Jatt Road Trip #2

Hello, friends! Are you ready for Jatt Road Trip 2.0? That's right, Matthew and I went on another day-long adventure to an unfamiliar city and I'm here to tell you all about it.

On Augst 3rd, Matt and I set out for Chicago. We were on the road by 8:45am. For breakfast, I had my leftover stir fry from the night before, and it was delicious.

We stopped at the gas station to fuel up and have a stretch, even though we had only been in the car for 10 minutes. Driving's exhausting! Also, Matt got a bacon and egg croissant sandwich.

After a faulty address was given to us to the train station in Kenosha, WI (thanks, Google), we ended up stranded in the middle of a rich neighborhood. We drove around aimlessly trying to find our way out of the neighborhood when Matt saw a great view in the distance that he wanted to look at.

When we got to the train station, we were greeted by a whole new set of problems. Long story short, I horribly mixed up the train schedules with those of another train system we were looking at, and it turned out that the next train wasn't coming for another 4 hours.

We couldn't possibly wait that long for another train, so we made the decision to drive into Chicago ourselves.

First stop, Starbucks. Matt got a mocha frappe and I got an iced cafe mocha!

#BathroomOOTD

We left Starbucks on a hunt to find the Willis Tower! It was the first (and only) item on Matt's list of stuff to see in Chicago.

With the help of a nice homeless man, we found it! Matt made me take a picture in front of the globe.

After a 2-hour wait and a 9-minute-long video about the building, we were welcomed to "Iconic Chicago".

I really need to brush my hair.

Not the best quality picture but LOOK! We're standing on GLASS!

To end our day in Chicago, we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Trattoria Isabella. It was a very strange restaurant. We were the only people in the whole restaurant for the majority of our dinner. When we were trying to order, half of the items on the menu were discontinued as of 3 months ago; even the pizza! It's an Italian restaurant! Anyway, after multiple trials, I ordered the Risotto Primavera and Matt ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. We gave it a solid 7 out of 10.

That was the last stop we made before coming home!

Matt took this picture from the freeway on our drive back to Wisconsin. How gorgeous!

All in all, it was a good day. There were a few stressful moments and the heat didn't do us a lot of good, but we made some wonderful memories we can tell people about years down the road. It was quite the experience!

That's it for today's post. I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to explore, it makes life interesting.

See you soon,
Jordan x

Being Sad

Hey, folks. Recently, I've been experiencing a lot more human emotion than I'm used to. I don't know if it's the stress of having a high-intensity job, or maintaining perfect relationships, or just not having enough 'me' time, but lately I've been feeling kind of depressed. Not all of the time, but more often than usual.

Sometimes my sadness comes out of nowhere, and other times it's brought on by things like exhaustion, anxiety, and even anger. (All of those emotions are tied together for me.) Who knows, maybe it's just a 'teenager thing'. Maybe I'm spreading myself too thin, or maybe I rely too much on other people to make myself happy. Anyway, I know this is something that a lot of people struggle with, so I thought I'd make a list of all the things one could do to make themselves happy again. Enjoy!

Before I start, I think it should be noted that it is okay to be sad. Sadness isn't something you should feel like you have to repress in order to look 'strong' or to keep the people around you from feeling uncomfortable. Sadness is a normal, naturally-occurring emotion, and if something happened in your life to make you feel sad, you have all the right in the world to sulk around for a while.

Anyway, let's get started!

Step 1:

Get Angry. Or Cry.

You're never going to get over the issue unless you address the issue. Don't let it bubble up inside of you. If it's human-induced sadness, confront the person that's making you feel like crap and tell them how it makes you feel. Yell about it; preferably not to them. If you completely skipped the feeling of anger and went straight to being sad, let your tear ducts do the talking. Whether you're screaming into your pillow or crying a river, just let it all out.

Step 2:

Clean Something

I always find that a clear space makes for a clear head. Organize your room, clean out your desk drawers, rearrange your closet, your desk, your pantry, or whichever part of your house/workplace you are exposed to the most. Bring a little order back into your life!

Step 3:

Keep Busy

This one is 100% fail proof. Whenever I'm in a bad mood and I go to work, I become so consumed with my job that I completely forget what's going on in the outside world. I'm constantly running around and thinking about other, more productive things. If you don't have a job, go on a mission for something. Find a recipe online, go to the shops, get the ingredients, and make it. Find a crafty DIY on Pinterest and give it a go! And when it doubt, just binge on your favorite TV show. Anything to get your mind off of the current situation.

Step 4:

Take a Shower (or Bath)

This might just be a placebo, but a lot of the times when you're sad, all you need is a little refresher. Showers/baths are both refreshing and relaxing and give you a chance to clean your mind. They also make you look and smell a little better which will hopefully boost your self confidence.

Step 5:

Go Somewhere

Get out of the house! Go see a movie! Take a trip to the drugstore! Eat some ice cream!

Step 6:

Play With An Animal

Most likely when you're sad, you will try to avoid all human contact. That doesn't say anything about animals! I know whenever I snuggle with Moose (my dog), all is right in the world. He is so precious.'

Step 7:

Think About the Good Stuff

Yes, you may be having a bad day, but that doesn't mean there weren't a couple good things sprinkled in here and there. Take a minute to remind yourself of the little things that made you smile or laugh during the day. Maybe someone held open a door for you, or said something nice. Maybe you got tipped for doing a good job, or someone clumsily fell down and it made you laugh. 

Those are all of the tips I have on how to not be sad. I hope this has helped you out! If you have any other tips or suggestions, leave them in the comments section below!

Have a good day, and just be happy.

Jordan x

Cruelty Free NYX Beauty Haul

Hello, buddies! Up until a few weeks ago, I was in desperate need of some new makeup products. My mascara was getting dry and clumpy, my concealer was over a year old, and my angled brush was getting less and less angled every day. I decided it was time to go to Ulta and pick out some new products!

As you know, I am trying to keep my life as animal-friendly as possible, so I made sure I bought makeup that was 100% cruelty-free. Also, NYX was having a 40% off sale. It's like it was meant to be!

Here are a few bits and bobs I got on my hunt and what I think of them. Enjoy!

The first thing I purchased was a new concealer; the NYX Hi Definition Photo Concealer Wand, to be exact. The last concealer I had, I got in (approximately) January of 2014. It was also a NYX Concealer Wand, and although it was good at its job, it was way too light for me. And, it was over a year old.

I got it in the shade CW10. Even though I have yellow undertones to my skin, it is still quite yellow on me. That being said, it works wonders at covering dark undereyes by counteracting the purple. It dries to a dewy finish.

Oh, and it's cruelty free!

When in Ulta, I also picked up a new mascara. This is the Le Frou Frou, lengthening and voluminizing mascara. To be honest, I don't think it gives much volume to the lashes. It simply lengthens without any clumpage.

The mascara wand is designed for minimal wastage. In the picture, it looks like there is no product on the brush but there really is! It is extremely hard to get too much product on the brush. This makes for a very light application.

Also cruelty free.

Finally, I picked up the cutest little makeup brush you've ever seen! This is the NYX Angle Liner Brush. If you are viewing this on a computer, yes, this is its actual size.

The brush is extremely thin width-wise and has a much sharper edge than my ELF angled brush. This makes for a more precise line. I find that this brush is not the best for actually filling in the brows, because the brush is so dense that it ends up taking off the product in the places you apply it. My eyebrow routine now is to fill in my eyebrows with the slightly fluffier ELF brush and finish off the edges with the NYX brush. This makes for a more natural brow in the middle and a more precise brow around the edges.

This is what the products look like on my face! I probably should've taken a 'before' picture. I used the concealer under my eyes and on my T-zone. (You can probably figure out where I put everything else!) Overall, I am very impressed with these products and I'd buy them all again!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I'll see you all next time for a post about Jatt Road Trip #2. Stay tuned!

Until then,

Jordan x

My Favorite Superfoods

Hello, friends! As most of you know, I'm a complete health fanatic. I love eating clean and giving my body food that's actually good for it, and I'm always on a hunt for the most nutrient-packed foods and ingredients to incorporate into my diet.

Whether you're extremely into your health or not, I'm sure that everyone reading this post has heard of superfoods. Superfoods are basically just foods that are super good for you. They get their outstanding reputation for being extremely high in things like vitamins, minerals, calcium, protein, antioxidants and fatty acids. I am a massive fan of these magnificent foods, and I tend to eat a lot of them.

Today I'm going to show you some of my favorite superfoods and how I incorporate them into my diet! Enjoy!

One of my favorite superfoods is hemp. (And no, not the part of the plant that makes you feel all happy!) Normally it comes in the form of seeds, but I love it in the form of protein powder. A lot of protein powders are made from animal muscle and/or whey protein (a byproduct of milk), This is the perfect vegan alternative, and it still helps to repair your tissues and build muscle, along with helping literally every other bodily function! Along with being completely vegan, hemp protein is also perfect for people with allergies.

I put hemp (either in the form of seeds or protein powder) in my smoothies.

The Nutiva brand of hemp protein is organic and non-GMO (genetically modified). You always want to look for those things! It may be a little extra money, but it's completely worth it.

It has a very earthy smell, and some people are thrown off by that. Don't let it distract you! You can't even taste it when you blend it into your smoothie. I put hemp protein in my fruit/veggie smoothies and my chocolatey dessert smoothies.

Protein powder is a perfect way to get essential amino acids into your diet. Amino acids are the building blocks of the proteins that rebuild your tissues and muscles!

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love reading the Nutrition Facts on foods. I find it so interesting!

My most used and well-loved superfood is coconut oil. Coconut oil is jam-packed with nutrients, and there are SO MANY DIFFERENT USES!

Coconut oil is extremely versatile. It can be used for cooking, baking, beauty treatments and more. Coconut oil has been known to boost metabolism, protect your organs and give you energy, AND improve memory!

I do everything with coconut oil; I cook with it, I add it to my smoothies, I use it as a moisturizer, a hair mask, a tanning oil, etc. 

Before I continue, I feel like I should tell you that you NEED good fats in your diet. Most vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble, meaning you need fat for the nutrients to get absorbed into your body. If you do not have any fats in your diet, your body isn't able to absorb all of the nutrients from the foods you eat. Coconut oil is one of the best fats you could possibly have. 

If you're not a huge fan of coconut and are afraid of its flavor taking over the whole dish, don't worry. Unless you use an obscenely large amount of it, you're not able to taste any coconut. The more coconut oil you include in a recipe, the more coconut flavor.  

(Picture stolen from a previous blog post of mine!)

Chia seeds are a fantastic source of fiber, calcium, protein, antioxidants and Omega 3s. They don't taste of much, so they make the perfect sneaky addition to any food! I usually put chia seeds in my smoothies, although they are a bit tricky when it comes to blending. As soon as they come in contact with liquid, they become a jellylike gloop that is very hard to stomach. However, I have a trick! I combat this by blending my smoothie for a couple seconds before adding the chia seeds so the ingredients get roughly blended together and the water gets evenly distributed, then I add the seeds. I also like to sprinkle a tablespoon or so on my salads, but beware, they might get stuck in your teeth!

This is cacao (powder), one of the most delicious superfoods of all. Not cocoa, cacao. Cacao powder is the actual ground up cacao bean, in all of its antioxidant, magnesium-rich glory.

I uses cacao powder in my famous Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Banana Smoothies. The powder is completely bitter on its own but when it's mixed with the sweetness of the banana, it's fantastical. Other than in smoothies, you could use cacao powder in baking and other sweet treats!

(I usually put 2 tablespoons in my smoothie.)

credit

My absolute favorite superfood in the whole entire world is the avocado. They are extremely high in Omega 3s, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and fatty acids. Surprisingly, this gorgeous fruit is extremely versatile. Besides the usual uses of guacamole and other taco accessories, avocados make an awesome addition to smoothies, and make a mean chocolate pudding. One of my favorite snacks is smashed avocado on toast with salt and pepper.

Those are all of my favorite superfoods! I hope this post has encouraged you to go out and try something new! Remember, healthy food doesn't have to taste bad. Not only are they super good, but they're super good for you. Here's to better health!

Jordan x