New Year's Resolutions 2014

It's hard to believe another year is already coming to a close. I'll be honest, 2013 was not one of my better years. In fact, it was one of my worst. Which is why I'm welcoming a fresh start for 2014. I've made new year's resolutions in the past, but very rarely did I actually keep them. I think the the problem lies in the resolutions themselves. I resolved to do things not because I had a deep desire to accomplish them, but rather because I liked the idea of accomplishing them. So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2014!

1. Meditate every day. Meditation is so good for you, I know that. So for 2014, I'm going to try to get into it. I'll put in an effort everyday and if it works, great. If not, it's never a bad thing to take a few minutes to clear your mind and do nothing.

2. Write Everyday. There's only one way to become a better writer and that's to write! So I am going to starting writing everyday. Whether it's a blog entry, or a page of my (first attempt at a) novel, I'm going to make an effort to do a little bit every day.

3. Read all the books I've been meaning to. I am the worst when it comes to buying books and then never getting around to actually reading them. I have a huge pile of books I've accumulated over the last couple of years, which I will tackle this year!

4. Do a cardio workout at least 3 times a week. Between a knee injury and some other health issues, I've had to forgo my usual exercise routine over the last year. I've suffered in more ways than one because of it. I know I'm healthier and happier when I'm being active, so I am determined to get back into it in 2014. If one form of cardio is too much for my knee, I will find something else to do.

5. Drink more water. This is something I've been trying to do lately, and will continue with full force into the new year. not only is it good for me in general, but the doctor has told me to do so (yay for having super low blood pressure).

6. Challenge myself. In some senses I did a lot in 2013, in others not at all. So I want to make up for it in 2014 by really pushing myself to grow as a person. I'm not sure yet what all this will entail, but I'm sure I will recognize it when the opportunity arises.

And those are my resolutions for 2014. I hope you all have a great new year's celebration tonight. Let's make 2014 the best year yet!

xx Nicole

Merry Christmas

Hello lovelies!

I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas :)

I've really enjoyed my journey into the world of blogging and YouTube this year, and am so thankful for all of the wonderful people I've had the opportunity to meet through both of these!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with lots of family/friends, food and love!

xxNicole

White and Gold

Another week, another variation of Christmas-y nails! I love white in the winter, and adore the combination of white and gold. So it made perfect sense to combine the two. I was inspired by the lovely Anna Saccone-Joly, who did a similar nail look last week.

I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in White-On, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Wedding Glitters for the accent nail.

xx Nicole

Shortbread Cookies

I've been a bit late doing my holiday baking this year. Christmas seems to be creeping up on me; how are we only a week away from the big day?! It was about time I got these cookies made, as they've been on my to do list for a while! Shortbread has always been a staple in my family, and they remain one of my favorite treats to this day. You can find the recipe I used here.

Christmas Nails

My nails have been the standard 'some shade of dark polish' since September, so I decided it was time to give them a Christmas-y touch!

I started by applying OPI's Ridge Filler Base coat to my nails. They tend to be rather dry/flakey this time of year, so this creates a smoooth base for the polish. Next I applied two coats of Nicole by OPI's Keeping Up With Santa polish. As an accent, I added Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme wear Nail Color in Strobe light to my ring finger.To Finish, I added OPI's Top Coat to the other nails. I love how festive this is; it's a nice change from the traditional red Christmas manicure!

xx Nicole

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We've officially gone into full-on Christmas mode around here. So I thought I would share a few photos of the decorations around my house! Hope you're all starting to get into the Christmas-y spirit :)

xx Nicole

Change

Well, to say I lack consistancy on this blog is an understatement. I seem to get bursts of creativity and inspiration, but then fall flat after a post or two.

When I came up with the idea to start a blog, I thought I would be the perfect fit for me! I've always loved writing, so a hobby which provides me a platform to do that would be awesome, right? But after the initial excitement wore off, I found I wasn't enjoying it as much as I'd hoped. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why. However, after some soul searching, I think I've finally figured it out.

It isn't the actually writing of a blog that's the problem, but rather the content I'm writing about. Let me explain. I decided to start a beauty blog after being a long time reader of other popular beauty blogs. Everything these girls posted about in their blogs had a magicial quality about it. It was as though they lived in a perfect fairy-tale world, and I wanted that too. The problem is, I don't live in a perfect world. At times my live may seem like a fairy-tale, but more often than not it's messy, comlicated and real.

I think I've also gone wrong with trying to create a beauty blog. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy beauty, fashion and all things girly as much as the next girl. But it's not the only thing I care about. Because of this, I found myself struggling to write posts half-heartedly so I could have new content up on my blog.

So what can you expect from me? Anything and everything. I still plan to post about things like beauty and fashion, but only when something really excites me and I'm passionate about it. Lately I've been loving the blog and youtube channel of the lovely Louise, also known as Sprinkle of Glitter. She has taken such a fantastic approach to this whole creating things for the internet thing, and that's above all to be real and try to help others whenever you can. She has totally changed my outlook on how I'm going to go about this blog (and also my youtube channel), and for that I'm so so grateful. I highly recommend checking her out if you haven't already, as she really is a breath of fresh air in this crazy internet world we live in!

Thanks for listening to my rambling. I'm really excited to begin this new chapter, and would love to have you along for the ride :)

xx Nicole