New Site Launch!

I am very happy and proud to announce that The Greta Elise got a makeover! I've been working very hard on this site for about a week now, importing all my posts over, redesigning the fonts, colors and coding everything to make sure it all works, but it's finally ready and published! Please click this link and update your bookmark so you can get all new post updates and more. 

http://gretaheun.wix.com/thegretaelise

Finals Week Fuel

I can't believe it's the last week of this school year. I feel like I was just leaving on a plane to start my Sophomore year, and now I'm trying to purge my closet, redesign websites, perfect a print ad and write a final paper. As I write this I'm sitting in class listening to some last minute presentations, hiding under a hat because my hair is staticky from the rain and I didn't put makeup on this morning. Also, I may or may not be wearing the same hoodie that I've been wearing the past three days (but I promise it's still clean!) Ah, finals week. 

No Mo' FOMO

FOMO (fear of missing out) is something that I think almost everyone can relate to, no matter their age. Personally, I find nothing wrong with alone time, and I am by no means socially inept, but I do appreciate time to just be by myself, to do the things that make me happy and content and to take time for me. However, staying active and doing new things is something that has always been attractive to me and something that I really want to be better about. Being in college, having a job and being in a serious relationship means that a lot of my time is taken up, but my summer break starts in one week and I'm determined to make it one for the books. 

Iced Coffee is Good For the Soul

It's almost Friday! After work today, I headed over to a local coffee shop owned and run by an adorable Italian man who calls everyone "honey" and makes the most delicious coffee right in front of you. 

My First Birchbox

I recently decided to jump on the bandwagon and subscribe to Birchbox. For those who don't know, Birchbox is a monthly subscription service that sends you a box of 3-6 samples especially curated for you. When first opening an account, you describe your skin tone, type, hair color and the certain types of brands and products you most reach for. They then do their best to send samples that match your preferences and unique style. I love the idea and it's only $10 a month. It was totally justifiable, so I went for it. They also have a great referral and rewards program. For every product you review in your Birchbox, you can earn 10 points on the site. 100 points = $10 in the shop, so it adds up quite quickly. For every friend referred who joins, you get $5 in the shop...they've got their rewards down pat. Enough about the details, let's see what is in my first box! 

Weekend Adventuring

 This Sunday's good things include everything from this past weekend. This weekend was a really good one. It's been raining since Friday, but I have no complaints because it feels so fresh and clean and Spring is officially here, which means that there are only 13 days until we go home to California and I can't wait. It's been a long year. There have been many tears, many sleepless nights, many worries and contemplations and reminiscing. There have also been many joys, many hugs and many laughs. One of the biggest blessings has been the man who has stayed by my side through it all and who inspires me to live life to the fullest and supports me and loves me, even when times get tough.

Artsy fartsy

We decided to take advantage of the dreary weather and go exploring this weekend. On Friday after classes, we took a walk along the beach, which is about 10 minutes from our campus. We walked, talked, took pictures and enjoyed some quiet time together, taking advantage of not having cell service. Breaks like that are so necessary.

Five (Good) Things

Image via Pinterest

I hope everyone's Sunday was pleasant and full of laughter. I really want to make an effort to make a list of five things I'm thankful for, aka five good things on Sundays. While cliché, I think it's good to take a moment to consider the good things, appreciate them and revel in them, especially week by week. It's sometimes hard to recognize the good things, as small as they may be, but in the moment they can bring immense joy and peace and it's these things that I tend to fall back on when things get tough. 

"No Makeup" Makeup Look

Current Spring Skincare

Wait, I'm alive? Yes, yes I am. I've been trying to think of a really spectacular way of coming back to blogging, but I couldn't come up with much except a bunch of beauty/skincare-themed updates, so we're just going to get into it. Excuses for not posting since December? Tons. Any of them worth delving into? Not really. 

My skin is *knock on wood* finally starting to be in the best condition it's ever been in, and hopefully by summer, I'll be even more confident with it. I'm struggling less with breakouts and more with hyper pigmentation and dryness, both the effects of the scars I'm working on healing; I've been focusing on the overall brightness and dewey-ness of my skin. A little more vitamin D exposure will help, but in the meantime, I've corralled a few products that I've worked into my skincare regimen that I'm really liking. 

It takes a lot of courage for me to post something unedited and barefaced and not feel self-conscious about it, so this is kind of a big deal 👏🏼 

On Body-Image

I was recently out spending money on a pile of neutral toned clothes (neutrals just make sense, okay?) and Rachel said something that stuck with me. I've stopped paying attention to sizes, it really doesn't matter. 

Stop. Wait a minute. 

Disclaimer: I am currently writing this post while consuming the last slice of cold pizza we had leftover from dinner the other night. And I have no shame. 

Review: Best of Sephora Skincare

There comes a point in every woman's life when she can regularly afford Sephora. It's almost like a rite of passage. You find a good job, you start making a decent income and once you pay your monthly bills, you still have a few dollars left for a nice product every few weeks or so. I personally tend to pay more money for skincare products as well as higher-end foundation, eyeshadows and palettes. 1) I owe it to myself and my very sensitive skin to find not only the best products, but also the highest quality ingredients, best color matches, etc. 2) I go through mascara and eyebrow pencils way too often to drop $30 every time. 

With the holiday season in full effect, Sephora has a fantastic range of gift sets and samplers, so I took advantage of this opportunity to try out a variety of products, hoping to find some that I could incorporate into my skincare routine. For me, this was a great investment because I get to try out many different things to see which ones I would like to buy full-size in a month or so. Thus far, I've been pleasantly surprised and enjoying my habitual face-washing even more. 

Hey Wassup Hello: A Life Update

I’ve been staring at this screen for a good twenty minutes now trying to figure out what kind of post I want to write.

I browsed through roughly ten to fifteen post ideas for Fall, took a few selfies and ate a KIND bar and still nothing.

So now I’m just going to ramble about pointless things that you could probably care less about but which will make me feel at least a little productive and inspirational.

I could start by giving a life update but what’s really so interesting about that?

It’s November, so it’s basically Christmas, the red cup scandal is taking over the internet and the wind nearly whisked my Ray Bans off my face when I was walking to my 8 a.m. this morning. Now these glasses were necessary because one, I can’t see worth a crap and two because I looked a little bit blah. Granted, I snoozed my alarm clock until 7:45 so what do I expect, but I still made it to class before Karl did. Oh, Karl’s my Marketing teacher. He’s pretty cool about not yelling for when I was horribly ill and missed his class…multiple times…

Speaking of class, I’m just going to come out and say it. My schedule sucks this year. I know I should be an adult and suck it up but I’m a complainer so let me complain. When I planned it out last Spring, I wasn’t taking into consideration that I’d be working up to 35 hours a week, nor that all of those seemingly easy classes would add up to 19 credits. Stupid Greta.

Turns out, the Sophomore Slump, while believed by some to be a frame of mind, is proving to be unavoidable. Socializing, partying and running on little to no sleep just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. My coffee mug collection is growing and I swear I’ve spent more money on groceries than booze useless items that do not benefit me in any way.