Hi Loves! Today, I wanted to share with you the top 5 items on my grown-up checklist. One of the most challenging and adventurous aspects of life is setting goals and beginning new journeys. Since I'm approaching adulthood very soon, I decided to create this Grown-Up Checklist, similar to the bucket list of want to accomplish as an adult!

1. Traveling LOTS with friends and family! Every time I return from a vacation, I get to learn something new about myself. Embarking on these adventures and discovering the world and yourself are important steps to living a fulfilling life! 

2. Living a clean, minimalistic life. Some days, our values may be clouded by the materialistic aspects of life. I believe that living a minimalistic life will really open my eyes and allow me to focus on life, its journey, and the beauty of the world, instead of the materialistic things. Plus, having a clean environment to work and live in clears the mind of clutters, allowing me to be more motivated to get things done!

3. Account for my spending. For the past year, I suddenly felt like spending money was WAY easier than saving money and spending wisely. So in my bullet journal, I decided to keep track of my spending for a few months and see how much my living cost would be. I accounted for the little shopping sprees, the lunch money, the toiletries. Everything. The sum was actually very shocking! So over the summer, I ended up making more of my own lunches and it felt great. Not only did my body get cleansed of unhealthy foods and toxins, but I've also felt a lot healthier, customing my own foods, eating more salads, and living this simpler lifestyle. For those of you transitioning from high school to college, or from college to adulthood, it's great to start this method to account for your spendings, just to see how much your living cost will be. This is the perfect method for keeping a balanced budget!

4. Drinking LOTS of water! Now, I don't mean binge-drinking water as if I was a girl at the bar drinking away my sorrows. I want to drink the average human's water consumption, which is about 6-8 cups of water daily. Over the entire summer, I got this Mira 24-oz Water bottle from Amazon and it's the perfect water bottle to maintain my water intake. I just need to drink 2-3 bottles of this and I'm set! The best part is, it's insulated! It keep cold water cool for 24 hours and hot water warm for 12 hours. Now, by the end of the 24 hours, the water won't be ice cold. But it's still pretty chill! I would HIGHLY recommend checking out this amazing water bottle because it's so worth the investment!

5. Do what I love, earn lots of money, give back to the community, and start a charity for abused and abandoned animals. Ever since I was little, I've always wanted to become a humanitarian and start my own charity. Even today, my life's biggest goal is to earn enough money for me to start my own charity for abandoned and abused animals. By earning lots of money, I would be able to establish my own farm/care facility for abused and abandoned animals. Animals are the most loyal creatures a human can have as a companion. Yet, when they're abused, they can't speak for themselves. Humans are always fighting for women's rights, racial equality, wage equality for both genders. But animals can't fight for their own causes when humans are the cause of their abandonment. So I'll fight for them. If the these abused animals regain their happiness, and if our community bands together to aid in this cause, that'll make me a happy lil human being :)

6. Saving up early. Recently, I've read that 40% of millennials don't have current plans for retirement! People of this generation have gained the strength to spend instead of the power to save, making the economy plumage more than ever. Teens of this generation are entering the most debt any generation has experienced before. The worst part is, after graduating from college, they continue to spend and leave the idea of "debt to return" for a decade later. Why not save early? Why not start saving for your future children, so they can have an easier life, financially? Why not pay back your debts early? Why not get rid of this financial burden before it becomes a leash holding you back from a brighter future? One of the best financial tools/apps to budget your personal capital is the app "Personal Capital Money and Investing" by Personal Capital Corporation. It's a free analytics tool that'll aid you in finding YOUR financial strategy in budgeting your lifestyle! While being an independent adult feels fun, don't forget to keep an eye on the future and save up!

Those are the Top 6 Items on my Grown-Up Checklist! I hope these tips to becoming a responsible adult helped!

Til Next time!

Since Back to School season is right around the corner, I thought some Freshman Advice would be the most appropriate to kick off my #BTSSeason series! Here's my advice to all you freshies out there!

1. Don't be skeptical or stereotypical! Be openminded! Not every school is the same, and you never know what type of people you'll end up being friends with!

Although I said freshman year should be taken seriously, stay chill and stay relaxed. STAY SANE because this is only the beginning. ENJOY high school while you're young!

STAY SAFE AND LOVE YOU!

                               ♡♡♡♡♡,

Cathy

PS. Upcoming posts: Backpack essentials, planners, lockers, outfits!

Self-therapy is anything that can bring happiness to your day and not just make you feel productive, maybe stressed, but also happy. Some days, we have a day that goes wrong, which is important to have self-therapy. No matter what goes wrong, you'll know that you had your dash of self-therapy, alone time, a time where you just relaxed and ignored the world while staying in tune with yourself.

I usually squeeze a span of self therapy at the end of the day. Mine lasts 30 minutes. I'm always the most awake at night, so feeling relaxed at the end of the day offers a giant element of happiness to my life and gives me better sleep. My dose of alone time and peace consists of either doodling, painting, or reading a book/magazine. In a world filled with technology and on-going notifications and texts, we tend to lose ourselves in the social media world. So I dedicate my alone time with no disturbances by leaving my phone, laptop, tablet, etc. in the living room and going somewhere else to 'treat myself.' I feel like this is a reward for me and keeps me relaxed. No matter how busy I am throughout the day, this calms me down and keeps me at a peaceful state of mind.

PS. An upcoming post is going to deal with morning sleepiness ;)

Stay tuned!

Got questions? Need advice? Ask anonymously? Email me at theesparklecorner@gmail.com with #AskCat for your question to be the next post on my blog! (All questions will be named anonymous unless stated otherwise)

Today, social media has shaped our society where everyone has a specific standard to "beauty." Being beautiful apparently means piling yourself with tons of makeup, wearing six inch stilettos every day, and starving yourself to achieve a perfect waistline. But doesn't maintaining a fake persona every single day tire you out? In this era, everyone has problems, whether it be physical, mental, or social. So what if you have panic attacks? So what if you have acne? So what if you have uneven skin tones? So what if you have a giant birthmark? We all have our own flaws, whether it be seen or unseen. Despite these flaws, there's always someone who will love you. But it has to start with loving yourself. True love is being accepted for who YOU are.