Food, Style, and Travel
I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite summer outfits. I feel very ME in each of these outfits. They remind me of what I used to like wearing as a kid. I’ve always liked combining ~girly~ clothes with practical and comfortable choices like sneakers and hats. I’ve actually worn each of these outfits recently, so I named them after what was happening at the time.
Look #1: Sunday morning at the Farmer’s Market
Right before I wrote out the title for this, I put Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” music video on, but immediately got their song “Beverly Hills” in my head.
🎸 Where I come from isn’t all that great 🎸
🎶 My automobile is a piece of crap 🎶
🎸 My fashion sense is a little whack 🎸
 🎶 And my friends are just as screwy as me  🎶
I’d say that’s about accurate for myself. Except, I don’t actually have a car. But the gist of it is totally relatable!
So guys, the thing is, I went to Beverly Hills today for a job interview. I know for sure that it was in Beverly Hills. After it was over, I walked about a mile to a bus stop, taking photos on my new iPad along the way.
It’s December already? Guess so. This year sure has gone by fast.
It’s been a week since Thanksgiving and I’ve been meaning to count my blessings. It feels good to remind myself. There are so many things to be thankful for.
1. Family
They know me like no one else.
2. My dogs
They’re just the cutest.
I’m going to be honest with you. When I first read that this month’s theme for the blog hop Between Lenses is urban, I thought of how the word urban has become code for black. I had recently watched the first few episodes of the show Black-ish on Hulu, in which the lead character Andre Johnson is promoted to Senior Vice President of the Urban Division. The ABC show depicts an upper middle class black family living in a primarily white neighborhood. Have you seen it? It’s not the best, but it’s not bad.
I don’t think I had heard of or thought about urban being a code for black until hearing Sasheer Zamata and Nicole Byer talk about how they have been instructed to sound “more urban” and “be blacker” in their auditions.
This has nothing to do with my picture. I just thought I would share that bit of word association. Why is urban code for black in some circles? I don’t know.
Besides that, the word urban made me think of cities, the actual definition of the word. I thought about taking a photo in my suburban city, which is part of Los Angeles County. I could take a picture of a packed parking lot or a bus stop. Those things stand out to me as the markers of a densely populated area. But then I remembered that I have taken pictures of Los Angeles itself so I may as well use one of those.
I took this photo sometime during my internship in Downtown Los Angeles, which I did from February to May. This is actually the street the company I worked for is on. It’s in the building across the street, so you can’t see it in the photo. But you can see some tall buildings, shorter buildings, construction and signs in multiple languages. All these things say urban to me.
Interestingly enough, my grandma’s friend’s mother worked at the suit shop on this street (far left in the photo) when my Grandma was young. That’s how old that building is. It’s still a suit shop with old advertisements painted on the windows. As it is the Fashion District, there are many fabric and sewing supply stores. I’m sure many of the buildings here are old and some of the other businesses may very well be also.
Out of view, but just down the alley (Santee alley, to be exact), are some fairly new restaurants. One of them, TBLA Catering & Cafe, is so good. If you ever happen to be in the Fashion District, do go. Just know that it’s (almost) impossible to find parking.
Cities, like any other area, are not perfect. They have a lot of problems and plenty of positives. They’re perpetually in progress. In some ways, they are a reflection of greater society. I would love to see more progress made on ending homelessness and violence, improving transportation, improving working conditions in many areas and reducing the cost of living in Los Angeles, as well as the surrounding area. It took me a while to write that out because I know I can’t just say it. I have to be part of the solution.
What I like about urban areas is that it’s easy for people to come together. Activism, networking groups and helpful organizations do exist outside of urban areas. That is true. It’s just that the more people you have in an area, the more likely you are to find people to connect with. That’s what I think any way. There are also great community events in urban and suburban areas that I love, such as concerts, food truck festivals, lectures and art exhibits.
I hope you enjoyed reading my ramble on the word urban, as well as my photo.
Thank you, Latrina and Tara for hosting the Between Lenses blog hop each month. I enjoy thinking about the themes and seeing other people’s takes on them.
P.S. See my past Between Lenses posts on Mornings and Movement. Next month’s theme will be reflection and the blog hop for it will start on December 12.
These past few weeks, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. I’m still on the search for a job since graduation, as I’ve mentioned here before. It’s not good to feel this way. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been to this place where insecurity begins to take over. On the plus side, there are ways out.
Thankfully, I’m feeling better already. I’ve got the support of family and friends, my health, a place to lay my head and plenty of other things to be thankful for. I have to remember that good things come in time with hard work. I was reminded yesterday, not for the first time, that I just have to have faith.
Friends, family and faith are key for me, although sometimes I forget that.
Honestly, I’ve never been much of an optimistic person. I’ve always thought of myself as a realist. I think practically. When I was young, I had to be reminded that not everything should be taken so literally. Maybe that’s why my best friends are such positive people. They keep me grounded. We balance each other out. But when I get down, I can go from being realistic to negative.
The thing is, I was hoping that by now I would have a full-time job, be saving up for things like a new computer and car, and be getting ready to move out of my family’s home. I had big goals a few months ago. I have to remind myself that the economy is hard now for everyone. Just because I haven’t reached all those things, doesn’t mean they aren’t attainable. I can’t give up. I don’t want to live with my family forever. Giving up isn’t an option.
Positive habits can help change my perspective in times like this. I wrote about what to do when you’re feeling down last January, but forgot to look at that list until now that I’m already feeling better. I just checked and everything on it still applies.
One habit I’m really trying to cultivate lately is to take a walk every day. If I walk my dogs Max and Penny while the sun is still out, then I’m accomplishing three things on the list. I get some sun, exercise and hang out with animals. When I took these photos above two weeks ago, I ticked three things off. I got sun, exercised and did something creative.
Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed or not, taking at least 15 minutes out of your day to take a walk can be be very helpful. I encourage you to try it.
Also, reading this blog post by Patty on Barrett All and this one by Anna on In Honor of Design helped me feel even less alone and more encouraged to strive for what I want.
Positivity is a powerful thing. Hope is necessary. Love is beautiful.
P.S. Thanks for your encouraging comments on my latest fashion post. I’ll definitely do more in the future.
My dog Max and I are similar in many ways. We’re usually calm and quiet, but we both get excited about a walk around the block. He definitely jumps up and down more than me though. We’re both introverts. We’re big fans of popcorn and peanut butter. And we prefer not to wake up too early.
This is the face Max makes when he’s still in bed and the sun is shining through the blinds. I make the same face.
I usually see this cute-pie puppy face within minutes of waking up. His bed is right next to mine. Sometimes I have to coax him out of bed to go outside and he will just look at me like this.
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So, even though I haven’t participated in the Between Lenses blog hop in quite some time (oops!) I was reminded of it and super excited that I didn’t miss the October theme. You see, bloggers Tara and Victoria have created this series for bloggers to link up and share their interpretation of a theme through photos. This month’s theme is mornings.
Be sure to hop over to see Latrina and Tara’s posts as well!
Also, see my other Between Lenses post on movement.
Where do you feel most at peace? More than anywhere else, I think I feel most at peace standing beside the ocean watching the waves come in. There’s nothing quite like it.
The ocean has always been a special place for me. I especially love watching the waves go in and out. When I was a little girl, my older sister and I would play tricks with the waves. As the waves would start to come in I would call out “You can’t get me you little rascal waves.” Except, I had a hard time pronouncing words then, so it sounded more like “You can’t get me you wittle wascal waves.” Then I would either run away from the water or my sister would pull me up by the arms so the waves wouldn’t get me. Maybe this actually only happened once or twice. Either way, it’s a fond memory.
Being on the beach always makes me think of that memory. I get so excited to stick my feet in the water, even if it’s a cold day. I know that if it’s too cold for me, I can just run away and come back when I’m ready. The waves will still be there.
I took this photo a few weeks ago I was in Santa Barbara with my best friend just for a day. We took a break from exploring the city to hang out by the ocean waves. It was really fun! Not many people were on that area of the sand so we had our own space to be silly and take photos. We played around with the settings and took turns modeling for the camera. We were acting like kids. A lot of the pictures turned out bad. Out of the bunch, this was my favorite. It’s not just a decent pictures. It also has a soft quality to it, which I like.
So, I decided to share it as part of the Between Lenses photo challenge put on by Latrina and Tara.
To find out more about the Between Lenses photography challenge, visit Latrina’s blog Of Trees and Hues and Tara’s blog Tara Victoria.This challenge is really beautiful and hope to keep linking up with them. If you’re interested, the next two themes have already been planned out so you can get a head start.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago and accidentally pushed publish before adding in the pictures. Here’s the completed piece, as it should be.
It rained today.
My mom excitedly pointed out the rain as I was looking at my computer on the dinning room table. We could see through the dinning room window that there was rain pouring down, but there weren’t any clouds blocking the sun. “There must be a rainbow,” she said. Sure enough, there was practically a double rainbow.
I went right out in the rain with my flip flops, running shorts, tank top and hoodie on. (This California weather changes fast. It was hot a few days ago and I was inside most of today, so I was in lounge clothes.) After about 10 minutes, it stopped raining. I had some photos of the rainbow, a truly beautiful feat of nature, so I retreated inside to warm my feet.
I got lost in the Internet again. When I looked up from the 10+ tabs I had open and saw the sunset, I decided it was time for another photo session. Queue more cloud photography, a downpour and then hail started falling from the sky. That happens a few times a year where I live and I love it every time.
Each time I was outside staring at the sky, I thought about how my head has been in the clouds lately. I like to live in reality, but sometimes I get too caught up in thinking about the future, what it could hold, and what it should hold. The things that have been weighing heavily on my mind feel so personal at the moment, that I would rather not go into detail. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to say I’ve been deeply considering marriage and my career both as separate and intertwined things.
As I’m writing this, I just remembered a quote from one of my favorite books and movies, Little Women. “We’ll all grow up someday,” Amy March told her sister Meg. “We might as well know what we want.”
In my experience, this is true. We should know what we want. We should be dreamers and have our heads in the clouds sometimes. Of course, eventually we’ll have to come back to earth and see how our dreams can match up with reality.
I also try to keep in mind that wherever there’s rain, there’s likely to be a rainbow. Take the bad with the good and vice versa. Gray skies and blue skies can exist in the same day, even in the same stretch of sky. So appreciate what you have.
The sky always makes me feel very contemplative. I just have to remember to look up.
Modern Notebook 