College Graduation

On May 9, 2014, I officially graduated from college! These four years were difficult and tedious at times but definitely went by so quickly. I felt like it was just yesterday that I first moved to Richmond and began my college experience. It's hard to believe my days of being a student is over and I'm about to enter the working world. Uhhh I'm not sure I'm ready?

I had my first graduation at 3 pm, which was the Honors graduation. It was for all students who have been in the Honors College and are graduating with University Honors. We had to meet at the Honors College first in West Grace. I thought I was going to be late because the traffic on campus was so bad. Then they made us walk out in the heat all the way to the Singleton Center. Not to mention, we took the long way around. As my usual clumsy self, I stepped in a hole and almost fell on my face. I caught myself somehow. We had been having such cool weather but graduation day was extremely hot. There was a heat wave that particular weekend.

The graduation was not too long. As proof of graduating with University honors, we were given an Honors diploma and a medal. Then they served us food inside the Singleton center and just to socialize. I had some friends in there and we hung out for a bit because our Nursing graduation wasn't until 7 pm.

There was still quite a bit of time before the Nursing graduation so my family had a photoshoot in some of the nice areas on campus. I was wearing pretty high heels so my feet were killing me. I didn't expect to do that much walking that day. I actually changed into flip flops later on but I kept my socks on so I was the weirdo walking around flip flops and socks in 90F degree weather around campus. The flowers are from my parents and my little brother. 

The Nursing graduation was at 7pm but doors opened at 6pm. It was held in the Siegel Center, which my roommate commented as an unusually large space for such a small class. The School of Nursing graduation was special in that it wasn't just an undergraduate event. We also graduated with Masters and Ph.D students. The event was a short one since we are not a very large school to begin with. We had a total of 180 graduates, including those who did not attend graduation that day.

Afterwards, I had a graduation dinner with my family and roommate that attended my graduation. My parents and brother were with me also for the 3pm graduation, and my aunt and her family joined us for the 7pm graduation. The traffic was so bad that they barely made it. They said they had arrived just as we were doing our procession into our seats. My grandmother was supposed to come but she somehow became MIA that day. Anyway, the Nursing School gave us some freebies. Graduation was definitely bittersweet. I mean, that's the end of one phase of my life. For pretty much all of my life, student life has been all I've known. I mean, I've held jobs and been slightly independent but school has been the main focus. Now school isn't even in the picture. It is a welcome change but all types of change are pretty scary at first.

My Lip Therapy Routine

This winter has been especially harsh and cold. It's probably the worst winter I have ever experienced. We had so many snow and icy days that it really messed up my schedule. Not to mention all the days where the whole day stayed below freezing. On normal winters, my lips already suffer. They suffered especially worse this last winter so I really needed to keep a routine to save my lips from being cracked and painful. So here are the products I have been using:

I have already done a review on these balm stains. You can see that review here. These are great for giving color and moisture at the same time. Although, the pink balm stain "Sweetheart" has such a much better color pay off than the red balm stain "Romantic". Another tried and true product for me is the Burt's Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm. Burt's Bees products are super moisturizing and provide great protection to cold winter winds. The only downside is they don't taste good if you accidentally lick your lips. I have a habit or licking my lips so it wreaks havoc on my taste buds. However, I use this lip balm at night and apply liberally on my lips right before I go to bed. Think of it like a moisturizing night cream except for your lips. It can work its magic through the night and my lips feel soft by the morning.

One product that I only recently started using are these Eos Lip Balms. Everyone has been using them and really raving about them. The packaging is definitely adorable. I got "Sweet Mint" and "Strawberry Sorbet" since Ulta was having a deal on these. They both smell great. I like "Sweet Mint" better because the peppermint leaves my lips cool and tingly. However, I was a bit disappointed that they don't moisturize as well as my Burt's Bees lip balms. I do have to keep reapplying it all throughout the day. The good thing about these lip balms is that they are pretty tasteless. Unlike my Burt's Bees, they don't leave a bad taste so I don't have to cringe about reapplying them and accidentally licking my lips through the day. Also, they do dry quickly so they won't leave a super sticky feeling on the lips. In a way, it's like they dry to make a barrier between your lips and the environment. In other words, this makes for a great day lip balm.

My last product is the Bliss Fabulips Sugar Lip Scrub which is a bit of a splurge for me since I bought it full price at $18 at Ulta. The smells is really sweet and delicious. I love the texture. I use it right before I shower. It definitely removes dead, chapped skin because in the shower the skin pretty much comes off with ease and I am left with smooth soft lips after my shower. It does look like a small container but you don't actually need to use a lot of product to get results. I mean, sometimes I feel like I'm applying liberally but then I still have a lot of product in the container. I definitely recommend this.

So there is what I use for my lip routine. Basically Bliss lip scrub before I shower (and I usually shower at night) and then Burt's Bees lip balm after the shower and before I go to sleep. I wake up and use either my eos lip balms if I want clear lips or my revlon balm stains for some color. I'm proud to say my lips were able to survive the cold harsh winter!