Category: Uncategorized

Halloween! Last Minute Costumes

I’m not very big on dressing up for halloween, but this year I figured I’d put in a little more effort to get the discounted burrito bowl at Chipotle, lol. Here are a few easy, comfortable costume ideas:

  1. Dustin from Stranger Things– It was around this last year that I binged watched both seasons of Stranger Things for the first time…yes, I was a little late.

2. Headbands, headbands, headbands    There are so many different headbands to choose from to coordinate with things you already have i your closet. This season, cheetah print is in, pair it with a cheetah print headband and you’ll be set!

3. Sabrina from the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Netflix just released this series and I know everyone is binge watching it before Halloween hits. This would be super easy to pull off and the pieces are reusable if you don’t already own it! To get this iconic look, you just need a red coat and a black headband. You might already have a classic red coat in your wardrobe, but if you don’t…

4. Now our costumes above are rather cute and fun, but if you prefer to be a bit more ghoulish– then you can opt to be someone from The Purge. You can order the mask, wear some white and go mad with a red marker (or fake blood if you’re dedicated).

Hope some of these ideas work for you! Use this links to amazon prime to make sure you get them in time!

 

Morning Skincare: Short and to the Point

I’ve always heard, “Take care of your skin to prevent early aging!!” And sad to say, as I’m nearing my 30’s I’m starting to think I should have started sooner…there’s just not enough time or money for all of the new life changing, or should I say “skin changing” products.

A little background about my skin journey: In my teens, my skin was relatively good, sure my skin was a little oily, but I do live in a hot a humid climate, so almost everyone had shiny skin. It wasn’t until my mid-20s when I started to struggle with problematic acne. It was during a pretty stressful time of grad school and starting my first in filed job that I started to really struggle with acne. My acne ranged from small whiteheads to large wide cysts that hurt. So with the acne, came the many products I bought in attempt to cure it and almost more importantly cover it! I tried everything!!

The one skincare line and three products that really saved me was La Roche-Posay. I used it for about two months, but honestly saw results in the first 1-2 weeks. I was so relieved after over a year of spending money on so many products. I will say that the foundation that really helped to cover and stay all day was the L’Oreal Infalliable Pro-Matte Foundation.

So after struggling with acne, then just oily skin, then wanting KPOP idol status skin, I found that just a simple, to the point routine has worked wonders for me. With just two steps in the morning:

Step 1: Toner

Step 2: Moisturizer

I truly feel that this toner has really helped to control my oil, and this is my go to moisturizer with anti-aging properties and SPF! It is a quite pricey, but when I think back to how many products I used before, it adds up to be almost the same.

Let me know what your holy grail products are!! I am in the market for an eye cream! Check out my nighttime skincare routine too!

Simple Nighttime Skincare

About a year ago, I was sucked into the 10-step Korean skincare craze–I bought everything, even multiple products for each step. I was so obsessed with trying to get the perfect routine down to reach my “KPOP idol” skin goals. Every morning and night, I would take the time to complete each step…

Fast forward a couple months, I did not see many results. In fact, my skin was a little worse for wear and did not feel great. My skin actually felt a little oilier. After to trying to get though as much of the products as i could, i was able to narrow down my skincare to four-five steps depending on the day. To some, five steps may still seem like a lot, but my skin has never been happier.

Step 1: Micellar water to take off any makeup or just oils/dirt built up from the day

Step 2: Gentle foam cream cleanser

Step 3: Exfoliator (every other day)

Step 4: Toner

Step 5: Rose hip oil https://amzn.to/2ENdGw9

Hope you found this helpful! Check out my even shorter morning skincare routine!!

TOP TRIP TIPS

Hello everyone!

Rese and Ry embarked on an adventure to the beautiful city of London. We spent a short amount of time there- only four days, but we packed those days to the brim! I wanted to share some tips to make your trip to London (or any destination) run smoothly.

  1. Use Google Maps to create a visual with pins on locations you want to hit up.
    1. Open Google Maps and select the menu option on the left hand corner
    2. Select “Your Places” and then “Maps”
    3. Create a map
    4. Search sights that you want to visit and pin them

It extremely useful to have a visual with all the sights I planned on visiting and the distance they were from each other. I was able to see which sights I am able to walk to and which order would be the most efficient. I also pinned my hotel on the map to see the distance I would have to travel from the hotel to the sight. You can select different colors to pin your spots as well. Also, you can use this tool to search the closest Pret A Manger cause that’s important. Here’s mine for our first day in London.

Screen Shot 2018-04-03 at 9.54.37 AM.png

2. Go to Pret A Manger. 

This is a sandwich chain, but they serve much more than sandwiches. Their coffees and treats are delicious! They also have amazing healthy options for each meal of the day, like a Golden Latte made of turmeric. I recommend their porridge (I promise it is not bland and ordinary). This shop is all over London and in some places of the USA, but no where close to where I live.

3. Use Google Maps to navigate the Underground and the Bus System. 

Although I was able to read the tube maps as my travels went on, they can still be confusing for someone who never uses public transit in their hometown. Google Maps offers clear instructions on which stops to get on and off. Make sure to screenshot them since there won’t be service underground. Notice the colors of the tube line and the number of which bus to board. Rese and I found the bus system to be much more comfortable to ride and it was nice to look out the windows (and no stairs like the underground haha).

4. Use Instagram to research 

So when you google a top travel spot, you see stock photos and those aren’t truly what the destination will look like. Instagram’s “Places” will show you accurate photos from Londoners to everyday travelers. It also helps you gage the weather and fashion choices you should make when you pack. Superficially, it also gives you good ideas for a good ‘gram post #doitforthegram, haha. For example, I wanted to visit House of MinaLima (Harry Potter graphic designer’s museum/ exhibit) but I didn’t know what they offered until I check the Instagram location. So from the Instagram screenshot below, I could see they have cool staircase and a Marauders Map on the floor.

IMG_3327.PNG

5. Google Flights

is a great search engine. It’s clean, doesn’t have a million ads, and you can search the cheapest dates to travel.

London: Why and What

This is a blog post about how we ended up in London for only two days but had an absolute blast. I was in a dilemma when I canceled my study abroad trip and was left with a one way ticket to Gothenburg, Sweden. Of course, I had bought the cheapest ticket being a student and all so there was no refunds but I didn’t want that ticket to go to waste. I somehow convince Rese to go on a trip with me…. the plan was simple. Go to Sweden a few days and have fun, but wow money was an issue. Sweden’s hotels and airbnbs are EXPENSIVE and while searching for flights for Rese, we saw how affordable flights to London were. Thus, our trip to London was born after I spent hours making an organized spreadsheet for Sweden with flights, sights, and kites (jk but it rhymed).

I still had my GOT ticket so I booked a one way ticket from Sweden to LGW, London, UK with Norwegian Air for only $30 that departed two hours after I landed. I had qualms that I would miss this flight, but I actually had a lot of time to spare. The only odd bit was that the border office pointed out my arrival and departure date were the same, but it was fine. Rese and I strategized for me to make my flight since I only had a backpack on me and no luggage. Rese would check her luggage and we would share. This way I could avoid baggage claim and ensure I find myself on the departing flight. Before we traveled, I was pretty anxious I would be stuck in Sweden with no hotels nor plans and Rese would end up in London alone. However, it all went well so it’s possible to buy separate tickets to get you to your final destination. It is worth noting that GOT is a very gorgeous airport with modern and clean designs that pays homage to IKEA.

Ok, now that’s explanation is done with- here is what we did in London. Rese and I met up in LGW at around 8AM and we took the train to Central London and then took the underground to our hotel. We stayed at QBIC Hotel (after searching on Google for “clean, affordable, nice hotel London” and it worked!). It was a very hip and cool hotel in Shoreditch, which is quintessentially the hipster, alternative part of London. We left our bags, changed (I had traveled for over 24 hours!) and made our way to Oxford Street.

THE ITINERARY 

Day 1

  • Oxford Street
    • Primark
    • Liberty
  • Lunch at Wagamams
  • Blacklock for Sunday Roast

Day 2

  • Platform 9 3/4
  • St. James Park
  • Buckingham Palace
  • Big Ben
  • Millenium Bridge
  • St. Paul’s Cathedral
  • Shakepeare’s Globe
  • Fish and Chips Detour
  • Oxford Street
    • Afternoon Tea at Harrods
    • Primark

Day 3

  • Greenwich
    • English Breakfast
    • Prime Meridian
  • National Gallery
  • Oxford Street

 

 

 

Icelandic Layover Adventure

Layovers are usually boring and the worst part of traveling–it’s another pitstop that is just delaying your trip to your final destination. Most of the time it’s spent sitting in an airport doing pretty much nothing. I didn’t think i’d ever actually chose to have a longer layover during my trip. Instead of the usually 2-3 hour layover, my sister and I chose the 7 hours stop in Iceland on our way back from our trip. During the 7 hours, we were able to have an experience like no other–the BLUE LAGOON!!

img_1266

Our flight landed at 8:45AM and we were on the us to the Blue Lagoon by 9:00AM-so crazy. The bus trip from the airport to the lagoon was about 30 minutes. Our entrance time to the Blue Lagoon was for 12:30PM, so we had to wait a little. But it was no detriment to our fun. There was so much to see and so many  pictures to take all around the area. we were surrounded by nature–amazing lava rocks and beautiful blue milky waters.

img_1273

The people at the Blue were super nice and let us in about an hour and half earlier than our ticket time. So once we were in the blue lagoon, we got our wristbands, towels and went to the locker rooms. The wrist band were used to access and lock up the lockers and purchase drinks in the lagoon.

img_1261

The weather in mid August was a little chilly, but the waters were amazingly warm. The lagoon was surrounded by mountains, so the scenery was beautiful. In addition to the lagoon, there were also in water massages,  waterfalls, saunas, steam rooms, and face masks!

 

AirBaltic Review

During August, my sister and I booked a roundtrip for Helsinki and Paris. They offered a great flight that had the shortest travel time since all other airlines had lengthy layovers. Their prices were also among the cheapest, but with that comes the obvious headaches of budget airlines.

Before booking, I was aware that this airline would come extra fees but the difference in prices from standard airlines and this budget airline lured me over. The first extra fee that can leap out and attack an unsuspecting traveler would be the checking in fee. I was able to avoid this from reading others’ experiences online. Checking in online and printing out your tickets/ using e-tickets has no extra charger so pre-plan. My sister and I opted to check our luggage, which was another fee we were willing to pay.

Now the part that really bugged me about AirBaltic was that they forced us to check our carry-on luggage. Between my sister and I, we have 2 backpacks and 1 small luggage. They made us weigh everything and the total of weights cannot exceed 10 kg. It is pretty unreasonable and that extra fee was a true attacker. AirBaltic got us. I thought I did my research well, but clearly I failed. Another big issue was that not everyone was forced to check their luggage. My sister and I were clearly the only non-Nordic passengers there and the only ones forced to check our bags. This happened again at a layover in RIX right when we were about to embark onto the plane.

Other notable points would be regarding their seats and plane set up. They were the thinnest sits I’ve ever sat on for a plane and the most crammed I have every felt.

Safe to say I have learned my lessons with budget airlines.

Happy bookings,

Ry

The Journey to the Bullet Journal

I’ve been on the search for the PERFECT planner. My goal in life is to be organized and I love to plan and write things down–so I can check them off. It just seems more permanent and solidified…it also helps me to remember better 🙂 I’ve research and tried SO many different planners and agendas in the hopes of finding the perfect planner.

Screen Shot 2016-09-02 at 11.12.31 AM.png

I started off using the traditional planners from Target and office supply stores, but they just didn’t have the right set-up for me. I usually have a long task of things to do each day and I like to write them all down so I can check them off and feel productive. So then I started seeing that Erin Condren planners were all the rage and so many people were in love with them. I, too, became mesmerized by the planners—so many choices of covers, set-up, etc. The binding even started coming in rose gold! Then I took a look at the price…$50+ for a planner just seemed a little too much for my budget. I wanted to plan, but not go broke while doing it. So my sister found some alternatives on etsy. We decided to order to from Plum Paper Planners… and they were great (pictured above). We were also able to find coupon codes too! It was almost exactly what I thought I wanted. After using the planner for about a year, I felt like I still needed more organization. So I continued my journey in search of the perfect planner. I came across Bullet Journaling. I can honestly say it has changed my life. I find my productivity has increased tremendously! I will share some parts of my Bullet Journal soon!

ThredUP Experience!

Hi guys!

It’s been awhile since I posted…but today I wanted to share my experience with ThredUP! I love clearing up my room and passing on items that I don’t find useful anymore. I  use Poshmark a lot and have found pretty great success in finding new homes for some of closet pieces. However, there have been some pieces that just can’t sell and in desperation to send them off, I stumbled upon ThredUP! You request a “selling kit” and they send you a large plastic big with a prepaid shipping label. After washing and folding the clothes, you can send it along to thredup! My first took about two weeks to get there and an additional 3 weeks for it to get processed. During this time, the people at ThredUP sort through the items, take photos, and makes listing for the ones they consider “sellable” with prices they come up with themselves.

I sent a very large bag and these are the items they took on, click here.

I earned 29.33…but they were a LOT of items so I only made about 0.20 to 0.50 cents per item. They accepted 32 items, which was 67% of my bag.

I was pretty surprised at the actual items they accepted…some that I was sure they would toss but I wanted to see what they would take. For each item, they also mark what was “used” or brand new. Their opinions on some of my clothing shocked me. There was a dress that I had never worn, but they considered it to be used, whereas as older items were considered “perfect condition.”

Overall, thredUP is perfect for the items you’re ready to part with, with no remorse! You also have the option go having unaccepted items returned to you via post for a fee.