Skin Confidence

Last night I finally did a face mask, which I really should do more often. I have incredibly dry skin, and my makeup definitely doesn't help with all the chemicals in it. So I've been on a skin kick so to say, trying to take better care of what I put on my face. And I think it's been making a difference, I got a compliment the other week so that was rad (but maybe that was thanks to my new BB cream...). It's a slow process, and can sometimes be really disappointing when I take my makeup off at night and see all my red bumps. So I decided to go green--literally! Get it? Cheesy...also, my boo and I were watching this documentary on Mermaids, so the green skin craving was partially thanks to that (ridiculous, I know, but some part of me wanted to believe that Ariel existed for a second).

Also, fair warning, I don't really like taking "serious" pictures...so here's my mask face during and after and today: 

It dries rock solid so it feels really weird to do this:

Hey no red splotches!! 

Today, with just a little bit of makeup/BB cream. I was feeling the new skin! (Had to use a B&W filter to get rid of my red-eye--I hate when that happens)

(the most serious pose you will get from me)

Here's the mask I use. It's really old, and I think from Target? You can get it online HERE for cheap. 

Every once in a while I can convince my boo to do a mask with me, but obviously he doesn't want any photographic evidence. It's pretty cute though! 

I'm going to try to use it once a week, but I'll keep you updated on how that actually plays out. I'd suggest doing a mask with me. It's more fun together! Plus we can pretend to be mermaids, yeah? No that's super dorky, you say? Well alright then...

My Boo's Bday!!

Yesterday was my boo's bday, so naturally I took the day off to allow for shenanigans. 

Classy breakfast: We had pancakes with a little real vanilla extract added and oven baked bacon (the easiest way I've ever cooked it!). Our TMNT orange juice glasses were a great find since we are both HUGE fans. The champagne is Tobin James, local here and delicious everywhere. Get it and you will be hooked, promise. 

Here's what I got him:

He really likes spiderman, so I figured if we frame a few comics in a classy way, we could easily add them to our apartment decor without feeling like we are kids (well, younger kids, lets be honest we aren't that grown up yet). So I ordered six of his favorites from the 90s and got a huge frame for them. I had to wrap them in scrap-paper/blueprints from work, and even then they didn't cover up the frame very well, so I had to layer them on. It was a little bulky to say the least. 

(That's his card I made him, taped to the front. It's dorky so that's why I'm not sharing a close up--sorry boos!)

I think he caught comic book fever because next we headed to a local comic book store, and he was in heaven. This is only one row of the many that are in this warehouse-sized store!  

They had everything there, including this little gem: 

After going to another shop that was smaller, (not pictured, it was a little claustrophobic in there to be honest), he got two more to add and we set about rematting them. Ta da!

And here he is setting up his train set that he got from his parents. Kind of a toy-themed birthday this year! 

Then we got dinner and saw Hangover Part III, which was pretty entertaining for being a sequel. I need to post my summer movie list--I'll do that soon boos!! There are a handful of films coming out that I'm looking forward to, plus with the movie tickets being only $10 here, it's more affordable than in Long Beach. I guess small towns have that going for them. 

Now back to work and the real world...

Mom's Day, a little late, plus some other stuff that's not very light material, fair warning.

Had a little belated mom's day celebration at lunch yesterday, and we had a great conversation about divorce. I know, not your typical convo, but we really just fell into it.

I think it's important to recognize your past and learn from the negative. She said something that I think is incredibly profound:

"We all create our own version of normal that we use to compare events to." 
(That's probably not the direct quote, sorry mom, I can't remember it exactly).

But right? I mean this makes every thought we have be biased and one sided, how in the world can we truly promote equality? Just got me thinking about all those issues...maybe for another time.

I also talked to her about what I remember from her divorce with my dad, which is so silly once I put it into words. I remember it was dinner time, and I wanted my parents to fight just so I didn't have to finish my plate. Plus, I knew I would get ice cream once they were done, so, win-win for me! So weird to think about that now.

We also talked about how divorce shapes your outlook on relationships. I didn't have any friends with divorced parents, so it was really hard for me to relate to them. I kept moving around friend groups, having "new best friends" each school year. Nothing really felt right until college. Small towns aren't great for diversity (obviously). Man, if I only had my college friends in high school, I would have been a whole lot less angry (sorry again mom!).

I told my mom how lucky she is, and me too I guess, that her parents are such a good example of marriage. They've been married since the dawn of time it seems, and even though they aren't perfect, they still persevere together. Marriage is the toughest thing I have ever done, and my fear is that I will give up at some point because that's what I'm used to. That's what I've been around, even if it's a while before it happens. And that's okay, at a certain point you have to throw in the towel I think. It takes two, and you can only do as much as one. In my mom's case, she did do everything she could, it just was a compatibility issue (in my opinion) and maybe if she had had divorced parents she would have made a different call on her first husband (but I'm glad she didn't because then, you know, I wouldn't be around to bug her!). It would have been a different normal for her. I just hope I don't give up on something that can be fixed, and it's just me not meeting in the middle because I gave up too soon out of fear or frustration. *I'm in no way in a bad marriage by the way, I just have a fear that's all. Just FYI!*

Anyway, it's interesting, and very rewarding, to talk to my mom about marriage. Great day!

Visit her blog right HERE!! Promise you will love it! 

Had to get a pic with our sunnies and without (doesn't my mom have some rad shades? I thought so too!)

Afterlight

First of all, if you want to look up just how toxic all your beauty and bath products are, click HERE. Very eye opening and disappointing. I just found out that the FDA can't regulate cosmetics (thanks America), but if you want a country with better rules/regulations/overall health conscious products then buy all your beauty supplies from the UK. They just passed (well, recently) government polices to better regulate cosmetic production there. I can't believe I never looked this stuff up before...

(There are places and brands in the US that are totally safe, but I'm lazy, so as long as I have a place to shop without having to do even light research, then that usually wins. I'd way rather be watching Parks and Rec.)

Anyway, I found a new photo editing app for my iPhone. I've been wanting one for a while, but not looking very hard (obviously). It's called Afterlight, and it's really rad! Tons of options, etc. Here are some of my photos I've been messing around with on the app:


Before                                                                                              After!

Bamboo outside my apt:   

Me!: (Check out those fly-aways!)

My boo's family cat, Misty, before...

After! (She kept trying to get into the koi pond...)

Finally, road trip shot before...

...and after!

It's fun, and time consuming, so just get ready for that. It's 99 cents too, but I think it's worth the price. 

I just got more film for my Holga camera, so I'll keep you posted on my photos from that as well, but since that uses real film, and this town only has one place to develop it, (Costco, weird right? I guess they really do have everything!), it might be a while. 

Stopping Mean Girl Thoughts

I really need to work on thinking nicer, you know what I mean? I have a tendency to judge ladies that I walk past, and then I do the same when I look in a mirror. Come on now, that needs to stop. It's EXHAUSTING! So I'm going to actively try to stop doing that, starting last Friday (sorry boos, forgot to mention it). It's going to be a relief, I think. As women, we are constantly overanalyzing the crap out of everything, especially our looks, holding up an impossibly high standard of what we think beauty is. I've always done that, which is probably why my body image of myself is still such an issue. So I'm going to give myself and others a break. I'm going to compliment others when they truly look beautiful, not hate them for it. I'm going to love my skin, even when it doesn't look as smooth and tan as I want it to look. This might sound really superficial because, well, it is. This isn't an important issue, it's just another annoying thing that we have to deal with in everyday life (even if you don't want to openly admit it). So lets stop wasting time and energy on something this insignificant so we can focus on the bigger picture...

...like Star Trek Into Darkness!! Sooo good--go see it if you haven't yet! It's a surprisingly nice sequel. 

But really, anything is better than negativity, and we have to work everyday to fight it. Deal with it people. (Was that mean? Just kidding).

Dear iDiary...

Here are a few iPhone photos from this week, get excited boos! (Jk).

Curls from my straightener--crazy right? Just learned how!

Gotta get bikini ready.

Ok this is from last weekend, but we had so much fun at our friend's wedding I had to post a pic (more on the 'Gram)!

New favorite pen--this is what's exciting in my life currently...thanks Birchbox.

Jumped on the spiked-necklace-with-buttoned-up-sheer-top train, and I have to admit I like the style.

Beer thirty at the office!! TGIF!!

That's it! Have a great weekend boos!!

Summer Lovin' Shopping List

Summer shopping guide slash wish list! I'm going to Fresno this weekend for my husband's brother's graduation from law school and of course I'm going to the mall. There aren't any malls around SLO-town, so I gotta soak them in when I'm in Fresno. Here's what I'm craving:

1. Skirts from Zara

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

(Don't know why my typing didn't show up on my collage...photoshop hates me sometimes)

2. J Crew and Urban: Vests and Blazers (and an accidental chambray shirt too)

1 // 2 // urban blazers // urban vests (not pictured, too many!)

3. Forever 21: Vests Galore!!

Patriotic clothing always gets me!!

link to whole page

4. Baublebar (obviously) These are all from the HonestlyWTF collab too (double obvious)

link HERE

Ok that's a ton of stuff and I'm definitely not rich sooo I'll be narrowing that list down a lot. I'll let you know what I end up with.

Fitness and Body Image

These past couple of weeks I've been trying to get back into "bikini" shape, but it's brought up a bunch of my old friends, namely Poor-Body-Image and Never-Thin-Enough-Depression. I didn't realize I had such a poor body image of myself until my besties and hubs told me that I needed to stop losing weight. This was around my wedding, so I know I was working out a little too much. But that really stuck with me, and I thought damn, I have a horrible image of what my body is "supposed" to look like. If it wasn't for them, I probably would have worked out forever until I disappeared! 

Maybe it was ballet? I was a ballerina as a kid and teen, and was constantly reminded of the ideal body type to succeed in that world...

Maybe B-Spears had a hand in it, since I basically idolized her (lets be honest, she's still awesome in my book)...

Barbie? Maybe? I don't think so though.

Victoria Secret catalogs? Oh ya, you beat-chya! Those women look fantastic, but not everyone has a model body type...

In college I gained a ton of weight. Like 35+ pounds of weight. I went from a size 00 to a size 5, and was TOTALLY HAPPY WITH IT. I was finally a medium! I had always wanted to be a medium, just a normal, middle range size that's always available. But I was way out of shape, and I needed to work out again. It was getting hard to surf and snowboard, not to mention walk across campus. So I lost all the weight, started eating healthy, and got back to a size XS. But lately my medium cravings have been bubbling up, one cookie at a time. And my skinny jeans have been a little too skinny for me too. So I decided yesterday (it's still fresh) that I'm going to be as toned as possible. No more get-as-skinny-as-possible, or guilt-trip-starving. I'm going to eat healthy, and as much as I need/want/feel like, and I'm going to workout and tone the crap outta myself. Because that's what I think true women should look like now. I'm going to change this dumb self body image I have and make it healthy. So there! (And maybe have healthy-ish cookies too!)

Anyway, here is what I plan on doing, so follow along if you want!

-Run 3-4 times a week. I usually like to do 1-2 miles, depending on time of day and the wind factor. It's ridiculously windy every day in this town, and it blows in every direction--sooo annoying!!

-Squats, lunges, arm workouts, planks, crunches, all that good stuff. If you want a great resource, Lauren Conrad actually has some fantastic routines on her sight, check it HERE, HERE, HERE, and  HERE. She recently teamed up with Tone it up, HERE, and they seem to have some great exercise options too. I just got some dumbbells from Target, 3lb and 5lb sets, and use them when I work out. Also, a yoga mat is nice even when you are at home. My carpet makes my feet sweat! (gross!)

-And get some cute outfits to work out in too! It'll make you want to exercise more, trust me:

from my Pinny

A tank/t-shirt and leggings or shorts are what I usually like to wear. Comfy, flexible, and versatile--perf!

Happy exercising!