I should be cleaning up my room, but I just ate lunch and I’m full. So I’m taking a short break before starting to clean the huge mess in my room. Seriously, it looks like a tornado hit.

Michael’s is someplace I need to be. I ran out of yarn for my current projects, Christmas presents. I’m trying to finish it before school starts, in about three weeks. I need to finish a bunny, a Cyndaquil, and a Pikachu. Not hard right? The bigger amigurumi takes me around three days, while the smaller ones can be finished in two days. So in total, after the run to the store, It should only take me a little more than a week to finish.

I also need to go to Michael’s to buy some more supplies. I want to start getting into some other crafts, such as soapmaking and candlemaking, and I also want to learn how to do tatting. My friend Quiwen and I want to start an online store, so we’ll see how that works out. Time to start cleaning!

-Christine

I just finished reading Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. She is such an amazing writer! While I was reading, I honestly felt slightly embarrassed for Emma, the main character. It’s about how she meets her boss on a plane but doesn’t know it’s her boss. She’s afraid of flying, so during turbulence she revealed all her secrets to him. On her day back to work, everyone is in a frenzy because the co-founder of the company was visiting. To her amazement, it was the guy from the plane that she blabbed all her secrets to!

They start dating after Emma breaks up with her perfect boyfriend, and in an interview, Jack (the boss) accidentally tells all of her secrets. He didn’t mention her name, but people figured it out that it was her. She was so mortified and they got into a huge fight. And well.. you have to read it to find out the rest.

I should really finish the Pokeball, even though I’d love to just put it off some more.

-Christine

See? I'm succeeding! Hahah, nope, I just back-spaced a ton to correct my mistakes. I hope there aren't any of that.. thing. Okay, onto the hard stuff.

Here's my short story!

There once was a boy named Jack. He had a very happy existence in a meadowy area called Potato Town. They ate nothing but potatoes for every breakfast, dinner, and supper. The residents of Potato Town were very tired of this nutritious food with no taste. So Jack set off to find another food source.

He wandered across many mountains and saw dark caves filled with bats. Bats scared Jack very much. They scared him so much that when he saw them, his eyes showed terror. Around the bend was another cave. He tried to gather up the courage to make it to Food Market, a town on the other side of the mountain range.

During this time when he was gathering up courage, a bat soared out of the cave. 'Oh my God' Jack thought. More bats appeared, and Jack was scared into a run.

He ran past the cave and a few other caves, down the path and arrived in Food Market in time to buy some food. The end.

Don't you just love my story? I adore my character Jack. He's very brave isn't he? Journeying to Food Town by himself, even with all the bats around. Better get back to working on my crocheting project!

-Christine

So the last 2 days of NASA: really fun. We had a field trip, so I didn’t really do anything all day. The last day was spent finishing up our miniature little rovers like the ones on Mars. We even had to drive them through this maze and try to find “life”. My group fails though, our remote malfunctioned so the rover kept hitting the wall. Then the flashlight fell off. After the teachers fixed the flashlight, it malfunctioned again, so then the camera fell off. Told you we fail.

I liked the last day the most, because I actually made a friend. If you can call him that. More like he muttered “I’m not a druggie”, and I started fighting with him.

me: “you’re calling me a druggie?”

him: “no, I said at least I’m not a druggie”

me: “so you’re implying that I am a druggie”

him: “no, I didn’t say that”

me: “Is it because I have imagination?”

Of course, I won this fight. I almost always win because I just say anything that comes mind. I say it so fast and move on to the next sentence very quickly so they have little time to react and therefore get very confused. I love my tactic of fighting, I win every time.

My dad and grandma are coming home from a trip to China today! I hope they bring back some yummy food. Haha, that’s all I can think about, food.

This weekend, I’m going to do a little experiment involving soap. And guess what? I’m going to be making some. This is going to be so fun! I read the instructions, and it’s a little like baking except I can’t eat the finished product.

-Christine

1. Sunglasses

I recommend a pair with eye-catching frames like this one from Forever 21. It provides 100% UV protection, and it’s stylish too. I know for a fact that Michelle Phan always has sunglasses with her. Don’t leave them on indoors though, so you can actually see.

2. Sunblock

I don’t have a favorite brand for sunblock, I kind of use whatever I have at home. But IQQu’s sunblock (from Michelle Phan’s skincare line) has raving reviews, so I guess you could buy that. But it’s important to use sunblock because of the harmful UV rays that the sun has. Remember to wear sunblock everyday. This is especially important if you’re going to be out in the sun all day. I try to buy products, lotion, etc. that has UV protection so I never forget to put it on!

3. Sandals

Ahhh, flip flops, a summer necessity. You can get some other sandals too, like gladiator sandals that my sister desperately wants to buy. I prefer flip flops because it’s casual, and if you go to the beach, sand doesn’t stay in your shoes. If you wear flip flops, put sunblock on your feet. You don’t want to get a tan line on your feet like my friend has. It’s just a little weird to get tan lines on your feet.

4. Shorts

Come on people, it’s summer! You can buy capris, short shorts, etc. I myself prefer capris because I feel that short shorts are way too short to wear outside of the house. I’m such a weirdo.

5. Stock up!

In the summer, I like to buy out-of-season items, since they’re way cheaper. Buy sweaters, coats, etc. Right now, they should be going for around $10, compared to the $20 they usually go for when they’re in season.

These are my 5 summer necessities, notice they all start with an ‘s’ like summer.

-Christine

For some reason, I’ve always liked those makeup videos on Youtube. For me, I think it has something to do with the before and after effect. It says to me, “You could look like this!” It shows me the potential of what some makeup can do.

I’ve been a fan of Michelle Phan for quite a while. Her Youtube videos are calming and informative. Especially for her facial videos. She tells you why she’s using seaweed, or green tea ice cubes. Not only is she pretty, but she’s smart too. No wonder her videos get over one million views. I also like the music she picks out for her background music. I’ve never actually tried one of her makeup bits, since I don’t have the supplies and I don’t wear makeup much (like zero to none).

One of my favorites that I have watched was the Tim Burton one. I adore Tim Burton’s movies that’s why. Michelle’s skin care line IQQu has gotten very good reviews. It’s a little expensive for me, so I haven’t bought any of her products (yet).

I’ve tried out the Egg Facial, and guess what? It works! It feels a little weird though.. I mean, I’m putting raw egg on my face, how could it not feel a little weird? Usually when I’m cracking eggs, I’m cooking something. She has her own blog on her website and of course her Youtube channel. Go check it out.

-Christine

I have a NASA camp thingy to go to anyways on Sunday to Wednesday. I hope they bring back a lot of yummy food and presents! Hahah.

On June 8 of this year, ABC Family premiered a new TV show called the Pretty Little Liars. Like Gossip Girl, it’s based off of a book series. It’s like the Clique, except with way more mystery. I’ve read the books, and totally loved it! The story centers around Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna after the disappearance of their friend Alison DiLaurentis.

A mysterious person who calls themselves A has been sending each of the girls text messages about things only Ali knew. They have new installments every week on Tuesday. I’m pretty sure it’s at 8:00 PM, but I don’t have ABC Family. I watch it online on ABC Family’s website.

Who killed Alison?

Watch the series to find out on ABC Family.

-Christine

Which totally sucks, because that’s where we usually go to buy our beauty products (there’s a Target and a Walmart near my house). I’m thinking of starting with lip balm first, then soap, and finally maybe shampoo. But I’m just a 13-year old with no money, I’m not sure my parents would really go for buying me ingredients to work with. They claim these little projects of mine always lead to a mess. So not true!

I’ve been browsing Etsy for some interesting products, and guess what I found? A user named Tina Tarnoff.  Part of the title, “words of wisdom” is taken from one of Tina Tarnoff’s papercuts. On her profile, it says that her favorite piece that she has made is called Being Isadora.

But my favorite that she made out of the ones I saw was the Peter Pan Original Papercut Art. It’s pictured below.

Her items are a little pricey, but I’m sure paper cutting takes a lot of work. Look at how delicate it looks! I’m not one to dish out $85 on a piece of paper, but other people are. She also makes jewelry, so you can check that out too. I still can’t get over how amazingly beautiful it is. Her art reminds me of Tim Burton’s work for some reason. But her’s isn’t at all dark and twisty. Well, maybe a tinge.

-Christine

“Researchers detected a total of 287 chemicals in the cord blood of Newborns (Red Cross, EWG, 2004) including chemicals that cause cancer, are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal studies.” -Stacy Malkan, Not Just A Pretty Face

The average teenager uses 17 products daily, 5 more than the average woman. But would they use as much if they knew that their cosmetics might not be safe?

I’ve used Cosmetics Database to check some of the products I’ve been using. Most of the ones I used weren’t too bad. The number was always between 3-6 moderate hazard, but the recommended products to use are 0-2 low hazard. One product I checked for my sister was Olay Clarify & Cleanse Daily Scrubs. Guess what it’s score was? A whopping 7 out of 10. The ingredients in the product are linked to: developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, and
neurotoxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), miscellaneous, multiple, additive exposure sources, irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), enhanced skin absorption, contamination concerns, and occupational hazards. Some of the ingredients are prohibited for use in cosmetics, yet the ingredients are still in it.

And my sister has been using this product, every day. Once in a while, I guess this wouldn’t hurt you. But daily, even in small doses, can’t be good.

I’ve found a company started by a girl named Ava Anderson whose skin care line has an impressive score of all zeroes. All of the ingredients in her products are clearly listed on the packaging. Here’s the link to her site. If all the other companies would follow her example, I’d feel a lot more at ease in buying cosmetics, wouldn’t you? I personally haven’t tried Ava Anderson’s products, but at $20, her products are cheaper than most other companies who sell all-natural products. It might not sound cheap, but it really is.

Read her story on why she started her company.

-Christine

So, on to the real reason I’m posting.

This link here leads to my friend Uyen’s store on Zazzle.com . She is an amazing designer, and she’s made some money off this site. I’m now currently recommending it to people with a creative streak to make some extra money this summer! From what I’ve seen of the comments people have left, many people on the site are friendly. Plus, they give you a lot of compliments, very good for your self-esteem. I haven’t tried the site out myself, considering I’m not as creative with designs.

Aren't they cutee?

Let your creative side out and start earning some moolah! -Christine