Get the PERFECT nail polish every tim

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Some lucky people in this world have been gifted with the ability to apply nail polish perfectly! For me on the other hand, I am not one of those lucky people. But just because I am not one of those lucky people (my nail polish ends up all over my skin when I do it myself) and neither may you, does not mean we can't get the perfect nail polish at home! 

I have some tips and tricks for you..mainly one trick!

What do you need?

VASELINE

Q-TIPS

What do you need to do for the perfect nails?

1. Dab the Q-tip in the vaseline

2.Dab Q-tip around your nails, not on your nails, but the skin around it. If you do get some on your nails, worry not! Get another Q-tip, dab some acetone and clean off the nail, leaving the skin around your nail with the vaseline.

3. Pain your nails like usual and let them dry

4.Use another Q-tip to clean up the vaseline on your skin. When you wipe it off, the nail polish will come right off with it! 

Now how amazing is that?!?!

Nail Your Internship Interview

Hey guys! 

So back in early March I went in for my interview for an internship! Let me first just say that it was the most nerve wrecking, puke evoking experience of life! This particular internship is for the NYC DOE for School Psychology. There are only 22 positions and over 60 students applied. Anyway, I got it the internship! I prepared prepared prepared for it...and this is what inspired todays post! 

Interviews can be an anxiety provoking experience. My interview was...let me just say more like an interrogation, rather than an interview, however I pushed through and shined! So here are my top tips to help you get that internship. 

Breathe: Okay this sounds like something you would already know, but it is something you might forget to do. What I mean is to go in there calm. Take a deep breath and let it out. You don't want to let your nerves get the best of you, so I suggest taking some breathes before going into the interview and during the interview as well. 

Think before you answer: Okay that's another one that I bet some of you may say "duh!" However, sometimes when you are nervous, you word vomit and that is not a good thing. Whenever they ask you a question, think about your answer before blurting something out. Trust me, I know! I was asked a question regarding bullying and instead of saying that Bullying is a hot topic now in the field of education, I said it was the new fad. Like really? I used the word "fad"-hence word vomit! It is okay to say "that is a very interesting question, let me take a moment to gather my thoughts about it." That was the next strategy I used after sed word vomit! 

Smile: Yes smile girl smile! Show those pearly whites! You want to be personable. Although you may be nervous, you want to show that you have good interpersonal skills. Smile and look attentive to the questions.

Repeat the question when answering: So what I mean by that is if they ask you a question, word the question in your answer. Example: What would you do if your supervisor asked you to do something unethical? Ans:"If my supervisor asked me to do something unethical I would..." Rewording and reframing your answer shows that you are attentive to the question.

Eye Contact: Yes give eye contact! No matter how intimated you may feel, give them eye contact. It shows that you are confident. No one wants to hire someone that doesn't look people in the eye. 

Confidence: Not cockiness! Go in there like you already have the position! In your mind, think of the interview as a conversation with people you will be working with. If you go in there like you got it, they will see how confident you are. Remember there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness though! 

Ask a question: ALWAYS have a question at the end when they ask you if you have any questions. The best way to do that is to research wherever you are applying to. Check there website out, brochures, ect. From there you can pull out some questions that interest you. "I noticed on your website there is information regarding..."

Dress the part: Attire is key! Dress professional, not like your hanging out with friends. You always want to make a good impression

Remember that it is normal to be nervous, but if your positive, confident, and you breathe, you will be able to go in there and nail it! 

Balancing Grad School, Work, & Blogging

Who ever said going to school and working was easy, lied! & to add on top of that blogging and working out..it damn near seems impossible. Seeming impossible and being impossible are two different things though! Nothing is impossible. Okay, maybe some things are, but going to Grad school, working, and blogging...well that is not impossible. I'm doing it right now. 

With that being said, I decided to come up with a list of strategies I use to balance my life...with coffee thrown in the mix there! 

One of the things I have learned over the years is the importance of keeping a schedule. Let me explain. In grad school, you'll have tons of work to do, plus on top of that your actual job, which may contain meetings and what not like mine, and add wanting to blog to that mix. Keeping a schedule helps with all that stuff. You know when things are due, when meetings are and when you want to blog. For instance, lots of times, I plan my blog posts ahead. So I have an idea of what I want to write about. When its time to blog, I pull out my ideas and get to writing. Same goes with school and work.  I schedule in when I need to do reading or write an essay, and I schedule in what days I will blog.

Keeping on top of work sounds easy, but it isn't. That in itself is a hard job to accomplish. Let something get behind, you tell yourself "I'll do it later" Later comes and it doesn't get done. School is my main priority. My job comes second to school. Because I love blogging, I stay on top of my studies so I can find time for blogging. Knowing when I have to do something and actually getting it done helps with that balance and time. 

Weekends are my best friend. No, I do not go out and party, okay on rear occasion I do. But weekends I primarily use for blogging. I use this time to plan my blog post and catch up on any school work that I may have gotten lazy on. 

Taking me time also is a big thing. Having a few hours to just focus on myself. Whether it be reading a book (that is not school work) or meditating, that time to myself helps me refocus. My brain doesn't become all mush because of all the the things I have to do, rather I can relax my brain doing something that I enjoy, then get back to my scheduled actives. 

BLOG DESIGN GIVEAWAY!

So Spring is basically here and what better way to celebrate then with a Blog Design giveaway! Okay, to be honest, I really wanted to celebrate me getting this internship I applied for! Spring is just another reason to have design giveaway! 

So what are the rules? Well they are totally simple! Tweet and Follow me on pinterest! What? Thats it? yup! That is it!! Oh and one more thing. This giveaway is for blogger hosted blogs only! Sorry Wordpress! I will be having a giveaway for wordpress blogs soon, but this one is only for Blogger hosted blogs! Oh and before I forget, If you would like a character illustration, you can purchase one with the giveaway! 

It will be up for about a week and a half and you can tweet once a day to up your chances at winning!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Study: Midterm/Finals

Finals are already here! I feel like it has come by so fast! It is insane!!! In Grad School, it feels like the semester starts and bam! Midterms are already here. It comes so fast. Then there are finals! Anyway, here are some tips to help you guys with those dreaded midterms! Being in Grad school and taking midterms are not much different than undergrad. The only thing I would say is because most grad students also work, we just have less time to study than the average undergrad student does. So, I decided to come up with some tips that can help everyone out, even if its not during midterms, we can always use some study tips. 

Find time! 
Okay, this may be a little hard during grad school, but finding time to study is key. Even if you have 15 minutes in between classes, or 15 minutes in between things at work, take out your notes and read them over. I cannot over emphasize how those 15 minutes can help you out so much. 
Take notes while you read!
I find this to be one of the best study tips I personally use. In grad school, there is an abundance of reading that is required. Lets be honest, you are not going to remember every little thing you read, unless you are Dr. Reid from Criminal Minds. If you are, then you really don't even need to read my tips. If not, I would suggest take notes while you read. Instead of re-reading everything, you can go back to your notes to study. 
Study in a quiet place!
So this is so important when studying! Going to the library and just sitting there does not count as studying..just saying! Find a quiet place, whether it is the library, your room or apartment so a place on campus. Finding a quiet place allows you to simply focus on what you are there for with no distractions.
Turn off all electronics! 
This is part of that distraction thing. Put your phone on silent and keep in away from you. If you have to block certain websites if you need to use a computer. It is better to not have any electronics around. Come on you know you will be temped to check your messages and go on Facebook or twitter. The less distractions the better it will be for you to focus on what you need to when studying. 
Don't cram!
Yes you read that right. Do not cram! Trust me, you will not retain any information. Instead of cramming, study beforehand. Lets say a week or so in advance. This way, you have enough time to retain the information and be able to understand it, not just memorize. If you read your notes when you have spare time, this will make it so much easier for you. Pulling all nighters in Grad school is not as fun as it used to be during those undergrad years. 
Take Breaks!
Yes please take breaks! You need time for your brain to relax. It goes along with cramming. If you try to remember all the information at once, odds are you are not going to remember anything!  We do not want that do we? So take breaks. Study for an hour, take a half hour break.
Eat a good breakfast! Okay I know you heard this one before! But it is true. Eat a good breakfast in the morning before your test and you will have enough energy to knock that bad boy out the park!  If your classes are during the evening, like most Grad classes are, I would suggest having a snack before the exam. You do not want to have a heavy meal that will make you tired during your exam, but something light that will keep your tummy from rumbling. 
Get a good night sleep before the exam! Yes, you heard this one before too, but studies prove that when you get a good night sleep, you will perform better. Why? Well your rested of course! No one wants to take and exam tired.

What I learned from my HORRIBLE college roomie

So let me give you a little history before I go into my Horror Story! So I graduated from Undergrad in 2014 and I never lived off campus during those four years of college. Anyway, one of my friends moved out right after graduation. She just got a new roommate and she was telling me how horrible this person is...literally we were talking about it a few hours ago. It got me to reminisce about that one roommate I had that I swear I wanted to kill! 

So here it is..my roommate horror story and what I learned! 

Back during Freshman year, I moved into a suite with another freshman girl. The entire suite, besides us two were seniors. Now I know you are probably thinking it is the seniors who make this horror story, nope it was my very roommate. So before moving in, we emailed and talked about things we liked and didn't like. It was like roommate expectations. For instance, I made sure to note that I am a neat freak, she said it was all good because she was extremely clean. Well, that was a lie! 

So we moved in together and the first few days were great...and then the horror started! 

So let me explain how neat I am, I do my bed every mourning, make sure everything is away, no clothes hanging out of my closet, or dirty clothes on the floor, every weekend I do a nice cleaning. Is that too bad? I don't think so. 

Anyway, so she started to not make her bed..not so much a big deal to me, only thing her comforter was hanging off her bed onto the middle of the floor. Clothes would hang outside her closet..looked liked a tornado, but she didn't even close her closet so everyone could see how crazy it looked, and ohh the worst part which really got me...she would leave her dirty clothes all over the floor...including panties! THAT WAS LIKE WHAT GOT ME THE MOST! Who leaves dirty panties on the floor? Like really that is so disgusting! 

I tried to have a conversation with her, told her how unhygienic that is. No wants to see dirty panties on the floor! She said she would try better...did that happen? No! I was getting so fed up! Like really..I could not stand to bring anyone to my room nor could I stand to want to be in my own room. Then the worst of the worst happened. She left a tampon applicator out on our dresser! 

And that is when I wanted to kill her! Literally kill her! So I had a nice little conversation..more like a one-sided conversation and told her how disgusting that was! Our room was closest to the bathroom and she could have gone there or threw it out in the garbage. 

What did I learn?

1. Make sure the person you move in with is clean

2. Make a cleaning chart-this way the person is sure to clean

3. Never move in with someone without meeting them first

Favorite School Supplies: Grad School Edition

One of my favorite things (as mentioned before) is shopping for school supplies. I don't know what it is about school supplies that I love shopping for. Pens, highlighters, cute notebooks...it all excites me! (I'm a wierdo, I know!)

So my classes don't start until next week and I already did my school supply shopping! There really isn't much of a difference when shopping for Grad school, than Undergrad. It's all about personal preference. Much of the things I use are basically the same. Besides binders. During Undergrad, I liked to use notebooks, binders were never my thing, until Grad school.

Here are my recommendations & favorites!

1. Binders

In Grad School, I have more of a preference for binders instead of notebooks. Binders make it easy to add pages and take out, especially when studying for exams. I personally like to take notes while I read, and in class, so binders make it easy to just add a page to something if we talk about it during class. It is great to keep all your classes also in one place. No need to carry around a trillion notebooks. 

2. Pens

These Paper Mate ball point pens are my absolute favorite! They write so smooth and I just love them. You know how everyone has that one favorite pen, well these are mine. I personally do not use pencils, I am a pen kind of girl and these are my go to pens. 

How to Create a Blog Button

Welcome to the first blog design tutorial! So as you guys may or may not know, I am a blog designer. It is one of my favorite things to do. I just love it! Somethings are pretty tough and other things on pretty easy. So I thought why not give you guys a quick tutorial on a blog design element!

Today we are going to talk about making a Blog Design Button. These little babies are extremely useful on your blog. They are great for sharing on other blogs and can be used as advertisement. 

Below is a simple blog button I created and I am going to show you how to do so. 

Step 1: Design Your Button

First you must create the button using a design software. I use photoshop. 

Create a 200x200 canvas. This canvas is what you will put your text on. 

As you can see in the above picture that is the text and a graphic.

Step 2: Save & Upload

Save it in .png format and then upload it to a photo sharing website such as tiny pic or photobucket.

Pretty easy huh? Next is the coding.

Step 3: Coding

BELOW IS THE CODE

Copy the above code & paste it in an HTML/JAVASCRIPT gadget on blogger. 

Step 4: Edit Code

So to make it your own, you need to edit the button! I am going to walk you through that.

1. Change the lines "http://www.christinalorainedesigns.com/pic.png" to your photo link. 

Change "BLOG NAME GRAB BUTTON" to your blog name. Make sure to keep the quotation marks.

2. Change the line "http://www.christinalorainedesigns.com" to your blog link. Also, make sure to keep the quotation marks.

Click save and bam! There you go, a new blog button :) 

Pretty City Blog Design Board

This simple, yet chic blog design board is perfect. The colors compliment each other and it is clean and put together.