Weekly Wishes #9

- Don't rush places. This went really well for me, and it felt great! I took my time gettingfrom place to place because I planned my day out a little better and kept on track. Hopefully this is something I can keep up with since it relieves some unnecessary stress!

- Read 25 minutes per day. I did not pick up a book for fun once. I'm pretty disappointed about this one, actually! Oh well... Maybe this week?!

- Do not procrastinate my essay. Well... My essay is due tomorrow... I haven't exactly started it... BUT, I know what I will write about, and it should be pretty easy since it is something I am passionate about: film photography! So, I'm gonna go get started on that right now...

- Make some "me" time. A little bit! This week wiped me out, and I decided to save my two favorite shows on TV right now (New Girl and The Mindy Project!) for Friday night, when I could actually sit down and enjoy them. I ended up taking some of that ZzzQuil stuff because I wanted to get to bed early since I knew I had to get up early for an event on Saturday morning. Well, I guess I took a dose of those pills too early since I couldn't even keep my eyes open through my shows! So, I ended in bed by 7pm, when it was still light out haha and sleeping until 6am. So I guess that is all to say that I spent my "me" time for the weekend sleeping?! And that those pills will seriously knock you out...

- Work on editing the wedding video. Remember the wedding my friend and I shot almost a month ago? Now it is time to get to editing it! It's hard sometimes for me to make time to do it though because I can't do it from home. I have to go to an office where we have all the footage, and someone else also has to be there. So it is not the most convenient, but I have to finish my portion so that my friend can find the time to edit the rest, AND then we can give it to the couple. I am so excited to see their reaction! And to share it here, too :)

- Decide on a birthday gift for my dad. Guys, my dad is turning 60 next week. SIXTY! Wow. I wish that we had planned a big party like we did for his 50th, but we didn't because we slacked off and things are harder now since all of my siblings are spread across CA. But, we should have figured something out. I will at least try to give him a nice gift! He has pretty much everything he wants (even got his dream car earlier this year!), so I was thinking about taking him to do something like zip-lining?!

- Focus on healthy eating. I have gotten into the habit of not eating very well. This is partly due to my busy schedule, and mostly due to laziness. I was eating really well when I was sticking to Weight Watchers this past spring, but when I went out of town in May for a wedding, that all went to the way-side and I haven't quite made my way back to it. I still have my WW account, so I might as well try sticking to it again or just cancel it, right? 

- Do not make any excuses. Someone pointed out to me that I tend to make excuses for not doing things. And that actually bothered me. So now I am going to make a conscious effort to not make excuses for these things and just do them or own up to the fact that I didn't do it. Sigh... Life is complicated sometimes, isn't it? 

This week will also be pretty busy I imagine, but I am definitely already looking forward to this weekend! Why can't it always be the weekend?

Linking up with Melyssa of The Nectar Collective!

West Coast Love // In Which There is No Plan

Dai and I spent this past weekend down in LA visiting my family for a baby shower. After the shower, we had no plans, and that was actually really nice. We spent the afternoon and evening driving around care-freely, picking our next destination as we went. 

My feet had not touched the Pacific since coming back to California, and it felt so freeing. The ocean will always hold a special place in my heart and is thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. But that's kind of like life, you know? You never know what will happen next, and that is the beautiful and frightening thing about it.

I loved spending this time walking hand in hand with Dai along the beach as the salty wind whipped through my hair. We wrote our names in the sand and ran away from the rushing water.

After the beach, we headed to Griffith Observatory. I had been longing to visit this place for a while now. It was very crowded on this Saturday night, and we had to make quite the trek from our car to the observatory. But it was definitely worth it, as the views are stunning, especially at night.

The glowing lights of Los Angeles make the city seem peaceful, and make me feel small. We were able to walk around inside the observatory and view exhibits about the moon and stars, which were actually pretty cool. I highly recommend visiting this (free!) landmark, and next time I want to wander around the park where it is located and find this bench from 500 Days of Summer :)

Though this place is beautiful at night, next time I would love to see it in the daylight, or even at sunset. We finished the night off with a trip to Milk, for salted caramel and Thai tea ice cream sandwiches, and then a get together in a string-lit backyard with the warmth of a fire.

I don't always know where the day will take us, and as much as I like to have a "plan" to be able to fit in as much as possible, it is kind of nice just going with the flow.

I wish you all a lovely weekend! Mine will be busy, but hopefully I will find some rest. Can you believe September is practically gone already?! Time is just flying by...

East vs. West: Boutique

We took a break last week, but Abby of Little City Adventures and I are back for another round of East vs. West! This week, we are taking a look at boutiques in our cities. Therapy is a great little boutique that has several locations throughout the Bay Area. I have enjoyed shopping here for a few years now, so I thought I would share it with you!

There are always so many cute nick-nacks and unique items to look at. I love that I can easily find things here for myself, but also find funny and thoughtful gifts for others. I could spend a whole hour looking at every little detail!

I also like the graphic signs and the art on the walls. It gives the store a lot of character! Plus, most of it for sale, so if you really do like something, you can buy it!

A little map of SF for you! I actually really like this bag and want to get it for myself :)

Their book collection has a great variety of fun and inspiring things.

This is just a little piece of what the Therapy clothing style is like. Though this is outfit is not necessariuly my style, I do always fall in love with their dresses, sweaters, shirts, and accessories.

These little cupcake pouches are so fun! They make me hungry...

One thing that Therapy has an abundance of is unique, handmade jewelry. They have tons of it and you can usually be sure to find just what you were looking for, and more!

Aren't these coin purses so funky? I know two of my best friends would just love them!

I hope that you have enjoyed this little peek into Therapy! There is so much more to see and I hope that if you are ever int the Bay Area that you will stop by and see it all for yourself :)

We will be continuing this series next week and changing the theme up a bit, so be sure to check back then as well! Also, I just thought I would throw this out here, is there anything you would like to see in this series?!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to head over to see what Abby has for you today as well :)

Therapy

1348 Burlingame Ave.

Burlingame, CA

Blogtember: In Which I am Dumb

My dad and I the day I bought my precious car

All around, it isn't fun to make mistakes. But, some mistakes are more awful than others. Forgetting to buy someone a birthday gift is one thing or failing a math test, but losing an iPod or getting your car towed is another. It seems as though I have made a lot of mistakes with cars in my three years of driving, like getting parking tickets at school, getting a parking ticket in San Francisco, side swiping the garage as I was backing up, anddddd getting my car towed. From outside my house. Yep, I'd say that one takes the cake.

And now you are wondering how I could do such a foolish thing like that. I have no idea. I've been asking myself that same thing ever since it happened back in May. I live in a condo, and there are designated areas that I am allowed to park. Since we don't have any extra parking spots that belong to us, I am able to park with a special permit. This permit allows me to park in the spots marked 'visitor,' even though I am a resident.

So, on this unfavorable night in May, I had just spent a few hours that afternoon washing my car. It was sparkling. I got home late that night from going to the movies with Dai, and I wasn't feeling well at all. When I was parking my car that night, I decided against parking in my usual spot with the awful tree that drops crap all over my car. And I didn't spend hours cleaning it for nothing, you know what I mean? So I decided to park about a block away, in a spot that was safe from the evil trees.

Gosh, that was really dumb. The next morning, I went out in my pajamas to get something from my car. And then I freaked out. Because it wasn't there. How could this be?! It must have been stolen! So I hauled my butt home and burst into the house calling for my dad. He was shocked, and then asked me if there was a sign in front of the spot I had parked. I quickly said 'no,' but then realized... There was a sign. The sign read "Visitor parking only. Residents subject to immediate tow." And then I got yelled at.

Now, I don't know if I was just delirious from not feeling well, or if I truly thought that I was exempt from that sign since I had a parking permit to park in visitor parking. Well, at this point it didn't really matter whatsoever, because I screwed up. And my car was towed in the middle of the night. And it cost me nearly $400 to get it back. That really hurt. One of the things that makes me so mad about it, though, is that since I have a resident sticker on my car, I made it so easy for them. They didn't even have to look anything up to find out if I was a resident. The sticker was right there, calling for them to come and take my pretty car away.

This was a devastating day and I felt awful, but I really did learn an important lesson from it: no matter what, suck it up and park your car under the stupid tree because that is the 'safe zone.' Yep. And read signs. It sucks to have to learn lessons the hard (and expensive) way, but I guess it is just part of growing up, you know? Hopefully I can safely say that I will never be making that mistake again!

What's a foolish mistake you have made? I'm sure I'm not the only one to do something this dumb :)

Blogtember: Lash Domination

Yep, that's the one. 

Today's Blogtember prompt is to review a product or place, and I just had to tell you all about my current favorite makeup product: Bare Mineral's Lash Domination Mascara. This gift from Heaven came into my life a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, my lashes have not been the same since! I actually bought it once back in August, but returned it because of its $18 price tag (I don't understand why mascara can be so expensive!). A couple weeks later, I was rewarded for my self-discipline with a coupon from Bare Minerals in my e-mail inbox. Score! So off the the nearest boutique I went!

I know, I know. This is something so insignificant, but I've actually been excited about it since I got it! I am always thrilled when it is time to put on mascara in the morning because my lashes have never looked this curled, voluminous, and long all at once! It's the little things in life, right? The first time I used it, I was all giddy and asked Dai if he noticed how luscious my lashes looked. Of course, he didn't and just went along with me, but that isn't the point. The point is that I love it! My lashes are important to me because they really accentuate my eyes, which are my favorite feature. I am so particular about how I want my lashes to look, and I'm telling you, this mascara makes me so happy!

What's your favorite mascara? Do you have any tips for long, luscious lashes?

Weekly Wishes #8

Linking up with Melyssa over at The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes!

I'm back! I dropped off the map a bit these past few days, but you know what? I was okay with that, and I had a great time with Dai in LA, doing my best to leave my stress behind. You need that sometimes, you know? So, here I am with a new week! A bit late on my Weekly Wishes today, but better late than never!

- Unplug from social media. This was not as successful as I would have liked, but oh well... Nothing I can really say, except that I didn't try hard enough.

- Use my time wisely. Maybe! I really can't recall haha that's bad, isn't it? Although I can say that I could probably do better at this...

- Make some decisions about a trip. We haven't gotten our tickets yet, but I think that we are going to bite the bullet and go! It makes me so excited to think about it. I shall keep you posted :)

- Drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day. I did it! I love water. I really do. This went well and I was surprised at how easily I was able to do this.

- Don't rush places I always feel like I am rushing places. I am always running late, or doing things in a hurry, and it is exhausting and stressful. Today, I was actually a little early for work and it felt great. I could breathe and relax, and wasn't worried about anything. Then I wondered why I don't do this all the time!

- Read 25 minutes per day. This was one of my first goals several weeks ago, but I want to try it again. I love reading, but never make time to read things that I actually want to read. So, lets get back at this!

- Do not procrastinate my essay. I have an essay due next week and for like the first time ever, I am going to do my best not to procrastinate when writing it. I always feel awful when I do this, and it is looking like I won't be able to continue this habit in my current English class, so if I want to do well, I've gotta get my act together!

- Make some "me" time. I've realized that this is something that I need. I am just that kind of person. I like people for the most part, but deep down, I am an introvert and need time to myself. I don't always make this happen though, but I am going to be sure of it this week!

Hello + My Happy Place

Happy Wednesday! Today I am over at Chestnut Mocha sharing my happy place. Be sure to head over there to check out Katie & Ben's blog and to say hello!

This week has just been flying by, but that's fine with me :) Friday night, Dai and I are driving down to LA to see my family and go to my cousin's baby shower, so I can't wait for the weekend to get here! It will be a really quick trip, but I am sure I will have an adventure or two to share with you all next week :)

Beauty // Tips for Acne Prone Skin + My Story

Hello all! Today I thought I would share something kind of different. I don't think I have ever talked about it here, but when I was younger, I had pretty bad acne. I know that there are people that were worse off than me in that department, but I do know how it feels to be insecure with how your face looks. I lacked confidence in my appearance and never felt like I could go without makeup.

Luckily, I don't struggle with acne anymore, but it is something that has affected me since I was only 9-years-old. I developed early, and this was one of the unfortunate side affects. It was awful to be in fifth grade and already be on Proactiv (which doesn't work, by the way)! I tried so many things: creams, washes, toners, pills, you name it... Things would work for periods of time, but then my skin would adapt to it and it wouldn't be effective anymore.

I was finally able to kick the acne during my senior year of high school, when I decided to go on a medication called Acutane. It is a very involved and complicated medication, and it was not an easy road, but I am so glad that I did it. I still have my insecurities with my body, but it is nice to know that my face is no longer one of them.

Through my journey with acne, I have definitely learned some things that might help you out if you struggle with acne as well. I know how good it feels to have a clear face, and hopefully these tips will help make things a bit better!

Always, ALWAYS wash your hands with soap before touching your face.
Guys, I don't know if you knew this, but our hands are dirty. And you don't want all that dirt and those germs on your face right?! This one I cannot emphasize enough. I even keep a bottle of hand soap in my shower so that I can wash my hands right before I wash my face. So important!

Use only oil-free products on your face.
This is a biggie. If your skin tends to be acne prone, chances are it is also more on the oily side. Your skin already produces enough oil, so there is no need to add to it, making your face look more shiny and exacerbating the acne. There are so many oil-free options out there, so this shouldn't be a problem!

Try to go at least one day per week without makeup.
This may be difficult for some people, but it is good to let your skin breathe! You could even just go all day without makeup, and then just put some on if you are going out in the evening and want to look polished. I also hear that tinted moisturizers (like this one) are a great alternative, but just be sure it is oil free!

Do your best to not needlessly touch your face throughout the day.
I will never forget someone once telling me this. It stuck with me, and you know what? It makes a HUGE difference. You don't realize how many times you unconsciously touch your face throughout the day! And chances are that you don't wash your hands every five minutes, so you are just adding to the dirt and gunk your face already accumulates!

Never go to bed with makeup on.
This is important for everyone, but especially for people who have acne. Your skin needs a break, and it heals itself while you are sleeping. Even if you are so tired, just push yourself to take it off! Whenever I dismiss my own advice, I always regret it in the morning because my skin looks worse. So just trust me!

Always wash your face before bed, even if you didn't wear makeup.
Noticing a common theme here? Gotta keep that face clean! Washing your face before bed is a calming thing anyway, plus getting all the dirt from the day off feels good and leaves your skin feeling fresh. Even if you didn't wear makeup that day, still wash your face because built up dirt and sweat only make acne worse.

Consider using a light mineral based powder foundation.
This has been important to me. I used to wear liquid foundation, but it just made my face look and feel cakey, and my skin could not breathe! This is an important element for acne prone skin, so using a mineral based powder foundation has been great. It is light, so I don't feel like I am wearing a ton of makeup, and I can still achieve the coverage I want. I swear by Bare Minerals if you are looking for a place to start!

Always use a clean towel to dry your face.
Germs, germs, GERMS! Those guys are evil for skin. Always designate a specific towel to be your 'face towel,' and NEVER dry your face with the hand towel next to the sink. Chances are, multiple people use it and those dirty hands have touched it. If you share a bathroom with others, put it out of reach of the sink so that they aren't tempted by it. Also, if I am staying at someone's house and I forget to ask for a face towel, I would definitely rather use toilet paper or a paper towel before I use the community hand towel on my face! So obviously I'm pretty serious about this one haha. Be sure to change your face towel every few days to keep things fresh.

Do you or did you struggle with acne? What things have or haven't helped you?