Pages

Monday, 24 August 2015

Family

Hey Everyone!

I would like to apoligize for being away but it has been a pretty difficult time for my family this last little while. We just buried my cousin after having suffered from cancer. I don't really want to go into the details to much but I do have something I would love to share with you.

During the funeral I obviously broke down bad even though I told myself id be strong for my mother and all my family who are suffering through this. I always thought that friends were a better bond then some family but I might actually be wrong.. I am Italian on my mothers side and that can only mean one thing... my family is HUGE. As she was being buried I couldn't stay and watch/hear the screams of my family so I walked away and ended up with my older cousin. I haven't seen him in about six years because our lives are so different. He's 5 years older then me, we live so far apart, he's even been in the USA training as a firefighter for a bit. But with all that time between us when we both couldn't handle the pain and had to leave he was there wiping my face of the crappy Kleenex and tears like we hadn't been apart at all... We grew up together always together, hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of us together and little ones, but times went on and life changed... But i guess sometimes blood is thicker.

I found this all because of him, as soon as we saw eachother we had the customary greeting of the double cheek and hadnt stopped talking until we found ourselves on opposite sides watching our family weep. We ended up far away from everyone, where we could no longer hear the agony of our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, cousins and friends. We just spoke for a long time about how we are to weak to stand by and watch out family in pain with nothing to do to help them. It was a long afternoon but what really got me is our goodbyes. The day was over we stood up and hugged each other, but it wasn't any old hug that the rest of our family got, all we did was say a few simple words "not a funeral" Now you all may be a bit confused, or maybe not if this is the sort of thing that has happened to you. With a family the size of mine it is very difficult to see echother on a regular basis especially when we all live so far apart and all have our own jobs and separate lives, we always know we will see eachother again at a funeral as most of our family is older and the younger generation are not exactly ready to be married yet. "Not a funeral" is simply a promise that we made to eachother in that single moment, a promise that we will not wait for another funeral before we see eachother again. We will not wait for a marriage 5 years from now, we will see eachother soon and I look forward to that day.

Never Back Down!
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Back to School Series #2: University Essentials

Hey again! This is the second installment in the Back to School Series. This time, as you saw in the title I will be focusing on University essentials. This has nothing to do with dorm room essentials I will cover that in another post. This is going to be general essentials, I will post a few supplies that may be needed for certain degrees but you will have to wait to receive a syllabus from your professor for further instructions.

A general list of supplies will be helpful, and you may be surprised with some of the things you find.

- AGENDA! **(You thought I put emphasis on this in my high school list its a lot different now. No matter what program you are in, or what you are doing an agenda should be the one thing that never leaves your side. You should keep this in your bag so that you have it when ever you need to write something down. I know I said it will be a savior before but its a lot different now, without it you will forget things. You will have multiple readings for every class, no matter what program.)**
- Pens, Notebook/Free Paper, Binder/if using paper (This is all depending on what you decide to use but I would recommend having loose paper for anytime you need to hand a question or small participation in lecture. Also loose leaf paper/notebook is helpful in tutorials and practical seminars.)
- Pencils (Again, similar to the high school list, this is mainly for scantron)
- Highlighters (I found these much more helpful in university then I did in high school. Since you buy your textbooks -even if you rent them- the book store usually does not care if the book is highlighted -they only care about water damage so do not drop your textbook in the bathtub or toilet!- So highlighters will be very important for textbook readings and note taking)
- Post-its (Yes post its! Buy them! You will need them, similar to highlighters you will need them for textbook reading and note taking)
- A laptop (This depends on how fast you can type, or now well you can write short hand but if you feel comfortable then I recommend typing your notes, it is much neater and more organized.)
- Printer (I personally recommend a small HP inkjet printer that takes the big cartridge. Yes the ink is rather expensive but it lasts on average 5000 prints which is amazing! The cartridge is around $90 and the printer is about $100 but it is so worth it since one cartridge will last you more then one year. The only con is it is not a colour printer but with school you will rarely if you ever need need to print in colour.)
- USB/Hardrive/Disks (If you are typing your notes, and even if you are only planing on typing assignments, having one or all of these devises will be a great help in making sure you do not lose your 15 page essay when while you are finishing up on your 14th page. BACK UP BACK UP BACK UP, I can not stress this enough. You need to constantly save your work and back it up. Professors do not care if your laptop stopped working, you should have backed it up! Even if you do not want to invest in any of these I would recommend that you email to yourself or use google drive, or cloud, anything that you are able to access your work from another computer.)
- iClicker (Your professor will let you know if the class is required to buy an iClicker, and if you do they will be available in your school bookstore)

 For other programs some things you may need are
- Lab coat and goggles (The Sciences)
- Calculator (Science and Math)
- Art Supplies (If an art student)

Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for more in the series!

Never Back Down!
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo

Saturday, 15 August 2015

Red Queens Castle! Intro

Hey Loves!

So yes of course I have made another series! This is pretty much just going to be about my new house.

Not a tour or anything since I do not have the house yet and won't for at least a year, but this series will be about the different decor ideas and furnature ideas that I am hoping to have in my new home!

I will be doing a new aspect of a room with every post so the Kitchen for example may take up 2 posts as the living room or master bedroom may take 4 posts. It all depends on how much I have to say about each room in particular!

I hope you enjoy this! I am so excited to write all about it!

Crystal xxoo

Monday, 10 August 2015

Florida Haul!!

Hey Lovlies!!

So as you know I recently went to Florida and boy oh boy did I shop! 

To start the one thing I got that I do not have a picture of at the moment is a Milani Lipstick that I picked up from Walgreens because I have continuiously been hearing amazing things about that brand and they do not sell it here in Canada so I will try it out and if I fall in love with it I will 100% pick up other products the next time I head over to the states!

This list will not be in an order but I would like everyone to know this is not be bragging about everything I just know how much I love to read these types of posts so I thought maybe someone would like to read mine!

Also another point everyone should know is that everthing I purchased on this trip has been on sale!

So lets start.
 
Number 1! is this beautiful Nautica suitcase! Regular price $280 I bought it for a whopping $49.99 this was probably the second best buy of that week in the USA!
   
The second day at Universal I was browsing the shops and BAM! I see this bookmark just chilling there on the stand. I guess this was actually the only thing I paid full price for as I paid $8 for a book mark.... but how could I say no to it! 
This book I found in the same shop as the book mark but this one was actually a few $ off so I think I paid $5 less then list price but I can't remember what it actually cost only that on the back of the book it says 10 pounds.
 
This GORGEOUS kate spade bag I has been eyeing all week and I really wanted it but at a price of $390 I knew there was no way I could buy it. So I sadly walked out of the store with my head hung low. Near the end of the week we headed back to the mall of a final day of shopping and I decided it couldn't hurt to walk in and say goodbye to that beautiful bag, and when I walked in the lady smiled and handed me a little flyer or ad whatever you call it that said entire store an additional 50% off! I got excited but then realised the bag would still be to much, I went to take a look at it and found that it was no longer their. I asked a women and she took me to the back of the store and the bag was rcently put on discount! Can you believe me luck! It was 50% off and then I walked in on the sale where everything was another 50% AHHH OMG OMG OMG was my reaction! So after the clearence discount and the sal discount I only paid about $110 with taxes! Can you believe it? I have never been happier then walking out of that store with that bag in my hand! 

 
I got this the day before Disney at the same Walgreens that I purchased on Milani Lipstick at it was a whole $3 and I wanted something cute to bring to Disney world so that I didn't have to spend massive amounts of money on water!  

I just thought this was a super cute shirt! It was only $2.50 as were most of the shirts I got! and I go them all from Aeropostal! 

This bag I got at Van Heusen another great sale! regular $67 and I got it for $15! I almost got a black one as well! But I decided I didn't need yet another purse so I got the black purse for my momma!
 
 
This beautiful Marylin Monroe shirt was one of my many Aero finds! but this one was actually $3.50 I had to spend an extra dollar but in the end it was worth it! 


Radiance by Britney Spears is one of my favorite perfumes so when I found it at marshals for $12 I jumped to buy it! It is a little one but I am very glad I picked it up!


Just like Radiance I managed to find my all time favorite Intimately Beckham by David and Victoria Beckham at Marshals except this one was hidden far behind the others! I managed to grab this one for only $7!


 
Got lucky with these and picked them up for $9! SCORE!
 
These amazing Puma shoes were regularly priced at $50 and I got them for $24! 

My tiny $3 ring from Icing! 


Forever 21! $1.50 Can't say no to that! 


I got these super cute little diney boxers for $4 at the disney store at one of the many malls we went to while in Orlando!

 
 
One of the many $2.50 Crop tops I picked up from Aero!


Another $2.50 Crop top from Aero!


 
Yup another one!!! $2.50  


Thank you Aero! $2.50


 
ANOTHER ONE! $2.50!!!

 
Last but DEF not least! This is my beautiful new MK purse! I got this one the second shopping day so it was the first purse I purchased regular $130 I got it for $60 so it was another great purchase!



All in all I am so super happy about the trip and I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and reliving the excitment of the trip!

Never Back Down!
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo

Sunday, 9 August 2015

Monthly Bucket List! (Aug 2015)

Hey all!

So I will be doing a small monthly bucket list every month and doing a wrap up at the end, it isn't anything huge it is more like a to do list for the month!

I thought it would be fun to just keep track of monthly goals and at the end of the month I will be able to see how well I did with the goal list!

Here is my August Bucket/Goal List!

1) Catch up on New Girl
2) Read at least 3 Books
3) Go Camping
4) Write at least 15 Posts on blog!
5) Watch at least 10 Movies


I think five each month is more then enough and it will be fun to see how well I do!

Never Back Down!
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo

August TBR

Hey Lovlies!

I know my reading posts have be slacking as of late but I have been in the ultimate reading slump for months now and it is killing me! All I want to do is read.

So hopefully although I have been struggling I am praying that this month will be far better then the past few.

Here is a list of some of the books that I would love to read this month.

I am almost 100% sure I will not get to all of these books or maybe any, especially if I don't feel like reading these books in particular!

1) Omens by Kelley Armstrong
2) Visions by Kelley Armstrong
3) Scorch Trials by James Dashner
4) Doctor Who: How to be a Time Lord
5) Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Some extras that I may want to read

6) Paper Towns by John Green
7) The Heir by Kiera Cass
8) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
9) Four by Veronica Roth
10) Tempted by P.C and Kristin Cast
Thanks for reading!

Never Back Down!
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo

Back to School Series!

Hey Lovlies

Yes I know.. "what Crystal? another series?"
well yes the answer is YESS and it wont be the last I have another one comeing soon!

So this series is just tips and tricks to surviving school!

I have been waiting so long to be able to do this series for you guys and I wanted to be able to post it at a time where many will actually be returning to school, not at a time like January where only some people would be returning.

This series will discuss everything from time management to what you should bring into your dorm when moving off to College/University.

I hope you enjoy this series as much as I will be enjoying writing it!

Never Back Up
Never Back Down

Crystal xxoo

Friday, 7 August 2015

July Reading Wrap Up

As you already may know I have been in a pretty terrible reading slump ever since finishing the Selection Series because it was so fun now everything is taking me forever to get through! July was a very sad reading month as was June but I managed to finish two books which I guess is decent since the last little while has been a fail.

I managed to finish Unravel Me and Ignite Me both by Tahareh Mafi. They were really great books and the series in all improved over the three books with Ignite Me being my personal favorite!

I may end up doing a casting on this series just as I did with the Selection series because I really do enjoy casting the books that I read!

Never Back Down
Never Give Up!

Crystal xxoo