A Glimpse of Glam

Hey everyone!

It’s officially summer! Now I cannot say I’m looking forward to summer anymore because it finally is. Sunny skies, hot weather, cold drinks, and endless days. Lots of time to create many happy memories. Time to make Summer 2017 worth it. What better way to document those great times than through photos? And taking that a step further, and printing them with Printiki?

Oh yes. Sign me up. My walls will soon be looking like an actual Instagram feed.



It’s been a month since I’ve last given you guys an update. Apologies.. as usual. I am on Instagram at least several times a week updating things on my story, so definitely follow me on IG to keep updated more regularly haha. I post random things that happen in my life on my story. It becomes almost like vlogging in a way with how long my story can get with the random snippets of my life that I share.

As mentioned before, summer is the time to make the most of your days. The best way to document that is through photos. Whether that be through Snapchat, Instagram, or simply taking some photos on your phone. I literally take so many photos when I’m out with my friends it’s like I am documenting every single moment. My photos library is constantly bursting with photos from a day’s adventures.

Lately, as you may have noticed the whole Polaroid prints and vintage aesthetic have been trendy. Polaroid cameras used to be a huge thing back in the 90’s. It was common to capture a moment through that small camera, and have it instantly ready for viewing on a slightly blurry print. Nowadays you can go to your nearest Target or Best Buy or whatever other store, and still be able to purchase a Polaroid camera.

I really love the idea of having printed photos even if it wasn’t trendy, as having a physical series of small prints is a completely different feel than simply having everything digitally available. While I may have thousands of photos on my computer, my Instagram, my phone, I barely have any actual printed photos. For one, it is not always that convenient to go and get photos printed. For another, it can cost quite a bit for good quality photos. I think the last time I bought actual printed photos was when I went on the New England cruise last September. Before that I think I last purchased print photos for my high school graduation. When did you last get photos printed?




While I love the Polaroid photo aesthetic, I sadly do not have a Polaroid camera myself. I'm also not planning on going to buy one either! Sorry, I'm not made of rubies. Or diamonds. Even if diamonds are a girl's best friend. Nor do I have the time to get my photos printed out at Costco or Bartells or some other drugstore. I am a busy uni student! Ain’t got time for that! If I don’t have the time to wash my makeup brushes (oops yes I am well aware I should be doing that more often instead of buying more brushes to avoid washing, hahah who else does that?), I certainly don’t have the time to drive somewhere to get photos printed. Why, I could be using that time to do other “important” things like watching more Netflix, or getting sucked into the blackhole of Grey’s Anatomy fandoms. Oops did I just admit that? Haha who am I kidding? We all have our quirks. Tangent aside, there is a super simple and easy way to actually get your photos printed without having to actually leave your house!

Recently, I got the chance to get my photos printed through Printiki. Printiki is a company that prints photos. They offer a ton of customization for your prints.  You can choose from different types of borders, adding in captions to your photos, and changing up the size of your prints. It’s all done online, and you basically upload your photos to get them printed.

For my prints, I chose to get a set of 30 prints in the 4” by 4” Retro Square format, with captions added onto each photo. The result resembled almost like Polaroids because of the square format with the captions. I really love how that turned out. I added in the date for each photo, along with a short little phrase to accompany it. I really like how there were so many fonts to choose from when adding in the captions. I didn’t know which to choose because I liked how they all looked, but I wanted them all to be more or less uniform so I chose the same one for all. However, you can vary the font and format of each photo if you wanted. For instance, if you were printing a set of 30 and half were to go to your friend, you could change up the format of some and keep the rest in a separate style. It’s super easy to customize.




You can see from all my photos that I chose to include from various times of my life. What I really like about this is that I could connect my Instagram to Printiki to import photos from my Instagram account. It makes it really easy to choose a photo I like from my Instagram, without having to find the original on my phone or computer. You can upload photos in a variety of ways, and it’s super easy to do.

I am planning on arranging my photos in a collage of some sort to arrange on my walls. I like how the ones I got are in square format, so it almost replicates an Instagram feed.

Photos featuring some of my close friends and I Evidence of my nearly unhealthy Snapchat addiction

If you wanted, you could also choose larger sizes. They offer sizes such as 6” by 4”, 7” by 5”. You could even choose poster format and get them larger at 12” by 18”. I’m actually considering getting some photos printed larger to put up on my walls.

As it is all online, once you order it all you gotta do is sit back and wait until it arrives in the mail. You literally don’t have to leave your house if you don’t want to. Mine arrived in the mail pretty fast. It shipped within the United States so it was fairly quick. Of course the shipping time would definitely depend on and vary based on where you live.

The time I was in a Youtube video with my friend Jake from Thatsrightitsjj

All those memories from when I graduated high school.. can't believe its been so long already!

Me and Justin from that time I featured Men's Style in my JORD wood watch post This was also the day we took the photos for the Styling a Men's Shirt post

I’m really satisfied with the quality of the prints as well. I chose to have them glossy, rather than matte. The feel of it is not cheap, and the paper is sturdy and of good quality. I definitely recommend this to everyone!






In case you guys are still hesitant of this, I do have a CODE for you guys to use when ordering your prints to get free shipping! I know that you guys live all around the world, and shipping can end up costing just as much as if not more than the actual product itself.

Use this code at checkout for free shipping:
3WA2GPC2

This will definitely help you out a lot! I know I’m personally planning on getting more printed because my walls are so sad and empty. I need to transfer all my digital memories to print. Once my walls resemble to chaotic camera roll I will be happy. Just kidding, not that extreme. Maybe.

Also, definitely go check out Printiki on Instagram for some other cool ideas for your photos! They share a bunch of inspiration for photography and things of that sort.



Have you ever printed through Printiki before?

How do you guys arrange and display your print photos? Do you prefer framing them individually, or just arranging on your walls? Lemme know in the comments below! I would love to get some ideas and inputs from you guys!

Thank you all for stopping by and reading! I hope you enjoyed this post!

I hope you all are having a wonderful June, and an amazing summer so far.


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

You read that title right! I recently made a YouTube video with one of my best friends. We had some (more like a lot) of time on our hands, and a perfectly working DSLR. We figured, why not do a video? As we are both fairly new to this YouTube thing, filming a video where we answered some questions as sort of an introduction was the best way to go. And, thus the TMI tag was chosen.



For the longest time ever, I’ve contemplated starting a YouTube channel. Not to join the mass of new YouTubers who recently started because of the supposed promise of fame and wealth. No. Rather it’s because it’s another platform, another medium in which I can express myself and utilize as a creative outlet. I’ve wanted to create some videos as a way to showcase another side of me, one that cannot be shown simply through visuals and writing.

Us being us

A couple weeks ago, I stayed up for over 36 hours because of a photography assignment where we documented changes in light over a 24 hour period. Luckily, I wasn’t stuck alone. I had one of my best friends with me. What started as something that seemed really tiring and annoying ended up being really fun. A new adventure.




I met my friend Jake early in January, as we were both taking a printmaking class. That’s where I also met Justin, who I’ve featured before in my post with JORD wood watches. The three of us hit it off quickly, and we soon became really close. There are times when you meet someone, and you just know right away things click. Jake is pretty much like my other half, the brother I never had, as we both are so incredibly similar it can be shocking at times.

I swear he brings out the crazy in me. When the two of us are together we CANNOT stop laughing! Our craziness and high energy is literally insane. He is incredibly funny and sassy, as am I. Those who say best friends take time is wrong because the two of us became close so fast.

Laughing like crazy exhibit A

Laughing like crazy exhibit B

You know you’ve got a friend for life when you spend the time not with them glued to your phone talking to them. The reason why my phone battery drains so easily is because we are literally ALWAYS on Snapchat. We definitely utilize those ridiculous filters to the max!

As Jake has a YouTube channel (called Thatsrightitsjj), we decided to fill the time between the photos during the 24 hour period by filming a video for his channel. We’ve been wanting to do a video together for awhile now, and we decided when would be better than then?

Cuz we from da hood. Hahaha kidding

Oh look us laughing yet again. We can't ever hold it in for normal photos

Through Jake's YouTube channel you will definitely get what I mean about his humor and sass. He creates comedic content, whether it be rants, reaction videos, or other random bits.

Thus we decided to do the TMI tag. Even though no one actually tagged him. But, that’s the fun of it. Answering a bunch of random questions as a way to awkwardly (or perhaps slightly not awkwardly) introduce yourself.

After watching, you might like me more, or you just might hate me. We literally filmed it at 5 am, after being half done with the project. It's a different side to me you've never seen before. Filming is surprisingly not awkward to me. I didn't feel weird being in front of the camera or anything. I wonder if it's perhaps I've been blogging for awhile now, so I feel comfortable in front of a camera? I have no idea.




Comment down below what you thought! Did you like watching this YouTube video? Lemme know in the comments what you thought of the TMI tag! 

Also, if I were to start a YouTube channel, would you want to watch? Lemme know in the comments below! 

I may just stick with being featured in his videos because then I don’t have to do the editing haha (I’m so lazy I know) but who knows?



Thanks for stopping by! I really hope you enjoyed reading, and that you enjoy watching the video! 

Definitely go and subscribe to his channel! I will probably be featured more in the future too. If you wanna see more of my face, GO SUBSCRIBE! As I said in the video outro, it won’t kill you to subscribe so why not? I’m clever I know.

Have a wonderful day!!


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

A couple weeks ago, someone chose to quit social media. She chose to remove herself from the toxic environment in order to find happiness in her life again. This one small, supposedly simple action went viral. That person, as most of you have heard by now, is Essena O'Neill.

She was one of my favorite people to watch on YouTube. Her videos are inspiring and entertaining. She was gaining a large following on YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, and probably other platforms as well. Yet, she decided one day that she didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I don't want to explain why exactly she quit because it's best if you hear what she has to say about it from herself directly.

I wanted to share with you all my thoughts on social media. Here's my opinion. Social media is fake.


Social media is something we use to display our lives in ways that makes us happy and proud. We want to appear as if we are living crazy, adventurous, successful lives. That's because we are exposed every day through social media to the crazy, adventurous, successful lives of others. We don't just filter our pictures; we filter our lives.

Everyday, I get to choose what hairstyle to do, what outfit to wear, and what makeup to apply. If we can have the freedom to look how we want physically, why can't that same freedom be applied to how we want our lives to be presented to the public? Yes, it's fake because we aren't showing all aspects of our lives. We develop personas and we like to stick with them. But does that necessarily mean it's wrong? That it's bad? Yes it's fake, but why should we be instantly jumping to the conclusion that that's a bad thing?


I'm pretty sure you all know what a biography is. Biographies do not necessarily detail every single aspect of the person's life. They only document the important parts. In a way, the lives they portray are filtered too. Isn't the way we are using social media similar?

Social media should be something fun, something that helps us connect with others. We should partake because we want to, not because we have to. And it shouldn't be regarded as a bad thing. It should be seen as what it is: a tool for us to connect with others and to present our lives in way we want. That's just it. There's no good or bad. The only good or bad exists in HOW we choose to use it.

It's a tool. It's the user who makes it good or bad. Take, for example, a knife. A knife is a tool. It isn't inherently good or bad. Use it to chop up veggies for a stir fry, and that is a mighty good thing (because who doesn't like a good veggie stir fry, am I right?). Use that same knife to stab someone until they bleed, and that's not only bad, that's TERRIBLE AND MURDEROUS.




Social media can appear to be problematic. We can very easily feel like life is just one big competition because we are constantly exposed to others' successes. BUT when you think about it, why should we place all the blame on that? We are just as accountable because we are ALLOWING ourselves to be exposed and to be part of this. It's not about social media; it's about the power we get from it, and how we choose to use that power.

If we are feeling like social media is consuming our lives and becoming too toxic, why can't we withdraw ourselves without the fear of being judged negatively? Why are people talking so much about Essena leaving YouTube and Instagram? She chose to put her life there, so she has every right to remove herself when she wanted to. Essena chose to use that power for something else other than to uphold her online persona. She smashed down the screen to reveal her true self. Isn't that what we want of people in the first place? So shouldn't we be applauding her for her bravery in the present, rather than giving her hate on what she chose to do in the past?

Let's focus on what her message is. Her message hasn't changed at all, despite her departure from social media. She still advocates veganism, being true to yourself, doing things that make you happy. Only one thing has changed, how she is choosing to spread her message. But her overall goal is still the same.

Why are people hating on someone who is trying to find a better way to spread a message she feels is important? Oh look, a knife isn't working well to grind those almonds into almond flour, let's use a food processor. In other words, she is finding a new tool to use, is that a bad thing? Her message is still the same, if not clearer.

Two wonderful people also shared their thoughts on social media. Lucy from Loepsie and Kassie from Cloudy Apples.

Here's Kassie's video:



I love them. They are also people I follow on YouTube. I was really inspired by what they had to say about this topic. They shared some very good points, which I also agree with. Definitely check them out to hear more about this topic.

Yes social media can make our self-esteem go down the toilet. Yes it doesn't accurately portray our lives in the realest manner. But that doesn't mean it's bad. If the messages spread through this tool are valuable and inspirational, then isn't it a good thing?

We can make it a good thing. There are plenty of people who use it to spread good messages. We shouldn't focus on whether or not social media is fake, but rather we should focus on the influence of social media and what we can use it for.

We shouldn't be placing so much attention on Essena leaving social media. We should be caring more about what it is she wants to say. Yeah, okay she left social media. So what? Lot's of people don't use social media. I'm pretty sure there are at least two people in your family who don't. Don't lie to me. So, yeah she left. But what about the messages she's been trying to spread? Veganism and living your life for yourself not for others. Let's focus on that instead. Use that energy to debate about those topics instead.

Bottom line is, yeah social media is fake, but only to some extent. However much of a lie it holds depends on the person. It's only fake because of the person who made it fake. There are plenty of people out there who do not make it fake. If we can accept that the person down the street chose to dye their hair neon green, why can't we just accept the choices people make in how they want their lives to be displayed?

I hope I didn't offend anyone with what I had to say. I really wanted to share my thoughts on this topic. I know it was quite long so, thanks for reading!

What are your thoughts on social media? Is it fake? Lemme know in the comments below! I would love to read your thoughts on this topic. 


Til next time,
~A