Birthday wishes

Hello Lovelies!

As promised I am back today (Monday) for a new post!
So firstly I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone for their lovely birthday wishes... I still can't believe I'm already 19!

So this weekend has been very interesting. So much has happened, good and bad and I was so overwhelmed by it all. By Sunday evening, one thing had me extremely intrigued.

So as I scrolled down my wall on Facebook, I saw tens of sweet birthday wishes from people I have barely ever even spoken to. I know a lot of people who would say that "It's a day where people you don't speak to, wish you a happy birthday as if you were ever friends", so in a way they take it negatively but I, on the other hand, thought that it was a nice gesture.

Just think about it, even though you don't speak to some people, they still go out of their way to wish you a happy birthday and even though it may not be much, it really is very thoughtful of them to do so.

This now brings my point. People I have never spoken to on Facebook can take 2 minutes just to write a sweet message yet some of the people I spent all of high school calling my friends didn't.

Now try to see where I am coming from, no I do not expect everyone to do that, heck, I don't even need them to do so but to me, it sounded very unusual.

Anyway yeah so this was an observation I made this weekend. I'm not too sure how I feel about it but that I ain't even mad. I still had the best weekend with my family eating cake and so much chocolate!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday wherever you are!
Stay beautiful and be kind to everyone!

Lots of love, Karine xx

Birthday weekend

Hey lovelies,

So today I'm back with a very random post. I don't really have a topic for it but I just thought I'd come on here and share with you my excitement.

This is my last day as an 18 year old because as soon as the clock reaches 12:01 on the 30th of March, I will officially be 19.

This is so exciting for me. I honestly think that the year has gone by so quickly! It's crazy! I still remember the day of my 18th birthday like it was just yesterday!

The first picture I took as an 18 year old

Oh I can't hold my excitement in! I'm off to a club tonight to celebrate my 19th with a bunch of friends. I think it'd be a fun night out in the city - hopefully the weather doesn't hate me.

Anyways so I hope you are all having a lovely weekend wherever you are in the world doing whatever you decide to do!

I will definitely be back most likely on Monday since I won't be blogging on my birthday - too many things to enjoy tomorrow!! :p

I will be sure to keep you updated on any exciting moments that are bound to happen!

A massive shoutout to ChapLyns of Elseyworld.blogspot.com
She is so lovely and has featured me in one of her YouTube videos you can check that out HERE! Thank you so much!
Do subscribe to her guys, she is amazing and so beautiful!

I would also like to give a massive thank you to every single one of my readers and followers, you are all amazing and I cannot thank you enough for all your support!

Lots of Love, Karine xx

Proud mumma chicken!

Hey Lovelies,

So today I wanted to share with you this very exciting moment for me. I know that I never mentioned this before but last year, in December I believe, my brother surprised me with two baby chicks!

Now for those of you who don't know this about me, I am a HUGE chicken lover! I think they make super cute pets and are absolutely adorable. I have been around chickens my whole life and when I was younger, I used to love playing with them until I moved to Australia where we weren't able to get some! So I was super happy to find out that I was finally getting some in Australia!

Meet Twitter Bell 

Meet Sir Jump alot (yes it's a female)

 

I watched them grow, took care of them and played with them until they became big enough to run away from me! Nonetheless, they were adorable!

Today marks a very exciting day as one of my two chickens has finally laid it's first ever egg! The black one on the Left! It was just so cute! But the funny thing about it all was where it had decided to lay the egg. Was it in it's little house? Or perhaps in the little area they like to hang out? NOPE

This one went all original on us when we found the egg in a bin.

Now you may be thinking, how did your chicken get into your bin? Gross!

But no, actually today was the day that my grandpa washed the bin as the rubbish truck went past this morning. After washing it, he left it open to dry in the sun and in the afternoon when he went to close it, that's when he found the egg. Weird huh?

But yeah so basically, I was super excited about this that I snapchatted all my friends and now felt the need to write a post about it!

I'm looking forward to getting fresh eggs now!!

I know this was a really random post but I really wanted to share my excitement with you all!
Do you have any pets other than the usual cat and dogs? If so, please do share!

Lots of Love, Karine xx

Confidence downfall

Hey lovelies

So there's something I've observed today which happens to me way too often.
It is the downfall of that confidence you build up for the past (forever).

What I'm trying to say is how self confidence isn't a strong point in many people's lives. It is that one thing that holds them back from so many opportunities and experiences out there in the world. Having low self confidence is an extremely common thing especially in teens. The way we see ourselves is just so harsh and can never compare to others.

This is not a advice post or how to post. It is more of a experience post which I hope you may be able to relate to as it has happened to me quite often.

Have you ever felt like you are becoming more and more confident with yourself -  that may take weeks or even months - but you get to a point where you are okay. You don't feel bad about yourself, you know, you can smile and feel like the world isn't as scary as you thought. All is good and you are able to do things without worrying about every single thing you do!

And suddenly...

One wrong move and you're back to square 1.
You literally go back down to where you started and it is the most frustrating thing yet cannot change anything about it.

Becoming confident with who you are takes several steps. It takes a lot of good things to happen to just advance by just a percentage, yet just ONE wrong move it just descends. It's almost as if you take so long building this glass and polishing it but with just one hit, you lose it all as it shatters right before your eyes. That is what it feels like to me.

Little story for you:

As you may have read my "confidence if key" post, you would've seen that lately I have been feeling quite confident in myself. Not over confident, but just enough to be comfortable in who I am.
Today at work, I made the mistake of forgetting to write a special requirement from a customer that is... no salad on their souvlaki. The man was after a lamb souvlaki with nothing in it except the lamb and garlic sauce.. okay!

The shop was quite busy at the time and I had people queuing from the counter to outside of the shop . I was in such a hurry to try and get all these orders taken that I had forgotten to write down on the ticket the special requirement! I know, that is so bad! The customer specifically told me what he wanted.

So I hadn't noticed at all until the phone ran about a half hour later with an angry man on the other end of the line. I picked up to him being quite upset at finding some salad in his souvlaki. Claiming that "they" wouldn't eat it as it has salad in it, made me realise what a big mistake I had made.

He asked that we make a new one which he will swap for what he got and this time to get the order right. He had also recognised my voice and knew that I was the one who took his order earlier. This made it so much worse.

I  completely understand how he was feeling and it was only fair to get it swapped. However it was my fault. I am the one who stuffed up his order and I felt terrible for it! Not only that, a souvlaki now when into the bin because of me.

I just can't help but feel awful about what might seem like a tiny thing to most people. It's just that whenever I do something wrong, I feel stuck. Like it hits me really hard and I am unable to think straight as I start to think and think and think about it! I know it makes no difference when you feel bad for something as it already happened and you can't change it. But it is just that feeling of... oh.. hold on... you're doing it all wrong.

That is when my downfall happened. I'm not sure whether it is just a small set back that may last for a few days or maybe made a dent into that confidence I once found in me.

I thought I'd share with you this little experience of mine because I know that it has happened to a few people I know and maybe you could relate to what I said.

Anyway, please do let me know in the comments if you have felt this way and whether it has happened to you! I kind of want this to be a platform where others can feel comfortable to share their experiences with me just like I am with you. I promise you I don't judge, I just want you guys to know that you're definitely not alone!

Lots of love, Karine xx

I wish this was my night time routine!

Hey Lovelies,

Yes, lately I've been really slacking off on writing and haven't been posting much. I just couldn't come up with anything and I know a lot of people nowadays just post one picture and a little update or maybe ask how their readers are but I ain't about that life :p
Nah, but my blog isn't JUST about meeting others or showing you just a few things I found and giving you a link to where you could find it.

To me, my blog is a platform on which I get to express my HONEST opinions and share my experiences with my readers! I guess you could say that I prefer quality over quantity in terms of how many posts I have on my blog. I would rather post once a week with good content or with a good amount of texts than post everyday with just a small paragraph.

Now, this is just ME! I am not saying that it is bad or not a good thing because it is! There are a lot of blogs who do otherwise and it suits their blog and they do find really awesome stuff! I follow them and even leave a comment here and there! So when I say I prefer more texts, I am referring to MY BLOG! So please try to understand where I am coming from because I am not trying to offend anyone and I apologise if I do so!

So now that I got that out of the way, let's get on with my night!!! wooooo I'm feeling real girlie :')

So I started my evening by taking a few photos of myself (wow okay) because I really liked this outfit and it was really comfortable and nice. Don't judge me.

So I first washed my face and neck with the Biore Combination skin Balancing Cleanser

I then went on to applying the Proactive Clear Purifying Mask

After washing the mask off, I applied the Poactive Oil Free Moisturiser and the Avon Eye cream.

All these products are great and my skin felt so refreshed and soft! You may be wondering why the title of this post is "I wish this was my night time routine". Well.... I am REALLY bad at routines. I usually stick to one for maybe a week then I either tell myself that skipping a day won't hurt for like the next 3 days then I will end up forgetting all about it in the end.

So basically yes this is my forgetful life of procrastination.

It's great... Isn't it?

I hope you liked it! Please do tell me in the comment section below what your night time routine is or maybe you have a morning routine? Well just let me know! 

Thank you so much for reading!

Lots of love, Karine xx

Confidence is key!

Hey lovelies!

So lately I've found myself feeling a bit different than before. I have found this new bound confidence in me, I never knew I had. I feel great, a bit like a different person to be honest.

So growing up, I was never confident in myself, I doubted everything that I did and everything that I said. I was never satisfied with who I was and always compared myself with everyone around me.
All the other girls were so perfect and I was nowhere close. They all had perfect hair, great smiles, nice bodies and so much more that I didn't. Now yes, I know that a lot of my friends often would say nice things to me about my hair or my clear skin or whatever but the lack of confidence within myself made it really hard to accept compliments.

Accepting compliments is so much harder than people think. When you have low self esteem and lack confidence in yourself, all that you see are flaws and when someone did compliment me, I often felt as if they were lying to me or just being nice. It is so twisted and now that I think about it, I wasn't as bad as I thought I was.

So working my way up to where I am now, I feel so good about myself. I can honestly say that I have never felt like this before and it is such a great feeling! I am not the most confident person out. I still have my insecurities but I just don't really let those take over my life.

I have learnt that you have to accept who you are and love yourself. If you don't, then do something about it. Whether it is eat healthier, exercise or whatever else you need to do for yourself. Do it.
Just do it. After all your efforts, it will definitely change your perspective on yourself and on life.

I was always the short skinny girl and was often referred to as the "anorexic girl with glasses". It made a massive dent into my self confidence and self esteem. I hated my body and everything about it. It hurt to know people would talk about what I looked like and make fun of it. It was intimidating when other people would come up to me and feel like it was all right to comment on how "boney" or "skinny" I was.

Just like in my stop bullying post, I talked about how it is not acceptable to comment on anyone's appearance. I cannot stress this enough. It causes both emotional and physical pain where someone's entire world can change just by hearing a few words. Yes, a lot of people joke around about it but you do not know just how deep these words cut until you've experienced it yourself. It tears us apart inside yet not many of us will ever admit that.

So I just wanted to share this victory, as I like to call it, with you. It is one of my biggest achievement ever. So just be you. There's only one of you and you are the best at it.

Now with all that being said, I want to share with you a song that always gets me in a great move and makes me want to dance. It's Shake by Victoria Justice! I want you guys to listen to the words carefully and take in all that Victoria says! :)

I hope this post made you think a little bit about how great you really are. Even though some of you may not think so, I think that you are all beautiful in your own way. Stuff society's idea of beauty! It is all about every single one of you beautiful people!
Let me know in the comment section below if you like the song and my post!

Lots of love, Karine xx

Laughing at the wrong moment

Hey lovelies!

So put your hand up if you're guilty of laughing at the wrong time or place! *raises hand*

Oh, we've all done it at lease once, right? Please say yes... I'm depending on those to make myself feel less guilty.

Ever since the beginning of time, I have been cursed by a laughing witch to laugh at the wrong moment and place.. I know it may sound crazy, but I swear it's true!

So we all have heard the saying "laughter is the best medicine" right? Yeah well it ain't always the best thing when you're doing it in any inappropriate situations.

So I'm one of those employees who loves to joke around and have a laugh but I often find myself doing it at the wrong moments. So last time I was at work, I was talking to the girl at the register about something completely irrelevant. Then came a customer. She handed the customer his receipt so he may wait for his order to be ready and he asked if she could write the ticket number on top as it is too small for him to read. As she was curiously looking for her red pen, It didn't click until she yanked it out of my hands that I was holding it. Realising that the whole time it was in my hands, I started laughing and so did she! ( It was a funny "had to there" moment)

Now as I told you the story, you will know that in fact we were laughing at ourselves but another employee working with us thought we were laughing at the customer for not being able to read the number and I think that the customer might have thought so too.

It is ridiculous the amount of times I laugh at the wrong time or place and it kills me to think that someone may think that I'm either laughing at them or at something that should be taken seriously.

With that being said though... I do often laugh at serious things. Now, now, don't jump to conclusions and think that I'm a horrible person! Rather look at it in this way, when something that someone has been avoiding on purpose comes and ruins everything for them (example: last time my friend has been waiting so long for this movie to come out and someone full on spoilt the whole thing for here) Now to her, it was the most horrible thing to happen, yet I just laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. Her reaction was priceless.

Or if my friend falls over, the first thing I'll do is laugh at them before asking if they're okay.
The thing is, a lot of us do it... Don't even try to deny it.
We have all laughed at so many inappropriate things which happened at a very wrong time.

Now after writing this post, I realise that I may be a really horrible person.
I CAN'T HELP IT THOUGH.

Have you done this before? Laughed at something you shouldn't have?
Please do let me know because I'm sure a lot of you have funny stories to share!

Lots of love, Karine xx

Be grateful for what you have.

Hey lovelies!

There's just something about being with my family that makes me feel all warm inside. As I took another bite of my sandwich this morning, I realised just how lucky and blessed I was.

No, I'm not talking about the fact that my sandwich was the most amazing thing ever but rather that everything in life has been handed to me. And all I had to do was either go with it or reject it, it was as simple as that. I never had to work hard to get anything. Now you may be thinking, wow Karine you must be very lazy! But I assure you that I'm not talking about the work that is needed to get somewhere but instead the opportunities we get in life.

So many people in the world take so many things for granted. Like a roof above our heads, a supportive family who stands by us, an education and even little things like the variety of food we get to choose from.

Many people don't have that and have to work hard from a young age to be able to survive. Many people nowadays don't agree to drink water unless it is from a packed bottle while on the other side of the world, the only water some people have is muddy and carry diseases. Some families live off a few crops their whole lives and we get to have nutritional meals with labels on them.

Every time I am told of the way people live in other countries, it makes me think twice about my choices. I try not to complain about what I don't have because I have way more than I already need.

It is sad to think that some people go to sleep at night hungry while others refuse to eat the food that is presented to them.
It is sad to think that someone who can't afford an education could be holding the answers to many cures.
It is sad to think that many people in the world aren't given the chance to be someone just because they are poor.

Just because you are born into a great family who is able to afford things, you have a huge advantage above those who aren't. Isn't it so twisted?

Some people in this world work so hard to get to where they are today while others were just lucky enough to be born into it. The fact that I know so many people who were taken advantage of by employers just because they can't afford to lose their job is ridiculous. While some struggle to live life, others tend to try and take advantage of that to get to the top.

The ugly truth is that the world revolves around money.
Is this what life is really about? It does not make any sense to me.

While writing this post, my eyes have filled with tears because it is frustrating and sad that the world is so unfair. I have taken so many things for granted in my life. I was spoilt as a kid and it all doesn't seem fair.

Be grateful for what you have. No matter how much or how little that may be, you have to count your blessing rather than your loses because it's all the little things in life that counts and never forget to thank god above for the great life he laid out for you.

Don't let life pass you by, do something great with it.

I thank you all so much for the support!
Lots of love, Karine xx

Best outfit ever fashion competition

Hey lovelies!

Most of you would've heard of the Best Outfit ever website. If not, you can check it out HERE

So basically, you can send in an outfit of yours include a description and voila! You become a finalist with a chance to win!

How do you win, you may ask?

Well that's easy, you go and like your favourite outfit on the website and the outfit with the most likes is the winner!

I think it's really great and so much fun! Hopefully you'll take part in it! I DID!
You can check out my outfit HERE: (http://bestoutfitever.com/2014/03/dare-karine-video-outfit-2/)

And be sure to give it a thumbs up if you do like it! :)

Til next time!
Lots of love, Karine xx

Say no to gooey nail polish!

Hello lovelies!

We've all gone months without wearing a certain nail polish and over time it can become all gooey and yucky!

Then we reach into our nail polish bag or cupboard or whatever you put your nail polish into and to our horror the nail polish you once knew is no longer! Oh no... what anyone would do in this situation is gently part with it.

Say no more!

I completely understand what you're going through. Saying goodbye as one tear streams down your face. The pain of having to let go.

DON'T. EVEN. THINK. ABOUT. IT!

I have a solution for you! And it has been right under your nose that whole time! (not literally) 

NAIL POLISH REMOVER!

If your favourite nail polish gets all gooey, get it fixed by adding a few drops of nail polish remover into the bottle and shake well. I can guarantee you that the nail polish will go back to the way it was!

It will save you time and MONEY! 

Have you ever tried this little trick? 

Did it work? Let me know in the comment section!

Lots of love, Karine xx

Live life to the full

Hey lovelies!

As I was getting rid of my last few items from High School, I noticed the little logo and motto "Life to the full" written on them and this got me thinking.

What is life really about?
What is our purpose?
What exactly are we here for?

As I searched every corner of my brain, I didn't seem to have the answer. I looked everywhere. I even asked others what exactly my purpose is and how do I live life to the full.

That is when I realised. 

Life is precious. One moment you have it and the next you don't.

It isn't about who you are, it is about making the most of that life you have.
It isn't about what you want to do, it's about all the things you fight for.
It isn't about what you have, it is about what you give to those who don't have.
It isn't about how many friends you got, it is about how you treat yourself and others around you.

I was blessed with a loving family, a roof above my head, education and many many other things that most of us often take for granted.

You see, life is different for all of us. There is no right or wrong way to live life as we all have our own understanding of it. For some it is to get famous, to many it is to help others and for others it is to become successful.

All these can be understood as living life to the full because it is your life and as long as you give 100% in what you decide to do, you are living that life to it's fullest. You are fulfilling that life that has been given to you.

So follow your most wildest dream because the sky is the limit. You can be whoever you want to be, In a world where weird is normal, you can seriously become whatever you want to.  Do not take opportunities for granted and thank god above for all the blessings coming your way.

Be positive in all that you do, love yourself and give back to others. Like I said there's no right or wrong way to live life but your morals will have a lot to do with your actions.

Think before you act and act before you lose.

Lots of love, Karine xx

Stop bullying.

Hey lovelies,

So today I wanted to attempt to tackle the world of self confidence and the impact bullies have on it.

I am not an expert nor do I know a lot about this topic but these past few years have really opened my eyes to so many things going on around me.

I have noticed so so many teens having doubts about their appearances, their actions and even questioning their own existence.
Self confidence, specially in teens is such a hard topic to tackle. It's just one of those things you really can't control or fully understand and I learned that the hard way.

Nowadays we are surrounded by millions of photoshopped pictures of celebrities and models who are thin as a stick and society targets them and blames them for the lack of self confidence in teens but the harsh reality is that no one really understands that bullies are the main reason for that problem.

For years and years many people have been putting down the idea of models and how they look too thin and how kids want to be just like them, yet no one ever thought of the reason why these kids feel that way. Is it because they find that look to be nice or is it because they are surrounded by bullies who judge their appearances by comparing them to those photos?

It amazes me how many people will comment on someone's appearance before getting to know them.
It amazes me how people will judge someone else just because of their size.
It amazes me how shallow some people are.
It really does.

When did the shaming of anyone's body become okay?

It's one thing to point out fake photos in magazines but it's another to put down the idea of being thin. It really frustrates me when people feel the need to put down one size just to make the other feel better.
Is it really necessary? Does the idea of putting down being thin not the same as bullying larger people?

Judging ANY body is WRONG!

It is wrong that so many people nowadays feel the need to reassure people and comfort them of their size by putting down another.

As a thin person, I know what it's like to be receiving so much criticism about the way you look.

Since when is "You're so skinny" okay to say?
Since when is it okay to ask someone how much they weigh because you think they are underweight?
Since when is it okay to point out features of someone's body?

Yet it is really rude to ask such questions to a larger person?
I can blame so many things on society but I came to realize that yes, I am part of  "society" and I am not going to stand for any kind of bullying. Whether it is aimed at thin or bigger people.
It is not right and is not acceptable.

This post was rather negative and sort of a rant but I wanted to let you all know and understand that beauty does come in all sizes, shapes, nationality and colours. You are all beautiful and you should be proud of who you are because there is only one of you in the world. You are unique!

I really hope that this inspired you or at least made you think that what I was going on about was true.
Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comment section!

Thank you so much guys!

Lots of love, Karine xx