My Thoughts on Graduating from College

Three years ago, almost to the day, I wrote a post all about my first year of college and in some ways I feel like it was yesterday that I was sitting at my desk in my freshman dorm writing that post and in other ways that feels like a lifetime ago. Overall, I completely believe that the past four years have been some of the best years of my life. But more so than that, they've been some of the most pivotal and challenging years. Beyond the academics, I have been pushed out of my comfort zone so many times in college and I am totally grateful for that.

With graduation being in the incredibly near future (six days as I'm writing this to be exact), I've been consciously taking advantage of being in this town and being with my friends. I think its being so present with my friends and not letting days go to waste that is making me even more emotional about the upcoming life change. I've had more fun and done more in the past school year than I probably have for the last two years in college. I'm realizing how much free time I have, how few responsibilities I have, and how much I am going to miss the dynamic that me and my friends have being at this stage in our lives.

This isn't all to say that I'm not ready to graduate, I absolutely am. I am also incredibly excited that I am moving back to San Francisco, which is my hometown and in my opinion the greatest city on Earth. I'm also incredibly lucky that most of my friends are moving to San Francisco, so I don't have to say too many goodbyes. It's still incredibly hard to close a chapter. As excited as I am to graduate and move back to my favorite city, it's hard not always knowing what's next. I have always loved going to school and its going to be incredibly hard to not have that to be looking forward to next fall. I'm excited to get my career started and hopefully this blog will be a cornerstone of my career, but its hard to not feel like life is going to be moving very fast after I turn that tassel to the left.

How My Makeup Philosophy Has Changed

I'm sure you've noticed if you've been reading this blog for a decent amount of time that the amount of beauty content on here has changed somewhat dramatically. This used to be an almost exclusively beauty blog and that has changed partially because I have been consuming a wider variety of blog content and feel inspired to expand what I blog about, but it is also because my approach to makeup has been different for about the past year or so. I still absolutely love beauty and I don't think I will ever not be interested in makeup.

The main source of this change has mainly centered around that my beauty buying habits have changed majorly. A few years ago, I was almost solely interested in buying makeup just for the sake of buying new makeup, which I don't regret at all because I genuinely enjoyed trying new makeup. To be honest, new beauty launches just get me less excited because I'm not as interested in makeup trends. I think this really is down to the fact that I have honed in my style more than ever this past year, and that includes my makeup style. But I think that's ok, everyone goes through stages of experimenting with their style and I definitely did when I was in my late teens. Now that I have a clearer vision of what I like and who I am I don't feel the need to stray from that.

This isn't all to say that I don't enjoy buying beauty products anymore, because I absolutely do and I think I always will. I think it's more that I am excited to buy things that really speak to my personal taste than I am excited to buy a product just for the sake of it being new. That's why I get so excited about Glossier launches in particular, because the brand's aesthetic is exactly in-line with my own aesthetic. Taking a more minimalist approach to buying makeup has also made me more streamlined in my beauty routine every day and I find myself experimenting the most with makeup for a night out or a special event, which I have really enjoyed because it means that I get ready faster on a daily basis, but when I do experiment or play around with makeup its more special because it doesn't happen on an everyday basis.

My Month In Film | May 2017

In an effort to get back into photography, I've committed to shooting at least one roll of film a month and I have decided to share said film at the end of every month in a blog post. All of these photos were shot on an Olympus Mju ii, which is my new favorite camera. May was quite a full month, albeit a very fun one. In the lead up to graduation in two weeks (*screams internally*) I've been trying as much as possible to take advantage of being here and seeing my friends as much as possible. 

Took a spontaneous trip to the beach to watch the sunset, and while part of the coastline blocked the actual sunset, the sky was beautiful.

The weather was absolutely amazing for the whole month and since its been so rainy in California for the past couple months it was nice to take advantage of the sunshine and go to the beach.

For my birthday my boyfriend bought us tickets to go to Disneyland for the day. One of my best friends and her boyfriend also live in LA so they came with us. It was the first time I had been to Disneyland in years and I want to go back already!

Some friends and I took a weekend trip up to the Bay Area (where I am originally from). We basically spent the whole weekend relaxing on the beach, eating, playing card games, and paddling around in the water. It was one of the most relaxing weekends I've had in a while and I don't think I've cried from laughter more than I did that weekend.

One of the things I will miss most about college is going to my favorite coffee shop to do work, good thing there are plenty of good coffee shops to go to once I move back to San Francisco.

My best friend and I did a little shoot during one weekend for graduation pictures. We seriously lucked out on both the scenery and the fact that we went right at peak golden hour.

Peony season is well and truly here and I could not be happier about it! Also that stack of books is a mere representation of the amount of books I have from my time in college. I really don't want to get rid of any of them (especially since grad school is still an option at this point) and they hold a lot of sentimental value oddly enough.

My boyfriend and I took a day trip to Santa Barbara the other weekend and it was so nice to get out of town. Santa Barbara is so gorgeous and it was so nice to walk around and see more of the town. We also went to an amazing pizza place called The Lucky Penny, would definitely recommend if you are going to Santa Barbara.

... And of course we had to make a stop at the Santa Barbara Mission while we were there.

My bedside table is one of my favorite parts of my room and I am loving reading this book by Joan Didion at the moment.

Current Favorites | Spring 2017

I haven't been on the favorites bandwagon as of late. I stopped doing monthly favorites because I felt like every time the end of the month rolled around I was scrambling to figure out what new things I had been using during the past month and I felt like mentioning the same products that had actually been my favorites had gotten a bit repetitive. I've decided to do my favorites whenever I feel like I have enough new things to share with you all and instead of it just being beauty-related, I'm going to branch out and include other things that I've been loving that are more lifestyle related. 

A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion ~ In my quest to read for pleasure more often this year, I bought a load of books at the beginning of the year. One of which was The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, who is easily my favorite writer of all time. I personally like non-fiction more than fiction because its easier for me to read and stay engaged. Although this book is pretty sad (it's about the death of Didion's husband), its beautifully written and really interesting insight into her home life with her daughter and her husband.

Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk ~ It's no secret that I am a Glossier fangirl (read: freak). Since the majority of my makeup/skincare routine mainly consists of Glossier products it took a lot for me to only pick one product that has been a serious favorite from the past couple months. I wrote a whole review on the Glossier Cloud Paints about a month ago and since then they have basically become the only blush that I wear on an everyday basis. Dusk has been a real standout for me because it looks gorgeous on its own or mixed with the other colors (especially Puff and Haze), but it also can be used as a really subtle contour/bronzer shade for fair skin or even a very subtle eyeshadow. 

PF Candle Co. Black Fig Candle ~ I have a candle on the go pretty much all year round and while I am always drawn to very woody, masculine, and spicy scents sometimes they feel a bit too much for the warmer months. PF Candle Co (which is my go-to candle maker) recently released a Black Fig candle, which is incredible. It has a very woodsy base but because it is a fig scent, it has some lighter, fruity notes that help to balance this candle out to make it more appropriate for Spring and Summer. 

Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes in Platinum ~ My approach to makeup recently has been incredibly minimal, as in most days I barely wear anything on my skin, a bit of blush, some Glossier boy brow through my brows, and then mascara. When I do wear eyeshadow though I always go for a single eyeshadow, and that almost always comes in the form of a cream eyeshadow because they are so easy to apply and require no brushes. The Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes are one of my favorite cream eyeshadow formulas because they are super lightweight and have an almost mousse-like texture and because of the shimmer and the texture of the shadow, they almost look glossy on the lids. I love the shade Platinum, which is a neutral-toned taupe that can be worn either during the day or for a night out. 

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 ~ I've been getting back into photography, especially analog photography, a lot more lately. I've had the Fujifilm Instax camera for about a year and a half and while it isn't the best quality polaroid camera on the market, it's a great option if you want to take polaroids for fun. Since I've been taking a lot of weekend trips with friends during the past couple months, I've been taking this camera along with me and it's been really nice to take pictures with friends and have a tangible photo immediately. 

Five Instagram Accounts I've Been Loving Lately

It's no secret that I loveInstagram, it's easily my favorite social media platform and I admit that I spend way too much scrolling through my feed than I probably should. While I do like following my friends and people that I know in real life, following content creators on Instagram serves as a massive source of inspiration for me both in terms of lifestyle and fashion (something that I spoke a lot about here). As a result, I follow a lot of accounts on Instagram, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites as of late.

Double3xposure ~ Reese is a 21 year-old Atlanta-based blogger who runs one of my favorite fashion-based Instagram accounts. Her style is very much in-line with my own and I love how she plays with silhouettes. Reese incorporates a lot of vintage clothes in her outfits which I absolutely love. While she does have impeccable style, she is also incredibly approachable and seems so nice. Also definitely check out her Instagram stories because her dogs almost always make an appearance and they are so damn cute!

Shot From The Street  ~ I talked about Lizzy in the post where I shared how I found my personal style. Between her blog, her instagram, and her YouTube channel, Lizzy creates some of my favorite fashion content by far. I especially love how Lizzy mixes a lot of affordable and high-end pieces because I feel like its all too often that fashion bloggers stick strictly to high end items. Lizzy's minimalist looks are definitely things that I try to emulate on a day-to-day basis but I also think its really nice to see her get a lot more experimental recently with both color and silhouettes.

The Southern Yogi ~ I've been following Morgan for about a year and a half and while I don't quite believe in #fitspo, her account really motivates me to get my bum in gear and continue to do yoga. She seriously is one of the strongest, bendiest yogis I have come across. She also has the cutest animals, Kovu and Kali. I really love watching the videos she posts to inspire some of my own yoga sequences that I do from home (although I have yet to be able to hold a handstand like she can).  

Sisilia Piring ~ I discovered Sisilia Piring through Christine's YouTube channel. She is a photographer based out of LA and mainly uses 35mm film for her photography. I'm a huge fan of film photography, which is something I'm going to explore more on this blog, and it is really refreshing to see someone on Instagram who has film content. Sisilia does a lot of fashion-related shoots in really interesting areas in and around L.A.

Bonnie Tsang ~ Last but certainly not least is Bonnie Tsang. Bonnie works as a freelance content creator and artistic director for a whole host of very well-known and cool brands. Her Instagram account is also quite possibly one of the most aesthetically pleasing things you will ever lay eyes on. Bonnie posts a lot of food content that basically makes me want to go LA for weeks and stop at every place she goes to. If you want some incredibly minimalist and satisfying photography to look at I highly recommend Bonnie's instagram.