Throw Back Thursday | My Trip To America | Travel

As one of the most popular traditions on Instagram - and also Twitter - is their Throwback Thursday, I decided to take this one to my blog and share one of my favorite ever memories with you guys.

If you were to tell me to close my eyes and think of my happy place, in a heartbeat I would tell you that it's Dunwoody, Georgia - or Atlanta, which Dunwoody is a suburb to.

Last July I was notified that I was lucky enough to be incorporated into my high school's exchange program with an American one, so, being from a rather boring German town, you can probably imagine that I was over the moon.

On October 19th, I started my journey to the US - and boy let me tell you, I thought I wouldn't even last to see the end of it.

We were a fairly small group of students - 12, to be precise - so you'd think that two teachers would be able to maintain control over the group. Hahaha, they didn't.
We were too short on time during our overlay in London Heathrow - bummer, I was looking forward to picking up some beauty products there ! - so obviously, one of us students decided to get stuck in security, which resulted in us being late for our check-in, and me and two others not even getting our boarding passes.
I was sweating blood by this point - you might know that I'm a fairly nervous person and get anxious quite easily - and I was pretty much having a migrane once we were pushed onto the plane 20 minutes later.

That was such a long prologue, but hey - I needed to get this off my chest. It was pretty much still haunting me, haha.

By the time we arrived in Atlanta, we had been travelling for 20 hours in total - that didn't stop me from getting super excited about Atlanta's skyline while driving to my host family's place - which was incredibly lovely and felt like home instantly.

Needless to say, me and two of my best friends, who traveled with me, spend the next two days getting excited about so many little things - American school busses, American Candy, American Eye-Candy, you get the gist - that every single American who met us must've rolled their eyes at us.

We were still on cloud nine when we visited Centennial Olympia Park, the Georgia Aquarium and the CNN Center - basically, we were being the annoying European tourists that everyone probably hates, but we were enjoying every second of it.

Centennial Olympia Park

 

Georgia Aquarium

CNN Center

I also seem to have turned into the kind of person who takes a picture of every single thing they eat - I really didn't mean to, I just happened to eat some of the best food I have ever come across - and at least I can now understand how I gained almost 2 kg during my three week stay.

Personally, I had never heard of The Varsity before, but according to my American friends, it's quite the big thing - and hey, this is about food, so I was - I can't believe how often I used this word now, looking back I will probably cringe - excited to try it.

It was rather good, I have to admit I'm fond of fast food now and then - you will soon realize - but I gotta admit that I probably got carried over - I ended up with a massive tummy ache.

Atlanta's Varsity

As I mentioned, I live in a pretty big city - and I hardly ever get the chance to leave it.

My friend's host family was kind enough to take me and my other friend to their house in the mountains - and boy it was beautiful.

I just really love nature - even though insects seem to like my blood a little too much.

Amicalola Falls & its mountain-view restaurant

believe it or not - I actually didn't fall in!

Atlanta History Center

Another place we visited was Atlanta History Center. Now, I've got to admit, this was one of the things that we had scheduled and most of us - including me, if I'm honest - weren't really looking forward to.

The time we spent there was suprisingly nice, I've got to say. Exploring the Smith Farm grounds which are located near the History Center was pretty fun, and taking a walk through the huge gardens was amazing.

For some reason, I found that picture of my friends on the bridge very aestathically pleasing, hahaha.

casually taking President Snow's seat in Swan House

Swan House is also located nearby the History Center, so naturally, we didn't want to miss it.
In case you didn't know - the scenes taking place on President Snow's property in Catching Fire and Mockingjay were shot there, and being a die hard Hunger Games lover, I didn't stop smiling for once while we were shown around.

my first ever American Halloween!

In Germany - or at least the state I live in - Halloween isn't that much of a thing, you get a few groups of younger kids trick or treating, but that's really hit.

So I was incredibly happy to spend last year's Halloween in America, and it truly was something completely different from what I'm used to.

While I was getting ready, I basically turned into an over excited 5 year old - maybe that explains the complete mess that is my hair?

But hey, devil may care - see what I did there?

Cirque du Soleil

I've always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil, but they usually don't come to a city near mine, and if they do, the tickets are way too expensive for a four person household.

My host family, and I still can't believe they did this for me, took me to see their Amaluna show after we had brunch while I stayed with them - it was a dream come true.

Lisa, if you're reading this - again, thank you so, so much. You can't imagine how much this day meant to me.

The Cheesecake Factory

Again, with the food pictures, I know, I know. You shake your head at me.

To be honest, this was kind of another dream come true, haha. Before this trip, I only knew The Cheesecake Factory from shows like The Big Bang Theory - yep, I know, to any American, this probably sounds surreal.

I had an Americana Cheeseburger and a Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake - I still get hungry now if I look at these photos.

The food at The Cheesecake Factory is a bit pricy, but in my opinion, sometimes you need to treat yourself a little - especially with food that's this good!

view from the "Sun Dial Restaurant"

You don't have to eat at Sun Dial Restaurant to experience this incredible view of Atlanta's skyline - for a small few you can take the Westinn Peachtree Plaza's elevator, and boy, was it worth those few dollars.

This view completely took my breath away - and it wasn't just because I'm insanely afraid of heights.

Martin Luther King Jr Historical Site

We had another morning to explore the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site, which I thought was very impressive - even though I often tend to find things like museums rather boring.

But this morning strangely made me feel somewhat closer to King. I never thought I'd be ever able to see the house where he was born and raised - but I did. And it was wonderful.

There are some more acitivities that I'd love to include in this post, but I'm not sure if anyone even read this far - this post turned out to be super long, didn't it?

I also didn't get to take great quality pictures of everything we did - simply because I was enjoying myself so much. And I guess that's alright.

Please let me know whether you like the idea of me reflecting on a great memory on a Throw Back Thursday once a month on here!

Thank you so much for reading!

My Very First Liebster Award!

I always enjoy reading people's Liebster Award posts as it's a fun way to find smaller bloggers, but I never thought that someone would actually nominate me for one!

The lovely Rayne, who runs makeitraynex.com - a blog I've been really enjoying, did it anyway.

Here are the questions she set for me.

1. If you could choose one super power, what would it be?

This is such a hard one. Now, I'd love to be able to be able to fly, but something else that I'd find super cool would be the ability to be invisible - I'd prank so many people, slip out of class unnoticed, maybe grab a piece of someone's pizza...

2. What is your favorite quote?

I'm one of those people who save every quote they like when they come across it, so really, I could plaster my room's walls with them.
But my favorite one to date is;
"Be soft. Do not let the world make your hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.
Take pride that even though the world might disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."

3. If you had the option to go back in time and change anything, would you? And what would you change?

I definitely would. I would stay with my grandpa for so much longer than I did when I last saw him - and I was in America when he passed away. I would go back and thank him for being a part of my life, for everything that he did for me, and tell him to not be afraid.

4. What is your best "feel good" song?

I'm currently really loving Fall Out Boy's cover of "Uptown Funk" as well as Meghan Trainor's "Lips Are Movin". Both of this songs make dance no matter where I am - I'm not even ashamed when dancing on public transport anymore. alright, maybe a little

5.  If you had to have eyeshadow tattooed onto your eyelids, what color would you choose? (And nude is not an option!)

Bummer, I was gonna say Urban Decay's Naked, haha.
As I'm all about Urban Decay's eyeshadows at the moment, I'd probably go with either Bootycall or Chopper from the Naked 2 - both of which I featured in my last FOTD - or Liar from the Naked 3.

6.  If you could have dinner with 3 people, dead or alive, who would they be?

First and foremost, Misha Collins. He is an actor on Supernatural, on of my favorite TV shows, but he's so much more than that. He works with Random Acts of Kindness, is a really good father and an all over adorable human being.
Troian Bellisario, who's an actress - she is Spencer Hasting in ABC's Pretty Little Liars, aka the show that has taken over my life. I look up to her a lot and I'd give anything to talk to her someday.
Lastly, Joe Sugg, who has a Youtube Channel called ThatcherJoe. Joe comes across as a witty, clever young man - someone who I'd be really interested to get to know were I to meet them in real life. 

7. Favorite animal?

This is a tie between cats and dogs - everyone I know loves one and hates the other.
Yeah, I'm not about that life. I adore both cats and dogs.

8. Whose life on TV/ a movie would you take if you could?

If I'm being honest, I'd love to take John Watson's place on BBC's Sherlock. So much adventure and excitement.

9. Favorite restaurant?

Definitely The Cheescake Factory! I have a blogpost about my time in America going up tomorrow where I talk more about it.

10. Which three items would you take to take to a deserted island?

A book - alright, go ahead and tell me I'm lame, chocolate and my teddy bears.

11. If your house was burning down and all humans and animals were safe, which item would you grab?

One of my families photo books - even more if I could. We have so many memories in those that no money in the world could replace.

To complete The Liebster Award you need to:

- Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers
- Come up with 11 questions of your own

- Let them know they've been nominated via their blog/twitter

- enjoy their responses!

My questions for you:

1. What is your comfort food?
2. What is one thing you get really passionate about?
3. Are you more of a summer or a winter person?
4. Why did you first start your blog?
5. Who are three people who inspire you?
6. Name one item that's currently on your wishlist.
7. What was your dream career growing up?
8. You are free to do everything you want to do tomorrow, even if it would technically be impossible (like going ice fishing if you live in California) What do you do?
9. What is one thing you can't live without?
10. What lipstick color would you never dare to wear?
11. What is the most exciting thing you have ever done?

I nominate:
1. Lydia
2. Laura
3. Emily

4. Jade

5. Kim

6. Vikki

7. Danielle

8. Summa

9. Jenny

10. Ellie
11. Sarah

This was so much fun to complete, even though it took quite a while.
Have fun answering your questions!

Thank you so much for reading!

OOTD + FOTD - Back To School!

Just like most students, I went back to school today. On an every day basis, I'm often too lazy to wear a dressy look to school every single day, but I usually try and make an effort to look good on my first day back - people should think that I looked way more awake and relaxed than I actually am, right?

First off, I apologize for the horrendous lighting. I got up for school at 5.30 and only just came back from school a few minutes ago - when it was already too dark to take decent pictures.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to share today's outfit with you.

Top - New Yorker  13€ | High waist skinny jeans - Pimkie  20€  | Boots - some market last winter 15€ | Necklace - was a present  | Bracelet - Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta  $14

I picked both the top and the pair of jeans - I swear they're a really dark blue, my camera won't stop making them look black!- I'm wearing up during my Valentine's Day shopping spree, and I think they were quite the bargains.

The top, even though it's from New Yorker, a shop that I'm generally a little careful about when it comes to quality, is actually really soft and comfortable.

Now, for the make up look I wore today -

Yet again, the lighting is making my dark blonde hair appear green-ish. Lovely.

Anyways, I'm not wearing any foundation or BB cream as the last one I used - which was Maybelline's Dream Pure 8-in-1 BB Cream - sadly made my skin break out, so I decided to go for a lighter make up.

I used my Avon Calming Effects Concealer in the shade 'fair' under my eyes and on my blemishes, then the Essence Pure Skin Anti Compact Powder to keep the concealer in place, especially because my T-Zone tends to get rather oily. 

Next I use my LR Colors Blush in the shade 'warm berry'.

For contouring, I use the Avon Shimmer Block Bronzer and the Manhattan highlighter from their Trio Effect Blush.

As for my eyes, I first used the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in 'Sin', then my LR Deluxe Carbon Black Eyeliner.

The eyeshadows I used are from the Urban Deacy Naked 2 pallete - 'Bootycall' on my lid and 'Chopper' in my crease.

The mascara I chose for this look is the Maybelline Great Lash, which I have an entire review up on here.

On my lips I'm wearing the Avon Extra Lasting lipstick in the shade 'cappuccino', which is a gorgeous nude has made quite a few appereances in my make up looks lately.

I hope you didn't mind me trying out this new kind of post as I really wanted to start and bring in the fashion aspect of my blog a little bit more.

Please tell me in the comments what you thought about it so I can work on myself and my little place in the blogging community!

Also, as I'm typing this, my blog hit a thousand pageviews a few hours ago. That's insane!

When I made this blog in early January I never thought over a thousand people would visit it to read about my adventures in beauty, fashion and life in general.

Thank you so much, whether you're here for the first and the last time or you've even become a regular reader - your support and your lovely comments always make my day.

Thank you so much for reading!

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

This post was supposed to go up on Friday. Oops, I know.
 But as I've been feeling pretty ill over the last week, I took some time off from my blog, or the internet in general - I'm feeling a bit better now, though, so I'm back in time for my Sunday post!

Nevertheless, I picked up quite a few Maybelline products over the past few weeks, including their Great Lash mascara in 'The Blackest Black' , which was 4€ - let's be real, it was the bargain price tag on this one that caught my eye.

 I've heard some people rave about using this gem on their lower lashes, so I decided to give it a go.

Now, I'm generally a fan of Maybelline mascaras, I've been using the Colossal Go Extreme for more than a year on and off.

This one I was more sceptical about - what put me off it at first was its wand.

I usually don't mind using plastic wands, but I found this one to be rather small - most of the time it was quite difficult to grab all of my lashes with it.

Despite that, the results were actually pretty neat. As you can tell by my left I, I naturally have very short lashes. Within two coats, the Great lash mascara doubled their lenght and made them look darker, adding a tiny bit of a curl to them.

It didn't make my lashes get clumpy, which also is a plus.

Throughout the day, the mascara didn't smudge at all.

I wore it while working out and when I was out and about on a rainy day, and it stayed in place, perfectly.

Verdict:

If you are looking for intense volume, this might probably not be the mascara for you.

But if you, like me, want to add some lenght and a slight curl to your lashes, I would definitely give this one a go - especially because its staying power is insane.

What is your favorite brand for mascaras?

Thank you so much for reading!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Hi everyone!

Yes, I did it.
Just like about every single beauty blogger there is did.

I gave in to the hype and decided to see for myself whether Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water really is the miracle everyone makes it out to be.

You are probably rolling your eyes at me by now - I know, I know. I'm fairly late to the party.
Let's just dive into it.

As you can see, I didn't pick up the one everyone else seems to have - the one with the red packaging - I got the cleansing water that is supposed to suit oily, uneven skin as I tend to break out quite a bit at the moment.

First of all - that bottle is huge. It is supposed to last for 200 uses, which I don't doubt it will.
I have been using it for almost two weeks now, and hardly any of the product is missing.

It has no trouble removing my foundation and concealer, and even my eye make up, which is usually so hard to take off that I'm left looking like a panda - stands no chance against this.

But the best thing about this prdocut is the way it leaves my skin feeling.

Oh my lord, let me tell you. I have been looking for a make up remover that doesn't leave my skin dry and irratated for years.

This beauty, however, leaves my skin feeling fresh and even hydrated - it doesn't make me break out, either, unlike most products that I have used on my incredibly sensitive skin.

Verdict:

For me, Garnier have landed an absolute hit with their Micellar Cleansing Water - it does its job incredibly well while doing some good for your skin in the process.
Whenever I run out of this - which shouldn't be too soon, judging by the size of it - I will definitely go out and purchase it again!

Have you picked up this product yet?

What miracle beauty buy have you stumbled upon lately?

Thank you so much for reading!

Overthinking | Lifestyle

Hi everyone!

So, as I'm all cuddled up on the sofa, I thought it's time for a Sunday heart-to-heart.

Something I constantly do is overthinking.

And when I say that, I don't just mean wearing a pair of tight jeans and thinking - 'Oh god, I must look huge in these' - even though I do that as well.

Let's have a look at just one out of a lot of examples.

When I came home this past Friday, I noticed that throughout the day, my skin broke out a whole lot.

The "it's shining through all my layers of foundation, concealer and powder" lot.

I had my first tutoring appointment that evening - a couple of days earlier a worried mother rang me up and asked whether I could help her daughter with her poor English grades, so naturally, I wanted to make a good first impression.

I kid you not, I spent a good 45 minutes to re-do my entire make up just to have a breakdown and take it all of again.

And all that time, I kept telling myself "They will notice that your entire faces is covered in spots. They'll think you're unhygienic. They'll be disappointed."

None of that actually happened.

They were very sweet people and I ended up spending a good two hours with the girl who was probably more anxious about the situation than I was.

Studying way too much also comes with overthinking.

I am by no means lazy, but as for most people, spending four hours solving Maths problems isn't very high up on my bucket list.

Yet I worry so much about an exam that I'll take at the end of February that I did exactly that today. 

What the hell Franzi, it's a Sunday.

That obsessive worrying goes on for so long that I get incredibly nervous during exams, causing me to make mistakes that are completely unessacary and ruin my grades.

Sometimes - way too often, lately - I will go to bed and once my head hits the pillow, my head will be filled with so many questions and accusions that they're nothing but noise anymore.

I can't be the only one this is happening to, right?

I wanted some kind of advice to go with this post - but hey, practice what you preach.

If you're experiencing the same feelings I am, I can only tell you a few things.

• No one thinks as bad of you as you do yourself.

It sounds cliché, but 99% of the people you will come across will not look at your smudge mascara, or the fact that your clothes don't match, or that you have a few blemishes - they're too busy with their own problems.

• Don't let overthinking hold you back from doing amazing things.

I'm guilty of this. Countless times I've turned oppurtunities down, both small and big, even though I would've probably enjoyed, purely because I kept telling myself what could go wrong.

Imagine what you could gain from those opportunities rather that what you could lose.

• Ask people for their opinions.

I know that it's hard, but when you're shopping and you're trying on a pair of pants or a dress, ask a shopping assistant whether they think it suits you before you get it and never wear it because you're too scared of what people might think of you.

Alright, I hope this little bit of lifestyle was a nice change to my many recent beauty posts!

Do any of you struggle with this problem?

Thank you so much for reading!

L'oréal Collection Exclusive Lipstick

Hi everyone!

As I was looking for a nude lipstick and saw Vikki raving about the L'oréal Collection Exclusive ones, I decided to pick one of them up.

As you can see, I went for the shade 'Eva's Nude' which is a slightly darker pink toned nude - the colour is suprisingly similar to my natural lip shade, which makes it look a little more subtle.

On my lips, the lipstick felt a little sticky after applying it, but that feeling only lasted for the first ten minutes or so.

After that, my lips felt rather mositurized, but the lipstick stayed in place without fading too badly for a good five hours before I had to re-apply it, even though I drank, ate and talked quite a lot.

After re-applying, the colour faded a lot quicker for some reason - more where the lips meet, staying in place elsewhere.

Nonetheless, I think this lipstick is quite good value for money - I spent 10€ on it.

It's a gorgeous, slightly shimmery nude that lasted me for a long time before losing the ability to stay on my lips later on in the day.

I'm probably going to purchase another shade of these lipsticks the next time I go shopping.

What's your opinion on L'oréal's lipsticks?

Comment below!

Thank you so much for reading!

Franzi. x

What I Got For My Sweet Sixteen

Hi everyone!

As it was my birthday yesterday and I got some of the loveliest presents ever - more than I feel like I deserve, to be honest - I thought I'd share them with you!

Urban Decay's Naked pallets

I honestly have had my eye on these for so long, but I never had enough money to get one of them, let alone all of them.

 My best friends were insane enough to fulfill one of my biggest wishes - I was trying not to cry when they gave these beauties to me in the crowded hallway!

I also got a sample of four primers with each of the pallets - which is awesome because I was thinking about getting one of them, and now I can see for myself if they live up to the hype!

I will definitely do a review on these in the future.

Givenchy Le Vernis nailpolish in the shade Rose Taffetas

This was another present that my friends shocked me with - dude, it's an actual Givenchy nailpolish!

This also falls into the category "admired from afar" - or well, it used to.
I still can't believe it.

This is the nicest dark pink shade I have ever seen, and it's supposed to be a satiny shimmer - I will make sure to review it for you!

A huge thanks to my friends, in case any of you are reading this. I'm so glad that I have people like you lot in my life and I honestly would be lost without you.

As for the presents I got from my parents -

W7's pallets - Lightly Toasted, In The Buff, In The Nude

Funny enough, the only thing I asked for from my parents this year were W7's eye shadow pallets - which are, in case you haven't realized, Naked dupes - as I've heard lots of great things about them.

Little did I know that I would actually be able to compare these dupes to the original products, oh my.

I will surely review these on here as well - but I can already tell you that, even though their packaging isn't as great as Urban Decay's (it's mere metall and my In The Buff pallet already has got two dents) I wore two of the eyeshadows yesterday and they were suprisingly pigmented and long lasting!

Pointless Blog's "sorry about my hair" beanie

My parents also got me this super cute beanie. It's actually some of Alfie's limited edition merch, and I was so so happy when I saw this for the first time.

The beanie is really comfortable and insanely soft and to be honest, I've kind of been living in it for the past few days.

I still think that I'm not worthy of even half the amount of presents I got, and I can't express how thankful I am for every single one of them.

Which of these product would you like to see me review in the future? 

Thank you so much for reading!

Franzi. x