Standing Up To My Anxiety

Lately I've been living the life of a single girl. . . sort of.

My fiancee is working away at the moment and so I am by myself.

I know lots of couples do this, and it's tough.  I'm lucky that it hasn't been for months at a time, yet, but it's still hard to have him away.

I have really bad anxiety when I have to go out and do stuff by myself.

Like groceries? If I go right after work or early in the morning I'm good, but if I have to go on my days off in the middle of the day? Forget about it, I end up calling my parents and getting one of them to go with him.

Lately I've been challenging my anxiety, or myself I guess.

I meet my mom for coffee at the mall every Sunday when she's working, once she goes back to work I make myself do a lap around the mall by myself and if I'm brave I go into a store or two.  The longest I've done this for lately is about twenty five minutes and then I get sweaty and panicky and have to leave.

So yesterday I decided I was going to take about a 3 hour drive to my favorite beach.  I made myself do it, I almost have to bully myself into doing things...it's pathetic.

But I did it, I spent 3 hours there and even went body boarding.

Proof:

 Once I was on the road I was having a great time blasting my favorites songs on a beautiful, sunny day.  The beach was busy, but it's so big and honestly, no one else cares what you're doing.

I have to keep reminding myself that.

Like if I want to make myself start running again and I have to remind myself that no one else actually cares what I'm doing, I'm bettering myself and will feel great after.

I just thought I'd give a quick update on my anxiety, and while not everyone has a partner that works away so it forces you to do things alone...it helps.  I would suggest bullying challenging yourself to do things outside your comfort zone.

My Travel Makeup & Skincare Routine

I recently went to Las Vegas, not far from me but far enough.
Traveling means I get to use up a bunch of my miniature products, which I was psyched for (ask the boyfriend).  It also means that I really need to figure out what makeup products are really essential to me, which was hard because I have a blush palette I love, but it is rather large.

I had a method to my madness.
I packed everything I would normally use, which sounds ridiculous but it was my system, then I went through it all again and asked myself "do I really need this for the three days I'm gone?"
I would narrow it down to if one product could do the work of two, do I need a blush palette when I'm going to be in forty degree Celsius weather?, do I need two highlighters?
The only thing I couldn't get myself to agree on was mascara. . .I brought three. . .did I end up using three? No.  I used the same one every day.

What I started with was excessive. Not pictured, is an eye shadow palette that I brought and used once.  And all I used it for? my inner corner highlight.  I brought a lipstick, but all I ended up using was my Lancome Juicy Shaker (in cotton candy), love these things!  The Nars soft matte complete concealer was awesome for the hot weather and I think I claim it as my all time favorite concealer after this trip.  I just want to mention that I never hear anyone talk about the Buxom lash mascara, I freaking love it.  It never flakes or clumps on me and makes my lashes look so good, I need to invest in the full version.

I thought for sure I would be into wearing a lot of makeup but a)I was wearing sunglasses half the time and b)it was sweltering!  I was more into caring for my skin and hair, as the heat attacked it.

I used my regular shampoo and conditioner, and just transferred them to small containers (hair routine coming soon), but this soy leave-in treatment from SexyHair helped so much while down there.  I am a blush person and I only brought this one from Charlotte Tilbury/Norman Parkinson Color of Youth, and I only used it the first day. My Charlotte Tilbury bronze and glow was a must though, along with the Becca under eye corrector.

I recently used my points to get the First Aid Beauty set at Sephora and have been dying to use these minis and finally got the chance. 
Face cleanser- While it is good and didn't effect my skin in a bad way, I'll pass and stick to my Neutrogena.
Coconut Primer- I am not sure. . .I like the way it felt and the scent wasn't bad, but I just didn't notice much difference if that makes sense. I would save my money.
Ultra Repair Hydrating Serum- I liked this quite a bit, but seeing how I have other serums I like slightly more I'm not buying the full size.
Ultra Repair Cream- I did not like the scent of this but I really like the cream, a lot.  The scent goes away quickly so I may the full size in the future if suddenly Eucerin stops making my favorite.

I brought my bum bum cream by Sol de Janeiro and never used it once!  But trust that I've been using it like crazy since I've been home...plus I did transfer my Brazilian Crush spray into a smaller container to bring on the trip and wore it every day.

Since we've been home I've been embracing a no makeup makeup look more than usual, mostly just concealer, bronzer and highlight.  It feels very summery and I'm loving it.

What are your travel essentials?
Expect a beach post later this week as we're headed out for some waves today!

A Bumpy Camping Trip

I told Nathan that he can't go to work until June.
So I planned us a camping trip from May 30th-June 1st, and being my luck he got called for a job for June 2nd.  So we had a partial camping trip and it was enjoyable for the most part, except for the bout of food poisoning he had. . .Enjoy these Tofino and Uclulet pictures!

 My crazy dude decided it was a good idea to jump into the freezing ocean.

 Nathan was up at 4am and headed down to the beach to try and catch a sunrise, this is what he ended up with.

 Coffee in class.

 Had to get a ring shot in there.

Besides the few mishaps I had a fun time camping with this guy!  We learned that you can boil an egg in a beer/pop can in the fire and that the more blankets the better (we learned that the hard way).

Let me know your camping tips in the comments below!

It's Spring!

It's the first weekend of Spring which means the herring are in and that also brings in the sea lions.
I have heard of it happening but have never been down to see it until this weekend.
The ocean was absolutely green from all the fish and other things happening. . .
It was very cool though and the seagulls were also going crazy fighting over all the fish.

Thanks for stopping by!

Family Day

Monday was even better than Sunday.
Here in B.C. it was Family Day so we had the day off together (a great start).
I slept in until almost nine because I was up until midnight watching 'The O.C.'

We decided to go on a walk right away, so I quickly changed (no outfit posts this time), made a shake and headed out the door.

After we finished at this beach we had to trek up a whole bunch of stairs to get to the car.  I didn't realize how out of shape I am. . .
The next beach we walked was a bit more relaxed.

Walking this beach made me realize how much I want to get married outside and perhaps at a beach.
We discussed that we will be having a small wedding and possibly no reception, unless we own a house by that time and then we can just host a party at our house.
But things are still up in the air.

We had the most unusual but delicious dinner.
I made a salad with arugula, spinach, yellow bell pepper, tomato and cucumber.
Nathan cut up potatoes very thinly using the mandolin and then layered them with cheese.
Yesterday we went to the grocery store and found kangaroo meat.

We've been on a kick with trying different kinds of meats lately and this is one of my favorites so far, too bad it's so expensive!

What is one of the strangest meats you've tried? Let me know in the comments!
Have a super week.