Books I've Been Reading (Goal Recap)

At the beginning of the year I made a goal to myself that I would read 15 books in 2013 because I've literally stopped reading books for fun and passing time. It was something that I really enjoyed doing and I knew I had to start cathing up with books again. I decided to read whatever was in our bookcase at home but soon realized that some of them were not really my style and it would just be a waste of time. So I read 7 books so far I know its not much but I only started towards April because school work was too intense. 

1. Dreams Die First by Harold Robbins: This is the first book I picked up not knowing it wasn't really my style. It took me a while to finish this one because I was not into it and I can never leave a book unfinished. And this is probably my least favorite of the bunch. 

2. My Sweet Orange Tree by Vasconcelos: I literally cried at the end of this book. It had a great plot and the emotions were greatly reflected on the reader or I wouldn't be crying, believe me. One of my faves for sure.

3. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: I didn't know we had this book at home and I was really interested in it because I've heard that it was very similar to The Little Prince. I really loved that book when I read it even though I could read it another time to really get into it. It was the same with this book, it had an incredible plot with a great theme but I will probably read it again to fully understand its concept.

4. At the Sign of the Cat and Racket by Honroé de Balzac: This book totally got me by its title. Anything with cats automatically sounds cool to me, I don't know why.  It was not a long book and had lots of similies, which is always a plus for me because it broadens my imagination.

5. Panglor by Jeffrey A. Carver: This book was absolutely awesome it totally goes on the list of my favorite books. I was hooked to it because of the fact that it was set in the future where people could do space travel. I always love reading books from authors who have imagination of what is really out there and Carver sure had some great & weird sci-fi things in mind.

6. The Body in the Basement by Katherine Hall Page: After reading this book I found out that I was totally into mysteries. I mean the whole time I'm like "who killed who, how, when, what, why?!" And the book ends and I'm like "Finally I know who the killer is!" and I can die in peace aha. I will probably read other books by Hall Page because her writing was pretty clear, understandable and of course interesting.

7. False Prophets by Sean Flannery: This book was a recent read and I quite liked it. I thought I wasn't going to be into it because it was developing very slow and I didn't really get the plot at first but than things started to settle for me. Its not a fave but it was not a waste of time.

Well thats all I've read so far and I'm already half way through with my next book and I lined up a couple after that. I don't know what to do after so please suggest some books to me and I'll check out their plots and if I like it than I'll have to read it. Anyways, hope you like this post and have a great weekend!

P.S.: There is only 2 days left for the Cosmetic Bag Giveaway to end so don't miss it!

Insta-August 2013

 Eating doughnuts / Turkish coffee and turkish delight / Me in the year 1994

 French fries for breakfast / Beautiful butterflies found outside / My mothers vintage bag

Getting ready for a wedding / Newest record / Holiday selfie

Can't believe its been a whole month since I did my first instagram post, time passes too quickly for my taste. I wish summer would never end. I didn't go anywhere this summer but it was great resting at home and not worrying about anything. During school its tough because it takes me an hour and half to get there and I use public transportation which is crowded most of the time. Its just frustrating and tiring so I'm glad I get a bunch of time off. I'm glad I still have another month to do absolutely nothing haha. But of course I always have time for movies, tv shows, books, blogging and photography.

P.S.: Welcome to all my new followers and thank you for all your awesome comments. I love reading them! Also, please don't forget to follow me on BLOGLOVIN' it will be worth it :)

P.P.S: There is a week left for the Cosmetic Bag Giveaway, so go on and enter its really cute! :)

Collection: Life Magazine 1960s Issues 11-20

I'm back with the 60s and I'm really enjoying it. If you've missed the first part of this post I assure you its wonderful and you should definitely check it out HERE if you enjoy vintage, 60s and fashion. While taking the photographs for this post I thought to myself that I am surely born in the wrong time. I mean I am very delighted of the past from its fashion, music, cinema to its relationships and usage of language. Even in this time I tend to have interest in records, turntables, past tv shows and movies and vintage clothing etc. 

Suit and Coat Models for 1960s Spring: I love the fact that a couple of these are from Christian Dior, it shows how rooted it is. Also I found it very entertaining that they explained the color of the suits and coats but the page is black and white. I think this probably expanded the imagination of many of its buyers. I mean there is like a ton of shades for colors. You can't just say a simple blue for turquois.

Spring Clothing from Suits, Leather Jackets and Coats: Besides the fashion sense of this page what I really enjoy is the first photo on the right side of the page. I mean isn't the way she's standing very funny. I would never pose like that :)

Cocktail Dresses of the Spring Season: This page I'm in love with. Especially with the first photo on the top left of the page and the photo with the striped dress is absolutely gorgeous. Also isn't it incredible that we actually had a come back of the same type dresses on the bottom right of this page? I think it is. Past is definitely the future.

Various Spring Clothing: Fantastic I must say. Everything looks fine made :) Although it is weird to take a photo with just the leg of a statue.. Anways, yolo.

Simply exquisite! I would totally wear the last one if I was tall enough to pull it off :)

FASHION Pierre Cardin's Spring Line: I love seeing familiar names in old magazines. Its pretty cool how far they have come in their line and they are probably going to live on forever. Anyways have you seen how incredibly chic that lace covered/collared coat is? Somebody throw that on me! :)

The Night Dresses of this Year are Long Again: I don't care if they are long, they sure are pretty. I gotta say my fave is the 5th one on the top line. I can't say no to polka-dots :) 

Norman Hartnell The Tailor of the Queen of England: Well, not much to say about this set besides the fact that everything is obviously one of a kind.

Nina Ricci: It says that this famous tailor used chemisettes for most of her designs and I could totally see it. I mean it sure became a signature for her and she used it well. Very well indeed.

4 Models from Christian Dior: Dior seemed to know where to find beautiful women to carry his wonderful designs.

Pierre Balmain: My fave from the bunch is the one with the bows on the bottom right :)

Hope you had a good read because it was fun for me to write. I always believe I should've been born in the 60s and spend my teenage-young adult years during the 70s-80s but no can do. At least the 90s was okay but the 2000s have really lost it. What year do you think you belong to? I would love to know!

P.S: Welcome aboard my new followers (you will enjoy the ride!) and please don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' :)

My Can't Live Without Make-Up

 I suppose I could start off by saying that I don't do a lot of make-up and I'm really not that into it but I do have certain things that I basically can't live without. First is my eyeliner. I definitely need to have a good eyeliner that won't smudge like an hour after I put it on and Golden Rose is definitely helping me out with this one. Secondly I always need my lipstick. I never use light colors because it really doesn't suit me. I always go for red or any (dark) shade of red. So thats why I have my Max Factor lipstick and as you can see (in the photo below) I don't have much left of it and its killing me. Actually it was killing me until I found a replacement. Kate Moss 107. All I can say that is that this lipstick is the bomb. Cherry bomb! And lastly, my primer and eye shadow. Before I didn't really use eye shadow that much because I was either being lazy or maybe I just didn't feel like it but since I got this Mua Primer I have been really enjoying the whole look. And the reason for that is because the Primer really makes the eye shadow more vibrant and I think thats exactly what I'm looking for.

I mostly use nude colors for eye shadow and I'm really loving this one I got from Avon. It has all the shades I need. Since they are all in harmony with each other I could also mix the colors up which gives me a whole new look.

These are basically what I use when I do make-up. I tend to leave my face alone most of the time because I don't want acne and I don't want my face to feel comfortable with make-up. Oh and I tend not to buy make-up until I finish what I have but sometimes I do make exceptions :) 

Have a wonderful week and welcome to all my new followers! 

P.S.: Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' in case GFC decides to disappear on us like Google Reader!

Getting To Know "The Tiny Bee" + Giveaway!

Today I'm here to introduce you to Melissa from The Tiny Bee shop on Etsy. She is really lovely and such a friendly person and I'm really glad to have met her. Her shop is full of pastel colors, polymer clay and clutches with lovely prints. She has an eye for making cute things, this girl has got all the talent she needs!

Melissa sent me a lovely cosmetic bag with the cutest pattern ever and I've been using it ever since. I cleaned up all my make-up before I put it in there because I didn't want to ruin anything :) Anyways I can really say that the material is absolutely fantastic. I mean this thing will surely last for long and thats great for me. It has lots of room considering I only put my necessary items in there. All in all I can say that if you ever shop from the The Tiny Bee it will be your moneys worth! :)

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your shop?

I'm originally from the Boston area and after graduating from college I relocated to sunny Arizona where I now reside with my fiancée and three little dogs. I've always loved to make things but when my mom gave me a sewing machine for my thirtieth birthday things got serious. I stayed up all night practicing on old clothes. The next day I started watching tutorials on YouTube which is how I learned to sew. A year and a half later I opened The Tiny Bee. 

2. How did you come up with the name The Tiny Bee?

My name, Melissa, means honey bee but theres more to the story than that. I was sitting in my backyard brainstorming names for my shop. My late grandfather nicknamed me doodlebug which I wanted to incorporate into my shop title but they all seemed to be taken. I felt like I had hit a wall so I asked in my head, "Papa I need help what should I name my shop?" and just then this tiny little baby bee landed on my arm. I rushed inside to see if the name was available, which clearly it was. 

3. How do you come up with your designs?

I love going to craft stores and letting the supplies inspire me. Watching tutorials on YouTube or scanning Pinterest for new ideas is another way to learn techniques. For example: I never though about painting clay until I saw someone else doing it. 

4. Why did you choose Etsy?

A few people I know sell on Etsy which is how I became interested in it. I was a buyer before I was a seller. Once I fell in love with the community I just wanted to be part of it.

5. What are your inspirations?

Everything I make is something I would buy and use so my greatest source of inspiration is myself. I first got into working with clay when I wanted a pair of black earrings to go with my waitressing uniform but couldn't find what I was looking for, so I made them.

6. What is your goal for the future, in terms of The Tiny Bee?

I have been working in restaurants for over a decade. The lessons I have learned in the service industry are invaluable but I'd love to put down the tray and focus on The Tiny Bee full time. I put no limit to how far I go with this. Every few months I go back and edit myself based on all the new things I've learned. Through improving the old and creating the new my business will keep growing and building upon itself and take me places I could have never imagined. 

  Hopefully you were as excited as I was to get to know Melissa and her shop as you were reading the interview because she is giving away one of my readers a chance to win this tiny bird printed cosmetic bag (not the one she sent to me, a new one of course)! Awesome right?! So head on over to Rafflecopter widget and start entering. Good luck! 

This is International. 

End date: September 8th, 2013 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What I Found #12

1.2.3.

4.5.6.

I've been putting these to my favorites after seeing some of them on other blogs or just coming across to them on the net while I'm just maybe looking for something else. Even though I have never done online shopping (yes, that is correct) it doesn't really stop me from swooning over some of these beauties. A couple of reasons why I haven't tried online shopping yet are: 

1. I can't buy anything unless I see them on me.

2. I don't work therefore I must rely on my parents and my mom does not trust the internet (my dad doesn't mind that much).

So once I can leave these two things behind me I can find out what I've been missing out on. I actually don't really feel the need to shop online anyways because I can find most of the things I need in the mall or the local shops. But of course most of the time they are imported so they are really expensive but I'm a shop at sales kind of person so it doesn't really bother me. And of course we always have turkish bazaar, we can always find things there but not as rich in quality of course (but cheap). Anyways, if you are an online shopper I hope you like the stuff I picked out and maybe you'll like it enough to buy it! :) 

Have a nice week! Stay tuned for upcoming awesomeness! 

Insta-July 2013

Me with a Pink Floyd record / Sea-shell brought by mermaids / My wisdom tooth

Delicious cookies / A birthday party/ My photo with flowers

Summertime reading / My friend posing for me with records / Floral headbands at h&m

I know sharing instagram photos are getting old but I just recently joined and I've been capturing certain things and moments. Being a photographer is in my blood and I really enjoy it. I don't limit myself to anything. One day I'll use my DSLR, one day one of my film cameras and the other days I'll just hop on instagram. I even take webcam photos there is just no limit for me haha. Anyways I just wanted to show my lovely readers what I do when I'm not blogging and these photographs kind of highlight on certain things and events as I've said before. 

If you want to follow me just click on one of the titles under these photos and it will take you to my profile! :) Have a lovely week!

Collection: Film Cameras (Goal Recap)

Many of you know that I love to take photographs, especially film. Last year my mom opened up her stuff from her childhood/teenage years and she gave me 4 of her film cameras. I had already shot with one of them when I was in 7th grade in America but then digital became soo popular in seconds that we switched to it also.  Shooting with my moms film camera (Canon Prima TwinS) after such a long time was definitely a crazy experience. I didn't know if it worked or how the photos would come out but I just kept shooting. Of course they turned out pretty cool and had me addicted to it. Seeing my addiction turn into lovely photographs made me happy and made my family members see how happy this hobby made me. Therefore my grandmother gave me 2 cameras that were lying around her house. Gosh I was so happy that day! That was the day that I met my Smena 8m! 

 After a while everyone knew that this was truly a hobby that I was very exited about. My cousin told me she had a Polaroid Impulse laying around the house somewhere that she could hand over to me. I just thought "well this is my lucky day" :) She told me the film is really tough to find and I told her I would try my best to find it! (No luck so far! It uses 600 film, I know Impossible Project has them but they are pretty expensive)

Slowly my camera collection was getting bigger but I still didn't have a camera that could give me really fine results. So I went out and bought myself Zenit 122. It was cheep and it had all the features I needed. Right now its my "go to" camera because I know it won't let me down. 

Just recently I received 2 cameras from my uncle. He gave me his Agfa Optima 200 and Henrycon A-8000s. I'm overly delighted for these because now I can cross off something from my goals of 2013! You can see what I'm talking about by clicking HERE.

Photography is a shelter to me. I could always count on it to make me feel safe in this world, knowing that not everything is bad and I have the power to capture the beautiful things. Having a hobby that can bring you up when your down is a great feeling. Have a great day!

Firmoo Glasses Giveaway!

Hello my lovely readers! I've teamed up with Firmoo for a giveaway, yay! I've chosen some of my favorites on the photo above and be sure to know that there are much more styles and colors to choose from :)

Firmoo is an online company that makes affordable glasses which are great in quality and are quite fashionable. They sell prescription and non-prescription glasses so they serve for a widge range of people. They also have a First Pair Free program which enables new customers to test out their glasses by just paying for the shipping of the glasses they choose. I think thats a pretty good bargain considering how expensive glasses can be at a lot of places. You can get more information about it on their page if you're interested.

Here are the giveaway details:

• 6 of you will win a $20 voucher to use on one of the glasses you choose from Classic Series. 
• Shipping is NOT included in this voucher!
• This is INTERNATIONAL but please make sure your country is eligable for shipping. You can check out their shipping details from HERE.
• If we have 40+ contestants than we will choose a Grand Prize winner who will get 1 Free Glasses + Free Shipping!
• You must do the mandatory entry on the Rafflecopter widget in order for your entry to be valid!!
• Ends on August 17th 2013. Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Istanbul on Film #2

Hey guys! Yesterday I got a roll of film developed and I thought I share a couple of photos I took around Istanbul. The last time I put photos of Istanbul was all the way in November, you can see them here. These are from June, you can see that it gets really beautiful around here in Summer :) If you want to know where a photo is from I'll be happy to answer you so ask away in comments (maybe you'll visit one day!). I did some experimenting this time with double exposure and accidently triple exposure. But of course I'm loving the results of my accidents. I feel like accidental things are the cherry on top in film photography.  Oh I almost forgot to say that I took these photos with my lovely Smena 8m (fully manual, lomo)!

Hope you like them and be sure to visit my FLICKR page for more!

PS: I have made a notice on the side of my blog that all of the photos used on this blog belong to me unless stated otherwise so please do NOT use any of my photos without my consent. I know my readers won't do this but there are a lot of other people on the net who take advantage of these things. And everyone should get credit for what they do and thats the right way to do it. Anyways I'm off, have a nice time until I come back! :)