15 August 2018

Sunshine Blogger Award

Welcome back!

I haven't done one of these in a while and I thought it would be fun to do another one after the lovely Mya from A Slice of Mya tagged me to answer her questions. She is new to blogging and is just a  lovely ray of sunshine. If you're reading Mya, thank you for tagging me! I love being able to answer some questions because I feel like it's a way to know the person behind the blog a little better even if it's just finding out what their favorite coffee is.


There are some rules to follow with this award and they are:
Thank the person who's tagged you and link their blog
Answer the questions they've asked
Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions
List the rules and display logo (Sorry, I made my own "logo" but the original is still floating around out there!)

Here are the questions Mya has asked:

Who is your favorite artist right now?
I'm really loving Lewis Capaldi. Those heartbreak songs are my jam. I'm keeping an eye out for a tour in the States where he'll be on the East Coast.

What kind of phone do you have?

I have the iPhone 7 in Rose Gold. I love this phone as I'm quite small and petite I feel like this phone fits well in my hands. I've seen the newer ones and they're all quite big.

What blog software/host do you use and why?

As of right now I'm using blogger. Once I relaunch my blog with the new name I've chosen, I'll be migrating to Wordpress.

What is your favorite color?

I love anything earthy toned. Neutral colors - and the occasional coral.

What is your coffee order?

I don't drink coffee very often. I'll have to be super tired to think of picking one up but when I do I order the Caramel Ice Coffee light and sweet at Dunkin'. Yes there is A LOT of sugar in light and sweet. It's why I don't have it often haha.

What is your favorite store to shop at?

Right now I'm loving Primark. Quality clothes for great prices. There's only one in my state at the moment so I have to plan out what day I want to drive 45 minutes away to go shopping.

Do you wear makeup everyday?

Mostly. I work as a receptionist and as front desk, you're the first person a customer sees and need to make a good impression. Even if I don't go glam, I try to tone down the redness on my face and put some mascara on.

Water or juice/soda?

I have to try hard for water. If there was soda and water next to each other I'd probably drink soda, but we don't really keep soda in the house so I tend to drink more water.

Do you write your posts randomly or have a plan for each one?

I try to plan ahead as much as I can. There are times when I do post randomly but it's seldom. This one was definitely on a whim!

What is your favorite social media?

Hmm, well, anything blogging related Twitter is my favorite. Instagram would be second as I'm not great on that platform. For just keeping in contact with family and friends, I still use Facebook.

What grade level was your favorite?

I'm guessing this question means grade anywhere from childhood to high school. I graduated high school about 7 years ago now so I don't really remember which was my favorite and why. But of any time academically where I've felt like I was doing great and getting somewhere it's only really been this past year that's motivated me to go back to college and go to University for a bachelors.

Here are the 9 lovely bloggers I'm nominating! (I know, I've broken a rule, sorry!)

Alexandra from Alexandra Quinlann
Angela from Sincerely Angiejj
Melina from Melina Elisa
Shannon from Shannon - Marie
Jen from Beauty Life Mom
Ell from Ell Duclos
Elena from Elena Isabelle
Em from EmilyBecca
Emma from Pink Aesthetic

Here are your questions!

1. If you could visit a country you've never been to before, where would it be?
2. What's the last song you've played?
3. Have you ever played any sports?
4. What would be your dream job?
5. What was the last book you've read?
6. Have you ever been to a blogging event?
7. Have you met up with any bloggers before?
8. What's another language you wish you could speak?
9. Why did you choose your blog name?
10. Do you have an item that you never leave the house without?
11. Where do you see yourself in five years?

And that's it! I really hope you enjoyed. It was nice to be able to post something that didn't need any planning at all. I don't know about you but I'm a bit nosey and like to see how other people answer things. Also, it's a great way to get to know someone. Thanks again to Mya for tagging me!

Thanks for reading,

Jay

07 August 2018

Travel Carry On Essentials

Welcome back!


Recently I took a trip down to Miami for one of my best friend's weddings and made it into a mini vacation / holiday. What I realized when I got home was that I was super grateful for what I packed in my carry on and decided that it would be my official carry on essentials for when I travel from now on. I hope this list will help you get some ideas on what could be helpful essentials for your next trip!

(Source: stocksnap.io)

Phone
My phone is something I can't forgot. Not only does it help me communicate, it's also where I can save my life long memories of photos. I think it's a must have for everyone, even if you brought a separate camera with you to take photos.


Earphones / Earbuds
I have an iPhone so the earphones I have can only connect to iPhones. I brought those along with me to be able to listen to music whilst I'm away. Here's a hard lesson I learned on the flight to Florida, if you have the earphones that plug in only to your phone, make sure to buy cheap earbuds that can plug into anything else. The flight never provided us with the earbuds for the mini screens and all I had were the ones that connected to my phone, so I spend the plane ride trying to lip read Monsters Inc.



Chargers
Make sure you don't forget your phone charger, laptop charger, tablet charger, etc. Mine comes along with me daily so I made sure it was packed into my carry on for my journey. Also, a great tip that I learned on my trip to England is to always bring a portable charger. I don't know about you but being out and about all day sight seeing and taking photos on your phone can definitely drain your battery. I get anxiety if I don't have a form of communication just in case so if I wasted the battery taking photos then I won't end up enjoying the rest of my day knowing I can't get in contact with someone if I needed. I brought a fully charged portable charger with me and my phone never ran low on battery while I was out. I would also recommend one of those international plugs if you're traveling somewhere that doesn't have the same outlets and plugs as your own country. I bought a UK one to plug into the wall as a mediator so I can plug my electronics in.



Money / Passport
Definitely an essential in anyone's travels is money and a passport. Make sure you have at least some cash with you just in case places don't take cards. If you're renting a car, a hard lesson we learned was the person who's name the reservation is under, needs to have a credit card day of picking up - at least the car rental place we used was like that. I didn't have to take my passport with me because we were traveling within the United States but obviously if you're traveling internationally it is something that you'll need to obtain a head of time and pack it away so you know you'll have it on your travels.

Disinfecting Wipes / Wet Wipes
I, for some reason, started taking disinfecting wipes with me on travels and I'm so glad I did. If you need to take a train, or subway, or if you're not at a place you can easily go wash your hands for some reason, disinfecting wipes are ready in your bag. When I was in London last year and I finally got to meet Katie (from KF Pestell) I somehow ended up cutting my finger and wasn't in an area to wash it before placing the band aid - so I used the wipes to try and help as much as it could.
Also, getting a little TMI here but a small pack of wet wipes can do a world of good. Just sayin'.



Motion Sickness Tablets
I've never been the type of person to get sick on a plane and neither have anyone I've taken a journey with until last. My friend got super sick on the plane and I felt really bad for her that she spent two and a half hours of being sick instead of being able to relax. When we landed she bought herself some motion sickness tablets for our journey home. Good thing she did because for the first time ever, I got nauseous on our way back. They definitely came in handy.

Face / Under Eye Masks
Lastly, this is something I never thought about until my last trip, my friend told me she bought us face and under eye masks for our flight. I don't know about you but I do not like wearing makeup on flights so this was a nice skincare routine that helped us refresh our skin while on our journey.

Those are my seven top carry on essentials that I will be bringing with me on every flight I take. I hope this as helped you if you're wondering on what to bring on your carry on with you and if you have must take carry on items that are different to mine, I'd love to hear about what they are in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

Jay