I'm Good to Go + Sponsor Love

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Well guys, here we are... Today I leave for New York City, with my bag packed and a goofy smile plastered on my face. I can almost guarantee you that I will be skipping along to my gate at the airport. And that Dai will trail a safe distance behind me, pretending he has no idea who this crazy white girl is... And then I will take a dose of ZzzQuil and knock out, and wake up as we roll up to the gate at JFK. Sounds like a pretty solid plan, right? I'm stoked.

I'm going to do my best to keep in touch with all of you lovelies here while I'm gone, but let's be honest, my little mind is going to be all over the place with excitement the entire duration of my trip. For real. But, I will snapping away with that beloved camera of mine (actually, two cameras because you just can't make me choose between digital and film. I won't do it! Yes, I am spoiled. That has been established.), and will have plenty of things to share with you all when I get home! And then it will only be a few more weeks until school is over and I will be doing some major blogging, and even making some changes around here. I'm excited!

So, with that, I will leave you with "The going to the airport song," or "Bruised" by Jack's Mannequin, like the rest of the world knows it as. This song has been one of my very, very favorites for quite a while. Like 5 years or so. It is my ring tone even. Sometime long ago I started referring to it as "The going to the airport song" since it is about a plane flight, and insisted on playing it in the car whenever I drove to the airport. So it's a tradition around here, and because I love you guys that much, I will let you in on the fun. A gift from me to you! Also, the quote I added to the photo above is from this beloved song, so enjoy!

By the way, while I'm gone, you can keep up with my adventures on Instagram and Twitter!

Meet one of my sponsors, Laura of Inspiration.Sparks! She and her hubby currently live in Okinawa, Japan, and she blogs about her life in a new country, marriage, and inspiration for all areas of life. I have loved having her on my sidebar this month, and hope you love her blog as much as I do!

Blog // Twitter // Instagram // Facebook

+ Tell us a bit about your blog and why you started blogging.

I started blogging while my husband and I were working on our PCS (Permanent Change of Station) to Okinawa, Japan. I stayed in North Carolina (where he was stationed) for over a month to work on the paperwork and while he was at work I decided it would be fun to start a blog and stick to it. This way we could share all about our move, as well as our life in Okinawa to our family and friends back home. A year later you can say it's become much more! :)

+ Describe your blog in three words.

Personal, Delightful, Heartwarming 

+ What piece of clothing describes you best and why?

I'd say high-waisted shorts! I have sooo many pairs of them in my dresser! I've always been that person that has countless amounts of bottoms and not many tops. When I go shopping I have to force myself to buy tops and stay away from bottoms, but most of the time I can't control myself. 

+ If you could eliminate one thing from your daily schedule, what would it be and why?

I would eliminate washing my hair. Ok, that sounds disgusting but I can't help it, I HATE washing my hair!!! Especially because my hair isn't one of those that dries beautifully. I've always hated my natural hair which is sort of but not really curly, and that's why I've always had it chemically straightened. Now that I live on the other side of the world, no one does my treatment here and it makes me hate my hair even more. I'm so lazy that I prefer to let my hair air dry and the next day I'll force myself to straighten it, because I can't go out looking like a crazy! :P

+ If you could have an unlimited amount of one thing, what would it be?

Clothing!! Wow, what a girly answer! While working at Forever 21 I used to buy clothing every week, I couldn't control myself and my closet was always full! Now that I live somewhere with barely any inexpensive clothing stores I feel like a druggie who needs her fix. I'm also sick of wearing the same clothing and let me just express that online shopping sucks! 

Want to sponsor Foreign Room as well? You can check out the options I am currently offering here.

The Thankful Project: Something about My Guy

I have been sick this week, so things have been a bit quiet around here, but this was one prompt I didn't want to miss out on. The weeks and months have been going by in such a blur, and sometimes I forget how lucky I am, that in all this craziness, I have someone that I can turn to every day to just relieve a bit of stress off my shoulders. Whether it is a pep talk on my way home from a long day, or listening to the extremely boring details of my time with my nanny kids, or graciously letting me complain about how busy and overwhelmed I am, he is always there, happy to let me vent to him whatever I need to get out of my system. He also makes me laugh like no one else does. Sometimes he is so silly that it pisses me off, but then he always finds a way to get me to loosen up and not take things so seriously. Dai is truly a great guy, one I sometimes doubt I am deserving of.
And here are a few other reasons I am thankful for him:

+ He is an awesome surprise planner. He made my lifelong dream come true. I mean, come on.
+ He is more thoughtful than I am. I like to think I am thoughtful, but after more time spent with Dai, I have realized that I am actually pretty damn selfish. Something to work on.
+ He just understands the importance of the Backstreet Boys, you know? And knows all the words to their songs! What a dream!
+ He is learning the art of coffee dates, just for me.
+ He pesters me about my schoolwork and about being "responsible." Yep, as annoying as this sometimes is, I am thankful for it since it keeps me accountable (when I am compliant!).
+ He is always more than willing to lend a helping hand, even when it inconveniences him.
+ He loves to cuddle. Yep, a guy who likes to cuddle! How lucky am I?
+ We can drive in silence and it is never awkward.
+ He shares my passion for photography, which makes life more fun.
+ He has learned to love a few of the same bands I do, so we sing along together all the time. It's sickeningly cute.
+ He is always up for an adventure. Hence our trips to LA, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Yosemite, and now NYC. Which, honestly, were all my ideas that I concocted and convinced him would be a great idea. He is too good to me, for I know without him, I wouldn't have been able to take those trips.
+ He has been doing his best to expose me to more cultures, especially the Japanese culture (obviously)! I am having a new appreciation for other ways of life and parts of the world.

I have no idea where the rest of this unpredictable journey is going to take us, but I am so happy to have him by my side for it all. Can't wait to get to spend a whole week with this guy in New York! What a lucky girl :)

Hope your week has been going swimmingly, and that you have been getting to enjoy the start of the holiday spirit! I will say this though: people putting up their Christmas trees already? Really?

Linking up with Kenzie of Chasing Happy, of course!

Weekly Wishes #13

Hello all! It has been far too long since I have linked up with The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes. Makes me sad to think about actually, since it is one of my favorite parts of my week. I am not going to even bother going over my goals from my last Weekly Wishes post. I can pretty much guarantee you that I didn't do any of them. I don't even remember what they were and don't care to know because I will probably just be disappointed in myself for not accomplishing them, so let's move on and start fresh!

Also, guess what? THIS WEEK IS NEW YORK WEEK! Dai and I leave on Friday, so this is going to be an awesome week, I just know it.

- Take care of all homework assignments. I will be missing a day of school next week since I will be gone, so I need to get the assignments due that day done and turned in before I leave. Also, I have quite a few assignments due this week that need to be completed.

- Leave my room neat and tidy before taking off for NYC. I always seem to leave town in a whirlwind, neglecting my room in the process. I absolutely hate coming home to an already messy room, especially since I will be just making a bigger mess with my unpacking process! Plus, it is just nice to come home to a peaceful room after being away.

- Spend time with Marly and my dad. Since I will be gone for a week, I need to give my pup some extra love, and make more of an effort to connect with my dad before leaving. My days are usually so hectic, that sometimes I don't even see my dad, even though we live in the same house! I will do my best to take Marly to work with me this week and on a couple extra walks, and maybe arrange to have coffee or dinner alone with my dad.

I wish everyone a wonderful week! Who else is really looking forward to Thanksgiving?! Coming home from NYC on Thanksgiving Day in time to have dinner with my family :)

The Thankful Project: A Room

Linking up for Day 17 of The Thankful Project, hosted by Kenzie of Chasing Happy. Today's prompt: a room.

Whenever I think about high school, I am always reminded of the art room I spent most of my time in. There are two art classrooms that are conjoined by a center room, and only the more "advanced" students that needed the extra space or quiet were allowed to work in there. I remember wishing as a freshman that I could work in that "special" room and hoping that one day I would be good enough to have the privilege of doing so.

Once my junior year rolled around, I got my wish and I spent most of my time in that little room. It quickly became one of my favorite places to be. That room saw me through some rough times, deep thoughts, successful art pieces, a few tears, and some big accomplishments. I would spend my days independently coming up with my own art projects and experimenting with whatever my heart desired. I would spend a few moments in front of the big wall of boxes filled with random items to be drawn or used as references. I would stand on chairs, rummaging through each box for something that sparked my interest that particular day. I would set up still-life displays next to the window and practice my photography.

My best friend would sneak in and out of that room, coming to join me in my hideout. We would spend many lunches sitting at the working tables, gossiping and hiding from the rest of the world, until we were sometimes told to leave by the art teachers since we spent all of our time there.

Decisions about life were made in this room, secrets divulged, projects procrastinated, and sometimes, when I was lucky, some creatively genius pieces were made. There was definitely also some mischief that went on, especially in my senior year, when I shared that space with a few other girls for a class period.

Though I am often reminiscent of many parts of my high school experience, this room that helped me grow exponentially as an artist and a person is definitely the part that is most missed.

New York City: Inspiration

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Hello there my friends! Today is exactly one week from when I will be heading to New York City with my guy! Seems a bit surreal that it is actually happening, as I have a couple essays to write, a project to complete, and a book to read and finish before I go, but IT IS HAPPENING. I am a lucky girl that got the morning off from responsibilities at the last minute, so here I am, typing away to all you lovelies.

(By the way, this top image and a couple others throughout the post comes from this awesome blog I found the other night, Living Out Loud. I really like Emily and her style!)

So, in the interest of day dreaming and excitement, I thought I would share a few of the things that are on our list of must-sees while we are in NYC. I have a giant list going in my sketchbook and this weekend we will hopefully make a tentative itinerary for our trip!

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Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. I see this all the time over on Hey Natalie Jean (formerly Nat the Fat Rat), and I just drool. With all the buzz this place gets, it seems to be a more hip equivalent to CA's favorite In-n-Out. Plus there's a string-lit patio, so obviously I'm in.

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Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I hear this is a must! It would be kind of sweet if it snowed while we did like in the photo above :)

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Chelsea Market. This is another one Natalie talks about quite often and I can't wait to check it out.

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9/11 Memorial. I think that this will be very humbling and amazing. I still remember exactly where and what I was doing when I heard about what happened, and how the rest of the day followed in school.

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Central Park. Duh. I even hear there's a carousel, and since I am a kid at heart, I just may beg Dai to take me on it.

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Grand Central Terminal. I hear that standing in this historic place is simply breathtaking. I also recall a black and white framed photo of this place on the wall of my high school English class that I would stare at and daydream about how beautiful it was. So it is on the list.

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High Line Park. This seems to be a super popular place lately, and I can see why from all of the photos I have looked at. Looks pretty awesome!

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Sit on the steps of the New York Public Library, because that seems to be the thing to do. Plus, just look at it. Puts any other library I've ever seen to shame.

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Visit the Empire State Building. Maybe it seems cliché, but I'm in New York and it's the Empire State Building, so...

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Visit the NYC MoMA and The Plaza Hotel. I love the SF MoMA (my awesome posts about it here and here), but it is closed for THREE years for renovations, so I thought I would check out NY's since I have heard awesome things about it. Plus, I wanted to take in a museum or two while we are there and this one seems the most interesting to me. I just want to go to The Plaza Hotel because it is so iconic and, well, because of Eloise. Plus it should be decorated for the holidays!

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Wander around West Village to look at pretty ivy-covered brick homes. Things like that are good for the soul.

And another thing... Can I basically just be Natalie for the week? I always just swoon over her blog and day to day adventures with her little Huck. I even want a little Huck one day. Or at the very least, can I just, like, you know, hang out with her?

Also, I have been jamming out so hard in the car to the beginning of this song. Old news, but you're welcome.

Happy Friday! I love you all!

P.S. Happy Birthday to my lovely Aunt Kathy who I know reads and cherishes this blog! Love you!

Let's Talk About Stress

When I made this graphic, I was intending to offer advice on managing stress or things that you can do to add hapiness into stressful times. And then when I sat down to actually write this post, those weren't the words that started to stir inside of me. I decided that I didn't want to pretend to have all the answers or that life was rainbows and flower fields at the moment. I just decided to be simply honest.

Stress seems to be the common theme in my life recently. I am always two steps behind everything I need to be doing. I know that this is partly (mostly) my fault due to my nature as a procrastinator. I don't know how I became one, but I haven't been able to break that habbit (New Year's resolution?). In the past, I have been able to get away with it and still be successful, but things have been catching up with me this semester in particular. 

I realize that I have felt so stressed due to my overly planned schedule. I am a full-tume student and am working around 25 hours per week. Two days a week, I go to school from 8am-2pm, work from 2:230-6pm, and then head to an evening class from 6:30-9pm.  The other days, I work from 9am-1pm, and then again from 2:30pm to 6pm. And then, of course, it takes me 30+ minutes to fight traffic all the way home. It has been increasingly depressing as it has been getting dark so early. As I say this all outloud and compare myself to other college students, I am starting to think that I am crazy. Yet, at the same time, I know that I will be better for it in the long-run, unlike Facebook "friends" I know off living the partying life on their parents' dime.

Part of the consequence for my overly planned schedule is lack of time just for myself. I am the type of girl who needs time to be alone, cuddled up in bed with my sweet pup, or spending time in a hot shower with candles. Or even blogging. This little blog is my creative outlet, which is a natural stress reliever for me. So, when I do have free time, I choose to take in these moments instead of starting my English paper, or studying from my Biology textbook. Can you blame a girl?

I don't necessarily know where I am going with this, but I guess this is all to say that life goes on. This semester from hell will be over in four weeks, and then I will have a month-long break to work on this space that makes me truly hapy from the inside out and work on the finishing touches of a project I am beyond excited to share with you all. Life seems impossible right now, but it will go on. I will get through this and I am stronger than I think. I think this is also to say that it is important to take the time to do things for yourself, even if other obligations are looming. Classes, work, and other responsibilites will always be calling, but you are useless to them if you feel empty. 

So, please take the time to do something that makes you happy. Turn off your brain for a while and forget all that is on your to-do list. It will be there when you are done. And if not, life will go on and you will be just fine, this I promise you.

And baby makes three

Hello there! Today I am back with part two of the baby photos of my nephew that I posted last week. Though both sets are from the same shoot, they each have such a unique feel to them! While the black and white set from last week showed a certain delicate and tender quietness, these color photos represent the joy of this new chapter in this family's life.




I just LOVE Baby Riley's bicycle themed nursery. So unique and fresh, while still appropriate for a baby.






I hope you enjoyed these ones as much as the first set of photos, and in case you missed them last week, you can find them here!

I love the natural process of preparing for a baby and hope to continue to photograph more families through their pregnancies, life with a newborn, and beyond. Life is such a beautiful thing, is it not?

The Thankful Project: Words

Hey guys! Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend? I sure am. Today I wanted to share with you something special that Kenzie over at Chasing Happy has come up with for the month of November: The Thankful Project. The Thankful Project is an awesome idea that challenges you to blog about something you are grateful every day this month. Today's topic is words.

If you have checked out my Pinterest page, you may have seen my board called "words." This board is so inspiring to me and I love the words I have pinned to it. But those are not ones I am most grateful for. These are:

I am grateful for these words in particular because they are actually words that were said to me, just for me. My mom said them to me over the phone a couple months ago in a heart-aching conversation. And for whatever reason, somehow, they calmed me and gave me peace. I knew right then that I needed to remember them, and quickly scribbled them down on a post-it and placed it above my desk, where I would see them every day. And that is what I do; I see them every day and they make me feel at ease.

I'm off to...

(note: image via, I added text)

Yep, you read that correctly! In exactly two weeks, Dai and I will be boarding a plane to New York City! Some of you may already know this if you follow me on Twitter, but I am unbelievably excited and am still in awe that we are actually doing this. I have never been to the East Coast, and somewhere along the way, this idea of visiting (especially at this time of year) is irresistible to me. I have been just waiting and waiting and waiting to finally tell you all this, but wanted to find the right time to do so! When we booked the tickets back in early October, after going back and forth about the matter for a couple months, it seemed like such a long ways off. But here we are, only two weeks away from the big day! I honestly have never been so excited for an adventure before in my life. These are the experiences that I think make the best memories in life. These are the things we are supposed to do as humans, see this huge world.

Before I leave, I will be sharing with you all some of the things that are on our list for this trip, and maybe even some fashion inspiration. I mean, I am just craving that East Coast fallish/winterish weather and all the cute clothes that come with it! Most of all, I am so excited about the photos I will be taking. Do I take digital or film? I don't know! This seems to be the biggest decision, as of course, I want BOTH because I would be crazy not to. But realistically, can I really lug both cameras around the city? I am not sure. The sacrifices we photo-obsessed people make...

Any suggestions for things we must do or see? Come on people, help a girl out!

In the Quiet Moments: My first baby shoot

Last month, I had the pleasure of photographing my brand new nephew, Riley IV, that was born in July while I was in Texas. If you recall, I also photographed a maternity shoot while my sister was pregnant with him! Well, here he is!

As I was putting this post together, I originally included the color photographs that I took, but I decided to split them into two separate posts since they both have such different feelings. These show the quiet, soft moments between mother and child, while those are more energetic. So I will post the color photos another day to let these ones shine on their own.

I hope you enjoyed these photos! They are truly some of my favorite ones I have taken to date, especially these last two and the second photo in the post. Oh, who am I kidding? I LOVE THEM ALL. I would say that these black and white photos really represent my style, and I am so happy that I was able to capture the intimacy between mama and baby, especially with someone like my sister.

After looking through this shoot and thinking about the other shoots I have done the past couple years, I have decided that I really want to try to focus on my photography in 2014. Maybe set up a website with my portfolio and start taking on paying clients. I am so grateful to have gotten to practice on so many of my family members. I don't think that what I do in 2014 will be the beginning of my actual business that I plan on starting, but you never know what could happen and gaining more experience is always a good thing.

At any rate, that is kind of where I am at with my photography. Everyone always says that you should do what you love, and there are few things that make my heart feel as content as it does when I am behind a camera.