I’m baaaccckkkk… My new insight on happiness

I have a completely valid excuse as to why I haven’t blogged in 800 years.

Wait… no I don’t.

There are no excuses for that kind of thing and I would never try to feed them to you. On the other hand, I’m not allowing myself to feel guilty for my lack of blogging and I’m not apologizing because this is MY blog and I’m working on this thing where I don’t apologize for doing what I want to do, which has been to take a break.

Not to mention… I’ve been brewing some fabulous ideas and just was on a bit of a hiatus before the real genius comes out. Yeah… yeah that’s it.

I have been through some extreme life changes lately though and I’m back, new and improved, just as into fashion as ever and with every intention to keep up with this blog.

So to all of you dedicated followers out there (mom), you can rest easy.

As far as a fashion post goes, there are many of those to come. I recently got a new job where the dress code is business casual and I’m super excited to show you guys some more professional looking yet stylish outfits for work. BUT—I decided to share some insight with you guys that I’ve learned in the past couple of months that I’ve been MIA. After all, if I go missing like that, I owe you guys a life lesson, right? I’m putting this one on my “beauty” section, because beauty doesn’t just mean hair, nails and makeup… and well I want to get sappy and talk about some inner beauty.

Today’s post is about finding your happiness (YOURS, not anyone else’s). I am still figuring things out, so trust me I’m not on any high horse, but what I’ve recently learned is something very simple yet so hard for many to grasp (including myself). If you’re not happy, change something. It was the most freeing moment of my life when I realized that my life is in my control. I don’t have to live life to please others, I don’t have to keep people around who bring negative energy into my life (whether they mean to or not, this is YOUR life, so however YOU feel is valid), and I don’t have to stay in a situation where I’m anxious and/or not the best possible version of myself.

I’m talking about friends, a job, a location, a relationship… whatever it may be. You have every right to shape your life however you want. Be selfish and do what makes you happy.

My biggest mistake was always letting other people steer my life in whatever direction they so please. I became bitter towards people that didn’t understand what I was bitter about and in turn it hurt them. This was my fault. I gave them the impression that they can tell me what to do, who to be, how to be “better”. How was I supposed to ever feel confident in myself when my confidence all depended on the opinions of others who will never be pleased?

I recently decided to just take over the wheel and steer my life into a new direction. It was amazing how easy it was. Sure, it wasn’t easy to say goodbye to a life I grew accustomed to, but once I realized, “wow… I wasn’t happy so I just decided to do something different, and now here I am, happier than ever before.” It made me feel so empowered. It made me want to share with everyone that it’s more than possible.

I had completely lost myself and now that I’m back to being me, I am remembering that I’m a young, confident, funny, smart person. It’s a shame I had forgotten for so many years but I don’t believe in regret and I 100% believe everything happens for a reason. So I think people come in and out of your life and I think you experience different things and feelings, good and bad, in order to shape the wonderful person you become for the present… and the shaping and improving never stops.

Love and accept yourself and once you do that, you will attract people who accept you fully for who you are as well. Don’t let anyone make you feel not good enough just because you aren’t who THEY want you to be. That’s their problem. Don’t waste your life trying to change for anyone because you will become convinced that you’re crazy and in turn possibly portray craziness that is not you. It’s exhausting and life is short and you are not crazy, you’re you and you’re freaking awesome. There is no criteria to being freaking awesome, don’t let someone convince you there is. The only criterion is to believe you’re freaking awesome and only surround yourself with people who agree with that.

Until next time with a fashion post from the happier and more confident me…

Emeralds and Diamonds for Christmas

Christmas gel nails! Emerald green and sparkly silver. Feeling festive.

Metallic Gold Gel Nails

Pretty holiday nails!

Happy Holidays guys! I’m feeling pretty good. I volunteered at a clothing and food drive on skid row today. It really helps put things in perspective. (I know a writing buff is cringing at my use of “pretty” and “really” within the first 3 sentences…or just my use of it in general 😉 )  It’s not always easy but remember how blessed you are and make it a point to stop and appreciate the little things! 

Shades of Teal- Gel Nails

It’s a Miracurl!!!

Hands down best hair styling tool I could ever imagine having the privilege of owning. The Miracurl! Check out my pics for the results of this tool. I have never been able to curl my hair…or do anything with my hair for that matter, besides maybe blow dry and straighten it. I’ve always wanted to be able to have an every day lose curl, but even for special occasions I’d have to find someone who can do it for me. Lame, I know. I’ve just never been good at hair.

BUT then I discovered this amazing tool. It’s not cheap unfortunately, but my roommate works for a beauty products distributor and got it for me for a little less. Even at full price though, I think it is definitely worth it. It should hopefully last a long time.  It also saves you a HELL of a lot of time getting ready.

You just place small sections of your hair at a time into the opening, close it shut, it will beep when it’s done and then let go and release the hair, and you have a perfect curl. You can select different settings like how hot, how many seconds it heats each curl, AND you can tell it to spin left, right or alternate! Not only that, but it will beep at you if you put too much hair in it, so it will never get caught. Even if the hair you put in does seem like it might get caught for a second, not to worry, the Miracurl detects this and will immediately smooth it out for you.  It’s never pulled out any of my hair.

It also heats up extremely quickly and the whole process literally takes 5 minutes. In these pics, I was in a huge rush before going out and I just used the Miracurl really quick before leaving, sprayed in some hairspray and voila!!

Now… here is the best part, the nano titanium curl chamber smooths out your hair and protects it from being damaged from the heat. Also the fact that it only takes 10 seconds max to form a perfect curl helps avoid it being exposed to the heat for too long. It’s pretty amazing. I am in love.

I kept joking (not really joking) to my roommate that this Miracurl is going to change my life. It’s a MIRACURL!!!

Ok definitely sounds like I was paid to sell this product, but I was not. I just want to share this amazing beauty secret with you all!

 

In the spirit of Halloween nails

This week I wanted to have my nails done in the spirit of Halloween. I wanted to keep it subtle yet festive at the same time. Something that is Halloween-esque but still ok for every day. I decided on black sparkly nails and bright orange toes! I went to my absolute favorite place in Burbank, Stella Making Beauty (I still need to write them a rave Yelp review). It’s Gelish brand polish. My nails last 2 weeks and the toes last a month!

Plum/Silver Nails & Tiffany Blue Toes

Sparkling Champagne

Decided to go with the trend of the really rounded oval shaped nails rather than square. I actually love it. It feels much more elegant. It also helps elongate your fingers and hands and makes your nails seem longer. Another plus is that the gel lasts longer when your nails are rounded because the blunt edges of the square shape makes it easier to chip.

This is Gelish brand, it’s a tan/champagne color with sparkles painted on top. I think it’s young and fun yet subtle and classy!

Don’t be afraid of mustard

Got inspiration from a pin I saw on pinterest of these bright mustard yellow nails that was captioned “don’t be afraid, go with a brighter color”. So I listened. Even though I get bright colors on my nails a lot, this color is the most unique I’ve done. It’s definitely growing on me. I think it’s such a cool color and looks great against a lot more colors than you might think.

 

 

 

 

Gel manicure- Gelish brand

White Sparkle Nails

Gelish brand, white with silver sparkles over it. Love this look!