- - ayiMori - -

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and with the holidays comes the urge to remember all in your life and be thankful for what you have. While everyone chooses to go about this in different ways, a lot of artists express their feelings through the songs they write. This week, I've compiled a list of songs that really speak to me. Their lyrics are extremely moving and passionate, and I think they can make you feel everything from thankful to inspired.


1. Unsteady- X Ambassadors

2. Twenty Years - Augustana

3. Hello - Adele

4. My Shadow (Keane Cover) - Alyson Michalka

5. Human - Christina Perri

6. Forever and Always - Parachute

7. Pony (It's Okay) - Erin McCarley

8. Something Beautiful - NeedtoBreathe


Let me know in the comments what you guys think! I actually made one of my friends listen to these, and she cried listening to #6!

It's finally time... next week is Thanksgiving Break. Which means that the 8K race I signed up for is a little less than a week away. I initially had the good intention of using the race as a way to become more active and keep up with my running regime. However, school got in the way, and I used a plethora of excuses which ended up hindering my running progress.

Anyways, I still have plans to try the race! While I may not finish with the time I originally wanted,  I will be proud of myself for running it in the first place. For all of you runners, or people who want to start running, here is a list of my top 5 running helpers.


{one}
Zombies, Run!


I realize that this sounds a little morbid, or maybe frightening, but I promise it's not! In fact it's pretty fun! Zombies, Run! is an app that helps people start running. It's similar to a podcast, in that there are many different stories per each run, with each run continuing the story. However, it also has a radio component, so runners get a mix of stories and music all together! I like how the app is also interactive, you are able to collect supplies as you run - which you will use to help further your status in the game.

This app is available for both iPhone and android, learn about it here.


{two}
Fitbit



I bought myself a Fitbit about two years ago, and it has REALLY changed my life. Since getting my fitbit, I have noticed that I like trying to walk more and get more exercise than before. Fitbit has allowed me to monitor my health and activity better, and it's daily food logs, sleep logs, and step logs really motivate me. Some fun pros to this is the silent alarm clock, the app allowing you to compete with friends, and the easy to use personal dashboard.

I'm currently part of a competition called Fit for Good, which will take my steps and change it into a donation towards the charity of my choice!

Curious about one, look here.


{three} 
Chocolate Milk


If you've ever been to Costco, I'm sure you've seen these bad boys stocked in the drink section. These chocolate milk drinks are my everything, when I was younger I would drink 1- 2 of them a day! However, now I can't really afford to drink it that often due to price and just the amount of sugar. But chocolate milk is a really good post- workout snack. After every workout, I treat myself to a chocolate milk, since I know it's good for me but also because it's a nice way to reward myself and my body.


{four}
Pandora


Pandora is an online internet radio station, with music for everyone and everything! There are so many different stations, you can create your own, listen to a certain genre, listen to music for a certain event, etc! When I'm running, I prefer not to take my iPod because I don't want to grow tired (or frustrated) with my music from long runs or hard workouts. Pandora is great because I can listen to many different types of music and not hear anything repeat. I also get to discover new music along the way too!

I recommend running to: Nike Running Radio


{five}
Running Socks


Before I started seriously running, I didn't realize that running socks were a thing! However, after buying my first serious pair of running shoes, the salesman recommended pairing running socks with them. I was a little skeptical, after all his job was to sell me stuff, but I decided to try it out and wow did they help! Running socks (or at least mine) have a cushioned support in the sock which helps with running, but they also don't rub as much as normal socks!

Runner's world has a great article on which type of sock is right for you, here.

With another month, there's another Rachel's Mix! This month is special because it is my friend's birthday month! Unfortunately I couldn't be there, but the next best thing was a phone call and a special present! Which of course included her monthly mixed CD. This month all the songs are bass present and dance friendly pop and alternative songs for any birthday celebration she may have.


1. Ghost Town - Adam Lambert

2. Hero - Breathe Carolina

3. Doctor Pepper- Diplo

4. Same Old Love - Selena Gomez

5. Up All Night - Owl City

6. Transmission - Zedd

7. Stand by You- Rachel Platten

8. Beggin for Threads- Banks

I first heard of this book because of all the hype and the excitement surrounding its release date in 2014. I really enjoyed watching Poehler on Saturday Night Live and also in Blades of Glory, but I had never watched Parks and Recreation, so I wasn't sure what to expect from her new material. After reading the book, I firmly believe that it deserved all the hype it received before and after its release. Poehler does a good job of telling stories, and you can hear her own voice and humor come through. I really enjoy that this book is a telling of all of her stories, but she subtly throws some life lessons into the book too, such as she thinks all people should be polite and direct, hence the title Yes Please.

Amy Poehler's first book is both funny and witty, and I must say I love the amount of pictures that are included in the book too. Are all of the pictures necessary? Probably not, but it adds personality to the book and gives the reader a more personal connection and insight into Poehler's personal life. After all, this book was written for Poehler's fans to understand on another level her life and her thoughts and feelings. There are so many personal stories; her job, her childhood, her parents, and her children.

I like how the stories are personal and funny. And each story feels like two friends just getting together and talking, not that someone is just reading you a story. The style of writing is very casual and allows for a more relaxing read. Poehler never once sounds like she is talking down to her audience, as is fabled celebrities often do. I definitely recommend this book for anybody who wants a funny personal book. I've also read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling and truly enjoyed that book too. So I recommend if you enjoyed that book, you will really enjoy reading Yes Please too!


TLDR
Would I recommend this book? Yes! This book is a no commitment book filled with personal, funny, and witty stories about Amy Poehler's life. Reflecting her life as not only a celebrity, but also as a normal down to earth human and mother of two.

So when I first started thinking about this post, I thought of my hometown. But then I reread the title and realized I should be writing about the Twin Cities, which is where I call home when I'm in school, which would be right now.


The Twin Cities are such a cool place! It's actually two cities just a few miles apart, Saint Paul and Minneapolis. What one city lacks, the other city has plenty of. The two cities manage to balance each other really nicely, so there's always something to do!

Saint Paul



Minneapolis is the other city in the area, and this is where the nightlife happens! Across the bridge there are tons of museums, bars, and night clubs. Don't get me wrong, Saint Paul also has really cool museums and concert venues too, but Minneapolis has more of a night life feeling. I have spent some weekends  going to different bars and clubs with friends. A few weeks ago, we even attended a Harry Potter bar crawl! One of Minneapolis' more famous museums is the Walker Art Museum, home of the Cherry Spoon sculpture. The museum garden is free for all, so I have visited that sculpture in every type of weather now.

If you're in the mood to explore, I suggest checking out the Midtown Global Market.



What are some of your favorite things about your city? Let me know in the comments below!

With the weather changing, it's time to swap out some of my clothes for heavier warmer articles. While I love all of my clothes I have, I can't help but browse the internet and blogs and see all the new styles that are coming out. I'm not a fan of all the new trends, but there are definitely a few pieces I will be considering buying this month.

So this week, here's five pieces that are at the top of my WaNeLo list!


{one}
Jeffrey Campbell Dexter Sandals



Buy it here: Zara


{four}
Forever 21 Contemporary Ruffled Front Open Cardigan



This hoodie is the softest thing! I tried it on in stores - and sadly I didn't buy it at the time... now I regret that. But this hoodie totally deserves its name because it is as soft as any worn- in sweater, but in the shape of a hoodie. This would go perfectly with any outfit, whether it be class or lounging at home. I totally envision myself wearing this after eating too much food on Thanksgiving. Hopefully, this vision will be a reality!

Buy it here: Forever 21

Week 1 in Prague was a lot to handle! Just like any other school, we started with orientation. Orientation was both too long and too short all at once. It was a blur of culture shock lessons and lectures about Czech culture and how we can learn to adapt in such a short amount of time. We got European disposable phones, some reading packets, and bam! School started!

View from our school at Vysehrad

School for me consisted of 4 hours a day, one hour of Czech language class and three hours of psychology and art. Initially the hardest part about school was getting there. We received simple instructions of how to make our way to school, but we were left on our own to figure out the half hour commute by ourselves. Our school was located at the top of Vysehrad, one of the tallest points in the city. So this also meant a grueling climb... every... single... day.

So school was during the day, which allowed us to explore during the afternoon and night. One of the first nights, our Flat Buddy, Jakub had a musical performance. Jakub is a music major who specializes in Jazz drums. So he had a jazz club concert and invited a bunch of us to go! It was really cool, we got to watch and cheer on our Flat buddy while he performed in front of a whole jazz club. It felt way too surreal, almost movie like - being abroad, drinking cocktails, and listening to good music with other students domestic and foreign.

Jakub and his Jazz Band

The rest of the first week went by like a blur, a mix of culture shock and intense classes.

Blurryface Tour!

Finish Ticket played first

Echosmith - singing Bright acoustically

Twenty One Pilots - and dancing friend like people

Twenty One Pilots performing

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! Which means these past couple weeks, I had a lot of fun activities lined up. So while I had a ton of fun, I hope you did too!

26 October 2015

Meeting Tyler Oakley

The first day after fall break, my friend and I woke up at 5am to go stand in line at the Mall of America. Why would we do this? Well because we wanted to get tickets to meet YouTube celebrity Tyler Oakley! After school, we went back to the mall and met Tyler and got a signed copy of his new book, Binge.


28 October 2015

The end of fall sports has arrived, and with that we celebrate all of our teams. One of my close friends has been a soccer player all four years at our school. At their last game, which we call Senior Night, all senior soccer players received an award and recognition for being part of the team and the athletic community.

A snowy picture of our women senior soccer players

29 October 2015

Blurryface Tour

On Thursday, immediately after school my friend and I packed up and headed downtown to see Twenty One Pilot perform at their Blurryface Tour. You guys can read about my whole experience soon!


31 October 2015

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Me and my "boo"

Halloween was lots of fun! Dylan and I dressed up as skeletons and headed downtown to Zedd's True Color concert! You guys can read my review of that here.

Hope you guys had a fun week too!

November has come and so we say goodbye to October. With the winter chill slowly making it's way, all things fall are starting to disappear. One of my favorite things about fall is all the apples. I love going apple picking, but I also love eating apples! They're fairly healthy - well depending how you eat it, but there are tons of ways to make apples into delicious treats and desserts.

So without further adieu, join me in grasping the last bits of fall with these 5 apple treats!

{one}
Apple Butter



Apple butter is delicious! It's great for a snack or for a quick breakfast! This past month my friends and I went apple picking, and we brought home 2 large sacks of apples! These got turned into lovely yummy desserts, with one being our own apple butter! 14 hours later - and it's been being hoarded by all of us this week.

Try this recipe: Brown Eyed Baker (it's the one we used!)


{two}
Apple pie / Apple Crumble

My makeup corner

Currently all my makeup at school is on top of my dresser. As you can see from the picture above, I have a lot and it's all in different places. I have two mirrors; one that has a few pictures on it, and I use it for my checking my hair and more basic makeup, like foundation, and a smaller magnifying mirror that I can use for my brows or my eye makeup. Next to all that I have a small mason jar that holds my larger makeup brushes; foundation brush, powder brush, bronzer brush, blush brush, contour brush, and a few others. Next is a small red tray that holds my perfume collection. There's also another tray that holds my hair products and different lotions and toners. In front of that is my lipstick and lipgloss collection.

My eyeshadow palettes

Some of the makeup that I have in the shelf are my eye palettes. The makeup palettes that I use are
- NYX Brown Eyes (left)
- Urban Decay Ammo Palette (middle bottom)
- Urban Decay Mariposa Palette (middle top)
- Lorac Pro

Each palette has its own character, so I love using all of them. I have to say on a normal day - to - day basis, I usually reach for the Lorac Pro because there are so many pigmented neutral colors, both matte and shimmer. I also use Urban Decay's eye shadow primer before applying eye shadow, so that my makeup stays all day without fading or creasing. Along with the eyeshadow, I use a few different eyeliners. I'm a huge fan of L'Oreal Intense Liquid eyeliner - and it's probably my holy grail. I've been using it since middle school. But I also use Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide- On Eye pencils in Perversion, Yeyo, and Delinquent. When I was younger, I used to use NYX glitter eyeliner, but with older age and longer days I'm not as a big of glitter for normal days.

Random makeup

In another part of my organizer I have these things above. I've got two blushes, bronzer, brow palette, powder, and the eye shadow primer I mentioned above.
- NYX Blush in peach (top left)
- NYX Blush - can't remember color (middle left)
- Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion (bottom left)
- Rimmel Sun Bronzer (top right)
- Benefit Brow Shaping Kit (middle right)
- Too Faced Primed and Poreless Powder (bottom right)

The NYX blush packaging has since changed since I originally bought it, but the product is just as wonderful. The pigment is great, but not too heavy, which I prefer since I don't want my makeup to feel heavy on my face. I like my bronzer, but it's getting old so I'm pretty sure I should invest in a new one soon. But I bought it on the recommendation of a friend, and I like how it's been working so far. My brow kit is something that has changed my life! I have really thin brows, so when my mom bought me this this past summer, I fell in love! The kit has a gel and matching powder, and comes with brushes and small tweezers, just in case you didn't have or want to buy another brush. Both the gel and the powder are really pigmented and they last all day. I have slept in my makeup more than once, and in the morning while the rest of my face looks like a mess, my brows still look perfect. My powder is another favorite of mine, and you can read about my review here.

Face products

These are my top three used face products.
- Benefit Big and Easy (left)
- Benefit Flawless Liquid Foundation (middle)
- Benefit's Porefessional (right)

I have already reviewed Benefit's Big and Easy, you can read about that here. But I tend to use that only in the summer, since it's lighter and has less coverage. As the seasons change and it gets colder and drier outside, I tend to switch to heavier foundations for the winter. Enter Benefit's Flawless Liquid Foundation, which I've been using for about 2 years now. I really like this foundation because of it's good coverage and moisturizing properties. Plus theres SPF coverage and a pump! The Porefessional I use whenever I put any makeup on my face. It basically helps minimizes pores and smoothes my face for better application for any makeup.

Anyways, let me know what makeup you use! Comment below with your favorite makeup and let me know if you want any more reviews on other makeup I have listed!