Packing for four months might be the hardest task ever. I packed for three weeks tops when I went to London on a language travel with EF a few years ago - but that´s probably the nearest I´ve come to this. What am I going to wear?! How much should I bring with me, and what isn´t that necessary to bring? It´s definitely not easy to decide what I should bring, what I use on a regular basis and what I can buy when I arrive. But this post might just sum it up for me.

First off, I am studying for four months, August till December, which is four pretty chilly months. But since I am living in Berkeley, San Fransisco, the weather might also be a little hotter than a Norwegian autumn. Second off I am bringing two suitcases. One very big suitcase and a carry-on suitcase. My big suitcase is a Samsonite B-Lite worth 230$! My carry on I bought very cheap for 17$ and is a 55", and it looks exactly the same as my expensive suitcase, even being a generic brand. My top priorities is that my suitcases have four wheels, so that I can push them without a hassle, especially since I am flying a lot back and forth.

In my carry-on:

• Important papers: Visa, health insurance, passport, I-20 scheme etc.
• T-shirt, underwear and shorts in case of emergency
• Wallet and some cash just in case $$$
• Phone and phone charger
• Camera, memory card (32GB) and camera charger
• Macbook PRO and charger
• Headphones
• Citrus wipes (gotta be sanitary and hygienic, haha)
• Lots of chewing gum
• Travel pillow

In my main suitcase:

Clothing:

• 5 T-shirts
• 5 Sweaters
• 3 Jeans
• 2 Shorts
• 1 Yoga pant
• 3 Sweatpants
• Socks (2 weeks worth)
• Underwear (2 weeks worth)
• 1 Dress or something that suits formal occasions
• 1 bikini
• 2 Pajama sets
• 3 pairs of sneakers
• 1 pair of "formal" shoes
• Flip-Flops for shower
• 2 sports bras and 4 regular bras
• Watch
• A lightweight jacket

Toiletries:

• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Makeup must-haves
• Deodorant
  
• Hairbrush and ties
• Hairstraghtener
• Lymecyclin (I am on antibiotics for acne)
• Skincare and haircare (oils, moisturizers etc)
• Razor
• Bobby pins
• Tweezer
• Feminine hygiene products
• Perfumes

Other Necessities:

• Textbooks for my classes (I already bought two, that I need to bring)
• Adapter
• Polaroid camera with an extra film
• Sunglasses
• Pencase
• Backpack
• Reusable shoppingbag

What I´ll buy when I arrive:

• Bedding (there is an arranged IKEA trip for I-House residents)
• Soap, shampoo and conditioner
• Umbrella
• Towels is available at I-House, and I might also buy one there.
• Adapter
• Hangers
• Notebooks and pens
• Snacks and water (in case I need some quick snacks omw to my classes)
• I am planning on thrifting for a vintage Adidas jacket, so I won´t bring more than one with me.

So if I missed anything important, please tell me in the comments so I can edit it in to this post! This is mostly a reminder for myself and anyone who might need some inspiration for what to pack on a longer trip. I would probably bring the same if I studied abroad for two semesters as well, since I am washing my clothing regularly and probably buying something new as well!

Isn´t it exciting when you renovate something? That feeling of a new touch in your old space. When figuring out how I wanted my travel-abroad blog to be like, I visited sites like Wix, Wordpress and Blog.no, but none of them really suited me perfectly. Right now I use this site called Nouw, which definitely is the best choice for me out there, so far. So instead of making a new blog, I renovated this one for you - and me. I really can´t wait to share my semester abroad with whoever reads this.

I haven´t updated this blog in excactly two months, which is a long stretch for me. But my exam period was very long, tiring and stressful, so I really didn´t need more pressure in my life at that point. That is a decision I am glad I took, because I needed it to charge my batteries for the summer and my studies in the fall.

Since last time I finished my exams with very good grades, in my opinion. So my first year as a sociology student summed up, I got two A´s, two B´s and one C. I am at least very proud of my achievements, even though I am not a straight A student (nor have I ever been). On top of that we also went to Mallorca with my family the day after my exams, where we stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort in Alcudia. It was so nice to take a week of with my family, and especially my daugther, since I am soon travelling abroad for a little while. My daugther Tia also turned 5 years old, which is so exciting for both her and me, now that she understands so much more. She is quite a bright kid. 😊

I am planning on writing about my journey from preparations to travel, and through my whole semester abroad - which I think is going to be very nice for myself to look back on as well. Hopefully my english will improve a lot more too, over the course of these months.

If you have any questions, feel free to as them. I will include them in my next post after you have asked me whatever you want to know! I think my next post might be a packing list, which I actually do need some help on making - so please don´t hesitate sending me some suggestions for must haves on a 4 month trip!

I have never been a smoker, nor interested in nicotine, tobacco or other addictive substances. I don´t like how it smells, how it affects others or how it ruins your body long term. We can all agree about the fact that smoking is really dangerous and should not be practiced in any form.

But MONQ on the other hand is everything that an el-cigarette og any other tobacco forms is NOT. MONQ is a personal oil diffuser free from nicotine, tobacco, artificial colors and heat. It is not supposed to be inhaled into your lungs, and is therefore not comparable to addictive and harming substances as mentioned above. 🚭The design of the diffuser and practice of hand-to-mouth movement however can look similar to the harming substances and is therefore not recommended for people under the age of 18 years old, as this movement can affect or form a habitable movement.

The importance of addressing what this product is and is not, is important to prevent any misunderstanding or hate towards a very good and helpful product.

MONQ is advertised as a diffuser to "Breathe Therapeutic Air®, and immediately access a proven history of natural life-enhancing benefits. Unlike topical oils or household diffusers, MONQ directly inserts aromatherapy into your olfactory system. When you pick up a MONQ, you’re holding the key to an ancient wellness art, enhanced for the modern age." (source: MONQ)

I first got my interest in this product by watching Kendall Rae (my favorite YouTuber) rave about this product in her videos. I have always been interested in essential oils, household diffusers and natural aromatherapy. It kind of feels like you go to a spa, when you smell the lavender, citrus, fennel, sandalwood etc.

For my first MONQ I decided to try out the Forest diffuser, as I love the forest and also have a tattoo that is matching the design (yup, it´s just SO me). 🍃 The different diffusers are called "blends" because they are put together by several essential oils that suits eachother to create the desired feeling. Each MONQ blend is 80% coconut-based vegetable glycerin and 20% essential oils.

For safety purposes, I copied a paragraph off of MONQs website: Pregnant or nursing women should not use MONQ, and neither should people with asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, acute respiratory infection, or other respiratory diseases. Those with allergies to certain essential oils should consider which blends to use, if any.

By taking 2-3 breaths of your MONQ 2-3 times a day, this diffuser will last you for 3-4 weeks. Depending on the depth of your breaths you can get 200-250 breaths out of each diffuser. I have been loving carrying my Forest blend around with me, as it gives me that calming energy that I might need during my exam period. When I run out of this blend, I will by a four pack which is also a good package deal. I definitely want to try zen, sexy, happy and sleepy next!

You use your MONQ diffuser my breathing in through your mouth, hold and breathe out through your nose again. The oils can affect you in a great way if you are dealing with stress, anxiety og just need to feel relaxed, but they are not made to substitute medicines, although you may feel like the effects are similar in calming you down.

Underneath I have linked every blend in each picture. But if you want 10% off, click the picture in the sidebar or PRESS HERE 😊 If you want to look into the different ingredients of each blend, feel free to check out the ingredient overview here . In the original diffuser they have blended everything for 7-20 different essential oils to help you get the desired feeling. Having a personal oil diffuser is like having an oasis in your pocket! 🍃

The three new blends Mountain, Ocean and Forest represent your most natural feelings so far!

The seven original blends: zen, active, healthy, sexy, vibrant, happy and sleepy.

By clicking here, you will automatically recieve 10% off of every MONQ order!

I really can´t understand when I got this lifeless. My passion for blogging was the strongest for over a decade, mainly because it was "a thing" that I started doing before everyone else made blogs about whatever. My pride over being some sort of an opinion leader made me good at blogging, and by good I mean consistent. Now however, months, weeks and days pass by and I don´t even recall my blog at all. I think that it´s good anyway, that I slowly but surely found another passion (or meaning if you want) in my life, other than writing about myself and my everyday life (which at least I think is very boring).

I feel like my body is slowly dying, and it definitely is, but not in the natural way. My mental state is zoning out to be a little bit more melancholic. I never seem to find myself perfect enough, even though I fucking am. I just need to see it. Facing this kind of exhaustion everyday, drains you out quite a lot - and I am questioning why I am doing what I am doing, I want to know what my purpose is, if there even is one. So this might just be me trying to fight out what the heck we are on earth to do - because this can literally not be it. I am curious.

I am also pushing people away, nice people. And if I have pushed you away, and you read this, I am sorry. I am tired of putting on this fasade, trying to please everyone all the time. I barely have spare time for myself, even though I pretty much stay at home every single day. It´s mentally, you know? Everything that matters to me now is playing with my daughter, being with my mom and dad and occasionally visiting a friend or two. My priorities aren´t like everyone else's and I am not going to force myself to prioritize otherwise either. In August, I will travel to Berkeley and renew myself, and the only thing I will think about are the three lovely family members waiting for me at home (and of course my dearest friends who always supports me!). And btw: I freaking hate ISIS - stop it.

But even though I have pushed people away, I still need them, if that even makes sense. I don´t always appreciate everyone around me, if all they have to give me is gossip, complaining or something down "Negative Ave". I am in desperate need of people that surround me with laughter, optimism and joy. I need to borrow a little energy from them, in order to give anything back.

Bye, gonna make myself a toast now!

So you know like in every high school movie, someone gets an acceptance letter from a university and they scream of joy? Well that was my reaction when my letter of acceptance popped up in my inbox this morning...

This is in fact surreal. Ever since I was about thirteen years old, I´ve wanted to study abroad and travel as much as I could in my later teenage years. I lived in Hamburg for three years when I was ten and I later got to go on an EF language travel to London for one month. They were both fantastic experiences that I will never forget. The only thing missing was my biggest goal - to be an exchange student in the US. I didn´t actually bother to look up any particular schools of interests either - I just wanted to go wherever, as long as it was in USA.

When I later became a mother at sixteen, I put all my dreams at hold to give my all to this little beautiful daugther whom I called Tia, that I was now about to raise at a very young age. She is now nearly five years old, and she is my best friend and my everything. Finishing high school was a big deal for me and I was ready for college here in Norway. Getting in to The University of Southeastern Norway was everything I could ever dream of at that point in my life. I was ready to show everyone that young mothers are capable of doing anything they put their mind in to. Except for that one dream, that was still put aside.

I briefly began discussing it with my parents, which at first thought I was crazy, still wanting to be an exchange student in the US. I couldn´t just leave, now that I had a daughter - or could I? When I first put my mind into something, I never give up until I achieve it (in most cases). But could this be so unachieveable? I wasn´t in my wildest dreams thinking about going for a full school year, but only for a few months. After researching this further and looking into different possibilities, I found University of California Berkeley. If I went for the fall semester only, I would be gone for four months. To be away from my daughter for four months is a hard thought, since we´ve only been apart for no longer than one month last summer, when she had a vacation with her father and his family.

When I later told my parents about only going for four months only, they began to be more accepting and supporting about my wish - as they always are. My parents have always been here for me and supported me through a million different rough patches in my life. This of course was a harder decision, which would lead to them "replacing" me for the fall and having to change their life style a tiny bit. I have to say though, I do in fact live in my parents house, so for my daughter the transition wouldn´t be worse than me being away for some months. This is also my only chance to study alone, since my daughter will be starting school the following year.

After I got both my parents and my daugthers father and stepmoms "approval" in which they would take amazing care of my daugther while I´m away, I am so much more looking foreward to this journey. Of course I feel guilty deep inside leaving for these four months, but in all harness - this will be so beneficial for my future career which again will give my daugther not only a brighter and safer future - but I will be an even better role model for her. My dream is to show my daugther that whatever happens in life, family sticks together and everything is in fact possible! Whats also very cool is that my parents and my daugther most likely will visit me for a whole week midterm in October, so that the separation anxciety doesn´t completely kick in before we all get to meet again! Wow, I´m one lucky gal!

So what´s in store next? I woke up to a letter of invitation to Berkeley University and I am overly excited about it. But it´s still a long way to go, and I definitely got a lot of paperwork to do the next months. Oh... and of course this all comes in addition to the two classes I am taking this semester, which I must not forget about - haha, God forbid.

Tel: 40196216 Rosenlundgata 9, 0474 Oslo /sponsored treatment

Shit! I never ever thought that I would even dear to tattoo my eyebrows, even though I have been wanting to do that for a while. It is super scary to give your face up to someone else, for them to semi-permanently change your facial features. I have always had thick, big brows, with a faded brown color to them. In other words, they were not as visible as I would like them to be - therefore my ten minute Anastasia Dip Brow routine every morning.

When beautiful Aya Romano messaged me wanting me to try out microblading from her newly opened brow-clinic, I did not hesitate for even a second - YES! I got microbladed at WOWBOW microblading at Torshov in Oslo. From the central station at Jernbanetorget, I took the 12 tram to Torshov and walked a couple of block down to the clinic. After filling out a couple of schemes regarding my health and agreements, I was all ready to be microbladed.

There are some agreements that will decide if you are approved for the treatment or not. It is very important to answer every health information necessary and be accurate about any allergies og medication that you might take. You should also not have been drinking any alcohol the last 48 hours before getting the tattoo, since that will make your blood thinner around that time. Overall the directions are quite similar with this treatment as with any regular tattoo.

Aya used a good amount of time measuring how my brow shape was going to be like, mainly following my natural shape, but also taking my wishes into considerations. I am all for long, bushy brows and usually draw them quite long in the front portion (a little like Cara Delevingne). But since this is a semi-permanent tattoo that last for about 6 months to 2 years, she didn´t recommend that I tattooed them too "mono", since I might change my preferanses over time, and of course since it would be better to have them like natural brow shape with possibilities to fill them in anywhere I would want to.

My skin is oily, acne-prone and quite thick, which actually is not a recommended skin type for microblading. The thick skin is more prone to bleeding and faster color fading than normal, thinner or dryer skin. I did bleed a little during the process, but nothing to be afraid of. The procedure it self was done with a blade that looked like several needles or pins in a row. It felt like she was scratching a tweezer over my brows or even plucking ten hairs at a time. It wasn´t too painful, but after a while, like with regular tattoo, it became soar and a little more touchy. I got to follow the process during the procedure by looking in the mirror from time to time, which was really calming and helpful for my nervous little mind.

And then there was a boring healing time. I was not allowed to touch my brows for 24 hours, which is definitely the hardest task I´ve had in 2017 this far. After the dreadful 24h, I finally was able to wash my brows with baby soap or something perfume free and apply a healing oil that I got from the WOWBROW clinic. Now after two days I can feel some small chunks of crust wanting to fall off of my eyebrows. I have the strongest urge to remove it, but I was strictly told that I have to allow it to fall off it self and heal.

These pictures was taken the day after I got the procedure done and they look absolutely flawless. I am not allowed to apply makeup around my brows for a week, and I also have to wait two weeks until I can fill in my brows with makeup again. I will keep using my Anastasia Dip Brow to make the front of my brows seem a little longer, but now I have a much better canvas to work on and I don´t even have to fill them out if I don´t feel like it.

When it comes to price, this is an expensive procedure that takes about 1-2 hours. For regular microblading the price is 5000 NOK (598USD). I chose the microblading with signature shading, which is another 1000 NOK in addition(119USD). Both ombre brows and correction of old eyebrow tattoos is also 6000 NOK (717USD). I would definitely recommend microblading if you want a natural filled in brow (and signature shading in addition if you want a more make-up done look) since it it a super easy and fast procedure. But it is expensive and it requires refills once or twice a year for 1000-2500 NOK (119-299USD).

If you are in Oslo in the near future and have been planning to do your brows, do not hesitate for even a second! Aya Romano is the nicest, most loving woman I have met in a long time and she really knows her stuff. She also provides microblading courses for both basic and advanced courses providing you with every skill you need to microblade professionally.

I recommend you to check out THIS VIDEO from ETonline, to see the Anastasia Beverly Hills founder talk about and apply microblading to a customer as well as letting you know that celebrities like Bella Thorne has done the procedure.

Like WOWBROW on Facebook for more informations or any questions you might have here!

Isn´t it quite odd how a passion this strong can fade away so quickly? Something tells me that if I never spent this one month off of social media, then maybe I wouldn't be this tired of blogging as I am now. Or is it in fact a good thing that I can evolve in an entirely different direction than what I´ve done before? On the other hand I think I have just grown mentally, without being more grown up. Does that even make sense? Not that I necessarily am more mature, but in the sense that my priorities has shifted a lot.

A late night in December of 2016 I got an idea. What if I set my 2017 new years resolutions to abstain from social media for the whole of January? It was a scary thought as a daily blogger, snapchat´er and instagram´er as myself. And my family and friends were actually cracking up at the thought at first. But when I wrote an "official good-bye post" on Facebook, people really backed me up and thought that it was a great initiative. I gave everyone I had regular contact with my phone number and told them to text and ring me as much as they wanted in my time off of social media.

The first week without social media was really easy for me. I deleted all of my social media apps half an hour before the new year began and I didn´t for a second feel the urge to check up on my notifications. It was such a good feeling to know that I wouldn´t be influenced by no one other than my close friends and family for an extended period of time. Even though I got some texts from a couple of friends telling me that they missed having my reactions when they sent me memes or snapchats, I made up for it by sending pictures in text messages. I found that I got really creative over time, when it came to communicating. I have never sent so many texts, called friends so much or even actually hung out as much as I did in January.

The hardest part of January for me was definitely finding out how to spend my spare time. I watched so many Netflix series that I almost unlearned how not to lay in bed all day. My main goal was to actually get more time everyday to be as productive and effective as I possibly could. But unfortunately I wasted that time on way too much binge watching for my own good. Looking back, Netflix probably should have been banned too.

The month went very fast after all, and it felt like January went by in a week or less. I was left with a really good mindset after my social media free month, which actually was way less social than I usually am, even though that probably worked against its own purpose. But hey, I got to spend so much more quality time with my daughter, where I paid all my attention to her and not a phone sticking in my right hand all the time. But this is what life is like in 2017. Were I suddenly to get rid of my smart phone and only use a brick phone like the good old Nokia 3310 again, I would probably have way less friends engage in my life than I have now. The social community has definitely changed a lot since social media became a thing a few years ago. I am not sure whether I like it or not, but for now it is a good way to keep in touch and find new and old friends.

Would I do it again? Definitely!

Det faktum at noen av dere kommer til å le når dere leser dette innlegget, er uunngåelig. Jeg har nemlig vært "her" alt for mange ganger før. Denne gangen strekker jeg meg antakeligvis litt lenger, når dere kanskje også legger merke til at jeg har fjernet alle blogginnleggene jeg har skrevet her før. For dere som ikke kjenner meg, kan jeg fortelle har jeg blogget siden 2005 og alltid vært veldig frem og tilbake med plattformer, tema og hyppighet på innlegg. Forskjellen denne gangen er vel at jeg har endret meg en del, som person.

Jeg er ikke lenger den jeg var da jeg opprettet "sminkebloggen" i 2010. Jeg er heller ikke jenta som ble mamma som 16-åring og lot dere følge henne gjennom både graviditet og barneoppdragelse. Jeg er heller ikke jenta som nådde topplisten et dusinvis ganger, mens hun deltok på alle mulige bloggeventer og arrangementer. Så hvem er jeg nå da?

Pappa har hele livet mitt fortalt meg at vi som mennesker går gjennom 7-års faser der vi endrer oss gradvis, og at du dermed kan se to forskjellige versjoner av deg selv med 7-års mellomrom. La oss kalle det en identitetskrise som kicker inn hvert syvende år. Jeg innser mer og mer hvor sant dette er, nå som jeg ser tilbake på meg selv som femtenåring.

For bare et halvt år siden hadde jeg hatt en stor interesse for å dele dette innlegget, få mange likes og rett og slett "viralisere" innleggene mine om man kan se det slik. I dag så kunne jeg kanskje ikke brydd meg mindre. Jeg ser hvilken effekt sosiale media har på barn, tenåringer og unge voksne i dag og nå ønsker jeg mer eller mindre å distansere meg fra den realiteten man må leve i for å passe inn i de sosiale medias normer.

Jeg hører selv at jeg er litt utenfor her. Jeg kan ikke lenger identifisere meg som blogger med innlegg hvor man viser frem dagens antrekk, hva man spiste på café med venninnen sin eller hvordan man oppnår et eller annet som er aktuelt i det øyeblikket. Jeg kan rett og slett ikke identifisere meg som en helt vanlig blogger, ikke nå lengre - etter så mange år.

Egentlig lurer jeg meg selv til å tro at jeg kommer til å blogge som før igjen, men det tror jeg faktisk aldri kommer til å skje. Kanskje jeg skuffer én eller to, men jeg kan garantere dere at mitt nye meg er mye mer interessant og mindre vanlig. Forhåpentligvis kommer jeg til å blogge mer fremover, men kanskje på en annen måte enn mine faste lesere er vant med. Jeg blogger iallfall da, det er en fremgang i seg selv...