#FBF : Flash Back Friday 7/10/15

Hey! 

Not whole of exciting things happening in my life still working a lot but I have bought a few new beauty products that I have either yet to use or currently testing. 

Here some of the things I've got in the past few weeks 

I've tried everything in the top picture. I got the shampoo because youtuber Ingrid Nilsen mentioned it in one of her favorites videos. It's super inexpensive and it's been great for my oily hair. The eyebrow plumper has become a makeup staple now. I always use it. Regardless if I fill my brows in I always, at minimum use that. It's plumps and keeps my brows where I want them all day. If you're now one to fill in your brows but want to plump them of try a beginner brow product I highly recommend it. 

  The second picture is a more recent haul. I'm really excited to try the smashbox primer spray. I'm so glad I Sephora had a sample size or travel size to try before commiting to the big one. That Pixi spray was another YouTube inspired purchase thanks to Judy from Its Judys Life. I also just love anything 

rose or rose water. The little plastic bag is a sample of Origins Charcoal mask. The lovely lady at Sephora recommended it. I've been having some skin issues lately. I ran out of my homemade fashwash which helped my face tremendously but once it was out my face went back to weird texture, dry and breaking out. So I made some more finally and bought some masks to help get my face back to normal. 

I'm really excited about all of these. I tried the pumpkin one last night and I really liked it. I don't recommend it for sensitive skin. But if you need a good exfoliating mask this one is great and it smells like pumpkin pie! I'll probably do a full review when I've tried them all a couple times. 

I originally went into Sephora to find a highlighter. I, along with most of the makeup community, have been obsessed with highlighting. My go to is Mary Loumanizer by The Balm. 

Have you seen this floating around the Internet? 

Let's be real contouring isn't going anywhere but this whole idea of glowing skin is beautiful and much less face altering than contouring. I love it. I'll probably do a post on how I do it without looking like a straight up disco ball. I'll also go through some glowing face products I have and use. 

If you want to know about anything I got that didn't mention let me know! I hope you are having a fabulous week and you have a fantastic weekend! 

 

Things You Don't Miss About High School

Since Mocha the very inspiration for this blog is graduated from high school, I thought about my high school experience and I realized how much I don't miss high school at all. Though graduation is exciting it is also a little sad. As the summer comes and goes and fall comes back around everyone's lives will start to move on. So when that all sinks in and you may start to think you miss highschool here's a list of this you will not miss from high school: 

1. Raising our hand to use the restroom 

2. Standardized tests

3.Detention 

4. High school dress code 

5. The bus 

6. High school cliques 

7. Assigned seating 

8. Required parent signature 

9. Gym Class 

10. 50 pound backpacks 

11. Constant bells 

12. Try hard substitutes 

13. Fire drills

14.  Highschool drama 

15. School lunch 

I do miss high school fries. And there will be things you miss like seeing your friends everyday. Or even being able to keep in touch with those friends. 

Now starts the real challenge of becoming an adult. I can't say I've quite figured it out. Good luck. 

It's been a long day with you my friend

Hey hello! It's been awhile I have been busy busy. Let's catch up! 

I went to Washington to visit Mocha! She graduated from High school. I am so very proud of the beauitful young lady she has grown into. 

We had so. Much. Fun. In Washington. Me and my boyfriend went and he got to meet that side of my family for the first time which was really cool. We thourghly enjoyed ourselves. Washington is a beautiful state and Seattle is a beautiful city. When I got back and thought about writing this post I don't know why I didn't vlog it? I vlog everything else? I did, however, take loads a pictures so here is some of those. 

So much fun. 

If you follow me on Instagram you already saw that me and my sisters recreated some old family photos. They turned out hysterically perfect if you ask me. 

Before our Washington trip we took a trip to Virginia Beach with some friends. I don't have a whole lot of pictures from that trip but it was nice to go back home for a couple days. 

As far as blog related things I filmed a couple short hair hairdo ideas videos. Those will hopefully go up in the next couple weeks. And I also took pictures and did a look for my May ipsy bag. Which I'll just quickly tell you about and show you now. You know, since it's almost July!! 

Hair thing - awesome but It's a 10 still my fav. 

Matte lip cream - great color and ok finish. Not the best quality and terrible staying power

Eyelashes - eh too long for my taste other than that pretty natural looking 

CC cream - awesome I love it! I love the SPF. Really considering actually purchasing 

Eyeshadow - so pretty. I wished they'd send an eyeshadow that wasnt some kind of variation of brown. 

That bag though! I love it! I think everyone did. Now for the look: 

Last cool thing I've done recently is I got to see Betty Who live! She's one of my favorites. Her music puts me in a good mood and makes me want to dance around my room like an idiot. Good chore music. She's never been to Charlotte or North Carolina at all until now! She was so entertaining!! My boyfriend went with me who isn't a big fan like myself but could still admit she was entertaining to watch live. 

I really want to get back to doing some Mocha Monday type stuff. I miss writing. Since work lately has me either busy or too tired to think. I haven't been able to write anything in a long time. So hopefully I'll gain some mental strength soon. 

If you are reading this I love you. Thanks. 

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

I was nominated by  for the "Very Inspiring Blogger award" by Runt's Pickins! It's so awesome and so kind!

So here are the rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you. 

Ive known this lovely lady for a long time now. And I appreciate her not only reading, but also nominating me for this. It means so much, thank you!! 

List the rules and display the award. (Done)

Share seven facts about yourself. 

1. I am Filipino, Irish, and German and proud of it. 

2. I prefer some kind of potatoe chips on my sandwich 

3. I have a bachelors degree in interior design

4. I now work as a PR manager 

5. I've never broken a bone 

6. I love potatoes. Baked, mashed, fries you name it I love it. 

7. I spent a summer in NYC attending acting school

Nominate other amazing blogs and comment on their blog to let them now you nominated them. 

Ok this was actually the hardest part. I wanted to nominated bloggers I actually know. I know three. But one nominated me (and if I could nominate her back I would) the other two are a little inactive lately. So maybe if I nominate them they will get back to it or blog more! Also Im realizing I need to read more not so popular blogs. 

First, Design Prep because Jamie is talented, kind, and intelligent. Three things that make a great designer. 

Second, All Kinds of Kinds because Teaya is one of my most inspiring friends in general. She's uplifting and kind and so is her blog. I wish she would

One popular blog Id like to nominate is SimplyTaralyn. I've been reading and following this blog way way before I started my own. She is motivating and inspiring. We even live in the same city now! 

Friday Flash Back

So there are a couple of bloggers and vloggers that do a week recap type thing. I'd like to do something similar, like a flash back Friday of what happened during my week. I've wanted to do this for awhile but I got nervous that I wouldn't always have something to say or show on Friday. But in reality I take a lot of random pictures and videos that don't get shared anywhere and at minimum I always find share worthy things on the Internet. What this all really boils down to is me wanting to blog more. Who knows if this will last or how long it will but it's here

Friday flashback 

Last weekend we went to Science on the Rocks. I made a video about the last one we went to, you can check it out here. The children's science museum here has a once a month adult night. Adults can explore the museum and play with adult beverages in hand. Each month has a theme this month was illusions. It is becoming increasingly popular because it was crowded but still so much fun. 

These boxes look like something out of transforms just with a little projection and light play. 

This bubble guys was way too entertaining. This is his career. He blows bubbles. I think he did something right. 

They had a fun little photoboth so me and Joseph were our usual selves. 

My week other than work has been me playing sims, watching Netflix, and working on this blog. Yesterday it snowed. So having an excuse to not leave the house all day helped with productivity.

Speaking of working on the blog I changed some things around! There's a new better banner and a new background and some new colors. If you're on mobile you can only really see the new banner of you wanna see the whole shebang scroll down to the bottom and click "view web version". Also check out those snazzy buttons on the side with links to my social media things! Yay Ahteablog! 

I also did my First ipsy bag post and I also listed some chokers I made on my Etsy! Check 'Em out here! 

So how was it the first Friday Flash back? I'm surprised I had more to say than I thought. Hate it? love it? 

New Years Resolutions and Reflections

I started this blog Janurary first of 2014. And my third post ever was on New Years resolutions. You can find a link to that post here. Let's take a look back on those resolutions and see how I did shall we? 

Lead a healthier lifestyle. About half way through the year yes absolutely. I was eating healthier and working out then it started to go down hill. I picked up hooping to stay active but that was as far as I got. I'm still addicted to french fries and hooping like once a week now is all I got. I need to fix that and hoop more! 

Paint more. Definite big fat fail. I didn't paint at all. I did however do more creative things. I opened an Etsy shop for heaven sake! So I'm still happy about how much effort I've put it to being craftier and more creative, even if I didn't paint. 

Purge Negativity. I feel like this has taken all year for me to actually accomplish. It wasn't until the end of this year were I felt like the really negative people in my life where out of it. And it took a huge career change or lack thereof to really see it wasn't happy with where my life was going. 

Last was, Keep up with this blog. For half of the year I did great I wrote a post every Monday and usually a post sometimes two during the week. Then toward the end of the year I stopped writing at all. I'm so disappointed in myself for letting this blog take the back burner. That will change. More on that later though.

 

Ok whew. That was full of good realizations and disappointments on to this years new News Years Resoltuions. 

Continue to do things that make me happy. I've been enjoying being creative with makeup and my etsy and everything else that I want to keep this momentum going. I can do this. It takes dedication but dedication I'm willing to put in. I think once lost my job and realized I didn't have anyone to please I started concentrating on making myself happy. I need to not forget that. 

Hoop more. Not just hoop more but be a healthier and fitter me so my hooping improves. It was just a thing I picked up to be active and now it's more than just a thing I picked up its a stress release. When I'm feeling out of inspiration or down or stressed, in my circle everything keeps going and flowing. I love that. 

Last but not least keep up with this blog and expand this blog. It's been a year. A year that could have gone better in terms of this blog. I want to keep writing. I started this blog for a reason. A good reason. I want to make more videos, make more in general and write to you more often. Check out my letter to Mocha on tomorrow's post for more on that. 

To you, you lovely reader you, make 2015 your best year yet. I'll try to do the same. 

AhteaMickey's Etsy Shop

Its here. Its ready. Im ready? Its been a long time coming. Ive gotten a little push from friends and family to finally do. Realizing there are creatively supportive people in your life is an awesome feeling. So Ive finally doing it. If you follow me on social media than youve seen the sweater designs Ive done so far. Im adding more designs and some embroidery but the shop needs to finally be announced. Because this blog is my heart and soul and my beginnings of an online presence I guess we will say, readers of this blog can use coupon code: AHTEABLOG and get 20% off. This coupon code will be good up until December 20th so use it while you can! I love you guys! here goes nothing.

AhteaMickeys' Etsy Shop link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AhteaMickey 

Advice for Highschool Grads

High School graduation is here. High schoolers all over the country are filing into a gym or aditorium and saying goodbye to adolescence. Graduating from not just mandatory education but also from childhood. There are a few things I wish someone had told me or talked to me about when I graduated highschool. You may not be a highschool graduate but you may know someone who is and who you could share this with. Or maybe you could just benefit from this advice. 

First of all congratulations graduates. Take it all in. Feel that sigh of relief that and release that tension that is highschool, you did it! Now what. I have 3 tips after high school. 

1.) Move forward with ambition. 

You are now a young adult. You are responsible for your actions and expected to have some sort of direction. Expect a sea of "so what are you going to do now" questions. Whether you are going to college or straight into work, find that ambition to be an independent adult and move forward. It seems, too often people graduate from high school and have no idea what should happens next. They find them selves not doing what they want or not being where they want. It may sound cliche but you really do have the rest of your life ahead of you. You are going to have crappy jobs and terrible classes. But move forward knowing you are doing whatever you are doing to better yourself.  Don't loose you're ambition when you realize growing up sometimes sucks. Trust me, sometimes it really does. But work hard put your best in whatever it is you're doing and move forward with ambition.

2.) Talk about money and bills. 

I wish I talked to my parents or anyone living on their own about bills and money before I moved out. When I graduated I was so focused on going to school and being "free", that I didn't think about all of the repercussions. When I moved out of student housing I didn't really know anythig about water bills, electric bills and I definitely didn't think about my accumulating student loans. If you are going out on your own, I suggest talking to someone who already is. Figure out how much they pay for rent and other bills. Maybe they have some money saving tips or tips on living on a budget. If you don't know anyone who is on their own, dare I say it, talk to your parents. Since they have been paying bills for you to live with them for the past 18 years they probably know a thing or too. And whether you want to believe it or not they were once your age and taking on the world after highschool. 

3.) Last but not least, make the best and enjoy your life. 

This is your one shot at life, so make the best of it and enough it. Adulthood is not easy and it can be stressful. Majority of the time as much advice that you can get, you don't know until you learn for yourself. Sometimes that means falling on your face just to pick yourself back up again. You made it through high school. You passed your classes and you did your homework. You dealt with the high school drama and heart breaks. You pushed passed the annoying teachers, overbearing parents, and fairweather friends. You did what you needed to get through it all and now you are a high school graduate. I'm not telling you that the rest or whatever comes next is going to be easy, but from here on out your life will be whatever you want it to be. Your life will be what you make it, so make it a good one. 

"Good luck exploring the infinite abyss" 

Our Story

I meet Joseph winter of 2010 / the beginning of 2011. At the time I had just graduated and was struggling on living in the real world and becoming an adult aka  I was a waitress that got paid just enough to pay bills. Joseph and his friends used to come to my work every weekend (come to find out by Joseph's request) I used to call them my favorite customers. I won't ever forget the first time Joseph actually spoke to me. I asked all of their names, and when I got to Joseph he was so shy and quiet I couldn't understand him. We went back and forth with the what's your name? Joseph what? Joseph what? until his friend Lauren stepped in and said his name was Joe. If you know Joe now you know that quiet is not him. Which is why in hindsight, this memory has become unforgettable. 

He was there almost every Friday and Saturday. Either with a group of friends or just one, whoever he could convince to go with him. He would talk to me when he could about anything until one day he got to courage to walk right up to me and asked for my number with no hesitation and confidence. Like I previously mentioned I wasn't interested in dating but I was so impressed by his confidence how could I say no? That night I meet my friend at a bar where another friend was bar-tending. I told them how ridiculous I felt for giving him my number because he was only 18 and I was 21. I didn't want anything to do with someone that young. 

 But we ended up texting and talking on the phone late at night everyday. I starting realizing how awesome Joseph was way before we started dating. Us hanging out getting to know each other went on for a few months. I didn't want a boyfriend and he knew it. But he was persistent. I was going through some things. But he was persistent. When he would ask if I would be his girlfriend Id always replay no. But he was persistent. Even if I pushed away he was still there. It didn't matter what I was going through or my problems or even my past he was there. To be my friend or my boyfriend.

  Finally I realized how dumb I was being. I found someone I enjoyed spending all my time with and who was there no matter what. I realized how awful it would be if he disappeared from my life. I liked him so much even if I didn't want to admit it. We were practically dating anyways, I was just too stubborn to put a label on it. So one night he stayed over and I told him to ask me one more time. He said " why? you're just going to say no". This time I persisted to ask just one more time. And 3 years ago tomorrow, I finally said yes.

I don't care what happens tomorrow or two years from now. I know that the last three years I wouldn't take back for anything. Every fight or argument has only made us stronger. He has made me better. He let's me know when I'm being ridiculous (sometimes I need that) or when I need to calm down (which I really need) he is so understanding and supportive. He makes me laugh, always, whether I want to or not. And he makes me extremely happy.

  To celebrate our anniversary we will be going to the beach! It's where we spent our 1 year anniversary and it's also the place where we first said I love you. 

I love you Joseph