Let's Live the Crap Out of Life

So, I found this quote by Ryan Adams that started with "There's nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything. Negative people find their walls." And I just really liked that idea, one that was actually really well expressed in another of my favourite quotes by Ernest Hemingway:

I just really like the idea of doing everything you do with everything you have, living the crap out of life. So I was looking through some photos over the last 6 years or so, and I was just reminded of how lucky I am and how happy I am with everything I've been able to do so far. So I'm doing this "Love the crap out of everything" type tag I found, which basically is based on times of extreme emotion, you know like, the happiest moment of your life, or the most beautiful thing you've seen, that type of thing. I just thought it was a cool and inspiring tag, to remind myself of how great life is, and to get excited for everything that is still to come. 

THE HAPPIEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN

Hmm, there have been a couple of moments, but the one that comes to mind first and was the most recent, was finding out that I was accepted into medicine. It just came as such a shock and I wanted it more than anything, but really was sure I wouldn't get in, so that was probably one of the happiest days of my life. 

THE MOST EXCITED YOU'VE EVER BEEN

I think probably, this would be either when I was going overseas for the first proper time in grade 6 with my mom and gran. We were going to visit close family in Canada and then to New York and I was suppper excited! The other time I'm thinking of was for my matric dance (senior prom), it was just such a special night! 

My friends and I at the before party for our dance. 

THE MOST NERVOUS YOU'VE EVER BEEN

This was undoubtedly the night and morning before I got back my matric results. I had finished school for good and everything, and they release them online at 3pm  a month or so later and I was so so so nervous for the whole day. I was very grumpy (hahah my poor family had to be very tolerant that day) and I literally couldn't concentrate on doing anything else. I was so nervous that they would be terrible and that my chances for university would fade away and all that! 

THE HOTTEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN

This is definitely definitely when I went on youth exchange to Italy! I was there mid summer, and one or two consecutive days in particular, I remember walking around in the middle of Rome, with the heat just trapped and heavy between all these big buildings and literally not knowing what to do with myself. It was about 45 degrees (Celsius) and every morning I would wake up feeling almost panicked because it was just so hot, all you could do was have a cold shower. 

My youth exchange group and I in front of the Colosseum.

THE COLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN

I went on a school science trip to Sutherland which is a tiny little town in South Africa, but is also the coldest town in the country, so going mid-winter, I did kind of expect it. But, wow, it was FREEZING! We were there looking at the SALT telescope (largest one in Africa) and so we were out in the cold at night, and I have never been so cold before. It was at the point where we were wearing stockings, leggings and then pants, like 6 layers of jerseys, hats, gloves, socks, all of it, and were still so cold that we literally were shivering! 

MOST DELICIOUS FOOD YOU'VE EVER EATEN     This was definitely on my exchange to Italy! I was there for 6 weeks and everything I ate there was amazing!! But one pizza I had in Venice stands out! I was on a tour type exchange, and so we were a group of about 50 people from all around the world. One day, we went to this restaurant in Venice near the main canal, and were told we could pick from 1 of 4 pizzas (because there were so many of us, etc.) and I ordered a pretty plain one with mozzarella, basil and tomato, quite standard right? But no.... it was the most delicious thing I've ever had, I don't know exactly what it was about it, but plain, simple, delicious food, in an amazing place, with really great people, I was just very happy. 

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN

This is a difficult one, because I don't think I can properly describe to you how absolutely stunning it was! Last June my family and I went to Mauritius for holiday. We went snorkelling pretty much every day and it was always amazing and beautiful. On the one day, the resort guide took a small boat full of us to this place right out of the reef, away from where we usually went. I was pretty scared (I'm very nervous of deeep deep open sea, which this mainly was) and wasn't going to do it, but I'm so glad I did. Looking through my snorkel, underneath the water, it was about 6/7 meters deep (not bad for the open sea!) and like crystal clear, you could just see the entire sea floor covered in colour! The floor was covered in the massive colourful rocks and all around and in between were these exotic, multicoloured fish of all shapes and sizes! They were just beyond beautiful! We saw sea snakes, and massive fish and then tiny ones, and wow, it was just like the most beautiful I've ever seen, although I know my description will come no where near the real thing. 

Mauritius

A MOMENT THAT TOOK YOUR BREATH AWAY

A moment that comes to mind was when I was in Toronto, and we went right up to the top of the CN tower. Up there, they have this glass floor that you can stand on and look down below you, from like 554 meters up! It was just so breath-taking and incredible to see the whole city from so high up, standing on this glass floor! 

SOMETHING YOU REALLY MISS

Being out of school now, most of my closest friends aren't here anymore cause they've gone to different universities, and I really miss them. I miss seeing them at school everyday and the laughs and all that. But also, even when I do get to see them, a lot of them are different, not bad different or anything, just different and I miss how things used to be sometimes. 

Some of my friends and I on Plett Rage after our final exams.

SOMETHING YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO

I am really looking forward to finishing this semester, because it gets a lot easier after June, and I feel like my timetable at the moment is far too hectic and I can't keep up! I am also really excited for the future in general, I can't wait to get further in medicine so I can start working in hospitals and with patients and all that! 

I feel like that quote just sort of sums up what the person who created this tag was thinking- why not just live life to the extreme...

March Favourites || 2014

I cannot believe march has passed and with that it has brought on April and its cool weather and rain and wind here in Cape Town. I know April is only the fourth month of the year, but somehow, these next few months to July tend to go so so fast, and I feel like this year has literally just vanished before my eyes! There have been quite a few things that I discovered in March that I am absolutely loving and I thought I'd share them with you, cause I haven't done a favourites post in ages, and also, these are seriously great products (specifically the make-up I'm going to show you) and so I seriously recommend you give them a try! 

BEAUTY PRODUCTS: 

RIMMEL MATCH PERFECTION FOUNDATION
No exaggeration, this is literally the best foundation I have ever used! I've tried out so many different brands to try and find the perfect foundation, and finally, I have found it! This Rimmel base has the perfect, medium, coverage and I have found a shade exactly my skin colour, which is very convenient. It just gives you such a clear, fresh faced look and needs very little concealer with it, because the coverage is good. I also like that it's in a squirty bottle, so you don't have to turn it upside down to get it all out, etc. 

RIMMEL STAY MATTE POWDER
In one of Tanya Burr's videos a couple of months ago, she mentioned that she had paired the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation with this Rimmel Stay Matte powder, and her skin just looked os beautiful and absolutly flawless. So, I thought I'd at least give them a try...and this matte powder is maybe one of the best make-up products I've ever used (that sounds like an exaggeration, but no joke). It 1) works extremerly well with the foundation 2) has amazing, full coverage 3) isn't shiny and so doesn''t make your skin look oily and 4) it just leaves my skin super soft and fresh and blemish-free before I put on blush and bronzer, etc. I highly highly recommend this. 

Mine's almost used up :'(

REVLON COLOURBURST LIP BUTTERS
These are practically the only thing I've been using on my lips lately because they are just so amazing! I bought these two, which are my favourites, right at the beginning of March, when Zoella vlogged about them, and since them, I have just been loving them! The great thing is that they are not just lipstick, but lip butters, so they act as lip ice/balm and make your lips super soft and help if they're chapped. But then, they also act as a really great, nicely pigmented lipstick, so it's literally the best of both worlds.

The first one I've been loving is Candy Apple (035) which is just a classic bright red, but so far, its the best like proper red lipstick I've had!
And my personal favourite, is Juicy Papaya (027). It's like this coral, orangey pink colour, that I have just been really loving this March!

NYX SUPER SKINNY MARKER IN CARBON BLACK
This is just a liquid liner, but because I'm pretty crap at getting a straight line when I put on liquid liner, I thought I'd give this one a try because the tip is really really thin and I thought it might be useful, which it has been. It is so skinny, and so super super easy to put on. My only compliant is that it smudges very easily, and I chose it specifically because it said smudge proof and waterproof, but anyway, its really great as long as I don't rub my eyes, haha. 

ESTEE LAUDER PURE COLOUR EYE SHADOW:
10- ivory slipper 63 tempting mocha 47 nude fresco and 04 wild sable

I love this little hand bag size eye shadow palette, because the colours are perfect for a neutral, every day look. I love ' WIld Sable' because it is a matte, while the others are slightly shinier, so that one is perfect for highlighting your crease. The Nude Fresco is also super pretty and in general, they all just blend very nicely, so are easy to put on and look great. 

THE BODY SHOP- MORINGA BATH AND SHOWER GEL
This is nothing particularly special, it is just a Body Shop shower gel, but this scent is AMAZING! It is probably my favourite one at The Body Shop and so I bought a massive bottle that will last me for ages. I have been loving it, it just smells so so delicious!

LUSH EASTER RANGE

I love Lush so so much, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw a whole new range of stuff in the spirit of Easter! I bought quite a few bath bombs that are in the shapes of eggs! I even bought this one massive one that had another bath fizz bomb shaped like a bunny inside it! 

So that's it for beauty and make-up, but there have also been some other bits and bobs that I was really loving last month: 

BOOK: LOOKING FOR ALASKA

I've not yet finished this book, but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's by John Green, the same author as The Fault in Our Stars, which was such an incredible book! So I got this one, cause I'd also heard great things! I'm not very far in, so can't tell you much about the story line, but just the way it's written and from what I have read so far, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. 

SCENTED CANDLES

Recently, I have had a slight (BIG) candle addiction, so I light them all the time just to give the room a pretty smell, or to feel a bit more relaxed, or whatever... but I have been loving scented candles, of all shapes and sizes. In particular, I've been loving a range of Candles from a shop here called Poetry. The scents are just really clear and beautiful and they come in these pretty glass jars. These are my favourite two at the moment, the scents are Jasmin and Frangipane- both smell incredible!

CREME EGGS!

Oh my gosh, these are probably one of the best things Cadbury has ever done! *fun fact, did you know that Cadbury Chocolate is South African* but sadly, these are not made here, and they only come out around Easter overseas anyway. SO the only way to get them is to go to a shop that imports overseas chocolates, etc like Spar. And sadly they are pretty pricey because they aren;t from here, but I guarantee you they are worth it. They are little chocolate eggs and the inside is filled with the gooey white and yellow stuff (like a real egg) that is sweet and just tastes SO amazing! So I've been eating a LOT of these recently!

THE MINDY PROJECT

So my friend recommended this show to me, and now I am completely hooked The episodes are 20 mins, so a perfect length for a little study break, etc. Its about this woman, Mindy who is a Ob/Gyn doctor and it's kind of just about her life and the people she works with, and so on. It's just very funny and light hearted and yeah, give it a try, its super super good!

THE LUMINEERS

Definitely not a newly discovered band, I' sure I'm pretty late on the band-wagon here, but I only ever new Ho Hey by them, and atually they are such an amazing band, and have some great great music! My favourites by them are 'The Big Parade', 'Submarines', 'The Dead Sea' and 'Ho Hey'. 

Have a listen, this one's my fav!

So those are my March (and kind of early April too) favourites!