long to find out about this genre of games but now I'm completely hooked! I have three in particular that are my favorites to play right now. CSI: Hidden Crimes, Another Case Solved and Hidden Objects: Mystery Crimes. They're all free on the iTunes store so definitely check them out!

TV Shows

First off, can we talk about how The Carrie Diaries was cancelled?!! It was one of my favorite shows and frankly, I don't know why they would do that. I mean, hi Austin Butler?? However!! Another one of my favorite shows, Awkward, is now back! Sadie Saxton is literally my spirit animal! Also, I started watching Faking It and I've really been enjoying that too! They're both on the MTV network is you're interested!

The Wayans Brothers Comedy Show

My siblings and I are literally obsessed with the movie 'White Chicks' so when I found out that Marlon and Shawn Wayans were coming to Kuwait, I completely flipped out!! Of course, we HAD to go see them! The show was absolutely hilarious and totally worth it. Wil Sylvince (a stand up comedian whom I previously have not heard of!) opened up the show and he was incredible. I definitely recommend going to a show if they're coming to your city!

Taking Risks

It's really true when people say that you never know your true potential if you don't push yourself and take a risk. I've been taking a lot of risks lately and thankfully, they've pushed me to better places. So please, don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone once in a while. You'll never realize your potential if you keep playing it safe.

Okay! I'm done with my pep talk and possibly the longest post in my blog history. I've truly missed getting to sit down and type down my thoughts so I apologize if this was too long for you! If you're reading until here though, thank you and I hope you got something out of this! Let me know in the comments below all the things you've been enjoying lately! I hope you all have a lovely month ahead!

Kisses,

S

Monday Motivation: May

Hey guys! I've been horrible at taking care of my blog lately and I could stay all day listing down reasons but I won't! I've found that since I started my new job, I don't find myself having as much free time as I used to. It's not a bad thing though because I've finally found a place I'm comfortable with. It was a little challenging when I first started because everything was completely new to me and I would have to learn on the spot. With everyone experienced around me, I couldn't help but feel a little...stupid.

Early this year, I started reading Demi Lovato's book - Staying Strong, and I came across a chapter a few weeks ago that I believe was no accident and I feel was written just for me! I wanted to share it with you today just in case any of you are going through the same thing.

April 22 

"Remember how far you've come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be." - RICK WARREN 

Most of our lives move at such an accelerated pace we don't always have the time to stop and reflect on how far we've come. We are usually too busy looking ahead. But it's so important to keep checking in with yourself. We change all the time. It's easy to get caught up feeling dissatisfied with where you are when you don't take the time to appreciate how far you've come. You don't have to be exactly where you want to be, but the fact that you are on your way is remarkable. Good things and progress take time. 

Goal: Make today all about celebrating how far you've come in your life since last year. What is something you've changed in your life that you are proud of?

I highly recommend checking out Demi's book if you can! There are motivational messages, like the one you read above, for every day of the year. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, I hope you had a nice weekend and I wish you all an even better week ahead! :)

Kisses,

S

My Top 10: Scents & Memories

Scents can be very nostalgic, at least to me. They have the power to bring me back to a specific memory and it's quite surreal and amazing at the same time. Today, I wanted to talk about my most favorite scents and the memories associated with them!

1) Coffee. Mmmmm! I'm not a huge coffee drinker but I adore the smell so much! There's something about it that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside which is a little strange since most of the memories I associate with coffee include all nighters and school.

2) Roses. I'm talking fresh roses, the kind that just whisper sweet notes that you can only hear with your nose. One of my all time favorite shower gels is Rose Jam from Lush and it wreaks (I mean it in the best way!) of roses and ughhhh it's SO good!

3) Chocolate. I mean, of course. When I was younger, I would dream of opening up my own little chocolaterie, kind of like the one in the movie 'Chocolat', mainly because I'd always have a reason to be around chocolate! 

4) The beach. The smell of the water, sand and sunscreen combined bring me back to summer and I always associate that with some of my favorite memories!

5) A Lush shop. The smell of a Lush shop can be a little overpowering for most people but it smells like soap heaven to me! I give myself little Lush treats once in a while and they truly make me so happy!

6) Freshly cut grass. This might sound odd, but I really do enjoy the smell of grass! When I was in college, my apartment was close to a lot of greenery and I don't know, this particular smell just reminds me of mornings where I would just walk to school and enjoy the sunshine.

7) Peppermint. Hands down, this has to be the scent that relaxes me the most! Peppermint, naturally, reminds me of Christmas time but mostly, it takes me back to nail salons and massage spas!

8) Bread. Another one of my dreams included owning a bakery! Baking is one of my favorite things to do and there's really nothing like the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread.

9) Garlic + Coriander. Coming from a Lebanese family, garlic and coriander are two of the most popular ingredients in it's cuisine. When these two are being cooked together, it creates one of the most amazing aromas that instantly makes my mouth water!

10) Citrus fruits. Specifically tangerine, lemon and grapefruit! They carry a ton of summer memories but also, they're one of my favorite scents that I like to wear all year round.

This post was a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoyed reading through it! I'd love to know what your favorite scent/s is/are! Tell me in the comments below.

Kisses,

S

Monday Motivation: April

One of my favorite things about blogging is the ability to make an impact on someone with just words. I started this 'Monday Motivation' series last year with that idea in mind - to inspire people to live. 

I once read that you can be alive but not living. Personally, I think to really be living, you need to do things that make YOU happy. Today, I want to share something that happened to me early this month. I've been working the same job for almost two years and initially, I loved it but as time went on, it felt like I had to drag myself to work. I thought that everyone felt that way so I pushed through it. I kept looking forward to the weekends, or rather 'weekend' since I only got to have a day off. What I was doing didn't excite me anymore and more importantly, it didn't challenge me - I was doing it just for the money. I took a month off work and on my first day back, I had an epiphany, if you may, and said to myself "what are you doing?". I wasn't enjoying what I was doing anymore and it wasn't making me happy. So that day, I decided to quit my job. At the time, I didn't know what I would do next but I knew it didn't feel right staying there anymore. Since then, I found a job in a different field and it seems like a right place to be. It's been really challenging so far but I'm excited to learn and just see what this chapter of my life holds for me. 

Long story short, I just wanted to tell you guys that if something isn't making you happy, stop doing it. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that. I'm not just talking about a job. Whether it's people, things or situations that's making you unhappy, find the courage to allow yourself to let go of them and finally give yourself a chance to truly be alive.

On a much lighter note, I hope you all are having a lovely day, wherever you are! I missed doing these motivation posts and I hope today's post helped you somehow! If not, please enjoy this video of a beluga whale being serenaded by a Mariachi band.

Kisses,

S