New Year's Resolutions: How to keep them!

New Year's Resolutions can be a thing of beauty as well as a thing of  contempt. It can be so exciting to daydream about a better you months down the road as long as you can keep your resolutions... why, then, is it so dang hard to keep them? Here are my tips on how to keep your resolutions this year! Because THIS TIME, its gonna be different!

1. Be practical - it is so important to be practical and realistic when setting goals. Make sure to set a reasonable goal for yourself rather than set a goal that seems so unachievable that you're tempted to give up right from the get go.
2. Set mini-goals- Achieving a huge goal is so much easier when its broken down into smaller parts. Check points are amazing ways to make sure you're keeping up with your resolutions as well as giving you a feeling of success from time to time. Celebrate your mini successes along the way instead of just once at the end of hitting your mark! It'll give you the confidence you need to keep going!
3. Set yourself up for success- make sure to have what you need in order to succeed. Whether that be equipment, knowledge, or motivation, you have to have the necessary tools in order to achieve your goals.
4. Hold yourself accountable- make sure that you somehow set up reminders to get it done. This might include telling other people what you're trying to achieve so the thought of them knowing you bailed on your resolutions is motivation enough to complete them. If the idea of letting people in on personal goals makes you feel vulnerable, maybe instead try writing down weekly what you want to achieve regarding your resolutions and make sure to reward yourself upon completion.

Here's how I'm trying to use my tips with my goals this year!

-My first goal is to lose 15 more pounds. I lost 25 pounds during the second half of last year and I want to keep up my weight loss! I'm setting smaller goals for myself (1 pound a week!) and have told some of my friends and sister about my goals. My sister actually joined My Fitness Pal (the awesome calorie counter app I use) so we can keep each other accountable!
-Keeping up with my blog. Blogging is something I really do love and I need to make time for it. I'm trying to post blogs a certain amount per month and I use my planner to write down what posts I want to have published on what days.
-Drink more water. This goal seems kind of easy or silly but I always forget to drink water! To set myself up for success, I bought myself this super cute Camelbak Eddy waterbottle in the coral color so I can bring water everywhere I go.
-Exercise more often. This goal is so cliche, isn't it? To help me achieve this goal, I bought a yoga mat and some hand weights so I have things available in my room to work out with. I also met up with a trainer in my class who helped me create an exercise plan to help me tone it up!
-Stop. Think. Reflect- I tend to get invested in things that when I really stop to think about it, don't effect me at all. I made it a goal this year to stop, think, and reflect when I find myself getting too wrapped up in something that in the long run, really doesn't matter. I told some of my friends about this one so they can stop me if they hear me going off the deep end about something!
-3 As in all 3 semesters- this one is an academic goal that my planner is going to help me the most with! I love the Erin Condren Life Planners because they make it so easy to stay organized. I can write what to study when in them and keep up with my studies in order to get the grades I want. With this goal I tried to be practical. I definitely want at least 3 As all 3 semesters and that's totally achievable... now its just time to surprise myself and see how many As I can get! Get your own life planner to start keeping track of yourself HERE!

What are some of your New Year's Resolutions and how do you plan on keeping them???
xxSJ

Steph Reads: 'The Guardian' by Nicholas Sparks

   I was looking for a good book to read while on my cruise a couple weeks ago and stumbled across this Nicholas Sparks novel at my local thrift shop.  I had never read a Nicholas Sparks book before but thought this would be exactly the type of fluffy read I would enjoy while getting some sun in Mexico, so I made the $0.50 splurge!
   This book follows young widow Julie who receives the gift of a Great Dane from her late husband and the promise that he will always watch over her. Julie decides she is ready to date again and that decision comes with some serious complications: a romance with a best friend, new love, and a crazed stalker.
   This book was Nicholas Sparks' first attempt at a thriller, branching away from his normal romance novels (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One... to name just a few!) and I certainly found this to be a page turner. This book had realistic characters who I could connect with and a plot line that made me at times feel just as helpless as our protagonist, Julie.  Overall I really enjoyed this suspenseful novel and was even emotionally invested enough to well up a little at the end (shhhhh don't tell anyone!).

What's your favorite Nicholas Sparks novel??

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Steph Reads: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

In Someday, Someday, Maybe, Lauren Graham takes us back to the 90's where instead of cell phones and laptops, fax machines and pagers ruled. We follow the story of Franny Banks, an aspiring actress who has given herself a time limit on her success in New York City. Either she succeeds or she has to move away and give up her dream. Franny has only 6 months left when we first meet her as we follow her through auditions, callbacks, embarrassments, successes, and romance. Armed with her precious FiloFax (which has handwritten pages included in the novel so we can keep track of her busy (and sometimes not so busy) schedule), we watch Franny as she not only grows in acting skills but also in reflection and understanding what's really important.

I found this book to be such a fun read. Graham created a character who is incredibly likable and relatable regardless of if you understand her theater aspirations or not. I found myself consistently rooting for Franny and was really invested in this character's success! I also of course enjoyed the New York aspect to this novel which was my main decision for choosing it. I've been loving being able to understand the NYC vibe the authors try so hard to capture in all these novels I've been reading set in the city. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quirky female lead. Think Lizzie McGuire plus Princess Diaries plus Friends!

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

MAC Lipstick in 'Plumful'

Winter is the time for hot cocoa, puffy jackets, pink cheeks, and vampy lips.  I recently purchased a popular MAC lipstick in the color 'Plumful' to hop on the deep plummy lip trend...or more like dip my toes in it. Plumful looks really vampy and deep in the tube but since its a lustre finish (my favorite finish by MAC!) it is more of a sheer wash of color that can be as buildable as you want!

This lipstick has a really pleasant glossy finish and the famous Vanilla smell MAC lippies are known for. The color is a nice wash of plummy pink that wears off relatively quickly when eating or drinking, but leaves behind a plum tint with out an unappealing ring of color around the lips. I really enjoy this color as an easy go to for day to day wear in the winter time that spices up the lips with out being too loud or dramatic. 

xxSJ

NOTD: Essie 'After School Boy Blazer'

I haven't spoiled myself with buying a new nail polish since I moved to NY for school because an $8 or $9 polish simply doesn't fit into my budget. However, when I saw this polish at Target, I HAD to have it. It is Essie's 'After School Boy Blazer,' a creamy, super deep, navy blue.  This polish is nothing like I own and is so attractive to me for the fall and winter. I've worn it a couple times since I've purchased it and I am so pleased with how it looks! It has a great formula (opaque in only one coat!) and lasts for days with out a single chip. This type of fuss free polish is exactly what I look for during the holidays where I'm so busy and the last thing I need to worry about is touching up my nails.

xxSJ

Too-Faced Natural Eye Palette: An Unsung Hero

This Too-Face Natural Eye palette is one of the first palettes I ever owned. I find myself rotating through palettes quite frequently and every time I pick this one up after stowing it away for awhile I'm always in awe by the ease of use and quality of shadows inside! I thought I'd do a quick post highlighting why I love this thing and why it will always be an old faithful for me!

The color selection in the palette as the name suggests is very neutral. This palette includes my very favorite highlight, 'Heaven.' This matte soft white highlight is just so perfect to add some dimension to the eye. Particularly when mixed with this shimmer heavy palette, the matte highlight is the perfect touch.  I also LOVE the gray/beige crease color 'Velvet Revolver.'  It is a warm gray color that works as the perfect transition color for every one of the colors in this palette. 

The shadows are all a variety of textures with the upper row being mattes, the middle row being shimmers, and the bottom row containing chunky glitters. The negative I have to say about this palette is that the darkest browns are quite similar to one another. They only differ slightly in tone.

No matter the shadow combination you choose with this palette, it will create the prettiest, brightest fool proof neutral eye. I recommend this palette for beginners over the Naked palette simply because you can't mess these shadow combos up! Other palettes can be a bit overwhelming because of all the shadow combos you can create. With this small palette, you will create a pretty eye, every time. 

I always feel so pretty when I use this little palette and I usually get compliments on my eye makeup when I wear this stuff! This palette is $36 for 9 eyeshadows and is the perfect size for traveling. Trust me when I say this is the perfect set of shadows to add to your arsenal for a standby pretty eye. You'll feel pretty. You'll feel fabulous. Everyone will notice.

xxSJ

NOTD: OPI 'DS Indulgence'

Looking for a bewitchingly beautiful orange to wear on this All Hallow's Eve??? Look no further than today's nail of the day, OPI's Designer Series polish in 'Indulgence.'
This orange shade is gorgeous and such an easy formula to work with. Two thin coats was all I needed to achieve opacity, and as you can see the end result is amazing.
This color is an orange-red base with yellow, red, and gold glitters mixed through out. The glitter manages to stay smooth and almost 3-D looking rather than chunky or metallic. I always get compliments when I wear this polish!

This polish looks amazing under any lighting but is particularly stunning when it catches the sun!
OPI polishes can be found at Target, Ulta, some drugstores and department stores for about $8 a bottle.
What's your favorite orange?

xxSJ

Erase Paste Concealer by Benefit

Did you know that the 'f' in Benefit stands for 'fun?'  They certainly have the cutest and most fun packaging!! I'm always drawn to the Benefit section in Sephora and Ulta because of the fun packaging and bright colors, but I really haven't tried many of their products. I was recommended to try their 'Erase Paste' concealer by a past employee, so I thought I'd give this a shot and see if there is some quality product underneath all of the adorableness.  

Inside the little pinky purple box is a lesson right on top to teach you how to correctly use this concealer.  

The box also contains a tiny spoon to scoop out product if you don't like the hygienic implications behind dipping your finger in the same pot over and over again.  I myself will admit that I don't mind dipping my finger in to get product out so the spatula won't be useful until there isn't much product left and I'm scraping out of the crevices!

I picked the color Medium (no. 2). There are only two shades available for this concealer which is definitely a downside if neither of the colors work well for you.  This concealer is meant to be a brightening product which is why there is such a limited color selection.  The concealer is a salmony pink color rather than color matching to your skin.

This concealer is SUPER creamy and easy to blend on the skin.  I recommend applying it with your fingertips because the warmth from your fingers helps melt the product onto your skin, further blending it in.  Since it is a creamy product, setting it with a light powder will keep it from creasing or sliding around. 

I learned a little trick while buying this as I was complaining about my dark under-eye circles.  The tip is to layer or mix concealers! I never thought of doing this before as I was worried about creating some serious cakiness on my skin, but it makes so much sense! Laying down a skin tone concealer on its own does a pretty good job of covering the dark circles, however it can leave an ashy-gray tone behind since it can't completely cancel out the purple.  Putting a highlighting pinky concealer on top brings liveliness back to the skin color! 

The top picture above is my blank skin.  The second picture is with Maybelline Fit Me concealer in Light (a nude concealer).  The third picture is with Benefit Erase Paste added on top of the Maybelline Concealer.  It does a great job with further canceling out the purple tones of  my undereye area.

For some reason this concealer gets a bad rap from what I've read in other reviews online.  I recommend trying this out in the store layered on top of a nude concealer because I'm telling you, this stuff works! Benefit can be found in Sephora, Ulta, some department stores and a few free standing stores in America. It costs $26 for 0.15oz of product.

xxSJ

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann 'Cleopatra in New York'

Today's nail of the day features my first ever Deborah Lippmann nail polish! I was so excited to finally get my hands on one of these infamous polishes... infamous for both the beautiful glitters and the hefty price tag.  Deborah Lippmann glitter polishes retail for $19.00 so I couldn't wait to see if this baby was worth the price. I have the color 'Cleopatra in New York,' described as a 'gold-studded black.'

2 coats and a top coat, natural sunlight

As you can see in the picture, the nail polish shows up looking like the glitter is a bit green! That's okay with me though, because it still has a beautiful finish.  The glitters are very thickly spread through the polish so every stroke on my nail was full of it. When I added the second layer, the glitters on the first layer mixed with the top layer created a very cool almost 3-D effect. I thought the finished product was quite lovely and was not too chunky!

My frustration with this product lies in the fact that it chipped rather quickly for me. I used an old-ish bottle of Seche Vite Top Coat so perhaps the old formula didn't do a good job with sealing the color onto my nail.  Boo.

Deborah Lippmann nail polishes are truly unique and also have ingredients in the formula that are good for your nails such as biotin and green tea extract. It also does not have parabins, sulfates, or formaldehyde.  If you think this all warrants the $19 price tag then by all means, buy this polish! It certainly is nice! For me, however, I would only splurge on this polish if it is a glitter that is not dupable and something I simply HAVE to have. For instance, 'Mermaid's Dream' is on my Christmas list because it is that beautiful of a color and as far as I know, no known dupe exists!
Overall, I'm torn.  It's a beautiful color and apparently good for my nails, but is it really worth $19??? You can decide :)

xxSJ