August 2014 Favorites

August has been so crazy busy that I have barely worn any makeup. Seriously, hardly any at all. I've resorted to using concealer as a make-shift foundation and running bronzer all over to warm up my face but that's about it. Nothing exciting there but I do have some really great non-beauty favorites for the month of August that I just had to discuss.

Music

I feel like music has been such a huge part of my summer (did you see last month's What My Ears Have Been Loving post?) but with things calming down in the new releases department I've resorted to some old favorites tucked away in my Spotify playlists.

The Wombats - I don't even remember when I started listening to The Wombats but I can't get enough. Even new songs I've never heard before send me back to the land of nostalgia. I particularly love "Let's Dance to Joy Division", "1996", and "Anti-D". Go listen. You won't regret it.






Hoodie Allen - I have a thing for white-boy rappers. That might be a guilty pleasure but it's not a secret. I was in the pool one day when I started humming the chorus to "No Interruptions", I couldn't remember the last time I had even heard that song but I just had to play it and I didn't stop there. My personal favorites are Fame is for Assholes and Eighteen Cool. It just so happens that Hoodie released a new track, "Movie",  just in time for the end of August so I ended up getting my mix of throwback and new releases after all. PS: the new track is quickly becoming one of my favorites all on its own.

TV

I waited all month to watch the VMAs so of course the whole show made it on the list as my tv favorite. I've also watched it about a billion times since then (aka like 3 times) but if you want a look at my thoughts from the live show then check out this post.

Book - The Last Lecture

Since we're moving I've had to go through all of my books, my collection is a lot bigger than I even realized by the way, but that led to me picking out a few old favorites that I wanted to reread before I packed them all away. The Last Lecture was at the top of that list. I first read this book during the last few weeks, days really, of my junior year in high school after my AP English class finished reading The Great Gatsby early. It changed my life.

I know a lot of people say that about a lot of different books but this one really hit the nail on the head. Reading it again brings back all of those great memories but it also brings up a whole new level of awesomeness. I am forever grateful that Randy Pausch, the author of the book, decided to take his last lecture at Carnegie-Mellon and the advice he wished to preserve for his children (the book follows him as he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer) and share it with the rest of the world. If you haven't read it or have never heard of Randy's story then google it, read it, live it. It's amazing and that's all I'm going to say.

Movie - If I Stay

This movie made it into my August favorites at the last minute...literally. I watched it on the last day of the month.
While visiting my friends at the university my sister called me up and asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her...and her boyfriend...and his mom. Uhhhh, what movie? If I Stay. Yes! I'm on my way!

I love my sister's boyfriend, he's great. I was a little worried about meeting his mom though. I mean I'm bad enough meeting my own boyfriends' mother let alone my sister's boyfriend's mother. Turns out she was totally precious and absolutely adorable. We even walked around the fair a little after the movie was over but back to the point.
This movie is precious. I had heard it was like The Fault in Our Stars Part Deux but I was attached to Augustus and Hazel Grace before seeing that, I barely even knew what this movie was about. However, I was totally on board for one reason and one reason only. Jamie Blackley. He is a cutie and get this, he's British! I was hooked.
The movie centers around Mia, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, and the incredibly difficult choice she has to make following an immense tragedy. The relationship between her and Blackley's character, Adam, is played out in a series of highs and lows that play just like long buried memories. By the time the movie wraps up, which is totally doesn't just so you know, you've personally went through the stages of grief and still don't know which way you want Mia to choose.
Oh, just to prove how hooked I am on this movie...I saw the movie on Saturday, bought the book on Sunday, and finished it on Monday. I still want more Adam and Mia.

YouTube - Velvetgh0st

Gabby aka Velvetgh0st is officially my favorite YouTuber...there, I said it. It might be the super bright colors of her channel, her lah-vely British accent, or the fact that she loves a good home haul but I can't get enough of Gabby. I'm currently obsessed with her moving in vlogs simply because they have me itching to break out on my own too. I love how she's not afraid to discuss her anxieties about vlogging and such but has kicked absolute ass on her journey moving out to Brighton. I'm proud and excited and obsessed all at the same tie. Check out her YouTube channels to see what all the fuss is about.

Food - Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai Tea
As I mentioned in my July Favorites, I've been making an effort to eat much healthier and exercise a whole lot more. I've gotten to the point that eating healthier isn't even a forced thing it's just what I prefer which means that I'm just not into eating certain things that my body doesn't deem super healthy for me. Sometimes that means meat. Since starting this healthy living journey I've practically become a vegetarian aside from the occasional chicken breast or bacon slice. Because of that and the fact that my exercise routine requires me to eat a lot more protein I've been looking for it in different types of food which brings me to my love for Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai Tea. As if vanilla, chai, and tea didn't have me hooked from the get-go the 9 grams of protein per serving certainly did. I love pouring a glass of this over ice in the morning like a good-for-you iced coffee...plus, it tastes a bit like eggnogg so I'm definitely keeping this up through the pumpkin-spice-everything season.

Because I would LOVE to hear Adam Levine's MJ impression

App
It's a good thing I don't have any beauty favorites this month because this post is already a mile and a half long and I'm not even done yet.

I have two favorite apps this month, one is on my iPad the other on my phone.
I have become addicted to reading from the PopSugar App every morning. It's gotten to the point that I pick up my iPad first thing in the morning. That's how I found out Carrie Underwood is pregnant y'all, it's kind of a big deal. I love reading all the fluffy celeb gossip and flipping through the slideshows of pictures.

My favorite app for my iPhone this month has got to be the MyFitnessPal App. This little thing is an absolute life-saver and has played a very important role in my new found healthy lifestyle but I plan on making a more in-depth post about all that very soon. I will say that I love that I can put it any food I eat and have it tell me the calories for it, I haven't found a food yet that hasn't been in the database. It also takes the calories I've burned from exercise and just walking around (with the help of my Pacer app) and factors that in too.











My last favorite for the month is the most random but probably my favorite favorite so far. It's the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale! Oh gosh, I just love that sale. So much so that I wait for it all year and this year was no different. I plan on posting a bit more in detail about the sale very soon so keep a look out to see all the great goodies I managed to wrangle.

Leave me a comment below letting me know some of your favorites for the month of August! Don't worry, I'll have plenty of beauty favorites for September I'm sure.

until next time,

xo