Liebster Award

I've been sick the past few days, and so it's pretty awesome to come back to like six followers and an award! Haha, thanks so much to HoneyBeige_ for tagging me. You rock.

These are the rules:

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you
2. Write 11 random facts about yourself
3. Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you
4. Tag and nominate 11 people
5. Come up with 11 questions for your nominees to answer
6. No tag backs

11 Random Facts:

1. The song You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan still makes me cry.
2. I have way too many interests to know what I'm going to do with my life.
3. I wish I lived in the fifties, honest to god.
4. I want to learn about Zen Buddhism, and possibly convert.
5. I really hate cliched Young Adult novels.
6. I'm annoyed that High School wasn't anything like the movies.
7. I have the biggest cold right now.
8. When I was younger I wanted to be a dentist.
9. I think it'd be cool to be a screenwriter.
10. Greek Mythology fascinates me.
11. I really want some coffee right now.

HoneyBeige's Questions:

1. Who is your favorite blogger? Definitely Zoella :)
2. What is your blog named after? Two of the mundane things in my life that I love.
3. What's your favorite beauty product? All of my nail polishes. I don't wear makeup or anything like that very often, so that's my best answer, lol.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Probably France. The obvious reason would be Paris, and there's also the fact that the countryside is gorgeous.
5. What is your most embarrassing moment? It's not really a specific moment, but I liked this guy all semester and I'm like 75% sure that he liked me too since he and I always openly flirted. Then I found out he had a "technical girlfriend" and I was just kind of embarrassed that he let me flirt with him all semester. Scumbag.
6. How long have you been blogging? I only started this over the weekend. I'm on tumblr too, but it's not blogging like this so it doesn't really count lol.
7. What is your favorite quote? "If someone tells you to change yourself tell them to go fuck themselves." - Ed Sheeran
8. What's the worst film you've ever seen? And the best one? Some of the worst films I've ever seen have all come from the SyFy channel, and the best movie I've seen is probably The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
9. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring 1 item, what would it be? A book? No, probably something that will help me get back to civilization.
10. What's your favorite movie? It's a tie between Pride and Prejudice and The Notebook (don't judge me).
11. What's your dream job? Writer.

I Nominate:

1. http://www.girlinflight.com/
2. http://maddie-elizabeth.blogspot.com/
3. http://nathalista.blogspot.com/
4. http://www.youngheartoldsoul.com/
5. http://makeadreamlast.blogspot.com/
6. http://www.maydoll.co.uk/

(I'd nominate more people but I legit just started this blog so I don't have that many people to tag...)

My Questions For You:

1. Where do you see yourself in the next few years?
2. Favorite childhood memory?
3. What's your worst habit?
4. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
5. Meaning behind your blog name?
6. Favorite Disney movie?
7. Guilty pleasure?
8. One thing you're looking forward to.
9. Best book you've ever read?
10. What song best describes you?
11. Favorite thing in your closet/

20 Facts

On a way lighter note than my last post, I noticed this "20 Facts About Me" trend floating around the blogoshpere for a while now (I had been creeping on the blogspot world for a while before deciding to get one of my own). I was wracking my brain for something to post while I waited for my nails to dry and I decided why the hell not! So, here we go.

1. I am seventeen years old, and I've never had what I consider to be a real boyfriend. Not for lack of trying either.

2. I have been natural for about two years now, and I couldn't be more in love with my hair.

3. I swear way too much, I really need to get a handle on that.

4. I speak French (fluently, depending on the day) and I'm currently working my ass off in AP French Language and Culture. God knows what possessed me to take this specific AP my senior year but I'm passing.

5. I named my car after Jeremy Gilbert because I love him so much and the fact that they killed him off the show makes me scared my baby's going to break down before I can actually drive him.

6. I'm obsessed with Starbucks, and I don't get enough chances to go there.

7. Right now, at this very second, the guy I have a crush on is a huge asshole but damn it if he isn't a cute one.

8. I was bullied from elementary school to about sixth grade, the subtle, mean girl kind of bullying that butchered my self-esteem.

9. I would rather take a completely silly photo of myself than a normal one.

10. I'm so excited to start University in the Fall!

11. I'm practically in love with my government teacher, he's just an awesome person and I admire him (even though he's a scatterbrain and an asshole).

12. I feel empty and inadequate if I'm not reading at least one book at the moment (which I'm not--I'm ordering one after I post this, woohoo!).

13. I freaking love horror movies. I love the feeling of being scared by something that can't actually hurt me, and laughing at my friends' expressions.

14. I don't wear makeup. I straight up have no idea how to use it and what goes where and I hate the feeling of a bunch of stuff on my face. I only wear it when I'm getting dolled up for something important.

15. I love chapstick. I'm that girl who reapplies at least ten times a day.

16. I'm always talking about how I'm an old soul and I was born in the wrong era. I'm all about the fifties.

17. At seventeen years old, I still don't know how to drive (I was supposed to start lessons today but my mom's car is in the shop).

18. I am so genuinely awkward in real life. I never really know what to say and how to function in social situations.

19. I am ten times more awkward around guys I like. I have this tendency to giggle and grin and stare at my feet.

20. I have no idea where I'll be in ten years, but I hope I'm doing something that I love.

If you read all twenty, you're perfect and I love you. If you have a post like this you should totally link me! I'm nosy and I love reading these.

xoxo, Sheldine

Of Natural Hair, Race Issues, and Confidence

(this picture is literally a seven month old instagram picture)

I would pick an incredibly controversial topic for my first real post. Idk I just feel like these are some things that kinda need to be said.

I got my very first perm in the fourth grade. I was what, eight or nine at the time? My parents never should have let me dictate that decision, but I wanted that perm so bad. You see, by the fourth grade, just about every black girl I knew had a perm, and every other girl I knew was white. I was surrounded by people with silky smooth hair, and so, that's how I thought my hair was supposed to be. At eight years old, my only goal was to make sure I fit in, because that's what every eight year old girl wants; to fit in. So, they permed my hair.

I spent the next six to seven years burning the heck out of my hair with chemicals, forcing my hair to lie straight and flat. For a while, I was happy with it. Everyone's hair was straight and so was mine. But then I got to middle school, and it was all about weaves. It was another way for us black girls to have our hair be as close to the caucasian standard as possible. It was about getting our hair to be as long as the white girls, as straight as the white girls, as perfect as the white girls. None of which is realistic.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not against weaves or perms. You can do what you want with your hair, and don't judge what I do with mine.

So when I started noticing these things, I slowly started weaning myself off of perms. I spent a lot of time with my hair in braids, really unsure of where I was going with it. I just knew I didn't want a perm and I didn't want a weave. I wasn't even sure that I was going natural until mid-2011. I decided then that I was done with all of the bullshit of trying to "tame" my hair, and that I'd let it do what it wants.

In 2012, I cut my hair and started wearing it natural. I wish I could remember the actual date, but I sure as hell remember what that day was like. Some people hated it, some people loved it, and some didn't give a shit either way. There were the kids who gave me those sideways glances, and the teachers who looked at me like I was some kind of hood. There were my friends who were super supportive, and told me how brave I was, and how awesome it looked. And there were the assholes who made fun of me.

Why I chose to focus on them is beyond me. They didn't deserve my attention, didn't even deserve the time I spent feeling bad about myself over the things they said. I gave it to them anyway. There was a time when I hated my hair and the decision I made, because it felt like no matter how cool I thought my hair looked when I did it in the morning, I could never impress these kids. For a while I was so hellbent on getting them to accept me that it took me a while to realize that I didn't need them to. Going natural had been my decision. the only person who's approval that mattered was mine.

I've never been a very confident person, I've always seen myself as ugly (another long story for another long post). Going natural has been a part of discovering how beautiful I actually am, both inside and out. So even if I'm not the most confident person in the world, I'd say I at least have a pretty good start.

If you actually read all of this, bless your heart.

xoxo, Sheldine

Obligatory "not sure what to post" post.

Greetings Earthlings!

No...? Alright then, anyway. Hey guys, I'm Sheldine (pronounced shell-dee-n) and this is my blog (obviously). As far as what I'm going to use it for, I haven't the foggiest. It's probably going to be just a huge mix of things (fashion, advice, rants, hair care... whatever tickles my fancy) as I can never choose one thing to focus on. In essence this is going to be a lifestyle blog, based on, well, my life. (Also by the way you're probably never going to see makeup on here because I hardly wear it.) Some things will be superficial, some totally personal, either way, I'm welcoming you into my brain.

xoxo, Sheldine