Keeping My Skin Fresh as A Girl on the Go

It is no secret that I am a busy college student always on the go. My days are filled with classes, work as a nanny, and school assignments. I am in a hurry most days and during the week I rarely wear makeup (I mean, use that time for extra sleep, am I right?) If I'm not going to wear makeup, it is particularly important for my skin to look fresh, clean, and clear though! 
I recently received the Clarisonic Mia 2 to try out and it came during the perfect time: midterms! One of the busiest, most stressful times of the semester, when there is little sleep and lots of studying to be done.

Included with the face brush was a deep pore cleanser and a clay face mask, both also made by Clarisonic. When I use the brush, I just put a dime sized drop of the cleanser on the brush and then turn it on and start using it on my damp face.

It is amazing how easy to use this brush is and how it really does all the work for me. I just need to move my hand around my face and let the brush work its magic!

I love that the Clarisonic Mia 2 has a travel case! So nice to be able to take it with me on the go and not have to worry about germs getting to it.
I've struggled with acne in the past and make it a priority to keep my skin nice. This brush definitely makes it easy to do that and is a nice addition to my skincare routine!
I'm really happy with my Clarisonic Mia 2 and absolutely love how fresh and clean it makes my skin feel! After using it for 7 days straight, I really see a difference in the brightness of my skin and am amazed at how clear it is, despite the stress of school! Even though I may not get much sleep because I am up late studying, my skin looks like I got my full 8 hours of beauty sleep! And that is all a girl could really want, right? ;)

xoxo

Jess

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Clarisonic and Her Campus Media. All words and opinions are my own.

The Busy Bee Update // 2

I have been on summer break now for 4 weeks and I am just now sitting down to finally write a blog post. I know you are probably wondering what in the world could now be keeping me from blogging now that school has ended. Well, let me just start by saying this: life has been quite the wonderful whirlwind!

Let's see...what have I been up to?
I went out of town for two weeks with my dad and took a road trip from Illinois to California.
The day after I finished school, I headed out to Illinois to help my dad and his siblings clean out their 92-year-old aunt's house since she unfortunately passed away in April. I had not been to my dad's hometown in 6 years, so it was nice to visit again and see some extended family. While I was there, we were very busy trying to sort through my aunt's belongings and clear the house out so it could be put up for sale. It was really bittersweet being at her house, but it was good closure and I really enjoyed getting to know her more simply through all of the things she had. She and her late husband built that house and had lived there since the 1950s, so as you could imagine, there were tons of things buried in there. I found many vintage treasures and am happy to have those momentos to remind me of her.

During the second week of my trip, my dad and I drove from Illinois back to California. I had never done a road trip like that, so I was very excited for this adventure with my dad! We left Illinois on Sunday and ended in San Diego late Thursday night. We took our time getting home and stopped along the way in Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. I will definitely be posting more about that very soon, but it was such a fun trip!

I started a summer internship!
Two days after I got home to the Bay Area, I started an internship at a company called RingCentral. I am working in the marketing department (no, nothing design related) and have really been loving it so far! I just finished my second week and it has been a fun new experience. I have made lots of friends with the other interns from various departments and I am enjoying the team I work on. I am still nannying in the afternoons though, so between the two jobs I am working 50 hours per week. It has been really great and fulfilling, but I am definitely tired at the end of the day!

I'm figuring out where I will be moving to in the next month or so.
Along with all these fun things going on, I also have to deal with the not so fun task of figuring out where I am going to be moving to. So far I haven't found any great options, so it has been a little disappointing. I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I know everything will work out one way or another!

I've been enjoying my weekends and evenings completely free of homework!
Aside from everything else, I have been simply enjoying my evenings and weekends that have left me free to relax, go places, and just hang out worry-free! It is so nice not to have any school assignments hanging over my head! I have been hanging out with friends more and have lots of things lined up on my summer bucket list. I am definitely soaking up every moment of this freedom before school starts back up again in August!

I am currently at Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto with Dai and we are having a lovely summer day out and about! We are sitting outside at this public workspace and it is so nice! I wanted to use this relaxing time to quickly write a post to check-in and update you all on what's been up with me. I haven't abandoned this blog, I promise, and look forward to finally writing all these posts I have drafted in my head :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Busy Bee Update

There are exactly 3.5 weeks left in the school year, but I am not really sure how that is possible. I cannot believe how quickly it has gone by! I am so very ready for a break, yet am also very stressed out thinking about all the things I need to accomplish in such a short period of time. I am doing my best to take things one day at a time, but I definitely often feel overwhelmed.

Sleep has been pretty inconsistent depending on what is happening with assignments, but today I am feeling good and much more well rested than the other days this week. Plus, I am having a good hair day, so I am counting it as a win! Let me tell you, lack of sleep screws everything up. Every evening has been spent eating a quick dinner after work and then spending the rest of the evening doing my school stuff. I have been doing pretty well at focusing this week, which is great because I don't really have any time to waste!

Other than school being a crazy whirlwind, life has been carrying on and things have been looking promising. I finished working on my resume and am currently on the hunt for an internship in the "real world." I have a few opportunities in the works thanks to connections I have made, so I am hopeful that something will work out! I have been realizing lately that, depending on how my portfolio review goes in May, I could be graduating next spring! Though I am hoping that my portfolio will get me into the BFA program, which would extend my schooling a year, it is still a really crazy thought to think since I really don't feel anywhere near ready for that. But it is also kind of exciting. Hopefully getting some experience in my professional field this summer will help me to feel more prepared for that if that is what will be happening!

I also found out recently that I am going to have to move in August, which is a huge bummer. I am really not thrilled about this and the hassle of having to find a new place to live when I have finally settled in pretty nicely where I'm at now. This will be my 4th move in two years and I currently have no idea where I will end up living, but I know that this is all happening for a reason and everything will be alright in the end.

As you can tell, this post doesn't have any particular purpose other than to pop in to say hello and
give you all a little update about what has been going on with me lately! I likely won't be posting much until school is over (May 19th!!!), since I have an animated design video to finish, a portfolio to put together, a couple papers to write, and a handful of tests to study for! After that though, I am planning to get lots of blogging time in over the summer, which really makes me happy to think about :)

I hope you all are having a great week!! I'll just be over here keeping on as a busy little bee... buzz buzz!

Have things been really busy for you lately? How do you deal with so many things and such little time to do them?

When Self Doubt Creeps In

We all want to be confident, or at the very least appear confident. Fake it til' you make it, right? While it is good to tell yourself that you believe in yourself even if you aren't sure (all that reverse psychology and 'I can and I will' stuff), sometimes we have moments of doubt, and it can be hard to fight.

School has been really good for me. It has been challenging me and stretching me in new ways. My classes this semester are actually pretty interesting. I have been meeting new people and consistently talking to more people (many more this semester than last). With that, last semester and the couple weeks of this new one, have also been difficult, draining, and has made me doubt things about myself and my chosen career path. My design work has been so gruelingly time consuming, confusing, and downright stressful. I have not felt much passion about my projects (although few would when you are restricted solely to jalapeños and Helvetica as your subject matter) and I have caught myself comparing my work to the work of my peers, wondering why it seems to come so easily to them and why I am having such difficultly coming up with something brilliant.

I didn't mention this here and didn't even tell my dad this until last night, but I did not get accepted into the BFA program I applied to in December. I got the letter the evening we were heading down to San Diego to celebrate Christmas with my family, and opened it as we were starting in on our 8 hour drive. When I quickly scanned through the letter and saw many problem area boxes checked, with zero comments or personality to accompany them, my heart sank. My face immediately heated up and I felt my throat tightening and warm tears filling my eyes. It is never pleasant to be rejected, especially on something that you spent hours and sleepless nights working for. I shoved the paper back in its envelope and threw it in the glove box, to be forgotten until after the holidays, when I was forced to deal with reality again.

Winter break was very healing for me and I had a lot of time to lick my wounds after last semester's stress and disappointment. I was able to deal with my feelings about being rejected to the BFA program and find peace with it. It is not the end of the world and does not mean that I will not become a wonderful graphic designer. It just means that at this time I am not ready to be in that higher level program, but maybe I will be at the end of this semester. And even if it doesn't happen at that time, that's okay too and I will add a minor to my graphic design degree instead. I will pursue other interests outside of design. Things will be fine and will work out how they are supposed to.

Now, of course, I realize that rejection is not always great for our ego. Whether it is being rejected from a possible job, a date, for a loan, whatever it may be... It isn't fun. But, regardless, we keep marching on. Whatever is meant to be, will be. Other doors will open and new opportunities will come. Just keep going.

While working on my design homework yesterday, I let the pressure get to me and these thoughts of self doubt crept into my mind once again. I found myself wondering if being a graphic designer is something I will be good at eventually and what would happen if I graduated and couldn't get a job in the design field. Would I be a failure? Will I be a nanny forever? Thankfully, I have a wonderful support system like Dai and my dad to share these thoughts with, who both are so reassuring to me. I know that it is silly to feel this way, to compare my journey with those of my peers, and to second guess my decisions. It is most important to just keep working hard and having a positive outlook.

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this here with you all, but I did. Maybe writing is how I work through my feelings about it, or maybe I thought it would resonate with some of you. Either way, here it is: my fears, my doubts, my heart.

Here is to believing yourself and ignoring those thoughts that are only there to slow you down. You keep going, girl. You can do anything.

First Day of School!

Hellooooo! This is a slightly scatterbrained post only for the purpose of telling you all that I started school today! At my new college! Where I will be getting my degree in graphic design! Woohoo!

I have been kind of nervous about this whole thing and all the change that was going to come with it. You know, new school to navigate, new people, a new place to live, and a new schedule for work. All spring and summer, this day was creeping closer and closer, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Miraculously, though, every detail started to fall into place in and I started to feel better about it all. I am now mostly settled into my new place and am really loving it so far! My school schedule is sorted out and I was able to build my work schedule around it, so all is well! Now I just need to focus on doing well in my classes, adjusting to my new school, and making friends!

Even though it has only been one day of classes, I am already so happy. I walked across campus to and from my class with a big grin on my face because I simply couldn't believe all of this was finally actually happening. I mean, I've been going to college for the past three years, but that was community college and it felt like I was never going to get out of there. The day has finally come, though, and I have moved on to bigger & better things! I'm at a place now where I will finally be immersed in the teachings of my major and my chosen career path, and simply put, I am EXCITED!

Last night, I laid out my first day of school outfit and packed my bag like I was starting 2nd grade again. And it was wonderful! It feels so great to be excited to go to school again and to learn new things.

Here's to a great new beginning!

Did any of you go back to school this week?! How did you feel on your first day at a new college?

Tonight we are going out for drinks with friends to catch up and celebrate the end of summer/beginning of school! The rest of the weekend shall be spent fully settling into my new house and getting things in order for a great semester!

Also, I've got some pretty cool things lined up for next week here on the blog, so stay tuned :)

Happy Friday!

My best friend left.

I have anticipated this day for over a year, pushing it aside in my mind because it felt so far away. A year ago, we had no idea where we would be this time this year or what our lives would look like. I thought that hopefully I'd be starting college in a new place and living in a dorm, but obviously that didn't really work out. This day never really seemed like it would actually come, but it has. My best friend left for college. In another state. What am I going to do without her? I haven't decided yet. 

As much as I am going to miss her, I am really excited for her to get that full college experience and to be on her own for a while. Plus, I can live vicariously through her and I now have an excuse to go to Seattle :) Good luck Tots! Kaitlin and I will be waiting for you :)

Art for the sake of art.

Last summer when I studied at an art program in L.A., my printmaking teacher was very strict about what we were allowed to create in his class. Everything had to have a meaning or convey a message or social problem. I had wanted to make a block print of a design I had created. After I had started the process, he wouldn't let me finish it because "decorative things are not art" and we were not to waste our time on such things. 

A student then challenged this thinking with the response, "What about art for the sake of art?"

This was not an acceptable reasoning. Everything had to have meaning. I disagreed and quickly realized that this teacher was not one that I would share my innermost inspirations with.

Our 2012 Art Department Chalk Festival piece

Getting to my point, today I had my first class session of intermediate black and white film photography! I took the beginning class at the same community college when I was a junior in high school, so it is really nice that I can kind of dive into more advanced classes as a freshman, especially since my class has all types of advanced levels in one room. 

I believe I mentioned in the 11 things about me for the Liebster award that I took AP studio art my last year of high school. And that I didn't like it. There were several reasons, but the most important one is that it made me have a kind of jaded perspective of my work. It made me feel as though I was doing my work for "them" and not for me; for a grade on a national test and not for the love of it.

Since then, I really haven't picked up my camera or any art supplies for the sake of creating art. I take photos for this blog (believe me I do have tons of ideas that I haven't executed for this, but it's just not the same as for art!) and I make "crafts", but I have not made art. 

The closest I have come is experimenting with some block printing last week. But you know what, even just messing around with some true fine art materials kind of put a spark in me. It felt nice. And not forced. 

That's what today's class felt like. It was a community of photographers, of people (from 18-60) who want to be there to create, learn from others, and just share this love. It was like a breath of fresh air. I have been creatively falling and hopefully this class will be just what I need to find my footing again. Hopefully I will again be able to make art for the sake of making art.

P.S. I have loved all the encouragement and advice I have been getting on starting college! Thanks for the love, friends.
Hopefully later this week (when I get my bearings a little more) we can move on to more interesting stuff. I know you guys love the iPhone pics, but come on, you know I can do better than that!

XOXO

This is Marly wishing me good first day of college this morning. He is just so supportive.

My first day went pretty well! I must say though, I spent pretty much all of it alone. Even though my best friend is going to the same school, I didn't see her at all! And then the people I did know, I wasn't really friends with in high school, so I felt like it would be awkward to talk to them now. So by myself I was. Oh well. After my first class, I ran into a girl I was best friends with for the first few years of high school and my face just lit up when I saw hers. Finally someone familiar! We just said hello and then I went on my way. 

Though it is kind of a bummer to be staying home and going to community college, it's kind of nice to possibly get a second chance with friendships you had given up on. Who knows what will happen.

Big kid.

Hey guys, I start college tomorrow. College. Can you believe it? I can't. It is too surreal to wrap my head around. Nothing really feels different, but yet I feel completely unprepared for what I will be entering tomorrow. As you know, I decided to go to community college, so it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. But it kind of is to me. I feel like I've just been thrown in to figure it out on my own. Definitely not like the first day of high school. Sigh. No orientation, no tours. I think it will be okay, but what a daunting thought to think. I am exhausted from work today (I had to work an 8 hour shift. Yay for my last day of summer) and need to get some rest and calm my mind. Wish me luck guys!