Adore You

My Lovely (Early) Birthday Present 

Hello Lovlies. I'm Jordan Nicole :) My 22nd birthday is quickly approaching (let the nonstop day of listening to 22 begin)! I have no idea how is it is nearly December, let alone my birthday (which is the 4th). My lovely best friend Amanda told me months back that she had bought my present and has talked about it time and time again, since then. Due to the fact that she has been anticipating giving it to me for so long and the fact that we may not see each other closer to my birthday, she gave me my present early. What she bought me is the most wonderful and thoughtful birthday present ever so I thought I would show y'all the things she got for me!

So for a while now I have been hopelessly obsessed with Youtube and the people who create content on it. Now I may be so passionate about the topic that I feel the need to share my interest with others. They may, from time to time, not want to embrace my passion but I give them a sample video anyways and have managed to reel in a few people. You may think that it is odd for a girl who is a week away from turning 22 to be so into a subculture that is filled with tween girls but I don't care. The people I'm watching are actually my age, if not older, and I relate to them in a lot of ways. I don't feel embarissed to say I get a certain amount of joy from watching makeup tutorials that I could never accomplish or the daily vlogs (video blogs) of another persons life and adventures. It is nice to be invested in other peoples lives. Anyways, my point of sharing this with you is that I told my best friend Amanda all about Youtube and the section that contains makeup tutorials. She enjoys makeup as a hobby and I thought she would like hearing about products she'd never tried and various methods others use to apply them. My favorite overall Youtuber is Zoe Sugg (Zoella) so I showed her first, but she doesn't have a ton of makeup tutorials as she feels she is not a professional. My favorite Youtuber when it comes to makeup is Tanya Burr who does have a lot of makeup tutorials, seeing as she actually was a professional. Amanda ended up really enjoying them and has since found Youtubers of her own to watch. This bond led to the theme that she chose for my birthday present this year.

***All of the items below are linked if you hover over them :)***

Marley Lilly Monogrammed Makeup Bag

This bag screams Jordan Nicole. Like it actually yelled my name when I opened the box. It is my favorite color and it has my monogram. Anything with my monogram is amazing in my book (just look at my phone case). This bag is so big and I didn't know it but I desperately needed it in my life. I  have already put my makeup in it and managed to fit everything in it. I usually have to cycle things out of my makeup bag as I need them but not with this bag. I even fit my Naked 2 palette in there!

Zoella Beauty Creamy Madly Dreamy Body Lotion

Now months back when Amanda had started buying these items she had told me that "it" (I thought it was one item still back then) was something that I would never buy myself but needed. This statement is accurate with every item in this box but to be honest I would have bought this one for myself. I have been waiting and waiting to buy myself Zoella Beauty products because a lot of her things sold out so quickly and I wanted to buy all of the items I wanted at once. I'm so glad she bought me this now! The smell is just as lovely and fresh as I had heard and I'm so happy to have it.

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter Body Moisturizer, Very Dry Skin Formula

This fits in with our Youtube theme because you endlessly hear the words Soap & Glory while watching beauty vloggers. This lotion smells amazing and I have a feeling it will be getting a ton of use!

Marc Anthony Oil Of Morocco Aragon Oil Hairspray

Amanda got this and the next product in her Ipsy Box but I am almost positive I have heard of both while watching Youtube videos. Everyone can always use hairspray and this one being travel size makes it perfect to carry around with me in my makeup bag!

Wet n Wild Megaslicks Balm Stain in Lady & The Vamp

I really am convinced I have hear about this product from one of my beauty vloggers. Either way it is amazing. The formula is so nice and this color is so gorgeous for this time of year. When I put it on I instantly liked it with my skin!

Tanya Burr Lip Glosses in Aurora & Lets Travel The World

These two colors have now brought my Tanya Burr Lip Gloss collection up to eight! I love them so much. They have such a wonderful formula and the pigmentation is great too. I only need four more to have the entire collection from her first launch. The thing that impressed me the most is that Amanda knew which ones I didn't have! Tanya recently released a second launch, along with a limited edition Christmas shade and I ordered two of those, which should be coming in the mail any day now. Seeing as my collection is up to ten I think I am going to do a post on these soon :)

Sephora Pro Fan Brush #65

This is the nicest brush I have ever owned. This is actually the nicest brush I've ever even felt. These aren't hard statement to make, seeing as I don't own any brush collection, but it could not be more true. It is so lovely and feels like a dream when you rub it on your checks. I will treasure this brush and I already know it is going to inspire me to start collection brushes (finally).

Benefit Gimme Brow in Light/Medium

Now this product has been talked about to death on Youtube and I have wanted to try it for as long as I have been watching videos. I only recently started doing my brows (due to the mixed factors of Youtubers & pressure from Amanda) because I have pretty prominent brows naturally. I wasn't using a brow kit or pencil or gel or anything like that though, I was just using a brown eyeshadow with a small brush to do them. I am so excited to try a brow product that is meant specifically for that purpose. Plus I have heard so many wonderful things about this product!

That's it! With each item that I pulled out of the box I felt so special and loved. I would have gladly accepted just one of the things from the box and felt so thankful. To think that Amanda put months of effort into collecting these things for my birthday just makes me feel so blessed to have her in my life. She truly is an amazing person and even more amazing friend.

Amanda, thank you so much for the lovely birthday presents. It was the most thoughtful idea! Ultimately though, your friendship is the only present I will ever need and I will cherish it forever. 

It's Time

Moving... Again.

Hello Lovelies :) I'm Jordan Nicole. Even the best of things come to an end and the same can be said of the worst. I'm not sure where living in my first apartment falls on the scale but regardless, the experience is coming to an end. I have to be out of my very first apartment in five days. Five. I can count that amount on one hand and that fact is suddenly very emotionally overwhelming. I know that it's time to start again in a new place of my own but I will miss the 540 sq. ft I currently call home. It has served me well and been an excellent first apartment. I feel so at home there. Saying goodbye will surely be sad but I am also filled with excitement over my new apartment and all of the things to come.

I have been in my apartment since December 2013 and I have loved it dearly. It isn't much, just a one bedroom apartment that I share with a roommate. If I am being honest I think it is good to have a first apartment that isn't anything overly special. It doesn't need all the bells and whistles. I love it for things that far exceed its location or amenities. A first apartment brings with it many other firsts and I will forever associate those things with this apartment. I was truly on my own for the first time there. I will always cherish the memories and look back on it fondly. Not because of the pool it had or the granite counter tops (it does not have this.. it was built in the 60s and we had to sign all sorts forms acknowledging that there could be things associated with building in this time there, which were not good) but because of the love I felt there and the joy it brought me. I am now saying goodbye to a chapter of my life and moving on (literally moving!) to the next, solo, one.

I had originally thought I would be moving into a two bedroom apartment in my current complex with my current roommate. I was wrong. This didn't work out and as with all things in life that do not turn out the way we imagine, I did not handle it as gracefully as I know I could have. I was upset. It happens to the best of us! I see no shame in that. I am able to admit the things in the situation that I should have done differently and apologize for them. That is really all that can be asked of anyone. The hardest part of the situation was deciding where to go from there. It was now May and I did not have an apartment for the fall. Not a wonderful place to be considering everyone else already had a place to live (first decision made... I would be living all alone) and most apartments within a reasonable distance from campus are leased by March (second decision made... I would again be commuting to campus).

 If I am being completely honest, which I hope to always do here, I did what I always do at the slightest sign of confrontation and completely ignored the problem. I ignored that things were now in an awkward place with my roommate. I ignored that I had an alarmingly close deadline to find a place to live. I ignored that if I kept ignoring the problem, in a few short months I would be without a place to live. I basically shut down and didn't think about all of the problems in my life that seemed to have filled my brain and were now having to pile on top of each other to find room. This isn't uncommon of me. I am not a fan of confrontation and would do almost anything to avoid it. However the situation I had found myself in didn't exactly have an avoidance option so I, of course, created one. I started to visit my parents house for a week at a time so that I didn't have to be in my current apartment and see my soon to be ex-roomate (I in fact have yet to see him since the decision was made to not proceed on the two bedroom apartment. That takes skill my friends!). Staying at my parents also gave me the excuse that I could not look for an apartment if I was not in the town I needed the apartment in. Really clever there Jordan. Genius level stuff.

In profession procrastinator fashion I waited until last week to really start my search (after having a major breakdown and a fight with my Daddy about the fact that I had basically done nothing about the problem other than feel sorry for myself.. he wasn't wrong). I had been looking for an apartment online but there wasn't anything that was in an area my Mama felt was safe and my Daddy was willing to pay for. It really seemed like I would never find a place that pleased everyone, but as luck (or God) would have it, the next day we found a lead. A coworker of my Mama recommended an apartment building near the area I had been looking to move, that was also within budget! I called with my Mama (from my parents home as I was still avoiding the problem with a passion) and arranged to go in and see it the next day (Thursday, July 3rd).

I went with my friend Clay to tour the property and see the available one bedroom apartment they had. We both loved the complex and an hour after we arrived we were leaving, having applied for an apartment! It's now Tuesday July 8th and everything with the application was approved. I have signed a lease and am moving in on Saturday (this is really convenient considering I have to be out of my apartment by Sunday)!

I really do know how blessed I am that everything has managed to work out. Looking back I really should have handled this whole situation differently and I hope that I can use this as a learning experience going forward. I am going to be living all on my own for the first time in my life and I am so excited to see what is in store. I will of course be taking a ton of pictures and writing a full post on how moving (into my third floor apartment) goes and the whole decorating process. All I can do now is have a positive outlook on the journey I am about to embark on :)