A B i t G r a c e f u l.

You know how everyone is always like, "Oh my gosh you studied abroad? Did you travel? Did you have fun? Did you discover yourself? Did you mature in ways you never thought possible? Did you go to Paris? Did you see Big Ben? Did you get lost? Did you meet new people? Did you make amazing friendships that will last forever? Did you eat a lot? Did you even have time to study anything?", and you're just like, "Um yes", and then you scurry away before you are forced to give any details because if you mention ANY memory you might burst into tears because it is just a fading memory and you cannot handle that?  Yeah.  So the title of this post, "TIPS FOR WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR OWN BED IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY AND FEEL LIKE YOU'RE HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS" is supposed to sort of let you into my mind right now. I basically have come home from having many adventures "prancing", as my mom likes to call it, around Europe. (I prefer the word ...

Alright so these are the songs defining my January right now. " Sloppy Seconds " - Watsky " I'll Be Good " - Jaymes Young  " Long Way Down "- Robert DeLong " Don't You Find " - Jamie T Honorable mentions from late December: Vance Joy's "Mess is Mine" and Dan Black + Kid Cudi's "Symphonies"   (which has an incredible music video in my opinion) ALSO, I unashamedly am obsessed with J.R.R. Tolkien now. I am not only in love with The Lord of the Rings, but The Hobbit as well. These two songs, Ed Sheeran's "I See Fire" and Billy Boyd's "The Last Goodbye" are constantly on repeat when I am in a chill mood, or just feeling extra emotional over my LOTR/Hobbit obsession. These songs are not only beautifully relevant  and made for the movies, but they are actually incredible songs that I would love even if I did not understand the context behind them.  What have you...

So since my family went on a Christmas vacation, we did not exchange any gifts this year. I did however get one gift from my Godfather and aunt - the perfume I have been craving: Roses de Chloé :) It was practically perfect timing since I just finished off my Burberry Brit Sheer Perfume and really wanted a fresh change for the new year.  I am already completely obsessed with this scent. I had tried it before with a sample size sent to me by Sephora when I had ordered several items that warranted five free samples of my choice. I immediately fell in love and the three or four times I got out of the sample, I had been complimented from the people around me saying I smelled really good! It was a sign that this was the perfume for me. So every time from that point on that I was in Sephora (probably for the next 6 months), I would spray myself with the perfume, knowing I would need to wait to be gifted it because I could not spend that much money on it myself. And now I finally ...

Review of bareMinerals Eyecolors : These beautiful shimmering shades highlight the eyes; however, I have found the application of them to be quite difficult. I have never really been a fan of loose powders or loose eyeshadows because I always seem to make a mess. I much prefer a pressed powder and a pressed eyeshadow. But nevertheless, my personal taste in texture has not prevented me from liking these, particularly because of the colors. These five are gorgeous!  I used Snowflake and Drama on New Year's Eve and it turned out pretty well. All in all, I would not recommend buying these, but since I was gifted them, I am definitely going to use them, most likely paired with my all time favorite Naked 3 Palette. I have used the Naked 3 every day that I have worn makeup this past year. The palette colors just look so good with my skin tone that I have found no need for alternatives. But, I am going to try and incorporate all five of these colors into my daily or going out...

I cannot lie, 2014 was one of the best years of my life. Looking back, I realize I have accomplished a lot of my goals, matured in many ways, and experienced things I will never forget. I think it is good to look back on mistakes to learn something from them. I also make sure to look back on the best moments and be proud! So this post may be mostly for my own sake, but I will share it with you! A couple lows and the lessons I learned from them: - My computer crashed and I lost thousands of photos on iPhoto and tons of videos on iMovie. I also lost some documents but luckily I had most documents backed up on my Google drive.  Lesson learned:  Keep an external hard drive and back up at least once a week. Also, utilize Google drive more. Also don't delete photos off of memory card until computer is backed up.  - I lost 23 lbs. over the summer.... and gained it all back this past fall semester. Lesson learned: Stick to healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Now I a...

So one of my blog goals for this new year is to write more. I remember when I first started A Bit Graceful and realizing quickly that it would have a more photo story-telling base than anything. I believe I have improved my photography immensely in the past two years but I would love to now focus on my writing through this blog.  My writing experience comes down to the fact that I am good at academic essays, research papers, and any short format of creative writing. I am a playwright in actuality, but a novelist in my dreams. When I was younger, especially in high school when I had a lot of lows from pressure, stress, and death in my life, I would write ideas in a binder. These ideas would formulate the structure for a novel I would presumably write if I ever had the determination and time, however, I never actually wrote one. I have a binder FILLED with at least ten different ideas for a novel, one of which I have been developing since and have never ceased to think about as ...