valentine's weekend recap

This past weekend was president's day weekend so I was able to visit home for the long weekend!! It was so nice spending time relaxing at home with family and friends after a crazy couple of weeks at school (midterms every single week this quarter!!!!!).

This is the first year my boyfriend and I weren't able to be together for valentine's day, but he surprised me with gifts through the mail, which was almost as good as a real life date. On Saturday morning I was surprised with a delivery of roses, chocolates, and a sweet love note! I spent the day with family and got together with a couple of girlfriends and we went out for an early 'galentine's' sushi celebration. On Sunday (actual valentine's day), my sister and my bff watched the bachelor special (Janner forever) and ate chipotle. It was such a great way to celebrate valentine's day!! I hope everyone had a good weekend <3.

etsy inspired fall & halloween decor

Fall is hands down one of my favorite times of the year. I love the cooler weather, bundling up in sweater & scarves, staying in and drinking tea and hot cocoa, getting pumpkin spice lattes (!!!) from starbucks, and getting in the halloween spirit entirely too early (it's still just the beginning of september, haha!) 

I was browsing etsy and fell in love with all of the fall themed decor and home items. since I'm a broke college student and can't afford to buy all of these cute items to fall-ify my apartment, I decided to compile a list of my top etsy picks and pretend that I could fill my home. 

Hand Knit Autumn Pumpkins

LunaCabCo

Charcoal Gray Velvet Pumpkins

BailiwickStudio

Cinnamon Chair Glass Mug Candle

NorthernLitesGifts

I might accidentally eat this one! 

'Winter is Coming' Essential Oil Candle

TheGreyLotus

 Candy Corn Garland

JenCowanCrafts

perfect for a fall/halloween themed party!

Halloween Mickey Ears

Ulous

These are perfect for a trip to disneyland around the halloween season! I've always wanted to go when the decorations are halloween themed, and even heard that they have a special day during october where the park is open all night long. If I were to go around this time of year I would definitely pick up a pair of these ears. 

back to school: supplies & essentials

with september right around the corner, i'm currently in the process of packing up and organizing myself for back to school. one of my favorite parts of this time of year is getting together school supplies and a comfortable yet cute work space. 

here are some back to school essentials i've put together for the new school year:

1. a cute planner/agenda

 
    ban.do

$20 is definitely pricey and the most i've ever spent on a planner, but as soon as i opened the package i realized that this agenda is worth the cost. every page is unique and each month is full of cute designs. i can already tell that this agenda will make me excited to get organized and plan out my life.

my favorite things about this agenda:

• sticker page
• lasts 17-months, starting in august!
• adorable pattern/details 

2. a pencil case

    ban.do

3. create your own comfortable and cute work space

this year i decided i wanted to change up my work space by adding some cute decorative yet practical items to my desk.

easel, chalkboard memo board + chalkboard pen

    daiso japan

use this chalkboard memo board to keep track of your schedule, leave yourself inspirational messages or reminders.

alphabet stamp + gold ink set

    michaels

when i spotted this stamp and ink set in the clearance isle at michaels i just couldn't resist tossing them into my cart. these can be used to add cute reminders and messages in your agenda!

aaaand that sums up my back to school supply and essential list! cheers to an organized, stylish upcoming school year. xoxo

the ultimate day trip to monterey, ca

there's always the point during summers home from college where you start to get bored of your usual hometown hangout spots. a couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and i were in the mood for a little road trip. we wanted to just make it a day trip, so we decided to go somewhere we both love but have never been together: monterey, ca. 

we started the trip pretty early in the morning, wanting to beat traffic and make the most of our day there. 

after a couple hours driving down highway 1, two cups of coffee/tea and a couple hours of singing along to the radio we finally reached our destination (!!) we headed straight for cannery row and stopped for burgers and fries at johnny rockets. the diner has a really fun vintage vibe and the food was the perfect way to fuel for the aquarium.

because i hadn't been to the aquarium in a few years, i had completely forgotten how interesting and genuinely fun all the exhibits are. the fact that we are almost 20 and can still enjoy the museum just the same as the 2 year olds really shows how great of a place the monterey bay aquarium really is. 

almost four hours later we had made our way through all of the exhibits (some more than once) and decided to visit dennis the menace park. we got some sno cones from the cute snack shack in the parking lot, and went down the giant (painful) slide. 

afterwards, we walked along fisherman's wharf and sat by the water front to enjoy the rest of daylight. 

we grabbed a couple of iced coffees before we left to re energize for the car ride home. we were sad to leave but all good things must come to an end, and i'm sure that we will be back to visit monterey soon enough! 

opening my very own jewelry shop

I couldn't be more excited to announce the official opening of my very own etsy shop. As of right now, I have two earring sets posted and ready to be sold. I'm working on new pieces that will be ready shortly! I have attached some photos of the two earrings that are currently for sale. Be sure to check back for new items in the next couple of days. Enjoy!

My Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/lodiy

the only four photo editing apps you need

The amount of photo editing apps available in the app store is steadily increasing, and it seems as though most apps serve the same purpose with varying efficiency. It's vital to minimize the amount of apps downloaded to your device in order to maximize storage space. Due to my slight Instagram addiction, I have tried out a number of apps and have reduced my photography apps to the only four photo editing apps I find useful:

1. Squaready
Squaready is particularly useful for uploading a full sized photo without having to crop to the standard Instagram square size. Simply upload your photo and adjust to fit the entire thing by adding borders (this allows you to create those white borders). 

Free in the App Store




2. Latte Camera

My favorite part about Latte Camera is the ability to adjust the intensity of the filters. I find that a lot of apps have really great filters but most of the time they are too powerful, and I like to layer subtle filters to achieve a perfect photo. Another feature I love is the light leaks with intensities that are adjustable as well!

Free in the App Store

3. PhotoCat

I use PhotoCat in combination with Latte Camera, using the adjustable filters feature to mix and layer different filters until I achieve the look I'm going for. 

Free in the App Store





4. Afterlight

Since this app costs money, its feature tend to outshine the free apps that are available in the app store. AfterLight has the more filters than the previous two apps and possesses a similar adjustable intensity feature in combination with different light leaks and effects as well. 

99cents in the App Store

a bucket list

As my 18th birthday approaches and I'm making some very momentous decisions in my life, everything is seeming to come into focus recently. For the past year many aspects of my future were up in the air, and although nothing is certain at the moment, I'm finally content with not knowing the details of what lies ahead. This new found shift in perspective alongside the sudden realization that adulthood is just around the corner has forced me to think about where I see myself in the upcoming years. Although like most others I would like skip ahead 5 years and find myself happy and carefree, fully supported by a well paying job doing something I love and fulfilling my passions in life, I know that this is neither possible nor likely. While I may not be able to control such general aspects of my life, I want to be sure to fulfill the smaller tasks that make me happy on my way to that perfect fulfilled life. This is my bucket list that will hopefully guide me throughout my upcoming years and remind me to find happiness in the small things in life, regardless of how blurred or frightening the future may seem at times. 

1. Go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
2. Bake a successful batch of macaroons
3. Learn to cook
4. Learn Arabic
5. Jump off of a diving board
6. Go to a drive-in movie theater
7. Learn to drive a truck 
8. Travel (Greece, France, England, Italy, Egypt, Spain, Germany, etc)
9. Meet someone named Holden
10. Spend an entire day at the library reading (from opening to closing)
11. Write a short story
12. Compose a book of poems
13. Be published in a magazine, book, etc
14. Learn to play guitar
15. Go on a road trip
16. Be a tourist in my own town
17. Get to know my parents as people rather than parents
18. Create my own business
19. Go to high tea
20. Start selling my jewelry
21. Reread the entire Harry Potter series
22. Movie hop 
23. Go on a spontaneous trip to the beach
24. Go night swimming
25. Rewatch the entire series of Gilmore Girls
26. Take a class at the Rec Center I know nothing about
27. Go on a legitimate hike
28. Take a yoga/Pilates class
29. Attend a wedding
30. Be a bridesmaid
31. Be a maid of honor
32. Smile at strangers
33. Meet someone at a coffee shop (shout out to Taylor Swift's "Begin Again")
34. Wear a mascot uniform of some sort
35. Make my own sushi
36. Finally watch the Titanic
37. Learn all the states and their locations (Sadly, I don't know an embarrassing amount)
38. Learn to shoot a gun
39. Go out for chocolate fondue
40. Beat my boyfriend at a video game (Has only ever occurred twice)
41. Go Ice Skating in Downtown San Francisco
42. Go to an amusement park
43. Road trip to Disney Land
44. Meet Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and Princess Ariel 
45. Adopt a puppy
46. Get over my fear of cats
47. Go to the snow
48. Learn to ski and/or snowboard
49. Build a snow man
50. Run in a color run or charity marathon

current music favorites

april 8tracks playlist

neighborhood #1 (tunnels) - arcade fire

on paper - arkells

never gonna give you up - the black keys

little black submarines - the black keys

the girl - city and colour

in repair - john mayer

wild fire - john mayer

camera talk - local natives

airplanes - local natives

ribs - lorde

biting down - lorde

dead sea - the lumineers

the way i was - maroon 5

adore you - miley cyrus

think you can wait - the national

diane young - vampire weekend

everlasting arms - vampire weekend

carry on my wayward son - vitamin string quartet

what you know - two door cinema club

wake up - two door cinema club

the benefits of tea

I recently came to the realization that I have been drinking at least one cup of tea every single day for a year or so now. Although I've been drinking tea since I was a kid, I never drank it so regularly until now. I always assumed that tea wasn't the best daily drink option due to the caffeine, but I stumbled across a few articles such as this one that informed me otherwise. Apparently black, white, green, and herbal teas are full of all sorts of health benefits, differing depending on the type of tea. Tea is definitely my favorite morning, afternoon and evening go-to drink, and now I won't feel guilty since it's healthy after all!

a few of my favorite go-to teas:
PG Tips
Yorkshire: Black, Green
Tazo: Earl Grey, Calm

diy decoupage memory jar

Decoupage Memory Jar

Start out with an empty glass/mason jar. You can even reuse any type of empty food container that has been washed. Gather your decoupage supplies- cut out magazine clippings or other types of decorative paper that would like to use. Take a paintbrush (preferably a sponge-tip applicator) and coat the inside of the jar with Mod-Podge. I recommend beginning with a small area at a time and slowly working your way around the jar, adding more glue as you are ready to apply the paper (that way the glue won't dry before you've had time to reach that spot). Start out by gluing down the pieces you would like to be seen from the outside of the jar first, and layer the background pieces accordingly. Once you have glued everything down, wait for it to dry before applying an additional 1-2 coats of glue to the inside of the jar. This will create a seal along the inside of the jar so the paper won't bend or come loose, and the items you place in the jar won't ruin the decoupage effect. I also decided to decorate the cover to my jar using the same process as the inside of the jar, making sure to seal the cover with an extra couple coats of Mod-Podge. 

Fill up your jar with items of your choice! I decided to use mine as a memory jar for 2014. I cut out small pieces of paper and write down memories that stand out to me or small things I want to remember. At the end of the year, I will be able to look back and revisit all the things that made me happy throughout the year! My jar is also sprinkled with paper hearts, random fortunes from Chinese restaurants, mismatched/broken earrings, and other miscellaneous items.