What To Do This Summer/Summer Must Haves 2014

It's the time we've all been waiting for: school is finally over and its time for SUMMER! Tanning, road trips, surfing, ice cones and BOYS are what typically make up good summer but I'm sure every summer is like that. Haven't you ever wanted more out of your summer break??  This summer, I want you to take in every second with gratitude and make the most of it because, unfortunately, summer is not as long as winter and before you know it, it'll be time for school again. Therefore, here's my ultimate summer to-do/must haves list for 2014!

• Retro All The Way To The Beach •

Seriously, imagine riding in a retro convertible car all the way to the beach this summer with your best friends. Imagine the feel of the soothing wind brushing against your skin and imagine feeling your hair tousle carelessly in the wind. Add some super cool shades, a perfect lip stick and your fave bathing suit cover-up in your mental image. Doesn't that feel amazing? Hold on to that for another 10 seconds. Yeah, renting a retro car this summer sounds perfect doesn't it? Yes it does. You should rent a retro car this summer *nods*. Talk about best road trip ever! 

∞ Trail Cruisin' ∞

My #1 tip for this summer is to try to stay away from your computer as much as you can! Go out for bike rides with your friends every morning or in the afternoons. It's not only fun but it's a great stress reliever! On top of that, it'll keep your legs nice and toned so you look amazing when it's time to get those back-to-school jeans! 

You can ride around your neighborhood, at your local park or somewhere on a trail. Either way, always make sure someone is with you. You should never ride your bike alone no matter where you go. This not only ensures safety but also having a better time! It's always more fun to bring a friend anyway. 

• Polaroid •

The best thing to have this summer is a polaroid camera! You don't have to wait for the photos to be developed or work with a regular printer trying to print photos"when you have the time" (and by that time you've already forgotten about the pictures). When you take a picture, there it is! You already physical have it! This is perfect for setting up a scrap book to sort of "journal" your summer. It's like a diary without having to write down every thought in your head. It's a good thing to do at night right before going to bed because after you're done, as you're going to sleep, your thoughts are sweet! 

∞ Make Music Videos ∞

Make music videos for your YouTube channel! It's totally fun and it's occupying on days when you just don't know what you want to do. Be creative with your filming settings and your video editing!  There's no right way or wrong way to make a video, just have tons of fun and record it!

• Find A DJ Party •

These guys are easy to find! I follow a lot of them on Instagram! Find a DJ that you like via Instagram or YouTube and figure out where they'll be next. I've never been to a DJ party before but they look hella fun! (BTW: there is a difference between a DJ party and a Rave. Drug free is the best way to go people!) 

So that's the beginning of my list of things to do this summer! I'm going to add more but if you have any ideas of what else should be on this list, tell me on Twitter: @FlairBerry

Love,

Flair <3

Motivation For Your Day :)

Don't allow how someone treats you to become the way you see yourself!

How To Rid Yourself Of Feeling Bad

So maybe you screwed things up with a crush or even your best friend. Maybe you offended someone and you didn't mean to. Maybe the roles are reversed and you're the one who got hurt. Either way, fear not!! There is a way to mend your own pain and move on and make the situation better.

First off, whether you're the victim or the one who caused pain on someone else, you feel frustrated. Take at least a few moments to release it as much as you can. After doing such, take a bath and listen to music while focusing on yourself for a little bit. When you're finally calm, say to yourself "What am I going to do about this?"

Beyonce only allows herself to feel bad for herself for one day. Then she says she asks herself what she's going to do about it. I followed this advice and it was life changing!

I had a crush on a guy who works at the local store where I am. I don't know how but i offended him somehow and he began to give me cold shoulder, like for real! I threw a fit when I saw his reaction to me because of course, I didn't know what I did! I got mad at him, myself, the situation and then I quickly realized that me pouting and making a fool out of myself wasn't going to help anything. I decided that I had to give myself two options: a) stay looking like a moron while he continues to move on with his life and you continue to feel stupid or b) Decide to do something about it and move on. I chose B. I decided that the next day, I would go talk to him and figure it out and then move on with my life without him or the potential of us in it. I felt a lot better after deciding such a thing! I had to mentally and emotionally prepare myself if he decided he didn't want to talk to me about it though. He had another girl he liked that I guess he began to pursue (he actually called the girl in front of me too so when I say he totally gave cold shoulder, I'm not lying!).  Either way, this was not about making him feel better, it was about me.

This process is not for the other person, it is for you. The only person who's feelings matter is your own. The better you feel the better the situation becomes. I promise! Of course time heals all wounds completely but this is what you can do for yourself at the moment and make yourself feel a lot better.

This isn't just for when you hurt someone or if someone hurt you, it's for any or every situation. If you get a bad grade, what are you going to do about it? If you mess up during a dance recital, what are you going to do about it? You have to remember that continuing to feel bad is a choice. Choose to feel good! This is your life, you make it what you want. Do not let situations and people control how you want it to go.

I hope I helped someone today! If you ever need advice, hit me up on twitter :)

Love,
Flair <3
@FlairBerry

Tips on Acing Your Finals/Tips For Test Taking

Finals are considered the most stressful series of tests to take for school. They are the tests that out of all of the others you've had to be bothered with for the school year, matters the most. It determines where you're going to be for next year so understandably, it can be a very nerve wrecking thing. Here are my top 5 tips that have helped me and my friends not look at test taking so intimidatingly and actually pass.

1. Don't Stress
Most people already have the thought in their heads "Omg im gonna fail!" or "Omg what if I fail?! My parents are going to KILL me!!!" etc etc. Those thoughts are just something I call "Doubt Bullies". Doubt Bullies fill your head with things that aren't true. Everyone has the potential to get a good grade on their final! Your thoughts create your world so if you start thinking you're going to fail, chances are, you will. That being said, it is important that you go into your test with a positive, optimistic attitude about passing. You have to believe in yourself and know that you are smart enough to succeed.

2. Don't Overload Studying
Most people think that if they run through flashcards over and over and over they're going to have EVERYTHING down and memorized and get a guaranteed A. Wrong!! Actually, this goes in line with the first tip because when you study and study and study, you're basically telling yourself "I'm not ready." You have to be so confident in yourself that you won't feel the need to study a bajillion times. Yes, studying is good and important but when you're stressed out while studying, it has absolutely no affect on your brain at all. Even though you'll think you have it all down, because you put so much negative energy into studying, you're going to forget more than half of what you worked so hard on.
Most people think that studying is the one and only key to passing; This is the first mistake. When it comes to studying, don't look at studying as your only key to passing. Look at it as "I know this stuff, I just want to refresh my brain a little." The key to passing a test isn't about how hard you study, it's about paying enough attention to your classes, that you know (and understand) what you need to know to pass.
If you need to, get a study partner (preferably one who is known for taking notes) to help you review. Another thing that could help you not overload on studying is to set up a study schedule. Set certain days, times and how long you'll be studying during those times, to help you balance out your mind.

3. Eat and Sleep
Do not skip breakfast, do not stay up late. You need to feel as rejuvenized as possible for test day. If you're tired, you can't focus. If you're hungry, you cant focus! Its a lose, lose situation! Sleeping enough will help you feel more optimistic in the morning because when you do, you wake up bright, happy and ready to take on the day. Whereas when you're tired, you don't want to see anyone, you don't want to talk to anyone and you're just grumpy! That kind of attitude isn't going to help you pass your test because at every question, you're just going to be all "Whatever." and not even care if you get something wrong when you had the potential to actually get it right.
You can't test on an empty stomach because the only thing that'll be playing on a loop in the back of your mind is: "I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry" which will cause frustration because you can't focus on questions.
So do yourself a favor, and allow yourself to eat and sleep.

4. Don't Obsess Over It
After you're done with your studying sessions, get the test out of your mind. Dont think about it, Dont talk about how worried you are about it, leave it alone until it's time for you to review again. The more you obsess over it, the more stressed out you're going to be over it.

5. Just Breathe

 When test day comes, just breathe. You know you can do it, you know you're going to pass and that's it. If you go in with a optimistic attitude and you've studied your best, all you have to do now is know you've got this thing covered. Know that you have nothing to worry about. 

If you get freaked out by questions and freeze, just remind yourself that you know the answer and just breathe. If it helps, keep summer on your mind! Think about tanning, being with your best friends, think about the beach. Dab some sunscreen on your wrists so that smelling it calms you down. Think about road trips and taking tons of pictures. Know that at the end of all of this testing, it will all be worth it!

I hope this helped you! You can do it!!

Love,

Flair <3

A Broken Hearted Girl's Guide To Valentines Day

Ok, worst day to come when your breakup still feels fresh huh? If you haven't read my "Don't Pressure Yourself, Love Yourself" post, it's on the left. It's about being single on valentines day and why you shouldn't feel bad about it. Even though I already have a blog post similar, I thought I'd make a new one that's relatable for people who are in the same scenario as me (had a relationship fail right before). Don't forget though, I'm on this journey right along with you so nothing that is being said right now, is said out of the view of the outside looking in. 

Here are my top 4 things that will help you cope with Valentines Day:

When you're dealing with a breakup, the one thing you do need is some outside interaction. Being inside and moping is NOT going to help you. I know some people say that you should take time to let your feelings out but you also need to take time to heal yourself.

Part of the healing process is getting out and getting your mind off of your ex and just having a good time. So this Valentines Day, take this idea into consideration.

 

Have A Girls Night

 

 

 

Valentines day is on a Thursday this year (a school day) so maybe after school that day, go out and with your friends and eat some pretty dessert.

  

Treat Yourself To Some Spa Treatment

If your friends aren't available to hang, treat yourself to some spa treatment! Give yourself a facial and a mani and pedi (and if you don't feel like doing it yourself, schedule one)!







Write A Wishlist

Write out qualities of your "Prince Charming". Give him a name, write out his phsyical features, personality traits even get detailed with things like height and sound of his voice. Write out how he'll treat you and if you want to, put a deadline on it.

From experience, this absolutely works. In the 6th grade I wrote a list and prayed everyday for that guy to come to me before I turned 15. Do you know, that  I met the EXACT person I described on my wishlist? Everything from A-Z was this guy! At first I didn't recognize that this person was meant for me at the moment because I hadn't looked at the list in forever. I felt a connection with him and didn't know why until I began talking to him. I was like "Holy gawd..its him!" when I finally realized it!

Unfortunately, I wasn't specific enough though. Here's a tip: make sure that when you put that you'll be forever in love with him, that you also put that his feelings will be the same towards you!

Now the only way this works is having faith that he will come to you. That's it. No doubts, no fears, no questions- you know that he's coming!

Writing out a wishlist for your future love helps you get over your breakup and getting over feeling alone on valentines day.

Get Valentines Day Gifts For Your Friends

 Getting a nice gift for your friends will help you show your appreciation for them. You don't have to buy anything! Making a gift would make it more special than actually spending money on something. Along with that, make a card letting them know how much they mean to you. If you just want to make the card, that's ok too!
Remember, Valentines Day isn't just about couples and romance. It's about showing appreciation to the people you love too.







*

Are You Having Trouble Sleeping?

Are You Having 
Trouble Sleeping?
We all need our beauty rest- 
especially after a long day of
doing school work or dealing with
a bothersome boss. For some reason
though, either because our minds don't 
want to shut up or our body's want to keep
going, sleeping becomes a difficult task.       


So earlier this week, sleeping became a nightmare for me. I tossed and turned, my eyes didn't want to stay shut and I kept getting the urge to get back up. I figured out that because of certain events that I've gone through lately, my mind is constantly throwing chatter parties. I tried things to stop my mind chatter like: watching movies hoping to fall asleep on them but I only ended up watching the whole thing instead. The first good nights rest I got was last night so I'm going to share with you how I got my beauty sleep breakthrough and giving you possible reasons why you might be having trouble sleeping too.

~Stress~

Stress is number one on my list for making beauty sleep impossible. Whether life is showing you a rough time or you have so many things to do yet so little time to do them, it makes sleeping a lot harder to do. So how do you get rid of stress?

Stop thinking about things so hard and so often.

We all want to live happily and stress free but, life happens. Sometimes things go on that we can't control. The best way to deal with this is to find some time during the day where you stop thinking about it so much. Find activities that will direct your thought patterns else where. For example: going on a hike with your friends, having a girls night out, throwing or planning a massive slumber party or find a party to go to. Always make sure that you have a support system with you no matter what activity you choose because if you go alone, chances are, the thoughts will creep right back up on you. 

 Stop thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow isn't here yet. Why are you busy worrying about what the next day holds? Worried about outfits? Plan them before you go to bed. Let tomorrow handle itself because obviously you can't control what happens to it the night before.

Put your phone away!

Yes, a difficult task, I know (especially when youre in an amazing relationship) but if youre serious about sleeping, put it away. Tell your friends you're going to bed and you'll talk to them in the morning because when youre in conversations, time flies. It may be 9 when you last look at the clock and then all of sudden its 2 am and you have to be up within a few hours. Then, with the thought of how many hours you have left to sleep, you get stressed because you're busy beating yourself up for staying up as late as you did which makes it harder for you to fall asleep. That being said, putting your phone away is a major part of getting the rest your longing for.

If you know it will keep you up, turn off your TV.

 If you know your tv is going to distract you, turn it off. From experience, I know that even if you've seen a certain movie or certain episode a million times, you're still going to manage to laugh at something or be anxious to watch the full thing. Then, watching one thing turns into watching another, and another and another and then you wind up pulling an all nighter- the exact opposite of what you want to accomplish. So if you know it will keep you up, turn off your TV.

  Keep iced water next to your bed.

Sometimes at night, the air causes your throat to get dry which is pretty uncomfortable. A quick cure for that is just to keep iced water by your bed. It will sooth your throat and help you feel refreshed and relaxed which will make it easier for you fall back asleep. 

Keep your room clean and organized.

Last but not least, keep your room clean and organized. Constantly being around clutter and confusion eventually makes your mind uncomfortable. When your mind is uncomfortable, it starts its chatter sessions which makes your body uncomfortable, making falling asleep a lot harder. Keeping your room clean and organized helps your mind feel clean and organized. When your mind feels clean and organized, it has no reason to keep you up at night.  

*If falling asleep is a lot harder than any of this, you may want to see your doctor for further help.*

 

An It Girls Guide To Staying Organized For School

Organization is a huge part of being successful at school. When you're organized, homework is never late, assignments are always done, important papers that your parents need to sign are always signed and ready to be turned in on time and so on. Being organized is one of the most important keys to having good grades in school so today, I'm giving you ideas on how to stay organized throughout the year.

Keeping Track Of School Assignments

I would recommend that you get a checklist app and a calendar app on your phone or iPod for making sure that all of your assignments are done and ready to be turned in on time. Keep all of your assignments on a checklist and every time an assignment is FULLY completed tap the check spot. You don't want to check it off if you're "pretty much done" or "almost done" because that only causes confusion which leads to disorganization.
For the calendar app set an "event" date for when you're project is due and set it so that it warns you at least 5 days ahead and on the day when you need to turn it in.

Another way that you could keep track of your assignments is by using an accordion file. These things are a LIFE SAVER!! My grades were low because of my disorganization with keeping up with hand outs and homework. My teacher gave me one of these to help me become organized and my grades went from C's to A's! It helped me keep track of everything- every assignment, every important paper, permission slips!
The accordian file has different tabs and comes with white slips to label and put inside the tabs. I kept a tab for every class, I put all of my handouts from each class in their labeled tabs and in the very back, I put all of my homework assignments and permission slips in their own tab. I highly recommend using an accordion file because it makes staying organized easy! These things are truly amazing and are definitely a great investment for school.

Keeping Track Of Pencils

This one makes me LOL because the one thing I always lose in school are my pencils! You buy a whole pack and then within a week, they're all gone. This is the best way I have learned to keep track of them:

I recommend mechanical pencils because you don't have to worry about sharpening them and then having to deal with the mess of shreds. To keep a track of them, you have to choose one that you are going to use for the whole day and keep it in your purse. When you're finished with it for a class put it back in your purse. This way, you know where your pencils are going!

Keeping A Clean Locker

A clean locker is so important for staying organized not only for school supplies but for your daily beauty needs too. I'm in love with the two photo examples I found because they display a perfect mix of organization and style. You can find them on PBTeen.com.
As you can see from the photos, each have at least one locker shelf but you can have more than one if you need it. You can find these at your local office supply store. Here are some that I found on the Office Depot online store:

Link: Office Depot Locker Shelves

They also have magnetic dry erase boards, pouches for your beauty supplies and pencils and magnets to hold photos or a checklist if you don't have a phone or ipod. I think having these things are very good to have for keeping your locker in tip top shape. Having the pouches and shelves are guaranteed to keep your locker organized for the whole school year which makes things easier for switching out your books when its time to switch classes.

Those are my tips for staying organized for school! I hope you found it helpful and enjoyed it! Follow me on Pinterest and Twitter and give me feedback :)
Love,
Flair <3

Don't Pressure Yourself, Love Yourself

"Forever alone!"  "Love won't ever find me." "I'm not pretty enough to have a boyfriend."  "Valentines Day = Alone day"  "I'll never have a boyfriend" etc.

Those seem to be the main words single girls say, especially on Valentines day. But why? 

Couples- you see them everywhere. From your favorite celebrities to people you go to school with, your friends or just seeing random couples in your local area. Relationships are very glamorized and seem to give the people who are in them a sense of what love is. You want that. You want to feel loved, to feel special and wanted. You want someone to tell you that you're beautiful, you want the good morning text messages and you want the late night phone calls full of expressing your feelings toward one another. It's every girl's dream. 

A lot of us think that having a boyfriend is a big deal. In school, whether you're in elementary middle or high, having a boyfriend is sort of like an upgrade. For some, it's one of the main golden tickets to popularity.  Why? Because being in a relationship is considered "cool".

What a lot of teens don't understand is that there is more to a relationship than the whole you ask someone out, put on the Facebook status "in a relationship" and then break up like 2 weeks later. Love isn't a joke but people sure do have a good time turning it into one! Being in a relationship takes a lot of effort, understanding and most of all, legit feelings.
What I mean by "legit feelings" is that you shouldn't just date a person because they're considered "hawt", "popular",  "the quarterback of the football team" or to upgrade your status. You shouldn't date just to have sex either (If you want to do that, take the relationship status off of it and slap on "Friends with Benefits").

Sometimes people only date because they want to feel loved, wanted, accepted, etc. If you think being in a relationship is going to help you "find" love, make you feel wanted or make you feel accepted, you aren't in the right state of mind. On top of that, you won't really have any successful relationships because you're relying on the other person to make you feel a certain way.

"To love oneself is the beginning to a life long romance."

 -Oscar Wilde

In order to feel love for another person and to be loved by another person, it's important that you love yourself first. 

You have to love who you are (your personality, looks, fashion sense, etc) and know that you are perfect just the way you are.

People always say "nobody's perfect". Even Hannah Montana said it! I'm totally against that. Selena Gomez is right! Who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're not pretty or beautiful? WHO SAYS?!  You can be all of that and THEN SOME! You need to believe that and don't let anyone stop you or tell you otherwise. The prettiest girls are not only the happiest but the most confident.
You don't need a guy to affirm to you that you're pretty or precious on a daily basis and you don't need a guy to define you!! Guys can "smell" insecurity. Jerks and abusers go for those kind of girls. Don't let yourself be a victim. Know who you are or who you want to be, OWN it and don't let anyone stop you.




Once you begin to see yourself in a different light, others will too! We are only a sum of our thoughts.
Example:
If you say to yourself every time you look in a mirror "I'm fat" or "I'm ugly" and believe that, then you're basically giving the world a green card to think and see the same. Who wants that?!
So how about this: Every time you look in the mirror, say something positive about yourself. Maybe there's a feature that you really like about yourself. Acknowledge that feature by stating "My eyes are really pretty" or "I'm having a really great hair day!" Completely and utterly ignore anything you don't like. Don't even look at it! As time goes on, eventually you'll see so many good things about yourself, you'll look in the mirror and be like "MMM! Who is that pretty girl in the mirror I see?!"  Your confidence will sky rocket and you'll be a happier person. Then guess what?! Other's will think the same. You'll notice yourself getting more compliments, you're head will be held a lot higher and you won't care about what people think of you anymore. You'll be so confident, you may even scare yourself a little bit haha!

"Like attracts like!"

Stop pressuring yourself!

With all of that being said about being confident and loving yourself for you, now I get on to my last topic, STOP PRESSURING YOURSELF!
Who cares if it's "cool" or "in" to have a boyfriend. So what?! That doesn't define you. When the time is right for the right person to come into your life for the moment, he will. I believe that anyone who is in your life, you've attracted them in some sort of way. So if your confidence is up, you look good, you're taking care of yourself, you're happy and feel good, the right person will come along and he'll be amazing! Whereas if you feel bad all the time and don't even care about how you look anymore, look down on yourself and see yourself as worthless, you won't attract such nice people. Remember, "Like attracts like!"

In conclusion, stop worrying about not having a valentine or boyfriend. On Valentines day, take the time to love yourself or even to spread love. Treat yourself to a nice spa day, hang with your girls, go donate to your local shelters, or do all 3! Valentines day for me, is about love. Who says love is defined by only being in a relationship? Who says? ;)







For more confidence tips, I advise that you check out BossBitchTips on tumblr: BossBitchTips.tumblr.com
The tips they give are amazing and make me feel so much better! Don't forget to follow me on blogger and on twitter: @FlairBerry 

Thanks so much for tuning in, tweet me blog requests and stay tuned in for more blog posts!
Love,
Flair Berry <3

Halloween GNO Ideas

Hey everyone! Today, I'm bringing you ideas for the perfect Halloween GNO(Girls Night Out). Since Halloween is on a Monday, that means less fun due to everyone having to go to work or school the next morning, right? WRONG! You CAN have fun on a Monday night with your girls and in this blog post, I'll be giving you tips on how to. Lets roll!

First....

After school and homework, choose a place for you to get ready together at. Do each other's makeup and things like that while blasting your favorite songs!
For an adventure, you could get a guardian to drive you from neighborhood to neighborhood to go trick or treating in. It'll be fun to see what other neighborhoods are offering! If your local mall does trick or treating, go to the mall and have some fun there! You can get your shopping done together and get great treats while you're at it.
Another option is making a music video while trick or treating to an awesome song (Thriller anyone?). If you're in the dark while you're trick or treating, be sure to have a video camera that does great in dark lighting or be sure to carry a flashlight for lighting!

Then.....
After your trick or treating is done, choose a place to do the traditional trading of the candy. You could be creative with it by pretending to bid! One person puts a piece up for bid (or you could put out a table with candy everyone is willing to trade) and whoever has the most appealing piece of candy to trade for the candy being bid on, wins the candy! Get it? You could take turns doing that and even set the whole thing up with the stand and the hammer. Another option is having one main person (could be a parent) host the whole thing for you.

Lastly.....

If your parents allow it and you all go to the same school, what could be better than having a sleepover!? How awesome would it be to have spent the whole night having a blast with your bffs and then have more fun getting ready in the morning together for school? You would have a smile on your face for the whole day!

If you're unable to have a sleepover, after your trading or bidding of the candy, go home and get on a video chat (Skype, iChat, OoVoo and Yahoo Messenger are all great options) and chat until you have to go to bed. Or, if you're unable to do that, talk on the phone! Either way, find a way to discuss your favorite parts of the night and how much fun you had!








Additional Tips....
For safety reasons, its best that you:

• Stick together at ALL times!
• Keep your cell on you at all times as well. You never know when the 'rents are trying to contact you (you know how much trouble you get in for "ignoring" them) and if someone ventures off, you know how and where to find them.
• Apply a bit of reflective tape on your costume so that cars can see you.

For more fun and keeping awesome memories:

• Be sure to take lots of pictures! You're only young once, keep memories alive ;)
• Take those pictures and with your friends, put them in a special scrap book. If you don't feel like doing that or just aren't into scrapbooking, upload your pics to your social network (Facebook, Friendster, Linked In, Google Plus,etc).
• If you choose to do the video chat after the night, record it! Put on a dvd and keep it or make copies for all of your friends!
• If you chose to do the music video, edit it and put it on a dvd. Make additional copies for your friends or keep it in a special spot of your own and present it the next time you guys get together!

That wraps up my tips for a great Halloween GNO! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I helped you! Stay tuned in for more blog posts! Follow me on Twitter (Just click on "My Twitter"): My Twitter

Love,

Flair Berry <3