Monthly Goals | November 2016

Lately, I've seen so many bloggers doing a checklist of what they've planned and achieved for a month. Basically, it's a list of their goals for a month for their personal and blogging life which inspired me to create my own. I guess this is for me to track down my progress as well as motivation for me to actually work towards my goal.

• Publish a blog post at least 3x a week

I just recently came back to blogging again and I really missed writing. I used to have a goal around the same time last year to post almost everyday but I gotta admit that it was kind of draining. Now, I do want to stay active and just write so I'll try to at least publish a post 3x a week, probably more but we'll see. This is just for me to get back into the rhythm.

• Updating my old blog posts

This includes uploading better photos, some more thoughts on the subject and just really taking time to make it more high quality. I'm kind of embarrassed that some of my most viewed posts have quite the unappealing photos or way too few information. So, I'll try my very best to fix those up this month.

• Collaborate with someone

Be it a brand or another blogger. I haven't collaborated with brands for awhile and I am quite open about trying out new products or learning new information so we will see. I would like to collaborate with another blogger although I don't really know who yet or what's it going to be about, I just know that I would want to experience it soon because I would want to make new blogger friends and it looks kind of fun doesn't it?

• Finish reading a book

It has actually been more than 5 months since I last finished reading a book so maybe I should start one again soon. Reading has actually gave me a few inspirations of the blog posts that I posted before so maybe reading again will give me more ideas for future posts.

• Finish 1st Semester of online uni.

I'm doing online uni and I'm excited to finish my 1st semester of this year. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it within this month and catch up to everybody else. I love learning and all but let's be honest, studying isn't really that fun so I'm also excited to be done with it.

So, those are my goals for this month. Not really much but hey, baby steps is a good way to start. I will be updating you guys by the end of the month of the things I achieved and what I did not achieve and hopefully a new list of goals for December. 

What are your goals for November?

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6 Favorite Daiso Finds

I don't know about you, but Daiso is definitely a store where I could spend about an hour at by just browsing through all of their stuff and trying to find some uses for each one. Seriously though, they have almost anything you never thought that you would need or maybe something that's a cheaper alternative to what you actually want. 

Walking out of a Daiso store empty handed seems almost impossible from what I witnessed except for maybe when you already bought everything you needed from there. Though you gotta admit that sometimes, it's a hit or miss. Sometimes what we end up buying just isn't upto par with what we expected it to be, it's not even that but Daiso definitely gives you that mindset that "oh, this is cheap" and you end up grabbing a ton of things to have a very expensive bill when you check out at the counter. With that, and to save some of you from all the money and trouble, here are my all time favorite purchases and what I would recommend you get from Daiso:

• Slippers

I have been looking for a pair like these for awhile now. I do know that Birkenstock has them but I did wanted something where the price is a little bit cheaper. Then I went to Daiso and saw these for PHP 88. I wasn't aware that the sizes were a size bigger than usual since I am pretty sure I'm a size 37 but these are kinda big on me, and no, I wasn't able to try them on before buying them because I had shoes and socks on at that time and didn't really feel like taking them off especially with so many people around that aisle too. But hey, it still looks nice, it is a little bit uncomfortable during the first time I wore them but after awhile, it felt okay to wear when you have some quick errands to run and you just need something to slip on that looks good. 

• Divider

I'm pretty sure everybody's aware of this because this has been selling out on so many Daiso branches near my place. Basically it helps you separate everything but still keep them all in one place (if that makes sense). This is for you to organize things inside of your drawer or maybe a lipstick holder like what I do. 

• Clock

This little thing is what me and my mom have been trying to find everywhere. We did manage to find something exactly similar at a store in SM, but they sell it for PHP 1099 and this little guy in Daiso was only PHP 188. It's also an alarm clock (and I could tell you that it's very loud) and has a light switch that you can press if you wanna know what time it is when you're in the dark. 

• Portable fan

It's just so hot here in the Philippines-- that when you are out and about, you can't help but fan yourself because you are just constantly sweating. I found this on Daiso and you just need 2 AA batteries for it and you can carry it around. Pretty much a life saver. 

• 5 in 1 Beauty care massager

This is another product that has been selling out on all of the Daiso branches. I use this mainly for massaging my face and cleansing my skin. It has 5 types of brushes, 1 crude polish accessory to rip the tough skin and cutin off, 1 latex soft sponge for eye, cheek massaging, 1 make-up sponge to massage and clean your skin, 1 rolling massager to make better blood circumstances from skin aging (I always use this one) and 1 soft brush to clear up all the scurf clings on the surface (which I use to cleanse my face). This on'es price is PHP 188 and just needs 1 AA battery. 

• Brush cleaner

Most beauty enthusiast that I know of have tried and loved this product because it definitely does it's job on cleaning out your makeup brush thoroughly. Plus, it's only PHP 88 and it smells nice. I actually made a review on this so if you wanna check that out, click here.

So those are all of my favorites from Daiso and if you have any recommendations for me to get from that store, leave a comment below and tell me if you've tried out any of the things I mentioned. 

Until the next post,

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Disclosure: I am in no way sponsored by any of the brands / companies mentioned in this post. Everything you see here is bought from my own money and statements / opinions made are based off on my own experience

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Joyce's Jukebox # 1

Edit: I decided to change the name to "Joyce's Jukebox" since I consider it to be more personalized and would be easily remembered as something that I do for this blog.

So I thought about making a series for awhile and have noticed that I rarely share with you guys my favorite songs at the moment so I decided to do this every Tuesday.

Hope you like it!

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Calvin Klein IN2U Her Perfume Review

This is my first Calvin Klein Perfume that I own and tried. I never usually go to their stall (especially in the Philippines) where it's a little over my budget. But I got this recently so I'm excited to review it so let's get started.

Price:

This was given as a gift for me and as I search through the internet, I'm not quite sure how much exactly is it but reading through amazon, it is  £13.80 for the size that I have which is 50ml. 

What do I think of this product?

The packaging is very simple, very sleek but still makes a statement with the clean white and gold combination with "ck IN2U her" labeled around the white area. 

For the scent, as you spray it, you could instantly smell the citrus scent and you would think that it would overpower the other ingredients or scents placed on this product. It does stay like that for awhile but it then fades into a vanilla scent which has this sweet side into it but not too sweet. I would say that I did smell this scent before but I just can't pinpoint where so I wouldn't say it is the most unique scent out there but it is still quite nice and not too harsh on the nose.

For longevity, it lasts me quite awhile after I sprayed it on my pulse points, roughly 6-7 hours. 

Is it worth the money?

If you are looking to have a scent that would last you for awhile or throughout the day, then this would be nice for you if you are also a fan of the scent. I suggest you give it a spray test first before purchasing this because as I describe above, it does fade into a different scent after you spray it on you. 

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Disclosure: I am in no way sponsored by any of the brands or companies mentioned in this post. All opinions or statements made here were based off on my own experience.

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What Has Blogging Done For Me? || 1st Blogiversary!

Today marks the day of my 1st blog anniversary and I'm very happy that I achieved something like this and that I had good things come out of it so I will be sharing it to you guys to hopefully inspire you if you are blogging or about to start blogging. It is never too late to create memories and experiences you would want to remember. 

• Being able to track my products in my vanity, my spending and my savings.

I am one of those people who usually doesn't keep track or don't remember all the things inside my vanity so when I started blogging, when I'm trying to find something or wanna buy something, I scroll through my blog to see if I have the same thing that I'm looking for. Why can't I just go through my vanity and search it? Well, sometimes I forget how much were each of the products were and usually when I do hauls, I mention the price of each of them and where did I get them which I found very useful when somebody asks me about it.

• Being aware of what's new in the market.

When you start being passionate about blogging, you tend to search for more resources out there that would help you on what you need and that includes being aware of what to look forward to because you wanna be able to be knowledgeable on something that is in your field.

• Being aware of sales or good deals.

We probably all made the mistake of diving in and getting something somewhere we feel is the only place that we're gonna get it. Sometimes though, we're wrong because there are other places that sell the same thing lesser or maybe half the price. 
Friendly tip: When online shopping on big / known stores, try and add something in your cart but don't buy it yet. Leave it for a few hours or a day and when you scroll through some blogs, websites or all around google, you will find ads or deals that offer you discounted price based on the item you have on your cart.

• I've been sent products to try out that I would have never picked up myself.

I've experienced several of these that made me so open minded into trying out new products for myself. I wasn't really adventurous before and after I got sent some products to review about, I found that there are some brands or products out there that are definitely good but most people don't know about. I gladly share most of them on my blog and continue to use what I already like.

• Meet and talk with people who have the same passion as me.

The blogging world is a very big world. I was immensely intimidated when I started out because once you go around all these other people's blogs and around the communities, you would see that there are groups of people who already know each other either in person or just through blogging and that scared me because I thought that I won't have the opportunity to step in and get to meet people and boy was I wrong. Like what I said, blogging is a big world and there will always be someone like you who are open to becoming friends, sharing each other's passion, and maybe join the already existing group of blogging friends. There is no competition because there is room for everybody.

• Knowing which product is hot or what to pass up.

When you're blogging about a specific topic, niche etc. You get very meticulous on what you think about certain things. I find this very hard to explain but you will have that sense in you that you'll know that this is gonna be hot and what will not. Knowing where to find good reviews about it helps a lot too because you know your way around the blogging world that you know where to find the authentic ones. 

• Being able to get my voice out there to inspire other people.

This one for me never gets old. I was never really a good example of the good kid, I wasn't the prettiest, smartest nor the kindest of my peers so nobody really sought-after me for advice on such things so, when I started to blog and told everybody about my experiences, stories and my opinions that happened in my life, I started to get messages from people who read my content that I helped them and they could relate to me and I know that it came from a genuine place too. It made me teary eyed everytime because I'm so happy I was able to do that for them because as I was going through some of the things that I said on this blog, I wish I had someone to look for advice on back then. I wish somebody would've told me different and how it really is. I probably wouldn't have listened not gonna lie, but at least I knew what to expect and that I had a choice. I'm happy that I made a difference in somebody's life and that I think is the greatest thing that I gained from blogging.

I could honestly still go on about how blogging has become a big part of who I am today and I'm very thankful for that. It's been a blessing that I know I worked and continue to work hard for and having a good amount of recognition from people who actually reads your work is one of the best things so I thank all of you guys too. 

I know that there is still so much for me to learn and so much I wanna do that I just know that blogging will become such an adventure for me and hopefully you'll still be there when I do that. But like what I said, take it a day at a time. Look back to reflect but do not come back. 

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5 Books I Used To Love // Teen Fiction Novels

These past few days, I've been trying to find some new reads and while I scan my on growing book collection, I noticed some of my old favorites. a.k.a. during the preteen / teenage years. I honestly forgotten some of these book's story lines so I had to reread some of them when I had the time and I decided that I would like to share some of them here because maybe some of you haven't been able to read it yet and would want some suggestions so here they are!

Secrets of my hollywood life
by: Jen Calonita

I have the 3 books and the others I believe I used to have the ebook on my iTouch 4 which I lost years ago so I will have to get those again. I read and loved this when I was 12 or 13 and admired the story so much because once upon a time I wanted to be an actress and this gave me the "inside scoop" or what was the experience of being an A-list actress. I don't really know, I was obsessed with it and it wasn't too cheesy and have started rereading it again, now I'm on the 2nd book.

Fallen series
by: Lauren Kate

Again, 3 books and an ebook which I also lost. This was truly a favorite of mine when I was 15 or 16. A book that has an interesting story line but easy to fall in love with. It's a story about a girl and a boy who is a fallen angel. They spent lifetimes finding and losing each other. This time around, it seems to be different.

Ghost Girl
by: Tonya Hurley

This is a book about a girl who is practically invisible in her school. She doesn't have a lot of friends but she does wanna become popular. One day, she choked on a gummy bear and died. That doesn't stop her from getting what she wants, so she became pretty creative with her tactics. I remember not being able to finish the whole series of this book though, so I will be planning to read everything soon.

Nancy Drew
by: Carolyn Keene

I'm sure that this is one of the most famous teen mystery books out there. A teenage girl detective? Uh, yes please! I only have a few novels but I was pretty addicted to this one the most and I remember having to exchange books with some of my classmates from grade school then we'd discuss what we read or express our reactions to the story, almost like we were in a book club. This book never bored us.

Thirst
by: Christopher Pike

I remember this one to be another one of my favorites during my "mid teenage years". I went through a phase of becoming addicted with vampires and all those things so I got this book and was never disappointed. It's about Alisa a 5000 year old vampire who feeds but does not kill. Her maker hunts for her while she does everything she can to survive. Sometimes, going against her own rules. 

Another book that was my favorite but not in my stash (due to moving, I lost it) The Madison Finn Series.
So those are some of my books inside my stash that I haven't read for awhile but remember loving them all so much. I'm slowly rereading them before I get some more new books to get and read. 

If you have any recommendations, do not hesitate to tell me ♥

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Halloween Nails: Slime Monster | 2015

I didn't really know what to do with my nails and usually, I do the pumpkin, ghost etc kind of nail art for this season but this year, I wanted it to be a little bit simpler and different. So I looked into my manicure stash and picked out the "Halloween colors" that I wanted to use and voila! Idea and inspiration obtained!

What You'll Need:

• Green Nail Polish. I'm using 01 Green from Rucy's Vanity P50 (1.08 USD) *was sent to me.
• White Nail Polish. I'm using White Satin from Caronia P52.50 (1.13 USD)
• Black Nail Polish. I'm using Magic Black from Sweet Cherry P17.75 (0.39 USD)

Instructions:

1. After cleaning and using a base coat for your nails, paint them using your green nail polish. Reapply as much as you'd want until you get your desired tone.
2. Once your base color is dry, add a tiny drop of white nail polish on your nails. Make sure that it isn't to wet and try to make it as flat as possible. These would be the eyes. You can make 1 eye per nail or 3 or how many you want it to be. It doesn't have to look perfect since it is a slime, you could pretend that it's slipping off of him. *haha*
3. Using your black nail polish, you would do the same thing you did with the white nail polish but even tinier than the white circle for it to serve as the pupil. 
4. Wait for it to dry and apply your choice of top coat and you're done!

So I hope that this post has helped you if you are looking for an easy D.I.Y. Halloween Manicure and comment down below what nail art would you do this year? Happy Halloween everybody!

The Ghost treat that can be seen in the first photo is what I was inspired by on Pinterest and decided to make them myself. 

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50 Facts About Me

Hi and welcome back my blog! If you're new here, hello I'm Joyce and today I will be telling you guys some facts that only some people may know about me. I really don't know if I would make it to 50 but let's give it a go.

1. I am 100% Filipino
2. My favorite colors are black, purple and pink.
3. I tend to finish a book in just a few hours.
4. I wear glasses but only when I'm in front of my laptop or reading on my ipad.
5. I only knew how to ride a bike when I was already 19 years old.
6. I am a hardcore gamer before where I would spend more than 24 hours infront of my laptop.
7. Being a gamer, I used to dream a lot that I'm still playing my game especially with Dragon Nest Sea.
8. My closet is full of clothes that are either black, white, navy green or dark blue in color.
9. I like wearing makeup even if I'm not leaving the house.
10. I have been in a modeling workshop for only a day.
11. I tend to listen to a song that I like over and over again until I'm sick of it.
12. I don't drink coffee
13. I was an honor student back in high school
14. People describe me as someone who is very deep
15. I am more of a spender than a saver nowadays
16. I could not sleep with the lights off
17. I vomit whenever I watch thrillers
18. I don't have my ears pierced
19. I am open on getting a tattoo but too indecisive on what I would put
20. I know all the songs in high school musical until today
21. I have a habit of not replying to a person eventhough I've seen their message because I thought I replied already.
22. I am very bad at math and only survived it in high school because I crammed a little more usual than I would than any other subjects.
23. I love anything seafood except for oysters
24. I need to sleep with 2-3 pillows below my head every night to sleep
25. No matter how hot it is, I need a blanket that covers me from my toes to my neck
26. I'm the type of person who would cry from a scary story
27. I sometimes type out a whole rant about something but when I'm done I delete it.
28. I'm writing my own book but can't seem to finish it because I have way too many ideas on my head that I keep re-editing the first chapters.
29. I love to listen to people who have accents especially the British ones that I end up listening but not really understanding what they're saying. (lols)
30. I badly wanna know who "A" is on Pretty Little Liars.
31. I probably have more friends from gaming online than real life friends
32. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is my favorite TV show ever
33. I have a resting bitch face and people around me comment way too much about it.
34. My height is 5'1"
35. I was an extra on some TV shows in the Philippines (Banana Split & Maalaala mo kaya) I had no lines in both but with the drama one, I had to cry my eyes out which I did. And which the talent manager asked me for my phone number and photo, but the next day, I lost my phone.
36. I am really bad at applying false eyelashes (I'm practicing now though!)
37. I am secretly competitive.
38. When I hang out with people, I tend to get very TMI although if I really have a secret I wanna keep, no one would ever know about it.
39. I attended an Italian language school for a few months to pass basic Italian language and didn't come back after that.
40. I have moved houses 5 times.
41. I used to chop all of my barbie's hair and break its arm when I was a little girl.
42. I am a bit of a perfectionist.
43. I fake being good at public speaking, I talk fast and keep saying things hoping that it would make sense. 
44. I hate being vulnerable infront of anyone.
45. I have real life moments that I dreamed about before it ever happened.
46. I am abit of a multitasker. 
47. I have always been finding boys who are pretending to be girls in games, I don't know why but I always do without even trying.
48. I am a bad liar but I am good at playing around with the truth.
49. I am really stubborn.
50. I was born the same date that Marilyn Monroe died. Pretty creepy especially when I have a mole the same place that was on her face too.

So that is it for my 50 facts and honestly, I barely made it. It was fun and hard at the same time to be able to describe things about yourself haha!

Thanks for reading and until the next blog!

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Oh hey! I'm on Bloglovin'

Hey lovely, so I recently made an account at bloglovin' and have also managed to claim this blog there. So be sure to follow me and my blog there for new updates or my posts.

Link to my profile: HERE

Link to my blog: HERE

♥

Joyce

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Late Night Thoughts.

Good Evening (or Good Morning) Everybody!!

Its 1:41 a.m. Here in the Philippines and I've been trying to sleep since 11. I've noticed my iPad has blogger app and I've always thought about making a blog before but never really crossed my mind again until today. So yea I guess this is a good way to get started with blogging :D

Introduction: 

I am Jojo, a 20 year old lady from the Philippines. I usually stay at home taking care of my brother, do house chores, gaming (Dragon Nest Sea), and just edit pictures, do GIF's and plan on making videos and write my own book. 

Ever since a kid, I've always loved reading. I just can't help but love the feeling that I can go to places and experience feelings and have thoughts that are well expressed through writing. even though I'm just sitting and reading. Its a nice escape from boredom, from personal problems, and also discover other things that you may not have encountered before. It makes you think about how important every detail there is around you, how one thing seems to exist with the other. 

I've written some short stories before but its all very personal. Some of them maybe fiction but I seem to have this fear of being criticized. I know that good or bad you will get criticized but I'm not sure if I could take it. But I guess now I am ready. And I'll probably just take baby steps. One step at a time. Whether or not I become successful one day, I'll just be thankful that I gave it a try. 

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