My Fall wardrobe wishlist

Currently coveting the following:

This polka dot blouse

Madewell tote

Cable knit poncho sweater

Wildflower cowl scarf

Distressed jeans from J.Crew

Oversized gold sweater

Genuine leather Frye boots

A girl can dream. I want those boots the most.

Tufted headboard

Cameron and I made a tufted headboard for our bedroom. It was a joy and also a giant pain to put this thing together [the joy part being mostly at the end]. We ran into a few snags with using pegboard, and in hindsight we would have rather used plywood, because the staples in the back would not stay put from the glue and particle in the board. We found ways around it, and all in it was a success. We are very happy with the way it turned out. 

The great thing about building it yourself is the cost difference. We spent a total of about $150 on all the materials, and a tufted headboard from Crate and Barrel these days is $1,000! The tutorial we used can be found here. 

It is nice to have a comfortable and plush headboard while sitting in bed, and it makes the room look more cozy. We are thinking about getting a new duvet cover and pillows to match with the color of the fabric, and hang a nice piece of art above the bed to complete the look. 

Alameda, The Island City

Sunday morning I drove up to Alameda to visit my good friend, Laura. I had never been to this island in the bay, just a short bridge away from Oakland. Oakland just east of Alameda, is very run-down but as soon as you cross the bridge on High Street, you immediately are greeted with lush trees, and adorable quaint Victorian houses. Laura grew up and went to high school here, and it was cool to drive by her high school, and see her old stomping grounds.

We walked to Cafe Q to eat breakfast, and catch up. The food was good and the atmosphere was cute, with mint green walls, and modern art. Afterward, she drove me around the coastline, and we visited the naval base to see the San Francisco skyline across the bay. We grabbed some boba tea, and it was time for her to get ready for her matinee playing at the local theater. It is always great to catch up with an old friend, especially on a beautifully warm and sunny day. Also, aren't those Victorian houses gorgeous?

Oh yes, VMA's done right

Be still, my heart.

Quote

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned."

Maya Angelou

Mission Peak photos

Mission Peak is a popular (too popular if you ask me) hike in Fremont. It is better for its workout aspect since it is steep, as opposed to its "nature" aspect. There are much prettier areas to hike in the Santa Cruz mountains, and people tend to crowd this one, mark graffiti on trees, and play music out loud on their phones. Even still, there are fantastic views from up top, and the rolling hills make for pretty scenery. You will also always see cows. This time we took the back route instead of hiking the face, and it offered more shade from trees, fewer people, and had a gentler slope. The sun started baking at 8 o'clock in the morning. I will still continue to do this hike purely for the butt-kicking, and sore legs the next day, since this is guaranteed to make me hurt more than the gym.

P.S. On our way back down a cow had given birth to a calf only moments before we walked by. It was all wobbly and wet, looking for its first drink of milk, and mama cow was licking her baby clean. I sure wish we could have seen it because that would have been awesome.

Weekend dinners

Saturday night Cameron and I made a salmon en croute from a Jamie Oliver recipe (this cookbook) with olive tapenade, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil. It was a winner. That cookbook of his is chock full of good recipes. I highly recommend it. Another favorite of ours is his beef wellington, which also calls for puff pastry and it is irresistible. Makes a ton of leftovers too.

On Sunday night we made sesame-spiced turkey meatballs and smashed chickpea salad from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. This was the first recipe we tried from this cookbook and it was tasty! She has more appetizers and desserts than main dishes in her book, but they all look so amazing.

I love trying new recipes when they turn out delicious.

August ipsy bag!

My ipsy bag for August arrived in the mail and I am very happy with the products this month.
If you are not familiar with ipsy, it is a beauty subscription service that sends you a small bag of products each month for about $10 a month. I am loving these little surprises, and I find it is a good way to sample products you otherwise wouldn't have tried.

So thrilled to see the Michael Todd Pumpkin facial mask in the bag! I have been wanting to try it for a few months but keep forgetting about it. I tried the Pacifica Alight multi-mineral BB cream yesterday, and I thought it was good, it matched my skin tone, but it dried kind of tacky on the skin. The MICA shimmer powder is in the color 17-Bronze, which is definitely my cup of tea. I love bronze eye shadows. The lip balm is from Noya, and it is in the all-natural-preservative-free-and-not-tested-on-animals category. Mine is cherry flavored and I love it actually. It is super smooth and I've been applying it non-stop for days. I have yet to try the Pixi lash booster mascara. I'm just so addicted to my Clinique mascara right now that I can't seem to pull away from it. I also really like the bag design this month. This will be a good one to keep all my lip products from floating around the abyss that is my purse right now. 

Link here if you want to check out ipsy. 

Hair control

I have what I like to call a “confused” hair texture. A cross between curls underneath, and frizzy waves on top does not make my hair the easiest to just jump out of the shower and you’re good for the day kind of hair. I usually have to air dry it just right so that it has the least amount of frizz, and then use a curl wand. If I want it straight I have to blow dry it with a big round brush and then straighten it with a flat-iron. Then if I don’t use some kind of heat tool, it is automatically in a messy bun to hide the identity crisis that is my hair.

Recently I wanted to try a Brazillian blowout, but the thought of shelling out $300+ at a salon was not appealing. I was offered to try the DIY Brazillian Keratin Treatment from a dear friend of mine, and was excited to try it. The steps seemed easy enough to do at home, and the kit comes with all the formulas and a few tools to help with the process. Plus, it is formaldehyde free.

Here is what was included:

Purifying shampoo
Keratin treatment
Shampoo and conditioner
Moroccan Argon Oil
V-comb
Tail-end comb
Tint brush
Hair cap
Gloves

The first step is to wash your hair with the purifying shampoo to get rid of any product buildup that would interfere with the keratin absorption. Then blow dry your hair completely dry, and apply the keratin formula with the tint brush as if you were coloring your hair at home with a drugstore box. Next you pin up your hair and put the hair cap on to let the keratin absorb for 20 minutes. When it’s done, blow dry your hair with the keratin still in your hair. This part felt a little unusual because I knew there was product still in my hair, and I had to work it a little differently to get it dry. Then you flat iron your hair after blow drying. This seals the keratin to the hair.

The final step is wait to wash your hair for three days. I was not so good at this part. I applied the treatment on Saturday morning, and because I have such an oily scalp, my hair felt too greasy by Sunday night, and I had work the next morning so I washed my hair that night. I knew this probably mean it wouldn’t last as long for me. Keratin treatment is supposed to last about 3 months.

Immediately after I showered and let my hair air dry I could see the results. My hair was a lot less frizzy, and my waves and curls were much more defined. Overall my hair felt smoother and rested more flat.

From here I still used my curl wand to enhance the outer layers and make it match the underneath texture of my hair, but the time it took was reduced by half. Two days later when I blow dried it straight, it cooperated much more willingly and looked great in the end. Here are the after pictures of both the curly and straight version.

Needless to say, I would definitely use the treatment again, and the great thing about the kit is you can use the product more than once. It’s important to maintain the treatment by using only sulfate and salt free shampoo and conditioner, and using a conditioning spray with keratin in it. Using the Argon oil on your ends helps too.

If you are interested in trying it yourself, you can buy the kit here.

And here are a few of the products I have been using to keep the keratin treatment lasting as long as possible.

One. Two. Three. Four

Daydreaming of Italy & France

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I am beyond excited to be visiting the above places this October with Cameron. I have never been to Europe, and we decided to visit some of the majors - Rome, Tuscany, Venice, and Paris. We started booking everything back in February, but I have neglected to finish all of our itineraries. Rome is complete, but I still have a lot of places to map out. We are taking two whole weeks off work for this trip, which is going to be amazing because I don't even think I've taken that much time off work ever. Looking at photos and reading travel guides is making my imagination run wild on all the possibilities for exploring museums, walking down cobblestone streets, shopping for fresh bread in the markets, and indulging in my favorite... gelato (although this will be the real stuff). Above all, two weeks with my favorite person in beautiful foreign places is going to be such a good time. The anticipation for this trip makes me extremely happy!

What are you up to this weekend? I am taking today off work because I have a nice boss and he let me stay home since I worked both days last weekend. I have an appointment to get my hair cut at a new salon (crossing fingers), and I need to do a few errands but I also hope to squeeze in a massage. Tonight Cameron and I are going to see Elysium, which we've been waiting to see since we saw the preview. Or I should say since I saw the preview. Cameron closes his eyes during movie previews for movies he wants to see because he feels like the previews give too much away. I thought this was odd at first, but it started to make a lot of sense. I don't have the same self control, and I just keep watching :).

California print

Agreed.

(Source: society6 print shop)

Five things I am looking forward to

1. This sweater that I ordered to arrive in the mail
2. Watching the movie Elysium this Friday
3. Planning more of our Italy and France trip for the fall
4. Hiking Mission Peak this weekend for an early morning workout
5. Going to bed

Goodnight!

All by myself

Tonight I unwound from work by renting the movie Before Sunset. Loved it. This is the sequel to Before Sunrise, which is also very good. I look forward to watching Before Midnight when it's available online. Unless I absolutely can't wait and I make a date with myself to see it in the theater this weekend.

Cameron comes home late tonight from work travel. I can't wait until he comes through that door, all quiet, and climbs into bed, waking me up from a drowsy slumber to say goodnight. It's always better when we're together.