"That's so gay"

Today I wanted to talk about a more serious issue on my blog. Recently Connor Franta posted his coming out video. I wanted to first say a huge congratulations to Connor and commend you on your courage. It couldn't have been an easy thing to do.

In light of his video, it reminded me about how people all around me use the word gay in a derogatory way and I hate it and I wanted to bring it up on my blog today.
"OMG I've got so much homework" "That's so gay" I don't know whether it is just a New Zealand thing but I hear people saying that all the time and I hate it. It makes me cringe and I'm not even gay. You don't have to be gay to feel this way, just human. Don't say something is gay when you mean dumb or stupid. 

The way people use the phrase, "That's so gay" makes the word gay seem like such a negative word. It carries such a negative connotation in that sentence and makes it even harder for people to come out when people talk about gay in such a negative way. The best way for me to explain it is imagine if the word gay was replaced with your name and people went around saying, "Look at that ugly painting. That's so Sam" or "Ew That  hairstyle is so James" (sorry to all the sam and james' out there, i was just trying to make a point. )

I know that it just happens naturally and no one really takes a second notice but maybe it is time that someone did. I've heard people (boy and girl) saying "That's so gay" casually in conversations for a long time. It might just be a word but to someone who is struggling with their sexuality - it represents years of discrimination, bullying and oppression. 

Just a point that I wanted to make in today's blog. Comment below any thoughts you have on today's topic. Love you.Zoe

DIY paint chip Christmas card

I love making personalised Christmas cards. Recently I ran out of coloured card stock and decided to use paint chips instead.  I saw this idea on pinterest and I fell in love with the design it is great if you have lots of friends and families you want to give cards to and don't want to spend the money buying cards.

What you'll need:

1. Glue

2. Green paint chips

3. Scissors.

4. Card stock in the colour of yor choice

Step 1:

Cut out the card stock into the size card you want and fold it in half. 

Step 2:

Choose three different shades of green to create an ombré look and cut them out. 

Then glue them onto a scrap piece of paper so they are all connected together. This step is optional but I find it easier to cut the Christmas tree shape.

Step 3:

Measure the middle of the top colour. Then draw a line to the corner of the bottom colour  and repeat on the otherside creating a big triangle. 

Step 4: 

Glue the triangle onto your card stock and decorate it however you want. I glued some sparkly sequins on the top and added some glitter! 

And voila! Comment below if you make this for Christmas. Let me know how it goes. I would love to see them. 

Writing letters to future self

I can't believe I am so close to being finished with high school. Just a few more days left. As part of a whole year group school project we are supposed to write letters to ourselves which will be placed in a time capsule and re-opened in 15 years.

15 years is a long time. I can't even imagine my life one year later, let alone 15 years. So that's what I did today.

Writing this letter made me very teary because the past 17 years of my life has been pretty amazing. I can't complain.  I've been lucky enough to go to a good school, have a great family and made some incredible friends.

This letter was really difficult for me to write because I don't have any expectations of myself in 15 years. Will I be married, have kids? Did I end up studying engineering? What will my job be? Please let me have a job and a dog. I really really want a dog.

The truth is if I open my letter in 15 years and my life is completely different to how I thought it would be, I am completely okay with that.

I am excited to open that letter in 15 years. I highly recommend doing this because it is just cool to see how your life changed.

Comment below if you've done this before and how it went for you.

Quote of the day

I'm starting a new series called quote of the day where I basically pick a quote that stands out to me and over analyse it, pretending I'm an English student when in reality I dropped English in year 11.

I spend way too much time looking at quotes of Tumblr,  pinterest and we heart it (dont deny it) but I just love how much they connect with me. Plus I've always been a sucker for cheesy quotes. We all need a little cheese in our lives (I prefer my cheese on pizza though).

The quote of today is

This one jumped at me since I just finished my NCEA  exams forever! 

I still can't believe that I am done with high school. It's been a crazy 13 years of my life and like the quote says, it was worth it in the end. 

Back to the quote, this one has a really special place in my heart because I was such a nerd in high school.  Looking back I probably spent way too much time on academics and didn't get out enough. But I don't regret anything because all the studying really paid off and I am so proud of my grades and everything. I spent weeks studying and giving up my social life but now it feels great, knowing that I did as much as I could and I am free for a whole 3 months! I can't wait. In saying that though, I still made some amazing friends who I know will be my friends for the rest of my life. I can't wait for my life after school! 

Shout out to my fellow high school  graduates of 2014. Comment below how you feel about being finished with high school and for the rest of your life!

Moon cake Festival

It's nearly time for moon cake! I love mid autumn festival- it is a time where us Chinese come together to celebrate autumn and good food! It is always held on 15th of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. I recently got given some moon cake from family friends and wanted to share this with everyone. I love moon cake - it is basically pastry filled with delicious Chinese fillings. The one that I ate was filled with red bean which is my favourite filling. Others fillings included egg and chia seeds, and nuts but I prefer the red bean. It is nice, sweet and really creamy! 

Japanese donburi for dinner

Yesterday for dinner we had a couple of friends over and we decided to indulge in some Japanese food. We actually ended up getting takeaway from this place in the city called Ramen Do- Real Japanese. I love Japanese Food and I have never really found a good donburi. Sure I've had lots of great sushi but never a good donburi place but I think I've finally found it. Ramen Do- You rock! The price is also quite reasonable. I had a GrabOne Coupon but original price is only $12 bucks I think which is a bargain for good food and you get a really big bowl. I'm really impressed.  In case you don't know what donburi is, it is basically rice with some salad and lots of meat. You can get chicken, fish, pork and lots of other delicious toppings.

Check out their website if you like Japanese Food-http://www.ramendo.co.nz/menu

I got the Karrage Chicken Donburi which was so freaking good.It was basically deep fried chicken in soy sauce and it was so amazing. The chicken was really nice and not overcooked.

 

My friend actually go the Katsu donburi which is deep fried pork cutlets and it looks so good. She let me try some and it was really good. I preferred the chicken but the pork was nice and cripsy and had a great balance of salt and sweet.

Glittery Prom Nails

These are the nails I wore to my school ball/prom. I actually did this myself an it went really well with my dress. I wore a white dress with a sparkly sweetheart neckline. Comment below if you want to see the dress and shoes that I wore. I love anything that is sparkly so I love these nails so much. 

I used the Sally Hansen pulled sugar is the shade 260. I applied about 2 coats of this since it is quite sheer but super shimmery! I love it so much.

 Then I applied one coat of revlon sequins which is just a chunky glitter polish. I still haven't found many ways to wear this yet but I love it paired with Sally Hansen pulled sugar!

Please ignore the chip on the ring finger. I took the photo on the day after the ball and with all the crazy dancing my nails got a little chipped.