I'm super excited to be writing my very first travel post on this blog! I don't get to travel too much anymore since school has become so crazy busy. So naturally, I was beyond excited when I got a spare weekend to travel to Niagara Falls with my family. I've been to Niagara so many times since that was my family go-to destination during my middle school and high school years. However, I was surprised that I actually had a great time and really enjoyed my visit to Niagara despite having been there loads of times before. The falls are just breathtaking each and every time I visit. The picture above was taken on the Maid of the Mist that takes you directly to the falls. So beautiful.

We left Pittsburgh on Saturday morning and reached Niagara after a 5-hour car ride. We got to our hotel, the Comfort Inn Suites, around 3pm. I had driven the entire journey, so naturally I needed a little refreshing before exploring. After washing my face and putting on some makeup, we headed out to Clifton Hill. We went on the Sky Wheel, which was a really nice experience. Even my mom and dad, who are both scared of heights, joined my brother and I on the Sky Wheel! It was a bit scary at first, but the view of the falls was really nice. It was just a really good experience, and one that we hadn't done before on our previous trips to Niagara. 

Here are some pictures from the Sky Wheel:

We walked around Clifton Hill a bit more, and made our way down to the falls which were a bit of a walk from the bottom of the Hill. Really gorgeous, but super duper cold since it was the evening by the time we got down there. For dinner, we went to Rainforest Cafe, which has a really nice tropical forest feel and has really delicious food. Really fun experience.

After dinner, we retreated back to our hotel for the night. My brother and I went down to the drugstore a few blocks from our hotel, the Shopper's Drug Mart (the Canadian version of CVS). I was hoping to find some makeup to try, but they didn't really have anything I couldn't find in Ulta here. 

The next day was reserved for the Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist (now called the Hornblower, actually) which is one of the most fun experiences in Niagara Falls. Got super wet, but it was so refreshing! We also walked around the Falls as well and snapped many photos. We then drove to Niagara On The Lake, the lakeside "suburb" of Niagara. On the way, we stopped at Southbrook Winery and I picked up a bottle of Framboise Wine, a raspberry-flavored wine. We got to taste a few types of wine, and that one was by far my favorite. I think it will be a nice treat on weekends after a rough week, plus a nice little memoir from the Falls. My mom picked up a bottle of dessert wine as a little treat for herself. Niagara On The Lake was a gorgeous view, but there were so many dragonflies around, oh my goodness! Kind of dulled the experience, but it was still breathtaking nonetheless. 

We actually didn't spend that much time at Niagara On The Lake. We stopped for a few minutes for the view, but then we decided to continue our drive up north to Mississuaga for some Indian food. It was a much longer journey than we anticipated! It took about an hour to drive there, but it was a really nice drive. The roads were open, wide, and empty. The views were spectacular as well. We ate Indian food for dinner and then went to an Indian supermarket to pick up some snacks and delicacies for back home. We also stopped at Shopper's Drug Mart since I wanted to bring back some Cadbury chocolates for myself. By the time we got back to our hotel that night, it was 10pm and we were all beat. 

We woke up the next morning, our last day of the trip. It was a lazy morning. We ate breakfast, relaxed by the pool, and walked a little bit down Clifton Hill. We stopped at Tim Horton's after breakfast for some coffee and croissants. 

We then decided to leave for back home early since we all had work the next morning and my brother had school. We stopped at a Duty Free shop before crossing the border back to America, and I picked up a little birthday treat for myself (post coming up soon!). We then drove back home with a stop at Chipotle in Erie for dinner.

Overall, it was a really really really fun trip! Even though I've been to Niagara Falls a billion times, I still have fun every single time I go. The views are just so breathtaking and there's so much to do there. It's a really beautiful spot and the views never cease to amaze me. I'm actually quite sad to be back home, but I'm already looking forward to our next family vacation. I absolutely loved the time I got to spend with my family after such a long time. This year has just been so crazy busy, it was so nice to have a week to relax and spend with loved ones, and to get away from Pittsburgh!

New LayoutI

Happy May! I can't believe it's already May. Feels like yesterday it was Christmas time...

My third year of medical school came to a close last Friday and I just got back from a nice weekend vacation to Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was a short, but much-needed getaway. Since this week is our "spring break" week off, I figured I would kick things off with changing up the layout a bit. I got this cute theme from Blogger Candy, who makes some of the best Blogger templates out there. I wanted to edit the fonts a bit, but my Internet is being super slow this will do.

I'm hoping to blog a little bit more this week, especially about my Niagara, some travel essentials I took with me, and about some birthday goodies I bought myself this weekend! This week is actually going to be crazy busy since I have a billion things to get done, but I'm hoping to work my butt off these next few days instead of procrastinating as I usually do. And that starts with getting a good night's sleep and waking up mega early tomorrow to get my list of errands started. Hope you all had a great Monday, hope to have a new post up tomorrow!

Updated Brands I Want To Try ♥

April 2015 Ipsy Bag

Hey guys, sorry for the super late post on the April Ipsy bag! I got the bag last weekend, but I had a final exam this week so it took longer than expected to write this post. But I definitely wanted to talk about the bag because this by far is my most favorite Ipsy bag so far! Okay now granted this is only my 3rd Ipsy bag ever, but I got a great selection of products this month. The bag was beautiful and I can see myself using all of the products I received.

First, let me start off with talking about the bag. It's a beautiful straw zippie bag with various colors of thread woven in. It's also a bit bigger than the other Ipsy clutches I've received. I'm loving the bright colors and the artisan look of this bag! It's going to go great for my travel bag or for when I'm taking a tote bag to the park or the pool or something this summer. Next I'll talk about the only skincare item I received this month, the Lather Ultra Light Face Lotion. I'm not a huge fan of face product samples, so I'm going to be skipping this one. But the scent of this product is heavenly. It smells like rosewater. Maybe I'll use this as a hand cream just for the scent, who knows?

Next, my favorites -- the makeup! The full-sized/deluxe sample of the month that everyone received was the theBalm Cosmetics NUDE Dude Eyeshadow Single. Mine was in the shade Fit, which is a really beautiful golden-peach color. It looks copper in the pan, but when I swatched it on my arm it looked more golden. I'll have to see how it wears on my lids. I've never tried theBalm products but I've always wanted to, so I'm super duper excited about this sample! This will definitely be going in my travel makeup bag for my pediatrics rotation next month!

 Next up, the JulieG Nail Color in Damsel. I actually applied this to my nails a few days ago and I absolutely LOVE the color, the texture, and quality of this nail polish. It's a really nice cool-toned hot pink/fuschia shade for the summer. I was amazed to see that it was opaque after only 1 coat! I applied 2 coats and topped it off with the Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat. Three days later, the color is still beautiful and no chips yet!

I also received a gorgeous bronzy-nude lipgloss this month. It's the Starlooks Satin Finish Lip Gloss in Cuddle. The color is really pretty and will look great in the summer with a nice tan, but I'm not too crazy about the formula. It's very sticky and the applicator isn't the best. But I'm still going to use it since I don't have any bronze-y lip glosses in my collection. And the last product I got this month was another lip product, the Mullein & Sparrow Mini Lip & Cheek Tint. Not sure if this is a new brand, but I've been seeing it a lot on YouTube recently. Again, the size of this sample is pretty generous! The texture reminds me of the Rosebud & Co Lip Salves, but the color is more of a a rosy-coral. It smells like orange chocolate to me, and I wish I could just eat it whenever I smell it. I like the natural look it gives my lips so I can definitely see myself using it on a no-makeup makeup day or just when I'm out running errands. It can be worn on the cheeks as well, but wearing jelly-like products on my face makes me twitch a little.

So those are all the goodies I received in my Ipsy bag this month. I'm super super super excited about trying all of these products and can see myself using all of the them on a regular basis (except for the face product). I'm also really happy that some of the products I received were brands I had been wanting to try for a while now. Also the bag this month is absolutely stunning and reminds me of summertime! Next month's bag is going to have a lot to look up to.

Oh! And just to update you guys, I have been LOVING the Pixi by Petra eyeshadow and the Crown brush I got last month in my March Ipsy Bag. That duo is the most perfect, gorgeous travel-sized eyeshadow pair I own and the flat shader side of the Crown brush applies shadow all over my lid like a dream. I was even thinking of picking up some Real Techniques larger eyeshadow brushes just to have more of those types of brushes. Maybe I'll do a quick makeup look post with those products in the future? Hmm.

Words | Happy & Healthy #2

I'm super proud to be bringing this post to you guys this morning!

My last Happy & Healthy Words post was back in January, but things became so busy in the months following that I didn't get a chance to begin my health journey in January like I originally wanted. However, I'm super happy to say that I have been controlling my diet for the past THREE WEEKS and have even begun exercising again!!! Now, I'm not really following a catabolic plan where I'm shedding weight, but I have gotten my eating habits under control -- insanely much better control than where I was earlier this year, which was one of my biggest goals for this year. My diet is incredibly unhealthy and definitely needs a lot of modifications. I've let myself spiral out of control for the past six years to the point where I've gained a LOT of weight which I'm not proud of. So this year, my biggest goal is to be able to eat a normal diet and to lose some of the weight I've accumulated. I'm taking baby steps towards my weight loss goal, starting with regulating my diet.

The biggest thing I'm super proud of is the fact that I'm no longer eating out. No more getting takeout for dinner, eating at the hospital cafeteria during lunch, skipping breakfast, eating tons of salty snacks. That may sound like a fairly easy thing to do, but for someone like me whose not too savvy at cooking and so accustomed to eating take out, it was a huge feat. I'm super happy and feel so accomplished. And honestly, it's so much cheaper and more satisfying to cook meals at home and pack lunches. As a result, my sodium intake has dropped significantly. I feel like I have more energy and just happier. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the guilt of getting takeout is no longer there. Like I said, I feel very accomplished when I cook at home and it's a ton of fun trying out new recipes!

I hear that it takes 21 days to change a habit, and I completely agree with that statement. Now that I've spent 3 weeks eating at home-made meals, I no longer have huge cravings for McDonalds or fried chicken or greasy Chinese food. Of course I still want to eat these things and crave junk food from time to time, but I'm able to control myself a lot more. I allot myself one day (usually on the weekend) when I'm allowed to eat whatever I want. So if I was craving frozen pizza, I'd go ahead and eat a frozen pizza on Saturday night as a cheat meal.

I can't tell you guys how excited I am that I'm finally able to take matters into my hand and control my diet. I feel so much better already after only a few weeks of eating cleaner. I have more energy, I feel happier, I feel lighter and less bloated, and just so accomplished! The next phase of my health plan is to be able to eat a more calorie-controlled diet so I actually begin losing weight. Right now I'm eating about 1500-1800 calories a day but I want to drop it down to 1400 calories and begin exercising. It's the combination of eating fewer calories and exercising that really helps me shed weight. Right now, I'm getting around 50-60% of my calories from carbs. This week, I'm going to start eating a 40-30-30 calorie diet where I'm eating 40% carbs, 30% fat, and 30% protein.  I also have a bunch of other things I want to get improve such as dental hygiene, exercising, etc but I'm taking things slow and one thing at a time to avoid overwhelming myself with all these behavior changes. It's a slow process, but in my mind the more time you devote to changing one thing, the deeper that behavior will be engrained into your routine.

Hope to keep these posts up. I find these kinds of posts to be very positive and motivating and a good way for me to share my experiences and chalk out some plans for the future!

My Spring Makeup Bin

Spring is finally here! I'm so happy that the sun is shining and there's no more snow in the ground. I think this is the first year I realized I may have seasonal affective disorder, or a legit case of the "winter blues". But now that it's sunny and beautiful out, my mood's been so much better. This past weekend, I figured it was time to switch out of my winter makeup bin to more fun, bright makeup. My makeup bin consists of my daily 'reach for' products so it obviously contains some stuff that is standard from season to season like concealers, eyeshadow primer, and finishing powder. It's usually my lip colors and blushes that change. As you can see, spring is full of pinks and corals and oranges, much different compared to the winter taupes and browns! Here is a round-up of all the products I have in my spring makeup bin:

Eye Products
CoverGirl Full Lash Bloom Mascara
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser in Honey
Milani Secret Cover Concealer Stick in Medium
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Face Products
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure
L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder in W5
Milani Baked Blush in Berry Amore
ModelCo Blush Cheek Powder in Peach Bellini
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface

Lip Products
Almay Butter Kiss Lipstick in Nude Light-Medium
Cover Girl Smoochies Sizzle Gloss in Make It Sparkle
MAC Lipstick in Creme in Your Coffee
Maybelline Color Elixir Lip Color in Rose Redefined
NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel
Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

March Beauty Favorites ♥

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