How To Create The Ultimate Cozy Night Routine!

20:00:00

The cold weather is coming to us, winter is near by, and I think we all know what this mean... Welcome Christmas light and blankets... but how to you make that night routine that fits all your needs and give you the joy of winter? I'm here to help you with that.

I think we can all agree that the winter time is one of the most coziest times of the year with a Christmas tree all decorated, a house full of blankets and fluffy winter pillows. And when the evening comes, and you come home from school/work you want to enjoy it at the most, and therefor is a Cozy evening routine key!

So last weekend for example you bought all things Christmas and decorated your room, if you did not already, go do it! This is the beginning of an ultimate cozy evening. My picks would be fluffy blankets, pillows, scented candles and Christmas light. Decorate until you feel satisfied with it, keep in mind, this can take a day, or two, or a week. Have patience and enjoy the process.

And now, you can come home and put all your light and candles on if you want and fall on the couch and do nothing but watching Netflix... but this is not how your energy is going to elevate...

First, of course, you have to put some comfy, warm winter clothes on, this could be your pj or a big sweater with leggings, just what you prefer.
Go to the kitchen and make yourself some warm chocolate milk with a lot of whipped cream and some cinnamon on top of it. If you don't like warm coco then I highly suggest to brew yourself some winter coffee (pinterest is an amazing place for winter coffee recipes) or Pickwick Winter Glow tea/ the Autumn Storm are the perfect picks for evenings like these!
Light all your candles now, take your blanket, wrap yourself up in it and if you love reading take your favorite book, or just the one you are reading at this moment and finally sit down... feels good right?!
If you don't like reading (then what are you doing here? lol no just kidding!) go watch your favorite movie that corresponds with this amazing cozy evening that you are having! Let me know what your picks would be (I am in lack of movies ideas... hih). but I think I would go for the Grinch or a Harry Potter kind of movie.
If you want to take it a step further to really lift your energy up a little and feel very happy with your life I would suggest to write down all the things you are thankful for, but you really need to feel it from within. Then stay in that feeling and have a moment of silence for 5-10 minutes. You can call this a meditation if you like.

And then, blow out all of your candles and enjoy the way your room smells know, go find your bed and sleep not to late.
Also, avoid using your phone during this time, social media is actually something that cost us a lot of energy without noticing it. So put you phone down (go to the rituals and by something you like and during the Christmas time you'll get a little smartphone candle!)

I really hope you enjoyed it and don't be afraid to share your ultimate cozy evening via Instagram with me!

Lots of Love

~Joëlle~

Knowledge

Always Loved, Never Had Love...

20:00:00

Personal

My 3 Secrets To Start Having A Great Time At School!

10:00:00

My school has been nominated as "Excellent and fun". I couldn't agree less. Not to be mean or something, I mean school stays school right? But this doesn't mean school is a fun place nor that it is excellent...

Staying happy in School is one of my most read blog-post (if you haven't already read it, click Here) so far on this blog which means that I am not the only one struggling with this (you can not image how revealing this is to me actually haha), and it hurts me even more that there are so many people like me, not enjoying one bit of school, doing it just because it is a must. I don't know if my blog-post was cliche, re-reading it I feel like it is a little tho, and that is also the reason I am re-writing it, I mean, it was in the beginning of this year and now it is already November! It needs an update hah!

"It was liberating to feel that way, I am thankful to be able to see school as a challenge right now! "

By the way, loves, I haven't really blogged these past few weeks because of my unstable state of mind, school has started and I had a very (trust me) very busy life past few weeks... But lucky you, I am back and we are going to have more fun then before! hehe :)

I made a video explaining how my situation with school was and for some part still is so you can see a little how I experience life for the past view years, there are also some tips and trick for if you are new at school, it's long so be patience (btw, my English can be a little bumpy? at some places so ... don't mind it hih)

So now I am going to go a little more spiritual with you all, if you follow me on Instagram (You don't? Well have a look, click here or search for Just_another_sea :) ) you probably noticed I am trying to be more aware of what I do and living more and more without my phone and the bad kind of social media.

So the first thing I want to advice you is to have faith in yourself. For the longest time I though I wasn't going to make it and that this new language was so hard to write and that I could never be able to write it without faults, that I was weird and that people looked at me as if I was different, like an Alien (which for me isn't a problem now, but I'll write a post about this later!). But try to chance this perspective girl, trust in yourself that with some work, faith and devotion you will get there because You Can Get There and you will be able to get there!

See this time of life as a challenge. This one is hard, and it will take you a while to finally see it this way but with the time you will start to have more faith in yourself the more you will be able to see more things as a challenge.

Sometime you need just a moment of light to be able to see this and sometimes you need to go through your darkest moments... for me it was the last option, I did go through a difficult time, the evening before I started seeing school a challenge I was really, really down, I felt so put down by the teacher, I almost believed that all my ideas were bad and uncreative and cried a lot, but the next day when I woke up the first thing that came into my mind was "You are going to start seeing this as a challenge, your teacher want creative and out of the box, well then you are going to show her you are able to be creative A.F and I don't even care anymore if she still think I am a nobody, I may be a nobody to her but she is not worthy of me thinking of her, let's put make-up on now so that nobody can see my huge under-eye circles" haha. It was liberating to feel that way, I am thankful to be able to see school as a challenge right now!

Start by believing in the Law Of Attraction baby! You can start small, for example, in a day or two I will see a pink flower near by school, thing of that during you meditation (if you do meditate, I don't do meditations that often because I am so busy) or every morning and evening before you go to school or you bed. Also don't hang on to that though to much, you need to let it go, only then the universe will do it's magic and show you that little pink flower you wanted to see nearby school. Then take it a level higher, start by saying every morning, and truly believing it, that you are going to find love before Prom or that your are going to have great friends that understand you. Believe in it as you are saying it to yourself, repeat it morning and evening and then let it go. I truly believe in this, at the beginning of this year I really wanted to get a loving job and a few weeks later I got the honor to work in a store called Rituals, out of hundreds of solicitation I got choosed and I didn't even send a solicitation! Best Day Ever!

I wish you all the best of luck, I truly believe in you,! Oh and btw, let me know what helps you the most, let help each other out!

Lots of love

~Joëlle~

Photography

Photography Journey

08:00:00

Travel

Ultimate self-care #4: Get Away, Travel

07:00:00

Traveling is something that doesn’t need to be far away, you can do this even in your own village. Traveling isn’t what we see everywhere on Instagram, blogs, tumblr and so on… Let me show you how you can travel without going really far away from home!

Out of all the things we talk about on this topic, this is my ultimate favorite to give yourself the ultimate self-care you can have. I don’t really know why… or maybe I do actually, you are exploring new places, and when you are doing that I feel like you are doing the same thing with yourself. You Are Exploring Yourself. Well, we all know that you don’t need to travel to explore yourself but for me this is just an amazing way to do so.

Everyone thinks that traveling is going to a place far away from home, to a new country for example, but I don’t believe so. Traveling, for me, starts the moment you go outside and start to see the world in a way you haven’t before. The moment you decide to start and explore the world I will suggest you to start with you garden, or a natural park nearby, and start by seeing everything that you never really noticed before, like the little flowers on the ground, the birds, the grass, the little animals in the grass, the sky, the trees… Do you see how beautiful these things actually are? They are all in perfect balance with each other, and you are part of it. You breath the oxygen in that the trees give you… when a bird die, the little animals in the earth eat it, but the bird eat those animals too… it’s the circle of life as a matter of fact.
But you can also start with your town, your village… be a tourist in your own town! Search for places you haven’t seen, maybe you walk past a place every day and you don’t really focus on your surroundings, well great, start walking there and see what surrounds you. See how high these buildings really are. Look at your town as if it is the first time you walk there!
You can try and plan a day out where you start traveling in your car or on a bike, searching for a place that can become your escape place, a place where you can hide yourself from the world and come back to the person you really are, a relaxed person who exactly knows what he/she wants.
When you go shopping for example you can do exactly the same as I said before. It is all about noticing what surrounds you and seeing the beauty in it. Feel the material the clothes are made of, how your salad taste and your drink, the way your friend talks and move. Traveling, to me, is seeing a place in a way you never have before.

Lots of love

~Joëlle~

Wellness

(Ultimate self-care #3) The thing is… I need your Help... Fitness Talk

07:30:00

Wellness

Ultimate self-care #2: The SPA Day at Home

07:00:00

When was the last time you treated yourself to a SPA? Or do you believe it is way too fancy and that you don’t earn a spa day? Let me tell you one thing, you do earn a SPA day, and you can simply have it in the comfort of your own home!

Yesterday I was watching a movie, Eat Pray Love, you should definitely see it if you haven’t! They were talking about how the people in the society feel like they need to earn to have a break but you need enjoy life, because after all, you only live once, you just need to do nothing and enjoy it, “Dolce Farniente”. So, instead of watching Netflix the entire day, let’s have a spa day!

First things first. YOU DO EARN A DAY OFF. Realize that. You work your ass off and you need to refill yourself with love and energy.
So I am going to start this of very awkwardly… Get naked and take a shower... Wash your hair and clean yourself from all the negative energy and dirt that the city did to your most beautiful skin.
Then clean yourself even better by scrubbing, now you want to start for your ankle and move your way up to your heart. By doing this you blood will flow better through your body.
This part is optional, I like to take a shower oil, this will moisturize my skin and leave it even softer than it already was. Also, I don’t really like putting body cream over my body after a shower so this is a great way to be hydrated without body cream.
Enjoy for a view more minutes your shower (or bath), if you like, turn it a little colder before you get out.

Dry yourself and putt your favorite bathrobe on (and don’t forget to add body crème on your body, it needs to be hydrated and nourished, also the smell of your body crème will make you happier J ). Get in the kitchen and make some detox water or a smoothie! Make it visually the most appealing possible so you can feel great satisfaction from you work!

If your home isn’t already tidy make sure you do that first, so that after that you can make it comfy and cozy. Then the only thing you need is to enjoy, eat what you made and get a good book, or maybe just do nothing for a while, you know… DOLCE FARNIENTE!

Let me know how your Spa day looks like! I am curious to know! Maybe there is something I forgot and that other people will enjoy as much as you do enjoy doing that, so let us know!

Lots of love

~Joëlle~

Wellness

Ultimate self-care #1: Feed Your Soul

07:30:00

Hiiiiii, how y'all doing. Today I finally came up with my new topic for the next two weeks! These two weeks we are going to focus on The Ultimate Self-Care, because its important to show yourself some love!

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"You have to live with yourself for your entire life, so you better start treating yourself with love and kindness!"

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So once in a while you need a day off, and not just the waching netflix the entire day day off (what I have been doing for the past view weeks...), no I am talking about the "Soul Feeding" day off. We all know how it is to be not creative, have a writers-bloc (for you writers out there), not being able to come up with a solution for a super small problem... And these are the moments you actually need a "Soul feeding" day off.

There are a lot of benefits to a day off, but more and more I feel like watching movies the entire day is just an escape from real life. If you want to be able to get yourself back in the game every week you need sometimes to take a good "Soul Feeding" break, something that makes you want to live life again to the fullest and enjoy what you are doing.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Do what you love,

But also,

Love what you do!

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First I am going to explain how I will do this, and then next I will tell you how the people around me take their day off and what I have read.

I most likely see a day off as a SPA day... you know the "treat your body right" day. But sometimes I feel like going deeper than only showing some love to my body.
Here are the things I like to do:

- Write down all the things that I like about my personality
- Write down all the things that I would like to work on
- Write down how I can work on the things I want to work on.
- Meditate... without timer, just as long as I feel I need it
- have a walk, a jog, riding my horse, go into the city, look around...
- find inspiration (looking at people, what is their style? Seeing things they do where I can write a post about...)
- Read an inspirational book like The secret, The power, Deepak Chopra, Happinez, Paul Arden, Kevyn Aucoin ...
-Photograph everything that makes me happy
-Do nothing and listen to the sounds around me
-Really enjoy what I am eating

It's quite something hih, but I really enjoy days like these.
Here are the things people around me do to have a "Soul feeding" day:

Learn something new, like a language or playing an instrument
Have a magnesium bath, this helps to relax and feel better
Read
Go to a nature place and feel the pure air entering their lungs
Listen to music
Start a painting
Practice gratitude
Strength the body
Get a massage

It would be awesome if you could tell us what your "Soul Feeling"off day would look like!

Lots of Love

~Joëlle~

❤️

Personal

One Year Anniversary!

08:30:00

Knowledge

Summer Holiday #3: Stay Home And Have Fun!

12:35:00

Knowledge

Summer Holiday #2: Get a Summer Job

07:00:00

For the summer I didn't want to be bored, and I also wanted to try something new. I was praying for a summer job... Everyday. Then I was in an internship at Rituals... and some way or another I got the honor to work there.

Previously I told you how my internship there was, and it was freaking amazing, it was really a magic sensation to be there and to experience everything. The second day I was there and I showed them the post I wanted to upload about Rituals and they were flabbergasted that I wanted to talk about them on my blog. And I guess that's how they noticed that I really was excited about Rituals...! So the same day they told me they wanted to talk to me, we went to the back of the store and she told me they would love to have Me as one of them... And then I was flabbergasted! I didn't know what was happening to me... Such a big brand would love to have me working for them?! WHAT? I didn't know anything about all these beautiful products and so began my journey.

Now I am not going to talk about you about all the thing I have learned and everything but I do have some advice for you that could probably give you more chance to get the job you want.

Be different, so instead of sending them a letter, go to the place and ask.
Ask for an internship, this is the best way you can show them you are excited about the job.
Be initiative (during the internship), show them you really are interested and want to learn about the job.
Be honestly passionate about the place you are applying for.
Don't be afraid to showcase yourself, show them you are this job more than worthy.
At last, make sure you know where you are applying, go find out what their history is, what products they have, why they are so special and different than other brands, work yourself in.

This is what my friend (who works there too) and I came up with so you get more chance to get a job. Oh and don't lose your enthusiasms!

Also I have now a official Just_Another_Sea Instagram page! Go check it out!

So I hope my advice helped you a little bit and good luck!

Lots of love

~Joëlle~

Knowledge

Summer Holiday #1: Perfect Time To Try New Things!

07:00:00

I Love Summer Holidays! They are the best, although winter holidays are also the best... I think I like all holidays... Anyway... It is the perfect moment to do something other than school related, try new things, go on an adventure, So here are some activities to get started with!

For me, school is something that breaks down every piece of creativity you have, and that's why the moment summer break starts I don't know what to do... And it takes a while to get the inspiration back and I am going to tell you how, in the first place, you get your creativity back.

Grocery shopping! This sound so boring but let me tell you that you are not only going to buy your groceries, NO you are going to look around, think creative, look at people. It's way more than only grocery shopping. Also, I love going grocery shopping with my mom, it's finally a moment to be with her after all that school work and hate on each other because let's be real... school makes us a very frustrating person.
Get out of your room/house. Go shopping, go to a (animal, attraction) park, have dinner with your friends or/and family. Or just go in town, sit on a bench and watch people. This will help get you creativity flowing too!

Of course there a way more ways to get creative but I found that for me this works the best. Now here are some things I like to start/do during the holidays, maybe you'll get inspiration out of this!

Get a (summer) job. I found three months ago a job and I love it so much! And I get to earn a little more during holiday season :)
Start a YouTube channel/Blog. Now I already have both but I want to upload more regularly so that's my goal!
Shopping, attraction park, or other activities outside of the house. But first my salary.
Start learning HTML more in detail. I think it pretty cool to know computer code and stuff like that... I am maybe sort of a geek. And Proud.
Have more photography and Photoshop skills.
Reading a book in the sun on the grass... instead of Netflix
Try something totally out of my comfort zone... What? I don't know yet, let me know what gets you out of your comfort zone!

I would love to hear what you are planning for this summer break!

Lot's of love

~Joëlle~

New Video And A Little Blog Update!

07:00:00

Personal

Monthly Update #4: Busy Month; End of school; Loosing my horse...

11:22:00

Hey everyone, nice to see you again! I think you probably noticed that I haven't really had time to put a lot of effort in my post lately and I am so sorry. It was a busy month and also a thrilling month...

First, How are you doing? Did you enjoy the air outside today? I did! mmm, Lovely, it rained last night and now the grass smells so good!
So I am over to next and final year of school and I am so happy! I was really nervous about this because my grades weren't really good and in my test week I really had to learn loads of stuff (because I am that kind of girl that procrastinate a lot....), that's why I didn't upload last week... oops sorry. But yeah, looking back at this year I can say I tried at least a lot and I am actually quite happy with the way I managed things through my anxiety attacks, and that makes me proud, proud that I did it, proud that after failing two years ago I made it and it took some time, but I finally will be done with school next year! We are getting there, slowly, but we are!

Besides school, I have a job, and they say I am... how do you call someone who actually is only needed when they call you? Comment below if you know! Well I am that person but I work way more than that, I am almost a part time worker there, and I enjoy it, but sometimes I am really tired... and then I don't work at my best... and that bugs me sometimes because I am not entirely focused but I really love my job more than anything! Anyway, my job also takes time from my day and that's also a reason I didn't really get any inspiration for any blog post... If you want me to write about anything tell me! Every Idea Is Welcome!

You know I have a horse, right? No? oh well, I did... Last month she needed to go away to a place where they would give her more space and affection... I miss her... I really had to put this on my blog because she was my best friend, and even though we never really did a lot the last 3 years in Holland I still see me on her in France racing up the hill and it felt like we were flying, I felt so alive at that moment, we were one! God, I miss those moments...

Now for my blog, I think I am going to try and upload every week again, and then gradually upgrade that to 3 times a week because... HOLIDAY HAS ARRIVED! And besides my work I have plenty of time!

Lots of love,
~Joëlle~

Travel

Traveling To My Love; France!

06:30:00

Photography

A morning in my life! Photography style

07:00:00

Knowledge

Dealing With Haters! | Back to school #3

06:30:00

At school, you are with friends, some girls start talking to one of your friends, you're looking at them, not even thinking or judging them, and they start getting mad at you. Nothing worse than that... it's scary, your heart starts pumping and the only thing you are thinking is "How the hell am I going to deal with this?!"

Hello guys!!! So, I know I know, Long time ago but hehe a new back to school post,super long time ago! Recently just something happened to me and I just wanted to share it with you. It was a confronting moment and at the same time a very special moment for me. As you all know I have been bullied in my past, and there is obviously nothing worse than coming home every day and crying. I never knew how to defend myself even though my sister did teach me but I couldn't. I was so insecure, push down by all these people, I just couldn't stand up for myself. It took me a very long time to get my self-confidence back and after I moved to the Netherlands I was even more insecure. I didn't want to get bullied again, so I started adjusting myself. Losing myself in the person people wanted me to be. After that first year, I learned what anxiety attacks were and I remember myself promising to never ever stop trying to find back the person I am truly from the inside. And Then something happened last time at school... And it made me realize that I am finally starting to be myself again, so it was obviously a very bad thing that happened in my beliefs but I am so proud of the way I did deal with it that it doesn't even feel like a bad thing anymore. Let me tell you what happened!

So I was just standing by some friends of mine and a lot of time there a people I don't even know. I don't mind, if they talk to me, I'll just have a conversation with them, if not, I let them do their thing. So two girls walked by, as usual, I just look at them and go on with my life. I don't know them anyway. Then these two girls started talking to a girl in our group that I don't know. I saw them analyzing me, in the most bitchy way, from head to toe, my reaction to that is usually just looking back. Then I was just looking at the face of one of those girls who was analyzing me, just thinking about her makeup, looking how she did it, if she was wearing foundation, you know, just the typical "Dreamy"me who thinks about beauty. I wasn't judging her, I wasn't even caring about her in person. And the she said to me "Can you see it well?!" With the most bitchy undertone, I have ever heard someone spoke to me. Not even thinking I said to her "Well can you see it well?!". I tried to have the most neutral tone as possible (which is kind of hard because when someone is talking to me like that I tempt to get the same tone as them). Imagine the Latina girls in movies, you know the way they move when they are pissed of and they talk to the person they are pissed off too, well, she did exactly that move to me saying "What?!", so I replied "I am not blind, I saw you, girls, looking at me." she said "Yeah, well that's because you were looking at us!". From there I don't remember much except that I didn't want to end this in a fight so I ended the conversation and said "Whatever!", then see said whatever to because I bet you she didn't knew what to say back. Then another girl in my group started asking her why she was searching for a fight again, actually, thinking back about it, she stood up for me, even though I don't know her. I really think that was super nice of her.

Two years ago, I wouldn't even dare to say something back to her, because I would be so insecure that nothing would come out of my mouth. But somehow I felt so confident I said something back! For me, this was an affirmation that I am finally starting to being myself again. I have struggled with my confidence for years, and since I moved to the Netherlands I didn't really had any friends nor enemies. It feels weird to know that you don't really have friend nor enemies at school. Your just an invisible person, in fact, you walk with everybody and nobody. I learned to live my school life like that. That is also a thing, accepting yourself, your life, you feeling. But I'll talk about that later.

But how do you learn to deal with haters?
It takes time, that for sure, but you can learn it!

* First, you need to stand above them. Well not like in height, more in matters. You literally need to show them you don't give a F. about what they think about you. Fake this. there is no other way. If you show them you are weak and that you are a cry baby (I Love that song from Melanie Martinez by the way), I am a crybaby F.Y.I , but if you show it to them they will obviously think you are weak and they are going to continue. Show them you are worth better than hating!

* Always be nice, like Demi Lovato said: "kill'em with kindness". They hate people who don't start fighting back. Just stay true to the truth, don't say nasty things about them and always keep the very truth, the way it really went in mind! Don't ever make things up.

* be the one who ends the conversation. For example, I said "Whatever" To that girl. I ended it. It shows that you have this conversation at hand and not the other one. If the other one doesn't stop just walked away. They may say you are weak but as a matter of fact, they only feel weak because they couldn't stand up to you.

I know, it's not much, but this is what I noticed from my conversation (if you can call it like that...) . I hope I helped you out, even just a little!

Let me know how you deal with haters!

Lot's of love

~Joëlle~

Beauty

3 Steps To A Perfect Face Skin Care!

06:52:00

Every time I read a post on how to cleanse your face 'the right way' I feel a little disappointed in the post, there is so much more than just making sure your face is cleansed. I'll tell you exactly the 3 steps you need to do to make sure you face is in perfect condition!

I feel like ever beauty blogger should now the 3 steps I am going to tell you, especially when you are giving advice to your friends! When they only mention you should cleanse your face, they're right, but not entirely because there is so much more you need to do to keep your skin healthy. I made a post on my Skin Care Ritual (have a look ;) ) and as you can tell it is a very minimal skin care ritual. It doesn't need to be big, with all sort of oils, no, sometimes, less is more. So let me tell you what you actually need to do to have a healthy skin!

The first step and this is also the step that I see everyone mentioning: Cleansing.
Before you start cleansing, by the way, you need to make sure that most of you makeup is removed, otherwise this will not have any effect on your skin what so ever. After having removed the makeup you can start by cleansing your face. A cleanser is supposed to clean you face in a deeper way, to make sure that no dirt, left-overs of your makeup and other bacteria's stays in your face. Rinse you face very well, you want nothing of the product left-overs on your skin, this will only destroy your face.
I would suggest taking a cleanser that is soap free, I know the one I use is soap free. The reason I recommend this is because a soap cleanser dries your skin out and doesn't give your skin a nutritious feeling.

The second step is one a lot of people forget I noticed. The Toner.
Toning you face is actually the most important thing of you entire cleansing ritual. The toner repair the damage that your cleanser made to you skin. It makes it feel hydrated and fresh. You do not want to forget that some cleansers contain soap, this dries your skin out, the cleansers who doesn't have soap still lowers a little your skin pH,some skin types repair the damage easier but some skin sorts don't and this can leave you with a very dry, irritated feeling. So you absolutely want to re-balance the pH of your skin with a Toner.

Third step: moisturizing.
This one is the finishing touch. Making sure that you skin is protected, hydrated and nourished will give you that extra fresh feeling. I highly recommend still doing this so that you get less dirt in your face and your face will stay in a better condition for a longer amount of time.

disclaimer: These are the basic steps, steps that I hear most people forget, I am not saying everybody is forgetting to mention these steps! This, on the other hand might not work for some people because they have a specific acne problem. I have a friend who follows all these steps but still need extra product from her dermatologist.

So, how do you keep your acne away?
Lots of love
~Joëlle~