Top 4 Posts of the Year!

    It's hard to believe another year has flown by and tomorrow is the beginning of a new year. Originally I was going to do a Top 10 post, but honestly I don't really think I have that many posts worthy of being the a Top 10 list, so I settled for a Top 4 list.
    So here are the four blog posts I'm most proud of, and I hope you think so too!


1.) My Online High School Experience
   - If you haven't read this you totally should.

2.) How I Saved My Damaged Hair
  - If you color you're hair often, then you have to read this.

3.)Book Review: Caitlyn Duffy- The Viscount's Daughter
  - This was by far the best book I've read all year, and this post was probably my favorite to write because I couldn't say enough good things about it, it really did touch me, and made me want to start reading more after spending the past year not really reading.

4.) Book Review: Mira Lyn Kelly- Waking Up Married
  - This was the beginning of my decision to change up my blog. It was after this post that I got serious about my blogging, and started to make changes and spend more time focusing on what I was publishing.


   As you can tell all of these, are from the past six months, actually all of them except one is from the past three months. The reason for that is because I feel like something hit me during September and October that made me really start trying harder with everything.
     Around the first of October I started to get really inspired, I was inspired to become a better person, and to work harder at everything I do. I had always enjoyed blogging, but I never really put a lot of effort into it.
     The past few months I've made a lot of changes, and near the end of next month I'll be announcing more changes, that is a promise to all of you. I've already decided what I'm going to do, and I'm really excited to share all of my upcoming changes with you.

    Well that's all for the YEAR, I hope you have a good New Years Eve, and please just remember to be careful, and if you're going to be drinking please do so responsibly.
                                                                     Stay Creative,
                                                                                      Lori Ann

Weight Loss Monday's: Week 46 & 47

   Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of the year? And that means today is the last Weight Loss Monday's post of the year. Wow, it's really hard to believe that.
       Last week I chose not to make a WLM's post because I didn't think anyone would read it with all of the Holiday celebrations going on last week. Another reason for that is because I'm kinda getting tired of doing this every week since I don't necessarily have something to tell you every single week.
      My schedule is really full next month, I think I only like writing one post and then I'll have the entire month filled up, so because of that I don't have room to make any changes quite just yet. But there are changes coming in February, I will announce these changes the last week of January, and I'm really excited to tell all of you about it.
      But since I can't tell you anymore right now let's get started with this week's weight update.

Diet: I had three Christmas dinners last week, we went to my Nana's house last Sunday, my Aunt Jane's house on Christmas Eve, and then my mom cooked on Christmas Day. I did eat a little bit more than normal, but I made sure I didn't overeat or get too full.  Last week I was craving chocolate really bad, so I made Oreo truffles, and they were amazing, I still have a few left too.

Exercise: I did get a little bit of exercise last week, but not enough. I've been sick, and I haven't been getting but about 2 hours of sleep at night so I haven't had the energy to do any exercise.

So did I lose any weight?

Weight Lost this week:   1 Pound
Total Weight Loss:        17 Pounds

     I lost one pound, I was not expecting it at all. To be honest I actually wrote this post on Saturday, and the scale wasn't showing any difference but when I weighed myself Yesterday I had lost a pound, so I had to rewrite some of this post.
    Even if I hadn't lost any weight last week i'd still be happy, I'm leaving the year a very happy girl. I finished my English course last week and I got my grades back, on one of my research papers I got a 90%, and then on my English Midterm I got a 100%, so I'm super happy about that.

   That's all for today, tomorrow I'll be posting my Top 4 posts of the year, Wednesday will be my New Years Resolutions, and Thursday will be the Shows I'm Looking Forward to Watching this Winter. So as you can see this week is a full week, and I will be posting everyday, I think that's a great way to start off the new year, and I hope you enjoy it.
                                                          Stay Creative,
                                                                           Lori Ann

5 Words: Week 50

      Happy Friday, I can't believe this is the last 5 Words post of the year I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, now it's time to star counting down to the New Year, and I can't wait to start fresh.
       This week we actually have a bit of a theme going on, all five words start with an 'E', it wasn't intentional, it just happened, but I hope you like it.
             Here's this weeks's 5 Words.....


Effervescent- Bubbling.
Efflorescence- Flowering, blooming
Elision- Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Embrocation- Rubbing on a lotion.
Ephemeral- Short-lived.


Well that's all for this week, be sure to check back in next week, it's going to be busy, I promise.
                                                          Stay Creative,
                                                                     Lori Ann

Merry Christmas

     I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas this year, and I wanted to say that I hope you enjoy your holiday.

    I also hope you have fun celebrating the New Year, but please be careful, and remember it's never a good idea to drink and drive.


                                   Stay safe, Stay happy, and enjoy this time with your family.
                                                                       Stay Creative,
                                                                                     Lori Ann

Christmas Music Playlist #4

  Can you believe there's only a few more days till Christmas? I finally got all of my presents wrapped last night, so I'm offically done. I can't finally sit back, relax, and enjoy the holiday.
   I'm actually sad that Christmas is here, I don't want it to end, the reason I love this time of year so much is because everyoe is so happy. During he Christmas season everyone is so much more giving, happy, and just all around joyful.
   But for now here's my final Christmas music playlist for his Holiday season.

Christmas Music Playlist by loriboyd featuring cable lighting

         Well that's all for today, I hope you enjoyed this playlist, and I hope you have a Holly Jolly Christmas.

                                                           Stay Creative, 

                                                                           Lori Ann

5 Words: Week 49

   Happy Friday!! I can't believe Christmas is next week, and then the New Year after that. It really is hard to believe another ear has come and gone, but hopefully more great things are to come.
            So until then here's this weeks 5 Words......


Cynosure- A focal point of admiration.
Demesne- Dominion, territory.
Desultory- Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous- Filmy.
Ebullience- Bubbling enthusiasm.


   Well that's all for this week, be sure to check back Sunday for my fourth Christmas Music Playlist.
                                                             Stay Creative,
                                                                             Lori Ann

Dream Time-Bed Time

    You may have noticed that this month I haven't really done any reviews, and that most of my posts have been centered around lists, or some of my Polyvore sets.
    The reason behind this is because with the Holiday's and everyone being busy, I really just wanna put out easy to read posts, I don't wanna waste your time, so I decided to just tone it down this month, and just chill.

Dream Time-Bed Time by loriboyd featuring queen pillowcases

     I love to sleep, it's one of my favorite things in the world, I take a nap most days of the week, and by doing that I feel like I have more energy.
    So for today's set I wanted to make it sleep related, as you can see there's lots of blankets and pillows. To me it just looks really cozy, and I just wanna grab one of those blankets and curl up on the couch with a good book, or maybe take a nap.
      That's all for today, do you like my little set? Is that what you call it? Yikes, you really can tell I'm new to Polyvore can't you.
                                                 Stay Creative,
                                                                  Lori Ann

Demi Lovato Inspired Outfit

I recently opened up a Polyvore account, and I've been experimenting with it. And I decided today that I wanted to a Demi Lovato inspired photo.
    Demi has a style of her own, she's always changing her hair, wearing leather jackets, and usually leather legging or shredded black jeans, with a band tee, and ankle boots.
   

Demi Lovato Inspired Outfit by loriboyd featuring bootie boots

     I feel like this is a pretty good perception of her style because over the past year I've seen A LOT of photos of her with a phone case, boots, and purse exactly like the one in my set.


      So that's all for today, I hope you enjoyed this post.
                                                        Stay Creative,
                                                                         Lori Ann

Weight Loss Monday's Week 45

     Happy Monday! I ope your week is off to a great start, and hopefully you get to take a little bit of time to relax this week.
     I'm hoping that if my mom can find the time hopefully today I can go take my test to get my drivers permit, I've been trying to get her to take me since my birthday in March, but she's been too busy with work, so I MADE her give me the $20 on Friday and I TOLD her we WERE going this week to do it. I'm just hoping she actually listened to me.

     So for now here's what happened last week.....

Diet: My diet has been pretty good this week, I've stayed under my calorie goal (1200 calories) everyday.
Exercise: I've really slacked off on my exercise this week, I'm disappointed, but I'm definitely getting back on track this week.

   For the biggest part the main reason I didn't really exercise last week is because I was sick all week, my stomach was really upset from the weekend before when we were stuck in the hotel, with very little food option.
     Another reason is because I was really stressed this week, and I needed a break. I kinda had a little breakdown, Thursday I had a severe Anxiety/Panic attack, and so I've been trying to slow down since then, and just relax. It really scared me,because it had been a while since my last Anxiety/Panic attack and I wasn't prepared for it at all.

    So did I lose any weight?

Weight Lost this Week:     2 Pounds
Total Weight Loss:           16 pounds

    I was shocked when I stepped on the scale and saw that I had lost two pounds, it really suprised me, and I wasn't expecting it.

     That's all for today, I'll be posting one of my Polyvore creations tomorrow and again on Wednesday, so don't forget to check back for that.
                                                          Stay Creative,
                                                                         Lori Ann

Christmas Music Playlist #3

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! So we are officially in Christmas countdown mode, we have less than two weeks to go.
    I finished my Christmas shopping on Friday, and I'm hoping to have everything wrapped by the end of the week.
     If things work out the way I want them to then we will be going to our church's annual Return to Bethlehem event tonight. But that's only if things workout the way I want them to, I really wanna go, but my plans may fall through.

Christmas Music Playlist by loriboyd featuring christmas signs

   After this week I only have one more Christmas Music Playlist to go, so I'm kinda sad about that, but I'm also excited to share next weeks playlist with you.

                         So that's all for today, check back tomorrow for more.

                                                             Stay Creative,

                                                                             Lori Ann

Making Changes

      On Thursday I posted about wanting to change the name of my blog, but after receiving feedback from readers and bloggers, I decided not to. For now anyway.
      I may decide to change it in a few weeks, who knows, but for now I think I'll leave it alone.

    So I didn't change that, but I did change something else. Do you know what it is???

   I decided to get rid of my Bucket List Page, and instead I replaced it with an 18 by 18 Page. I made this decision because with the bucket list there's a lot of stuff on there I can't do till I'm over 18, so in the year I've had that page I only accomplished one thing.
     I made sure that everything on my 18x18 page was something I could do even though I'm a minor.

   Something else I've changed recently is adding a contact me page. I use t have my e-mail and twitter at the bottom of every post, but I decided to get rid of it, that way it would be easier to find.

    A few days ago I asked some people in a writers group I'm in to give me some advice on my blog, I want to thank Rebekah and Alice for their advice. If your reading this you have no idea how much your advice helped.
    Before I made that post I was terrified of anything to do with coding or even attempting to work with HTML, but I faced my fear, and I've been trying to work on it. I want to learn more, and maybe someday I'll be able to actually make a header, but until then I'm satisfied with what I have done.

     At this time yesterday I wouldn't have been able to make that photo appear to save my life, but I did, and it's so freaking COOL! Sorry but I'm really excited and had to show off my new skills!

   So that's all for today, come back tomorrow for my third Christmas Music Playlist. By the way before I go, I just realized that I've written everyday this week, that's the first time I've ever done that.
                                                        Stay Creative,
                                                                       Lori Ann

5 Words: Week 48

   Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week, and I hope your weekend is even better. Remember to be careful and be safe, especially if you live in an area that received a lot of snow or ice this week.
           So here's this week's 5 Words......


Ailurophile- A cat lover.
Beleaguer- To exhaust with attacks.
Bucolic- In a lovely rural setting.
Chatoyant- Like a cat's eye.
Conflate- To blend together.


Well that's all for this week, don't forget to check back Sunday for my third Christmas Music Playlist.
                                                                   Stay Creative,
                                                                                   Lori Ann

Wanting to Make a Change

     I've recently been thinking a lot about my blog, and I mean A LOT. I've mentioned before about planning on spicing things up and doing a major revamp after the first of the year, or around the end of January.
     If you've been reading my blog for a while, then in you saw my major blog design update in October. The reason I've been making all of these changes is because I've been thinking about my long-term goals for my blog. I hope one day to be able to make money off of it, once I turn 18, and I'm eligible for Google Ad-Sense.
    But till then I just want to focus on improving not only my blog, but my writing skills.

   The reason for this blog post is because in the past few weeks I've been at war with myself over a big decision, and so I wanted to get your opinion on it.

    I've been thinking of changing the name of my blog, and maybe the URL too. I'm not too concerned about the URL, but my blog name has been bugging me here recently and I really wanna change it.
    When I made this blog I was 14 or 15, and to be honest, at the time I didn't think I would actually keep this blog running this long. But it's grown into my baby, and I don't know what I would do without it now, I love blogging, and I couldn't imagine going back to my life before I started blogging.
   
    It may just be me because I'm a perfectionist, and I judge myself way too harshly, but to me my blog name seems a bit juvenile. What do you think? I really need your opinion because I have no idea what to do.
                                                                 Stay Creative,
                                                                                 Lori Ann

Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

A few months ago when I was looking for blog post inspiration I came across this, and so I put it on my list of things I wanted to do this year.
    I can't remember where I found this idea, but credit goes to whoever came up with it.

Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me by loriboyd on Polyvore

     If you've read any of these books let me know if they're any good. If you any books you think I should add to my list let me know in the comments section.

                      So that's all for today, I hope you enjoyed this post.

                                                                       Stay Creative, 

                                                                                       Lori Ann

The Skincare Tag!

      I was recently reading a few different blogs and I came across the Skincare Tag.
   No one has tagged me but I thought I would do it for fun, and because I'm into my making sure my skin is taken care of.

Describe your Skincare Routine in 5 words?
- Diligent, gentle, important, easy, simple.

What's your Skin type?

- I have Combination/ Oily skin, sometimes I'll get break outs, but not often.

What's your favorite Skincare product?

- I love my Clinique Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser.

What's your Top Blemish Zapper?

-Toothpaste, it works!

Face Wipes? Yes or No? 

- Yes, I love to use the Neutrogena Make-Up remover wipes, and also the Simple cleansing wipes.

Toner? Yes or No?

- No, I've never used or owned a toner, I don't really see the need for it.


High End Skincare or High end Makeup? 

- I usually stick to drugstore products for both skincare, and make-up. But I do love my Clinique cleanser, and I really love their make-up, I'm planning to splurge next month on a foundation, and maybe some mascara too!

What's the most unusual Skincare product you've tried?

- Toothpaste on pimples, is probably the only thing I've ever done. Once I used Olive Oil on my hands for my eczema, I didn't like it so I stopped using it.

You're in a french Pharmacy & you can only pick 1 item, what would you choose?

- Perfume, I don't own any, so it would be nice to own one.

Top Skincare Tips?

- Always take off your make-up before bed.
  - Don't pick at pimples, I know it's hard, but don't.
    -Never tan, it will age you and can cause skin cancer.
     - See a dermatologist once every year to check for skin cancer.

I tag all of you, don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can see yours too!  I also want to Tag the lovely Dany over at Bluebells & Owls .

    So that's all for today,  let me know what you think in the comment section.
                                                        Stay Creative,
                                                                         Lori Ann
      

Weight Loss Monday's: Week 44

     Happy Monday!!! I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was very interesting, and I was surrounded by a bunch of lunatics, but we had fun.

Diet:  For most of the week everything was pretty good, but the weekend was awful. We had an ice storm over the weekend, and so we've been staying at the hotel my mom works at all weekend, I think we're going home today, but it really just depends on how icy the roads are because another round of ice came through yesterday.
      So because we're in a hotel we've pretty much been eating junk. We had Friday Denny's, Domino's on Saturday, and we had Little Caesars Pizza Yesterday. In between has been hot chocolate, and for breakfast one waffle and some little sliced up sausages.

Exercise:  Well I've kinda made up for my awful diet through working with my mom. I worked the floor Friday for three hours, two hours Saturday, and I worked in laundry for about 30 minutes Yesterday. On top of that Friday night I worked in the gym here in the hotel, and I also worked earlier in the week on the stationary bike.



Weight Lost this Week: ???
Total Weight Loss:  16 Pounds


Because we're in a hotel I don't know if I've lost weight or not. The last time I weighted myself last week I hadn't lost any weight, I was the same as the week before.
 

   So that's all for today, I hope you come back for tomorrows post.
                                                    Stay Creative,
                                                                     Lori Ann

Christmas Music Playlist #2

  Last week I had so much fun making my Christmas music playlist, that I decided to make another.  I think I'm going to post a new playlist every week till Christmas.

     This past week I've been obsessed with the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I'd been listening to it on YouTube, but Wednesday I went to Walmart with my mom, and while we wee near the music section I started looking.
     I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I was just trying to kill some time, and then I found it. And this really surprised me, but I found the Trans Siberian Orchestras Christmas album, so yes I am a very happy girl right now!

Christmas Music Playlist #2 by loriboyd on Polyvore

 I've been trying to think of new ways to spice up my blog, and I'm planning on making some big changes  around the end of January. So my question to you, is would you like for me to do monthly music playlists?

                                                                 Stay Creative, 

                                                                                Lori Ann

5 Words: Week 47

      Happy Friday everyone, I hope you had a good week. I don't have much to say, except that I decided to do another Christmas Playlist and I will be publishing it on Sunday, so if you enjoyed last week's playlist then be sure to check back the new list.
   
                    So here's this weeks 5 Words...

Sardonic- Grimly mocking or cynical.
Supercilious- Behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others.
Soliloquy- An act of speaking one's thought aloud when by oneself  or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character in a play.
Sanguine- Optimistic or positive, esp. in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
Reparation- The making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.


          So that is all for this week, be sure to check back next week.
                                                               Stay Creative,
                                                                               Lori Ann
    

Holiday Party Dresses

    Today I decided I wanted to do a fashion post because I haven't done one in a long time. So I decided since there's going to be a lot of Holiday related parties coming up this month I would make it Holiday-inspired.

    Even though I am only 16 I tend to prefer dressing more conservatively, and I like to keep it classy. There's nothing wrong with showing a little boobs or legs but I don't think you need to do it every day or for every party.

   I'm very blessed to have big boobs and a big butt, but I feel if I'm showing off my boobs then I need to wear a flowy skirt to hide my butt, or viceversa. 

   Most of these dresses will keep you covered up, I didn't plan it that way, I just picked what I liked. And unfortunately all of them except the last one are over $100, and I tried to find cheaper options, but these really were my favorites, and Nordstrom is my favorite store.

Taylor Dresses MetallicJacquard Fit & Flare Dress  $138
   Available at Nordstrom, ( Here )

Vince Camuto Knot Front Sequin Mesh Dress $148.00

     Available at Nordstrom  ( HERE )

Taylor Dresses Side Drape Jersey Sheath Dress $118
    Availble at Nordstrom  ( HERE )

     If you wanna show off your curves and also guarantee no wardrobe malfunctions or body parts slipping out then this is the dress for you. And even better is that you could wear this dress year round, dress it up or dress it down.

Maggy London Mix Print Ponte Knit Sheath Dress $118
      Available at Nordstrom ( HERE )

   This dress would be perfect for. Holiday office party, and it looks so festive. 

dee elle Textured Metallic Skater Dress $48.00
       Available at Nordstrom ( HERE )

    Low budget shopper? I didn't forget you this dress is in the Juniors section, but as long as you get the right size it should fit.

   That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you want more posts like this let me know.

                                                                       Stay Creative,

                                                                                                    Lori Ann

                                                           

Under $25 Gift Guide

      I was playing around on Polyvore earlier today, and I decided to put this together for you. I wanted to make this an under $25 gift guide for those of you who don't have much money to spend on a gift. So here are some gifts to put a smile on a one of your friends face.

Under $25 Gift Guide by loriboyd featuring a sterling silver necklace

         So that's all for today, tell me in the comments what you think. What are your favorite gifts?

                                                            Stay Creative,

                                                                               Lori Ann

Weight Loss Monday's: Week 42 & 43

    I'm back!!!!! And I'm super happy about it, I got a new laptop, temporarily till January, then I'm going to order a Mac.
    The past two weeks have been insane, but a good insane.

Diet: My diet has been pretty good. Last week I could hardly eat because I had an allergic reaction to a new Chapstick I bought and so my lips were swollen and covered in bumps, it's still hard to eat, but my mouth has almost healed.

Exercise: In the past two weeks I have really stepped up the exercise. I've been getting on my stationary bike everyday, in the past two weeks I've only missed 4 days of exercising, but those days I made up for it in walking.

    I've also come to the conclusion that I am allergic to long-haired dogs. I've never had a problem with short-haired dogs, but we tried to take in a dachshund/poodle mix last week, and it ended with me being sick, and having to take the dog back to my aunt.

So Any results?

Weight Lost Last Week:  2 Pounds
Total Weight Loss:  16  Pounds

   Yes, I've lost 2 pounds, and it's really motivated me to keep going, and stay on track.

       So that is all for today, I shall be posting again tomorrow, Wednesday, and Friday, so be sure to check back for that.
                                                 Stay Creative,
                                                                  Lori Ann

Christmas Music Playlist

    It's December, and normally I wouldn't post on a  Sunday, but I don't really care, I wanted to do this post, and this is the only time I have for it in my schedule.
     I would be lying if I said I just started playing Christmas music, because the truth is I've probably been listening to it since September. Yep, that's right September, I'm just a little bit obsessed with the Christmas season.

   I apologize for any mistakes I made, I used a new picture editing program, so it was a little hard getting used to. I just realized that this is actually the first time I've done something like this, I've never made a photo like this, so it's pretty cool.
    So that's all for today, let me know if you have any favorites on this playlist. And if you want to leave some recommendations in the comments, I would love to check them out.
                                                                Stay Creative,
                                                                                       Lori Ann