Month: August 2017

Back to Life, Back to Reality

- Janna

Happy Sunday my lovely people!

I really want to apologize for my inconsistency these last two weeks, but I promise it’s only because school has begun. Now that I am all settled in, I will definitely do better. And I have so many ideas for topics that deal with college coming up soon.

Today’s post is about coming back to reality.  For some of us, depending on our title or occupation, summer is a time of relaxation and recuperation. And I promise that is exactly what this summer was for me. I worked at Forever21, but I was also able to enjoy time off from school. But I can not lie to you, I missed being at school. I’m not saying I missed the schoolwork, but I missed being busy and always on the go, I know yall may be like “What is she talking about,”  but in my hometown there’s really not much to do, but I did enjoy being around my family.

These past two weeks have been filled with plans, events, and lots of schoolwork. I haven’t been stressed yet so I’m praying in advance for that moment when it comes.

I just wanted to write this post to welcome all of you back to the real world. For those of you who have freshly graduated and now are embarking on the real world, good luck to you. For those of you who are starting college, coming back to college, or even beginning any level of education, good luck to you. Remember that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. When situations seem tough and you feel that you can not make it, pray. I promise God will never put more on you than bare. Things you thought you couldn’t handle, God will make it possible for you to leap over these things with ease (I promise!). No matter what you go through, I promise you can and will make it out of the situation!  And if you ever need a little extra encouragement, I promise I will be here with my posts to try and make your day a little easier. I’m praying this new season is wonderful for you all!

 

Love,

Janna Alane

Love Yourself First

- Janna

(Disclaimer: This blog will be a little personal, but I hope you all LOVE it.)

“Love yourself first”

This quote is one of the most impactful quotes I have ever heard about self love. How can we expect others to love who we are, if we can’t love who we are? If we can’t see the beauty in our imperfections and flaws, that we often view as shortcomings?

 I think one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, was to learn how to love myself. When I say love myself, I mean love myself with all my ugly scars, imperfections, and flaws. This self love did not occur overnight. And I can truly say that I have been on a constant journey of self love. I have had good days and bad days in regards to how I felt about myself, I still have good days and bad days. But I must say that this journey has been very fulfilling. This summer I have really realized my worth and beauty, and I’m not just speaking on my physical beauty. I’m talking about my internal beauty as well. It’s so easy to pinpoint my flaws and errors, but difficult to highlight my positive attributes and characteristics. So this summer I charged myself with the task of not wearing makeup. I realized how dependent I was on wearing it to enhance my beauty. I am not against makeup, but my skin was not glowing how I wanted it to. However, this summer has made me fall in love with myself, all over again. I no longer wear foundation or spend an hour in front of the mirror making sure my foundation is blended properly or that my highlight is poppin’ (I do miss my highlight lol). Now, I only do my eyebrows and wear mascara, and still that’s not an everyday thing. I changed my skin care routine, too, and I have noticed a difference! I also drank LOTS of water, much more than normal, and I definitely plan on making this a habit. I can not wait to see how my skin will continue to flourish. I am typing this to say, this summer I was changing internally, realizing how trivial some things were and what really mattered to me. And I also reflected this change on the outside, by letting go of what people would think if they saw me bare faced, brows a mess, etc. I must say I am loving the person I am becoming.

He or she may be exceptional, but you are exceptional too. 

It’s so easy for us to compliment and praise others, but often when it’s time to do so for ourselves, we fall short. We compare ourselves to others and emphasize what we lack that others have. I am telling you DON’T keep this pattern up. You are more than enough just the way you are. She may be pretty, but you are pretty too! She may have these features that you admire, but promise me, someone is seeing features in you that they admire. YOU can see features in you that you admire. And remember, it is okay to embrace your flaws. Nobody is perfect and no one will ever be, no matter how hard we pretend. The things we often dislike about ourselves are the unique things that make us who we are. There will never be another you like you. So yeah, she may be pretty, but you’re pretty too.

“Wish I was comfortable just with myself.”

– Supermodel by SZA

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t constantly belittle yourself or feel like you are falling short. I promise you are not. Be comfortable with you and who you are. And if you’re looking for love from someone, I guarantee you’re looking for it from the wrong person. He/she can and will never love you like YOU love yourself. And how can you let someone love you, when you’re struggling to love yourself? So it’s okay to step back, away from people, and focus on you. Focus on what you want, what you need, and focus on the truly great things about you. The person you thought you were looking for may come along when you least expect it, and if not you’ve always got yourself.

Remember, self love isn’t just about loving yourself for your physical attributes and characteristics, but also loving the way you process situations, the way you don’t crack under pressure OR the way you crack under pressure.

I was VERY excited to write this post today. Hopefully this has been something that everyone can relate to and also encourage you on your own personal journey of self love.

So I leave you with this quote,

“You yourself as much as much as anybody in the entire universe deserves your love and affection.”

– Buddha

Love,

Janna Alane

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

- Janna

 (Disclaimer: All photos featured were taken by me, so check out my photography skills lol)

So I am back home from my vacation. My friends have been telling me to describe my trip in one word, and all I can say is AMAZING! So I’m going to give you guys a quick summary.

For those who don’t know,  I traveled to Orlando, FL. I went to Orlando to visit Disney (I am a big kid lol), but of course I hit up the Orlando Premium Outlets and a few other places as well.

Wednesday

We arrived in Orlando on Wednesday around 3pm. Once we checked into the hotel and recuperated little bit, we headed to Disney Springs, also known as Downtown Disney. Disney Springs is this outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. It is sooo beautiful at night and when we arrived it was still light outside, but when we left around 11pm a lot of the fountains and buildings were lit by lights. So we got a special treat because the complex had a theme for July and it was entitled, Christmas in July. So the complex was decorated for that purpose. For instance, the Starbucks was selling speciality holiday drinks, there were Christmas lights streamed outside of it and various other buildings. Anyways, we walked around enjoying the scenery and shops and ate at this restaurant named, Paddlefish. The Paddlefish is this really nice restaurant that’s aboard a faux riverboat that serves fresh seafood and steaks. And for those who know me, yall know I love seafood. We dined on lump crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, and for our main course we had their speciality dish which is entitled, The Tower. The food was amazing and below this post I will share a picture of The Tower.

Thursday

We visited the Sea Life aquarium, rode the Orlando Eye, and went go kart racing at I-Drive Nascar Indoor Kart Racing. The aquarium was so nice and we were able to watch the scuba divers feed the fish. However, I guess I am a little biased to the Georgia Aquarium, which will always be my favorite aquarium to visit. The Orlando Eye is a 400 ft tall giant ferris wheel, it’s also known as the Coca Cola Orlando Eye. The ride on the ferris wheel lasted about 23 minutes, it was slow and steady. I was able to capture some amazing shots while riding, because our view was simply breathtaking. Next, we went to I-Drive Nascar Indoor Kart Racing. This was all my dad’s idea lol. He lovessss go karts, we owned one at one time before he sold it. This was so much fun, my dad was acting a big kid, which was fun to watch. We raced around the track twice, each race was about 10 minutes long. The go karts could go up to 45 mph, which was great.

FRIDAYYY.

(This section may be a lil lengthy.)

On Friday, we traveled to the wonderful world of Walt Disney! We went to the Magic Kingdom theme park, since I have never been. From the moment we got on the trolley to take us to the gates, I was super excited. Once we got off the trolley, we hopped on the monorail to take us into Disney. I was literally like a little kid in the candy store once we entered into the gates of Magic Kingdom. It was everything I pictured and imagined. When we walked inside there was a live performance with singers and dancers dressed in old fashion attire, riding a trolley. They hopped off the trolley to sing and dance and then got back on once they were done to exit. Next, we found an ice cream shop (my dad and I LOVEE ice cream). Once we ordered our ice cream, we sat outside on the patio. And just our luck, there was a parade occurring as soon as we took our seats. This parade featured Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Mr. Incredible, Stich, and many more. I captured so many pictures, and snapchat videos. I was blowing up my friends’ phones all day long. After we watched the parade, we rode the train around the park for a tour. Then we rode it again and got off at Frontierland to ride the rides there. Once we rode those rides, we headed back to the main street for the Festival of Fantasy parade which was AMAZINGGG. Then we rode rides and visited attractions until it was time for the fireworks show. When I tell you the fireworks were breathtaking, they were breathtaking. I loved how the castle lit up and played scenes from various movies as the voiceovers played in the background. It was super hot, but I didn’t even mind because we were all having such a good time. My mom has had two surgeries and two procedures (3 which took place this summer) and hasn’t been moving like she used to, but once we got to Disney, boy was she moving! I told her she was moving around like a spring chicken lol. This day was fantastic and much needed, can’t wait to go back.

Saturday

This day was dedicated to shopping. I visited the Orlando Premium Outlets and found some great finds at Victoria Secret (one of my favs), Michael Kors, and other places. Even picked up some stuff for my nieces.

Sunday

We visited a family friend in Tampa and then journeyed home.

I’ve been working all summer and my mom has been unwell most of the summer, so when I am telling you this trip was needed, it was.

But I just wrote this blog to share, since so many have been asking and requested me to blog about my trip. Don’t worry, Sunday I will be back with another blog that everyone can relate to.

Love,

Janna Alane

 

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