As finals week approaches and school comes to a close, we tend to become overly stressed and exert ourselves way too much. This past week I have been extremely stressed out and I am just ready for it to be over.

This post is going to be completely different then most of my posts, this isn't going to be a DIY or fashion post, it is however, going to be a helpful tips post. I am going to share some of my go-to tips for finals.

1. Meditation, when I mediate it's a time for me to focus on God and myself. Meditation helps me relax my brain and just be in the moment. Meditation can also help with getting information to stick. I suggest meditating after a long study sesh and before you leave the house to take your final. I like to use the Stop, Breathe & Think app to do so or you can simply sit down for 5-15 minutes and tell yourself that you got this. 
2. Flashcards!!! I love me some flashcards. I typically have stacks and stacks of them lying around my room and in my folders just ready for me to pull them out and review. I find that writing out the flashcards rather than typing them out on Quizlet helps me remember better. I suggest buying 3x5 cards in bulk, because if you're anything like me, you will go through them all.
3. Kahoot. I recently discovered Kahoot and I just love it. Kahoot is a website where you can create online quiz games for you and your friends to compete in. It's a great study tool and it's also an excuse to study with your friends.
4. Sleep. Do not pull an all-nighter. Studying all night is actually proven to make your test performance worse. Doctors recommend 8 hours of sleep in general, but I try to get at least 10 (yes that does mean going to bed way before Finding Carter is on) just to be safe.
5. Music. I use Spotify for all my musical needs, mainly because who doesn't like listening to music for free? I usually check out their studying playlists under their "Focus Mood" category. These playlists are full of instrumental songs that are meant to ease your brain so that your studying is more effective.
6. Scents. I actually just sprayed my favorite all natural perfume around myself while I was studying. I plan on wearing this perfume on exam day because scents are supposed to help you recall information. Hoping this works!
7. Dressing up. I don't mean wear a dress or skirt (Unless you want to). I mean wear a piece of jewelry like a ring or a fancy necklace. Wearing something nice tells your brain that you aren't going to bed, but instead going to work.

8. Food. I typically go to Panera or Starbucks to study for finals because I love good food and the environment is always pleasing. 

And now to wrap up these tips I just want to say study hard and try not to stress out. Be peaceful and try to relax. You got this! You can do it!! 

                    xoxo, Aubrey

weak in the knees

oh hello there cuties! How are you all? I hope your answer is along the lines of "good" or "fantastic" or "down right remarkable." I am actually doing pretty good, trying to start this school week off with a good attitude. Only 2 more Mondays, can I get a heck yes? (This is where you say "heck yes" out loud and have everyone around you give you judgmental looks.) I apologize for my horrible humor, I am working on it, okay!

Anyways, today has been pretty great, besides the fact that I have a butt-load of homework I have yet to do. I got home from school and lazed around for an hour, than I took Boo (my dog if you didn't know already) for a walk at the park, next I made a green juice for my parents and me, and then I made some salads. Yippee, today hasn't sucked! As of right now I am doing the last thing on today's to-do list; blogging.

Today I wore this really cute blouse I got from Target and some shorts from American Eagle. Okay I'm going to go do all my homework now, see you on the flip side!

xoxo, Aubrey

Towards the end of this month and the beginning of next I will be publishing a poetry book, if you are interested in purchasing said book you can check out my twitter for updates on the book (feel free to dm me if you have any questions) and you can also check out some of my poetry before you commit to buying it.

buzzin' bee

I'm currently typing this post while lying on a towel in my backyard. I am planning on spending all day outside, I seriously could not think of a better way to relax and just recuperate. So far, I went for a 1.5 mile walk, then made a green juice for my parents and myself, next I took a shower and went longboarding, to dry my hair, and now I am sitting outside blogging.

Today I wore a shirt I got from Kohl's and blue Hollister leggings.

poem of unfinished poems

i keep telling myself to stop using you to self medicate

but the sound of your name is enough to close my wounds

remember the night I told you that you're my home and that

i wrote my poems on my skin because i wanted to place them somewhere you would notice

i asked you to take me to the mountains so we could fall in love at the highest peak

you said you wanted to reach into the sky and pull down a star for me

i don't even know who i am anymore. i'm stuck between the person i was before you and the person i am with you.

and now you're gone

sincerely, a girl who could never apologize for loving you

xoxo, Aubs

Towards the end of this month and the beginning of next I will be publishing a poetry book, if you are interested in purchasing said book you can check out my twitter for updates on the book (feel free to dm me if you have any questions) and you can also check out some of my poetry before you commit to buying it.

dancing diva

Cuties!!! I am back with quality photos and new clothes (well a new shirt)! This is so exciting I might cry, actually I won't because I look cute today and I don't want to mess that up!

Today I got to leave school an hour early which made me happy because I got an extra hour to do all the stuff I planned on doing today. So far I watched the Finding Carter episode from last night and let me tell you I have never watched a show with more drama. My cousin, Angela told me that she's seen soap operas with less drama. (giggle) Then, I turned some music on and got my camera ready to take some dancing photos.

Those are hilarious, I really hope you laughed at my horrifying dance moves! Today I wore my boyfriend jeans that I've worn is so many of my posts and my new "ex-boyfriend t-shirt" from Kohl's. Let me tell you about this shirt. It is the most comfortable shirt in the entire world, I am marrying this shirt. Goodnight.

hahaha I am so not funny leave me alone. Anyways, I am going to go buy myself some Black Forest gummy bears and coconut water at Walgreens. Peace out homies!

xoxo, Aubrey

Towards the end of this month and the beginning of next I will be publishing a poetry book, if you are interested in purchasing said book you can check out my twitter for updates on the book (feel free to dm me if you have any questions) and you can also check out some of my poetry before you commit to buying it.

f is for friends

Okay so I haven't blogged in a while and when I have it has been phone photos. Today I am blogging, but this post still includes photos from my phone because I am super lazy and my skin is breaking out and I don't feel like taking high quality photos of that.

Today, I hung out with one of my best friends, Amanda. We got Starbucks and then went to Kohl's and Target to buy some clothes (I will have posts to come with new clothes, yay!). Today went from being a somewhat bad day to being a great day!

Okay so this post kind of sucks and I am quite sorry about it, I need to start getting back into my blog. I've been sort of off lately, sorry cuties.

Wait so over to the right is my friend and me with our birks because friends that wear birks together stay together, am I right?

Okay I'm leaving now because I feel like I'm just going on and on about pointless stuff. hahaha I'm so not funny.

Okay love you adorable humans for putting up with my blog even when I don't post quality posts because I am super lazy. See you soon with better posts!

xoxo, Aubrey

lazy day

oh my gosh I am so sorry for being absent recently! If you read my last post than you know that I've been stuck in a rut. I guess you could call it blogger's block. Anyways, I decided to take a few photos yesterday with my friends and post them for you because I love you all and I'm trying to get out of this rut!

Last night, I went to my friend Nicole's to celebrate her birthday. We got menchie's and sat by the fire once it got dark out. I had so much fun with my friends, I just love them all. 

birthday girl

My outfit consisted of: 

boyfriend jeans from PacSun, a large T-shirt from forever21 (I tied it), an army green jacket from sheinside, and my birks. 

I know these photos aren't the quality you're used to, that is because I took them with my phone. 

I feel much more inspired today so hopefully it will carry on to next week!! 

xoxo, Aubs 

my own worst enemy

I will be the first one to admit that I am in a rut. Recently, I have not been able to find any ounce of creativity. I have had no inspiration. I personally believe that I am my own worst enemy. I have made so many lists of ideas for this blog, but for some reason I can't get myself to take the photos and write the posts. That is why I have taken this week to take care of myself and try to get the creative juices flowing again. I sincerely hope that I will be back by the end of the week with great posts for all of you. 

I hope your week has been filled with hot tea, face masks, yoga, and a lot of time to think; just like mine has. 

love you all so much! 

xoxo, Aubs

life lessons from mom

My mom and I have always been super close, I would consider her one of my best friends. I don't have a clue what I would do without her. She has taught me so much. I've come to the point my life where I finally realize that my mom has more wisdom than me and that she is almost always right.

My mom has taught me so many lessons that have made me the person I am today. I hope to carry on some or all of those lessons to my children.

No one trusts a liar

My mom drilled it into my brain that I had to be trustworthy and that lying was wrong my whole childhood. One time I lied about brushing my teeth and went on for a week about how I brushed my teeth, although I didn't. I was in 5th grade and I mind you I have changed since then, but that moment changed how I looked at a lot of things. My mom told me that she could't trust me, and I realized that I needed her to trust me and that's when I decided it was a lot easier to just tell the truth. 

Be yourself

This seems really cliche but it's something that my mom has tried to tell me my whole life. I used to go along with a lot of things and I used to agree with people out of fear that if I disagreed, they would hate me. Now I express my opinions and the things that are unique about me. I'm not scared of being who I am because my mom always told me that no one could ever be who I'm meant to be, except for myself.

You're beautiful no matter what

My mom probably tells me that I'm beautiful 50 times a day and it used to feel like she had to say that because she's my mom, but now I know that she really means it every time she says it. She's tells me I'm beautiful when I'm lying on the couch while I'm coughing up a lung or throwing up. She told me I was beautiful when I had chicken pox all over my body. She tells me I'm beautiful when my skin is breaking out and when my eczema is flaring up. She tells me I'm beautiful because she believes that her creation is a masterpiece (I'm her creation if you didn't get that metaphor).

Cooking is an art

I mean my mom is the best cook in the entire world and she has taught me all that I know about food. She was there for me from the beginning, when I told her that I wanted to be a chef. She is my inspiration in life and when it comes to cooking.

You don't need a boy to be happy

My mom taught me that I needed to be happy being single because I was going to spend the majority of my adult life with a man who I loved and I needed to realize that I could do things on my own. She taught me that I needed to know how to work and make money because I am a strong girl. She never told me that having a boy in my life is a horrible thing, but she did teach me not to depend on boys for happiness. That being said, she doesn't steer me away from having crushes on boys, she doesn't think I should be single forever. She just wants me to be able to be independent if I ever needed to be. 

I am so grateful for all my mom has taught me, I can't wait for her to teach me more and more. She has been by my side forever and I am truly blessed to have her. 

Also, last month I entered Lush's Mother's Day contest and it would mean the world to me if you checked out that post. I didn't enter it because I wanted something out of it, although that would be amazing because my mom deserves everything that I will never be able to give her. I enter the contest because I wanted to share how amazing my mom is with the rest of the world. I hope you have a great Mother's Day with your mom or grandma or aunt or your friends. Just celebrate with them all! 

xoxo, Aubrey

woodland fairies

Yesterday my friends and I went exploring in the woods with a camera and lots of water. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes and we were sweating our butts off, but we had the time of your lives. Also, we're the kind of people that enjoy exploring, so this was a great thing for us to do. This post is going to have way more photos than words, and I am not very sorry about it (I'm so sassy).

I wore my floral two piece from Tola Vintage and my boots from Lucky Brand, if you're going in the woods I recommend you put on something that will cover you up to prevent bug bites or put on some bug spray (I did neither of these things).

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as we enjoyed taking them and exploring. Now get outside and enjoy this beautiful day!

xoxo, Aubrey

hand santitizer

I have a DIY for you all today, which is exciting! This summer I am planning on going all-natural on all body products, which means I will be making a lot of my own. A few days ago, I made this DIY from Free People's blog. Mine is a tad different from Free People's recipe, but it works just the same.

The ingredients you will need are:

4 oz aloe Vera gel (I used one that you can actually consume, because if I wouldn't eat it I don't want to put it on my body)

10 drops of tea tree oil (I was all out of this so I had to make a trip to Better Health) 

5 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops of clove essential oil

5 drops lemon essential oil

¼ teaspoon vitamin E oil

1 teaspoon of witch hazel (optional, adds alcohol content to mixture) 

(I added a drop of On-Guard by doTerra to the mix also)

so you just need to mix it all in a bowl, I used a clay bowl because I prefer not to use plastic, but it's completely up to you. (I ended up using plastic containers, oh well)

After the mixture was smooth, I put the hand santitizer in old containers from bath and body works. You can also put it in a spray bottle with a little bit of water to make it sprayable, if you prefer. 

I really hope you enjoy this hand sanitizer as much as I do! This stuff works so well.  

okay love you cuties so much, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with photos of my friends and I exploring. 

xoxo, Aubrey 

special day

Hi there! I am wicked excited because today I hit 1,000 views! I could not be more thankful for each and every one of you who have read my blog and still continue to come back and put up with me. This may sound really cheesy, but blogging was something I've wanted to do for a long time. It wasn't something I wanted to do to get free things or be famous; I wanted to start a blog because I wanted to inspire people and help them see that they are beautiful no matter what. It took me a long time to love my body and accept the fact that I am not perfect, nor will I ever be perfect. I really want to use this blog as a platform for everyone who struggles with feeling beautiful or handsome. Is this all making sense or am I just rambling on? I really hope it is making some sense. I'm going to stop being sappy, but before I do that; I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog posts. Thank you so so so much!

I look a little possessed in this picture, but I promise I'm not.

Just trying to be a model.

Oh yeah I got sushi today with my friends in honor of reaching 1,000 views, so you know, I took a picture of my sushi so I could post it here for all of you to see. Doesn't it look beautiful? Doesn't it just make you want some right now? Are you currently calling your local sushi restaurant and ordering carry-out? If you're not, why?

Today I wore my typical boyfriend jeans from PacSun, my new bralette from Free People, a knit jacket type thing from Free People, and a halter top from Brandy Melville. (This was the most random place to put this information, but I don't really care.)

Okay I'm being very silly right now because I'm just in a super good mood! Also, I made all-natural hand sanitizer today and I will probably post the recipe either tomorrow or Thursday! You all are so sweet and wonderful for reading my blog. PLEASE start talking to me on social media, I don't bite! I just love you all so much and I don't even know you! 

xoxo, Aubrey