Where Have I Been: Meltdowns, Graduation and New Beginnings

It's been really long, I know. I thought about my blog a lot during the past few months, and I really missed having a spare hour or two to sit down and write a post. I was so incredibly busy ever since the beginning of the year that I managed to publish exactly a handful of posts, and it made me feel awful.

There is, however, a reason why I haven't been able to find time for my small space on the internet since January - the past five months have been leading up to my Abitur, which could be described as the German equivalent of British A-Levels, and ultimately, my graduation.
The closer I got to my first exam, which was on May 3rd, the more I felt like all I did was revising. My butt was pretty much glued to my desk for hours on end - I didn't go out, I didn't get to spend quality time with my family or even read. I literally have a pile of 12 books that I've accumulated since Christmas and haven't touched since.

Exams were one hell of a ride. I think everyone who has graduated will be able to recall the stress and both the physical and psychological exhaution they bring with them. I was glad when I had the chance to creep into bed at night, so there was no way I was going to produce enjoyable content for you guys - and if I myself don't feel like my heart is in my writing, then I really do not want to share it with you.

My Love/Hate Relationship with 13 Reasons Why

Trigger warnings for this post: sexual assault and suicide.

In case you missed it - if you did, how? - "13 Reasons Why" has been all over the internet for the past few weeks. Everyone and their mother (and probably the family dog) has watched it and is discussing it on social media as well as in real life so naturally, I wanted to see what all that talk was about.

The eponymous book was a mandatory read for my class in 8th grade, so I already knew the outline of the story. In case you don't, let me enlighten you:

"13 Reasons Why" starts off with Clay Jensen, a junior in high school, receiving a box which contains audiotapes. When he inserts them into a cassette recorder, his life changes forever. What's on these tapes isn't music, it's Hannah Baker's voice. Hannah Baker was a friend of Clay's - was, because Hannah committed suicide after she had recorded the tapes in the box. On these tapes, she explains the reasons why she ended her life, all of which are connected to certain people who were once part of it - 13 in total. All of these people are to receive the box containing the tapes in a certain order, or else the tapes will be published - which would be fatal for people mentioned on them.

Finding the Right Prom Dress

I don't know if anyone who reads my blog is aware of this, but I'm going to graduate in three months! I know right, three months - ever since the beginning of my last year at school I've felt like final exams and graduation were light years away, but now they're just around the corner!

Besides wondering how the hell I'm going to revise the past two years' content in time (save me), I, like pretty much every other girl in my year, have been on the hunt for the perfect dress to wear to our prom/graduation party. 

While I myself have already found a dress for the big day, I thought I could offer some prom dress inspiration to all the girl out there who are still searching for the one to take their breath away.

So I teamed up with alessmode, an amazing online shop that offers a broad variety of formal dresses - including wedding dresses, homecoming dresses, and - you name it! - prom dresses.*

When it comes to prom dresses, most of us will have at least a vague idea of what we're looking for - if that's the case for you, you can sort the dresses by style, color, or price. While going through the pages and pages of gorgeous dresses, I found four that I adored - here they come!

(picture credits to alessmode)

18 on 18

So. This is a bit awkward. It's been so long since I last sat down to write a blog post and I can't even describe how bad I feel for neglecting my little corner of the internet - and because of that, I didn't quite know how to get back into writing.

During the period of my disappearance (sounds a little more mystical than what really happened - being burried in workload and having a mental health crisis, but more on that at a later time), I happened to turn 18, so I decided to pick up an idea I had on my last birthday.

Last February, I shared 17 things I had learnt in the years leading up to my birthday, and since turning 18 means (technically) becoming an adult, I thought that it would be interesting to share some more important lessons I've learnt on my way to adulthood.

So, without further ado, let's get into it!

28 Things I Want to Do in 2017

Happy new year you guys!

As I already mentioned at the beginning of last year, I'm not someone for new year's resolutions. I used to make them, and then failed to keep them most of the time, which was so frustrating.

Due of that, I've stopped making the "usual" new years resolutions - "I'm going to get into running this year!' "I'll eat less junk food!" "I'm going to lose weight!" and the like - and create either mantras or set small goals for myself that I'm more likely to achieve - because I don't believe in the whole "new year, new me!" thing, I want to become a better version of myself for each year!

I've made a list of all the things I want to do in 2017 and, because I'm nosey and always read these posts and thought you might want to have a nosey as well, I decided to share them with you!
Bonus feature for people who read this later on in the year - every time I do one of these things, I'll put them in bold to keep track of my achievements!