Looking Back and 2015 Resolutions: A Tag

I know that these tags have decreased in popularity over the past year, but I couldn't be happier that I did this tag last year (click here for last year's post). I find that doing a tag rather than a paragraph-by-paragraph reflection is easier to sort out thoughts and keeps them organized and easy to read. Half of this tag will feature questions about looking back on 2014 and the half will be resolutions. I also decided to tweak some questions to make them less beauty-related and more well rounded.

∙ LOOKING BACK ON 2014 ∙

Name 3 things you did in this past year that you're proud of.
         ∙ Running. I started running this year, which I found to be quite enjoyable and helped my energy levels.
         ∙ Being more invested in my blog. This year, I have discovered that my blog has really been a good outlet for me over this past year.
         ∙ Opening up to my parents. In contrast to opening up to strangers (which I will explain later) I opened up to my parents a little about my rough year. I am not one to tell others my problems, but my stress got to a point where I just needed to tell someone some of what I was keeping in.

Name 1 thing you wish you'd have done differently. Not being scared of moving forward with relationships. I found that I have hard time opening up and allowing new people in my life, whether it's friendships or dating. I realized that I should I have not been so guarded and I probably missed out on some great people. This is something that I plan to fixing this year.

What was your biggest highlight this past year? My trip to Korea with my mom! Even though we were only there for less than two weeks, it was so nice seeing family again and experiencing young, Korean life. I did posts here and here on my trip earlier this year.

What was your favorite beauty product(s) this year? My favorite beauty products this year (because I couldn't choose just one) were the Revlon Lip Butter in "Juicy Papaya" (review here) and the Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in "Caviar Ink". Eyeliner is a must-have for me and the lip butter is the perfect 'girl-next-door' shade.

Who do you want to thank for being amazing this year? My family. This past year has been a little rough and inconsistent, and one of the only constant things that I found was the support from my family.

∙ 2015 RESOLUTIONS ∙ 

What are the makeup/beauty resolutions you have for next year? Continue with experimenting with more lip colors. I have branched out a little with lip colors this year, but I want to try to push myself to try trends, such as the 'Kylie Jenner lip-color-look' and deeper colors.

What are the fashion resolutions you have for next year? To continue to evolve my fashion style towards a style that I'm happy with and to wear more skirts. I do like skirts and dresses, but as surprising as it may be, I find them a little intimating. I'm more of a jeans or leggings (or even gym clothing) kind of girl, but there are so many outfits on Pinterest that I want to take inspiration from to help evolve my style.

What are your personal resolutions for next year?

         ∙ Find out my passion. This was on of my resolutions last year, but I unfortunately didn't accomplish it. I know that finding a passion isn't something that can be forced, but I am hoping to be closer to finding it this year.
         ∙ Finally declare a major. This falls along the lines of my previous resolution, but since I am a sophomore in college, I need to pick a major I'm passionate about and stick with it.
         ∙ Take risks. Whether it's with school, travel, or life in general. I need to push myself more than I have already have and hope that it will lead to great learning experiences. Even if it's something like study abroad.
         ∙ Eat healthier and work out more. I know, this is on everyones resolutions list. Even though I kind of accomplished this last year, I definitely still need to try to eat healthier and work out more.
         ∙ Be happy by December 2015. I hope that by the end of the year, I have moved forward from a restricting past, have taken risks, and lastly, find a way to be in a place where I'm happy.

What are your blog resolutions for 2015? I want to have more self-taken photos on my blog and have quality posts. This may be difficult with my heavy workload this school year, but I will try my best to make this happen. Even though my blog is an outlet for who I am, I also want to shape my blog into a better, updated representation of myself, since I have changed a lot in the past year.

Name 1 thing you want to check off your bucket list next year. Finding a legit job. I have been
"self-employed", such as tutoring and such 'jobs'. However, I hope to find a job with a consistent pay from an actual employer.

What is one of your resolutions for 2015?

Please leave your thoughts in a comment below!

Thank you for reading!

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Looking Back On My 2014 Resolutions

Last year I did I tag that included questions about looking back on the year and the resolutions for the next year. I'm very happy that I did this post last year, because it is a great (and organized) way on looking back on my resolutions for 2014. Here are the questions from last year's post: (full post here)

∙ 2014 RESOLUTIONS∙ 

1. What are the makeup/beauty resolutions you have for next year? I think that I want to try to branch out a little with makeup and maybe to new colors, such as different blush and lip colors, since I usually just stick to rosy and natural colors!
2. What are the fashion resolutions you have for next year? I think that I want to evolve my fashion style. I'm happy with my style now, but I kinda think that I want to make my style a bit more preppy, like I have always wanted it to be. The problem is that I don't go shopping all that much so I just want to find some good pieces to help my style evolve.
3. What are your personal resolutions for next year? My personal resolutions for next year may seem like a lot, but I want to find a place where I totally happy and to find out what I want to do with my life. I also want to eat healthier and to work out more so I'm just more healthy overall.
4. Name 1 thing you want to check off your bucket list next year. I think that I want to join a yoga class! I know that it's nothing too crazy but I have always wanted to join a yoga class and now that I'm in college, I have more of an opportunity to join one!

∙ END OF 2014 THOUGHTS∙

Branching out with makeup: I would say I partially accomplished this resolution, since I experimented with more lip colors, but not with more blush colors. I finally bought some red lip colors and started wearing more mauve-pink lip colors. However, I seemed to stick with the same rosy pink blush colors for most of the year.

Evolving my style (to more preppy): I'm not sure if I fully accomplished this resolution. Of course, like most things in life, style and fashion ambitions change. I feel that my style has changed in the direction that I want it to go, but it can sometimes be difficult for someone on a budget.

Finding a place where I totally happy: Unfortunately, I would say that I failed this one. 2014 was a tough year for me emotionally and I neglected to find a place for myself (figuratively) where I am happy. This, however, will definitely be on my 2015 resolutions.

Finding out what I want to do with my life: I would say that I have not found my passion, but I have also not moved backwards in this search. Through my classes, I have been found what I like and don't like, but not yet my passion. This will again be on my 2015 resolutions list.

Eating healthier and work out more: I surprisingly accomplished this to a certain extent this year. I did start eating (a little) healthier and started going to the gym and running. This mainly happened due to my fear of gaining the Freshman 15. During these past few holiday months, however, eating healthy has kind of fallen through and I have to pick up my better routine this year.

Join a yoga class: I did accomplish this resolution! I joined my college's beginners yoga class during my spring quarter, and I actually kind of enjoyed it! I haven't gone back since June, but I'm planning on continuing with possibly more challenging yoga classes later this year!

Did you accomplish your 2014 resolutions?

Please leave your thoughts in a comment below!

Thank you for reading!

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What I Learned While In Korea...

It's been a little over a month since I visited Korea, even though it seems like I was there just yesterday! I had been to Korea a few times before, since I have family who live there, but during my recent trip, I went with just my mom (without my dad and sister). I didn't have any expectations before the trip, which was probably the best thing that I could have done.

Even though I didn't have any expectations, I honestly did not expect to have as much fun as I did. Even more, I didn't expect that I would learn more about myself during this 10 day trip than I did all year. Even though the things I learned may be obvious or cliche, I wanted to share the five things that I learned about myself and life, not only because they may be useful, but also because I want them to be in a place where I can look back and be reminded of them whenever I am lost. So here it goes...

There's something about being a different place that make you realize things that, for one reason or another, didn't hit you at home. Since I am a college student, I think a lot about what I want to do in the future, and sometimes I can't help but make my decision based on the idea of proving people that I can succeed in this or that field. I realized, however, that I really need to just focus on what's best for me and somewhat ignore the negative comments others may have about my future plans.

I'm someone who isn't afraid to try new wild foods or try new (dangerous) activities, however, when it comes to decisions involving either my future or social situations, I turn and run. I realized, however, that I shouldn't be afraid to try new things, such as joining some club or considering another major, since honestly, what's the worst that could happen? I will most likely learn more about myself in the process.

Okay, this one is a super hard on for me. I am definitely someone who thinks way too much about what others think of me. This is especially true when it comes to my personality or telling people personal things like my future plans. I learned, however, I need to not care or worry so much about other peoples' opinions, because if I learn to ignore them, it will lift such a large burden and weight off my shoulders, allowing me to be more focused on what is truly important.

This one is pretty straight forward. I need to get a real job for experience, my resume, and something to feed my bank account.

Being immersed in the incredibly fun college Korean culture made me realize that I really need to have fun and be happy. During the past year, I hit some lows that were some of the lowest points of my life, where I was miserable and wasn't happy. When being immersed in the Korean college culture (thanks to my cousin), I learned that I just really need to try to let go and have fun and just be happy. We only got one life and we might as well have a blast living it!

Has traveling ever led to learn new things about yourself and life?

Please leave any thoughts below!

Thank you for reading!

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For Beautiful Eyes, Look For The Good In Others...

Love this quote :) ...

<3

Photo Credit: http://www.themodestmomblog.com/2011/07/for-beautiful-eyes-look-for-good-in.html

We Are Teenage Girls...

I found the poem above from sparkliebarbiexo's tumber (http://sparkliebarbiexo.tumblr.com/) and I found it both funny and so true.
I would say that I can completely relate to this. As a teenage girl, all these things apply to me when I either come home from school or on the weekend.
Reading this poem really hit me. Us teenage girls are based so much on our looks. And it's not just fact that others at school judge us only by the clothes we wear that we wear and the makeup we put on, but also how we feel like we need to do all of this just to impress others at school, whether it's our friends, peers, or a guy.
Right now, writing this, I'm in my sweatpants, with my hair clipped up, no make up, and wearing fuzzy socks with fuzzy slippers. And I'm not going to lie. Practically no one could make me go to school like this.
This made me wonder what if everyone went to school looking like how we are on the weekend at home. I've lived in a house with a teenage guy, but I guess that they would probably come with the same thing they always wear: sweatpants, basketball shorts, a nike tee.
Us girls, though, would come in looking like the side of us that we don't want people to see.
What would people think of us then, seeing the side of us that's not tainted by everyone's expectations of us?