Negativity

Hello, love <3

     I am currently reading "Girl Online: On Tour," Zoë Sugg's second novel.

     As I was reading today I came across a sentence that really stuck out to me and I really related to:

Page 127:
"I grit my teeth and push back any negative thoughts that try to take hold, bursting them like soap bubbles before they can land on my brain."

     When I read it I instantly related it to myself. Last week I uploaded a video to my channel, Random Talks No. 3 which you can watch below, that was centered around positivity and this sentence reminded me so much of what I had said in that video.

     Zoë is one of those people that just instantly makes you smile very, VERY wide. Her videos always get me in a good mood and turn my frown upside down if I'm not having a good day. And as I was in school, sitting in the same desk I had been for the past hour or so, I felt as though she was there motivating me to keep going and continue being positive.

     That does sound kind of creepy, but in that moment I felt like I was really relating to her, and more specifically, Penny, the main character in her novel.

     I mention in my video that I tend to be quite the "Negative Nancy" when I'm by myself. This sentence showed me that I'm not alone, and other people are the same way. I try my best to push those thoughts out of my head, but they tend to take over a lot of the time. But why let them? Why let those pesky, little thoughts whiz around in your head when you could be thinking about much more positive things?

     I mentioned in my last post that English isn't as great as I hoped, but as I was walking in the hallway with my friend on our way to English class today I went to say "Ugh, this is going to be awful." But I stopped myself mid-sentence and went with "No, this is going to be a good class." And no joke, I don't know if it was because we didn't do as monotonous work as usual or if it was because I had told myself the class wouldn't be bad, but (compared to other days) it wasn't bad at all!

     Who knew I could get that much out of 27 words?!

     So thank you Zoë (and Penny) for helping through the day and showing me that negative thoughts shouldn't control me.

     Thank you for reading and I'll talk to you soon.

*computer hug*

Hello

Hello, love <3

     No, this is not a review of Adele's new song (lol), but if you haven't heard it you definitely should!! Quite the comeback if I do say so myself.

     Anyway, I've been lacking inspiration lately. Every time I go to write a blog post, my hands don't budge and there's nothing to type. Writer's block? I don't think so. I think part of me really, really wants to get back into writing as frequently as I used to. But I think another part of me is just putting it off.

     So, I'm here. I'm here, in the now, writing this post with a smile on my face because I seem to forget that every time I write I feel all bubbly and happy inside.

     I have decided to join in on my school's newspaper because one, I wanted to join clubs and expand on extra curricular activities and two, I want to showcase my writing skills in a new way. I'm quite nervous as I don't want to compare myself to others and I don't want to let anyone down. I've gone to quite a few different clubs that I ended up not joining, but I feel as though this one is different and I will really enjoy it.

     In other news, the love of my life, Troye Sivan, announced his album titled "Blue Neighbourhood" set to be released December 4! I've already pre-ordered, but if you haven't you definitely should, or go to his YouTube channel and listen to his incredible, raw, & unique music or watch his hilarious videos.

     Fifth paragraph in and I've already promoted two artists... No shame.

     Completely different topic, I've been doing an exercise recently where very night I write down what I am thankful for, both the good and the bad. I write thank you notes to myself, you could say, and explain what each thing has taught me. It has actually helped me realize how much we learn in a day - not counting school (lol). Everything that happens to us happens for a reason, and when you take a second to reflect on that it's quite an interesting conversation to have with yourself.

     Let's see, what else... I might've mentioned this before, but English this year has not been my favorite class. English (because it involves writing) is up there on my list of favorite subjects. But lately, I haven't been feeling it. If only we used that hour and 20 minutes as a free-writing period. Oh, how wonderful that would be. Have you ever had a class where you just weren't feeling it? But, I'm going to push through it, because at the end of the day I do enjoy the times in class where we do write and the rest of it is informative information. So, if you're ever in a situation where you just want to get up and walk out of the classroom, take a couple deep breaths and focus on the information that's being presented to you. If you think that it's the worst and most boring thing in the world, then it will be the worst and most boring thing in the world. If you walk in and out of that room with a positive attitude in mindset, you'll make it through much easier.

     This past month I've been going to conditioning workouts after school as I am trying out for my school's swim team next week! Workouts are an hour and a half after school each day; this week is the last week. This month I've pushed my body more than ever before. I'm proud of how far I've come and have surprised myself with the amount of work I can do. I also went to a Swim Development "class" today with the swim coach and got some great advice to help get me ready for tryouts. Hopefully, I'll make the team. Everyone at conditioning is so kind and supportive. Even though I am usually one of the last to finish whatever we are doing, their cheers and support motivate me to keep going. I really hope to make the team not only because I love to swim, but also because I want to be a part of something. I have a feeling that swimming is that something, and this "family" that I've come to know over the past month or so has made me feel very happy!

     I feel like I've just been blabbing on and on as if I'm talking to someone. Which, technically, I am. You know what I mean.

     If you have any ways of getting inspiration to write or ways of getting motivated in general, please leave a comment. It would definitely help me and I'm sure it would help others. I'll go first: Sometimes if I'm stuck, I will write the title of my post and just stem from there. Throw out a random word and base your work off of that. See where it gets you! I bet you'll write about something you never have before :)

     Thank you for reading and I'll talk to you very soon.

*computer hug*

Beautiful Day

Hello loves <3

     Today school was let out early (we only had to stay for 3 hours!!) and my friends and I had the best day ever!

     Izzy, Caitlin, Erika, and I walked home after school - side note: walking up hills and on grass in heeled boots is quite the workout - and popped into one of the most aesthetic cafés ever! Rush, an Australian (HOW COOL?!) espresso café was recommended to us by Izzy, and just by looking at their menu the night before I was hooked.

     My excitement built up as we entered the doors to find beautiful white, leather couches, industrial metal chairs, and rustic, wooden tables. The whole place was straight from Tumblr, pretty much.

     Erika brought her camera along so we ended up taking...umm...over 900 pictures...in the span of 7 hours...I know, CRAZY.

     Our food was absolutely DELICIOUS! I ordered the "Chicken & Basil Pesto Melt" which was exquisite. Honestly, I couldn't have been more impressed. Plus, they totally got extra points for presentation.

I mean, look at this! 

     Caitlin got the "Sydney Panini," obviously named after Sydney, Australia. A big part of Australian breakfast, I don't know about other meals, is avocado. And Izzy & Cait are BIG avocado fans, so it wasn't a surprise that Cait's sandwich had some yummy avocado in it.

     Izzy also ended up getting the "Chicken & Basil Pesto Melt" and boy, was it yummy!

Can we take a minute to appreciate how photogenic this food is?

     Izzy and I also had these drinks called "Affogatos" - basically espresso topped with ice cream and whipped cream. It was unlike anything I've had before! Izzy went to Europe this past summer and is really into foreign foods and drinks, so I was excited to try all of the things she recommended.

     Anyway after we spent an hour and a half in Rush taking silly candids and munching on amazing foods, we went up to the roof of a parking garage and had a mini photo session.

Just though this picture was super cute and artsy (thanks, Izzy).

     Everyone thought the café was super cute, chill, and relaxed. Not to mention, they had the BEST music playing. We practically knew every song! The fact that the food was Aussie-inspired and unique was awesome and quaint.

     My ultimate inspiration, Troye Sivan, is Australian; it was so cool to get a taste of Australia the only way possible here where I live.

     We went home and did some homework, danced around to all different sorts of music, created inside jokes I know we will remember forever, and spent way too long on Snapchat. I'd like to recognize my friends' amazing photography skills and am so grateful to have all of these pictures I will cherish forever! (I only included 15 here, but that leaves 942 others)

     I had so much fun with these girls and am so lucky to call them my friends. Love you!

     One last thing, Erika & Izzy have YouTube channels! We have all collabed before, I will link those videos here and here. To get to Erika's channel click here! To get to Izzy's channel click here! Be sure to subscribe as they upload awesome content! Izzy will hopefully begin uploading more amazing videos soon :) 

     Thank you for reading and I'll talk to you soon.

*computer hug*