Sunglasses for Summer

Summertime is right around the corner and that means lots of sunshine and heat. And it is actually really important to protect the skin around your eyes because that is the most sensitive part of skin on your face. So, sunglasses are the perfect thing to use as a protection for the skin around your eyes, and your eyes themselves. Before I go searching, I have compiled a list of a few things I am looking for.

-cheap price

-multiple different styles to choose from

-polarized lenses

For those of you who don't know, polarized lenses are less easy to get scratched which is better is you want your sunglasses to look better for longer and last longer. So lets get searching!

DIFF Charitable Eyewear:

https://www.diffeyewear.com/

My first stop is DIFF Charitable Eyewear. I like how on their blog it is easy to navigate and the message is very clear. Their prices are lower than other companies but with still a higher end look. And a plus, they have a donation program of buy one give one. Where they donate one pair of reading glasses for every pair of sunglasses bought. They have six different styles, but they have such a wide variety of each style with different options of color lenses and frames. And all their sunglasses are polarized! You have most likely seen these sunglasses being promoted by contestants that were on the bachelor on Instagram.

cheap price

multiple different styles

polarized lenses

QUAY Australia:

https://www.quayaustralia.com/pages/quay-australia

When I looked at the QUAY website it looked very high end. They do have free shipping although it is only for purchases over $75. I found it interesting that they have a sizing chart for different sizes of sunglasses. They have sizes classic, large, and mega. There is a humongous range of 91 different sunglasses styles. The prices can be ranging from $45-$65. There is no mention of polarized lenses. There are sometimes collaborations of sunglasses with internet stars. You have most likely seen these sunglasses on Instagram worn by YouTubers or by celebrities such as Kylie Jenner.

cheap price

multiple different styles

polarized lenses

Sunski Sunglasses:

http://www.sunskis.com/

Sunski has a similar website format as DIFF Eyewear. There are nine different styles, but again like DIFF Eyewear, there are multiple different lens and frame colors. The prices are also cheap like DIFF Eyewear. Along with sunglasses they do sell t-shirts. Their lenses are also polarized! I learned about Sunski through my mom and own a pair of my own. They are great, and would highly recommend. This image below is from the Sunski blog.

cheap price

multiple different styles

polarized lenses

Nectar:

https://www.nectarsunglasses.com/

This is a brand that has other items than just sunglasses, but has a very large collection of polarized and UV 400 sunglasses. Their polarized lenses are said to be more protective than other lenses and if you are wondering, UV 400 blocks all harmful UV rays. There is much more of a limited collection of UV 400 sunglasses than polarized. Nectar's mission is to educate people about bees and save them. So a portion of every order goes to the bee cause. I found about these sunglasses from my sailing instructor who was wearing them. This picture below is from their Instagram.

cheap prices

multiple different designs

polarized lenses

Illesteva:

https://illesteva.com/

Same things as Nectar, sunglasses aren't the only thing they sell. They have a selection of 163 different kinds of sunglasses, although it is extremely expensive. Their products are made in Italy, and like QUAY Auatralia, they have collaborations with others but with places like J. Crew, Jennifer Fisher, and others. There is no mention of any polarized lenses. The picture below is from one of their lookbooks.

cheap prices

multiple different styles

polarized lenses

Comparison:

Brand	DIFF Eyewear	QUAY Australia	Sunski	Nectar	Illesteva
Prices	$50-$85	$45-$65	$48-$58	$39.99-$44.99	$99-$300
Styles	6	91	9	70	163
Polarized Lenses	yes	N/A	yes	yes	N/A

Generated Writing Prompt 3

“All Prisons have been moved 1 mile under the ocean. Prisoners wonder if escape is possible.”

My name is Elizabeth. I’m 19 years old and in prison. Why? I robbed a bank, okay? My family is poor and we needed money. I’ve done it multiple times, but this time I wasn’t careful enough. So I got busted and sent to jail. I’ve been here for about a year now. 19 more years left to go, lit… So today, we were told that our orange suited selves were going into submarines. The Police handcuffed us because we can’t be trusted, and sent into submarines. “Yo dawg, you know where we’re going?” My jail friend Mad Hatter asked. I don’t know why that is her name. When I asked, I got beaten up, so everyone just goes with it. “No fucking clue yo.” added Knuckles. “Same here.” If you were wondering, my nickname is Baby, as in the youngest one there. The Next thing we knew was that we were thrown in a place underwater and uncuffed. “How deep are we?” I immediately asked. From the looks of outside the tiny and incredibly thick window we were deep. “A mile.” The guard responded. “Yo, what the fuck…” moaned a few people. I sat there for a bit in disbelief. I used to swim, a mile is about 1650 yards or 66 laps in a 25 yard pool. There was no way in hell we could get to the surface without drowning. Basically life in prison, here we come...



P.S. Next week there will be NO POSTS because I have finals :/ After that, the schedule will continue normally.

Travel Essentials for a Warm Climate

I was going to make just a whole overarching post about traveling essentials. But, it doesn't make sense for me to make a whole post about every travel essential you need. For example, your looking at this post, for traveling to Hawaii, and for example one of the things on my travel essential list was snow pants. That doesn't make sense, because you don't need snow pants in Hawaii. So, here is a list of essential things you need if you are for example, traveling to Hawaii or a warm place. 

Color Key:

Bags

Shoes

Clothes

Beauty

Electronics

Suitcase

     -It is important to have a good, sturdy, functionable suitcase, because you don't want it to break. I have heard so many stories about suitcases breaking, so it is important to get a trustworthy one. I would recommend looking for a suitcase on amazon that you are interested in buying to look at the reviews. Or you could just buy directly off amazon. Another option is to go to Marshalls and get a suitcase there. I'm not sure if they are all 100% trustworthy though. 

Bag

     -A bag, I know is a very general topic. I am keeping it like that because you need a carry on bag to put your essentials on a plane, and you also need a bag in your location to carry your things. It's your personal choice whether or not you want to do multiple different bags, or just one bag for everything.

Flip Flops/Sandals

     -Flip flops and sandals are pretty similar, so you could bring both types of shoes. But any kind of suitcase space is precious and limited, so we want to save as much space as possible when we have the opportunity. There is a flip flop brand Havaianas, which sells flip flops that are "casual" and on the "fancier" side. So, you could just get a nice pair of Havaianas and wear it to the beach and to a party. 

Sneakers

     -Sneakers are good for walking around and exercising. So I would recommend bringing running sneakers because they can be a 2 in 1 deal on your trip. Of course there are fashion sneakers too, but it's up to you to decide what you want to be bringing on the trip. Just always keep in mind suitcase space.

Swim Suits

     -Swim suits are pretty much the number one essential thing when going to a warm place. You want to have at least four different suits to choose from. And if you are a girl, I would recommend a few black bikini bottoms in case it's that time of the month. I won't stop you from going crazy and picking whatever suits you want. pick some to take cute pictures, and take some for being comfortable, whatever you want.

Rash Guard

     -A rash guard is something you put on top of your regular suit to keep you warm, and protect you from the sun. This is highly effective and will keep you in the water much longer than your friends will be without one. If you are worried about it looking bad, Roxy has a great collection of rash guards.

Long Sleeve

     -You never know if there is going to be a day where it is cold. Also, usually warm climate places get hot in the day but cold at night. So, if you have an event at night and it's chilly, a long sleeve could be an option. Or if it is a cold rainy day, a long sleeve might be a better option. 

Pants

     -Same thing with pants as the long sleeve. If there is a cold day or night, this is a good thing to wear. You should always pack a few pairs of leggings and jeans. My go to for pants on a plane ride is sweatpants or yoga pants. They are really comfortable and make the ride much better especially if it is on the longer side. 

T-Shirts

     -T-shirts are a good thing to wear on a day to day basis. There are two different kinds of t-shirts. There are the kind of t-shirts that you get from sports that are over sized and never really fit nicely. Those kind of t-shirts are nice to wear to bed, and to the beach if you don't have a cover up. The other kind of t-shirts is more fitted, and would be more worn on a day to day basis to school or going out casually.

Tank Tops

     -Some people really like tank tops. It depends if you like them or not. I personally am not a really huge fan but I do wear tank tops. Again there are different kinds. There is a thick strap, thin strap, more of an exercise tank, or a formal tank. 

Shorts

     -Everyone could use a good pair of jean shorts. You all should at least pack one pair of jean shorts. And then there are running shorts. It depends if you are going to work out, but it's always good to have some running shorts just in case.

Dress

     -It's nice to have a dress on hand in case you ever get invited to a party or just to wear on a really hot day. Dresses are also good when you are going somewhere after going to the beach. It's just perfect. If you are going somewhere after the beach you bring a dress with you and wear your Havaianas flip flops and you are all set!

Raincoat 

     -Even though you checked the weather and it was all clear when you checked, almost every time I go on a vacation to somewhere warm, it rains at least once. It is so much less bulky that carrying around a umbrella too. I recommend getting like a water proof windbreaker from Marmot because I have one of them and it works so well. It's light weight and you can even wear it after when it rains and you won't get too hot.

Underwear

     -When it comes to underwear I never know how many to pack. So I guess the safest thing to do is pack at least one underwear for each day. 

Socks

     -For socks I would pack a few pairs and it all really depends on whether or not you are going to be abl eto have access to a washing machine or a way to wash your clothing.

Makeup

-If you like to wear makeup, bring makeup, this is just a suggestion. 

Sun Cream

-This is extremely important. Since Summer is soon, you don't want to get too burnt.

Toothbrush

-Got to keep your teeth clean and looking nice for anything.

Toothpaste

-You have to make sure your breath is nice. And you need to keep your teeth clean.

Q-tips

-To clean your ears. But if you forget it, I wouldn't freak out.

Makeup Remover

-If you bring makeup, it is recommended that you also bring makeup remover.

Moisturizer

-Just in case your skin gets dry.

Chargers

-On your trip you want to make sure you have chargers because your phone and electronics most likely won't stay alive for that long.

Headphones

-On the plane this is important so you can listen to music or movies. The headphones that the plane provides sometimes need to be payed or 

Adapter

-If you are traveling to a different country this is going to be important because they might not have the same outlets as where you live.

Just a disclaimer that there are most likely some things that I forgot. 

Happy traveling,

-Caroline

Generated Writing Prompt 2

“At birth, everyone has a date of when they will die tattooed on their arm. You were supposed to die yesterday.”

Today, April 6, 2017, was my last day to live. On my arm was the date 4/6/17 was the day I was going to die, at the end of the day. Some people had a long life, some people had a short life. Unfortunately, mine was going to be short. I was only 25. I had lived up my life pretty well knowing that I was going to die young. I had gone to coachella 5 times, gone to Ariana Grande concerts, gone to Disneyworld and Disneyland, Graduated College, gotten drunk and high (because yolo), and many other things. I wasn’t ready though. I felt like this day would never come, and now here it was. It was currently 3:00am and I was going to the airport. Since this was my last day, I would live it up my checking things off my bucket list and going places that I had always wanted to go, and every minute counted.

In that case, I was flying first class to my first stop, Hawaii. I wanted to go there, see the volcanoes, swim in the ocean, take amazing pictures. I was only going to stay there a few hours. I arrived in Hawaii early, so I went to the beach watched the sunrise, took pictures and went swimming. Next stop was the volcanoes. I stayed there for about another hour and a half and then it was time to head back to the airport and go back home. Next I was going to do a good deed and help the homeless. I wanted to die happy. As I was helping an old woman she said, “Sweetie, this is your last day?” “Yes ma'am.” “God bless you, thank you for helping me. You for sure will be going to heaven.” “It’s the best I can do ma’am.” I suddenly broke into tears. I was trying to make my day jam packed so I wouldn’t have to think about dieing. I was making myself blind to that thought. But as time was ticking, I realized that I didn’t want to die. I would have definitely wanted to be the old woman. Lived a long happy life and yet still alive. I got a glimpse at her arm, she wasn’t supposed to die until 12 more years. She just sat with me comforting me. It really helped, I stopped crying and thanked her for her help, and went on with my day.

Next was to pamper myself. Get a nice facial, and acrylic nails. So I went to the nail salon and got pink almond shaped acrylics. They looked so nice, so I snapped a few pictures. I was going to post these pictures later today on my instagram. It didn’t matter how many times I posted, my reason was that it was my last day. During my facial, I also took a picture.

Not sure what to do next, I called over my friends and we binge watched shows for a few hours. Then I posted some of my instagram pictures. Unfortunately, it was getting late. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner and I spent some time by myself during my last few hours. I cried a lot. I didn’t want to go. When I finally calmed myself down, I went to bed at 11:00pm. It wouldn’t matter how late I went to bed, but I didn’t want to be awake while dieing.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of bird outside of my window. Distraught, I looked at my clock, it was noon. Then it hit me… “WHAT THE FUCK?!” I quickly checked my arm. It still said 4/6/17. I wasn’t hallucinating. But how was it possible? I’M SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! I pinched myself so many times thinking it was a dream, but no, it was a reality…

Beverage Time with Caroline

I haven't done a ton of Q&As in a very long time. So I decided to do one today, because I didn't really know what to post.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about Spring?
This is a good question. I like Spring because of it's warm weather... kind of... But when it starts getting warm, that means pit stains... I hate pit stains so much. But I like how Spring means that school is ending soon. I also HATE bugs. And Spring is when bugs start coming out...

What is your favorite thing about school?
Honestly I really don't like school but if I had to choose a class, I would go with printmaking. If anyone ever has a chance to do it or take a class, I would 100% recommend.

How does your morning routine change for Spring?
My morning routine doesn't really change. The only thing that changes is the clothes I put on in the morning.


Hope you all enjoyed this post. If you have any more questions, comment below.
-Caroline

Arena Faskskin Review

A good thing about the arena fastskin was its price. It wasn't extremely expensive. Although, the low price really impacts the quality of the suit. The suit was great on the first two uses. Then after that, I started to notice that in some areas, the water was no longer repelling. When I compare the Arena fastskin to a Speedo tech suit, the difference is very large.

Arena Fastskin	Speedo Tech Suits
Low Price	Higher Price
Low quality	Higher quality
Water was being absorbed in spots after 3 uses	Was still repelling water after 3 uses
Inner fabric gets loose after 3 uses	Stays very tight for many races

I'm not saying that all arena tech suits are bad, it's just that I would not recommend buying this specific arena tech suit.

-Caroline

Generated Writing Prompt 1

“‘In my free time, I sank ships’”

I hated school. Everyday I would walk in and try to fit in. But I didn’t. I was a fish out of the water, literally. My parents were both mermaids. The only reason why I was on land, was because of this magical necklace. No one could ever take it off of me. I lived alone on land. My parents sent me up here in the fall for me to get a better education. So now, I was an “orphan” high schooler. I lived in a foster home unfortunately the parents had a son, who was the most popular kid in school, Eric. Eric was a major fuckboy. I don’t even know how his parents allowed this. He is only 15! School was a hell hole and getting bullied didn’t make it any better. I had an accent. Us mermaids didn’t speak English. I had to learn it in the ocean before surfacing. When I am finished with school, I plan to jump right back into the ocean, forget all my English and NEVER go back.

School and homework took up all my time. Sometimes I did have some free time though. In my freetime, I sank ships. I know it sounds crazy. I would tell my foster parents that I was going to the mall. I would go out walk to a bus stop, take the bus in the direction of the mall so they wouldn’t get suspicious, then take another bus to the ocean. Then, I would go swimming, and deactivate my necklace that kept me a human. Sinking ships is a normal thing for mermaids. If you want a new house, sink a ship and that can be your house. We don’t like humans so we don’t feel bad doing so.

Swimming far out, I finally came across the perfect ship. I did my “magic” to bring the ship underwater. Slowly overtime, it came down slowly falling to the bottom of the ocean. I saw the people in the boat try to swim out and get to the surface. When they were not even a quarter of the way there, they stopped and their now dead bodies drifted to the bottom of the ocean. I small evil laugh escaped my lips, as I swam back to shore, and turned back into a human.