Hearts Day...

It's that time of year where everything is surrounded by pink, white, red and heart shapes are the norm.. I'm talking Valentine's Day people.. I personally am not the biggest fan of the so called holiday.. There's just no fun in spending 3 hours waiting for a table at an overcrowded restaurant and I don't even like those message heart candies other than the fact there are messages on them.. All right, I'm not bitter about the holiday, just not a fan.. I think the idea of Valentine's Day should exist everyday.. Love, loyalty, trust, passion, honesty, and friendship should be part of our daily routine for our special someone... Wouldn't you agree??



...Never take for granted and never be taken for granted..

Dreamy Wedding Photos...

Not MY wedding photos.. I did a few shoots for Hawaii Weddings and Honeymoon Escapes Magazine which is officially out NOW... The photographer Eugene Kam did an excellent job of capturing traditional wedding pictures on location at the Hyatt Hotel in Waikiki.. The gowns came from Masako Formals and flowers by Florist Grand.. Let me tell you, I don't know how those brides hold up the flowers for so long... just posing with those things made my whole arm hurt.. for the record, they were extremely heavy while having to pose exactly how they wanted to show off the dress/gown/location.. being a model can be tough work I tell you! BUT the end product always makes me smile and makes it all worth it.. Here's some snaps of the magazine from my little camera.. I don't want to rip out the pages yet until I know I can get more copies.. so for now, a picture of a picture..





I also did a shoot for Abhasa Spa at the world reknowned Royal Hawaiian Hotel aka the pink hotel.. an iconic staple on the Waikiki skyline.. sighhhhh.. I miss Hawaii..


So pick up a copy and/or order it here!

..I leave for the islands in 7 DAYS!!! Gimme gimme sunshine...

The Beauty of....

I have a very charismatic and super ambitious friend, Jessica Hoffman, who right now is doing a 30 days of beauty blog run for Pure Beauty Project... She just had her dirty 30 birthday party and like we all love to do, had multiple celebrations.. we love going to multiple cities to celebrate our birth date.. Why not take advantage?! She still lives in Hawaii, although we're trying to coax her into moving back to her home state of California... she had a little celebration in Newport Beach at the Balboa Bay Club Resort. Beautiful place with lots of dancing, appetizers, and our ever so sweet trademark of cupcakes!! For this particular "day of beauty", she wrote about the Beauty of Friendship.. I have the most beautiful girlfriends who not only possess such great outer beauty, but it's their inner beauty that amazes me.. It's hard to find genuine people whom to call "friend" and I'm one lucky girl to have so many!! Happy Birthday Jessica!!





Check out the little video post she made..

Day 21: The Beauty of Friendship from Jessica Hoffman on Vimeo.

..taking each day one at a time but using each moment we live to the most advantageous..

Hipstermania... In The Eyewear Form..

I FINALLY got my new glasses in the mail a couple days ago.. I bought the frames and wanted to get the prescription filled by an online eyeglass company I've used over the years. I've never gotten frames re-lensed before, I've always picked out the frames I wanted and let the company do their thing with my prescription.. THIS time, I wanted the Ray Ban Wayfarers.. When I found the frames, placed the order on 39 Dollar Glasses and sent them off.. About 3 weeks later I received them in the mail.. they weren't the right prescription AT all.. Sighhhhhh... I called the customer service and they sent me a return label and I sent them off again.. I JUST got them back and I couldn't be happier.. The right prescription and exactly what I wanted.. downside is that I'm blind as a bat so the lens are thicker because the frames are bigger.. little fact I didn't know about glasses.. Feast your eyes on my new eyewear...





80's much??

..and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.. -St. Jerome..

Vintage Modern Decor.. Part 2...

A few months ago I wrote about decorating my new apartment.. I'm still in the process and never feel quite satisfied where everything is placed or how it looks.. I constantly find myself staring at the corners or blank walls wondering if something in my room would look better in the den (which I converted into a second bedroom for company, but still wanted it to look like a hangout spot) or vice versa.. I'm still searching on the internet for ideas and things are finally starting to come into place.. Here are a few ideas I'm lurking at the moment...

How beautiful is this entry way?? I already have the giant mirror but mine is gold and I just bought some large frames to put on the sides... unfortunately my entryway is a little smaller than this one, but I wonder if my apartment can pull off the naked lamp lady... hmmmm...
*Photo via Kravitz Design Projects


I'm patiently waiting for Ikea to stock up on their floating shelves, particularly the white ones like the one in the picture, but my patience is running extremely thin..
*Photo via Desire to Inspire


I love the random cluttery-ness of this space with the suitcases and cowhide carpet on the floor.. I've decided I need more space in my apartment already...
*Photo via Desire to Inspire


All I can say is how furry and fun is this bedroom?! I have a few faux fur throws in the den and living room at the moment and I love it!! Instantly feels glamified!!
*Photo via Chapman Interiors


I have this black desk in the den that isn't the best, but it'll do for now (until I get tired of looking at craigslist postings for a new desk) and I have these dark brown floating shelves I have yet to put up, but this is the look I'm going for.. vintage perfect..
*Photo via Chapman Interiors


Lastly, I have a decent sized balcony with a modest table and chair set outside.. BUT I'm loving the lit up branches! I think I can pull this off somehow along with lanterns for late night wine sesh's and movie nights..
*Photo via Suzanne Perkins

I'm still trying my hardest to not just buy the first thing I see that slightly resembles what I want, but waiting until I find the perfect piece so I can say to myself.. THAT'S why I waited.. My next big purchase will be a new dining table, I've never had one before since I moved out of the parents house when I was 18!! It's the little things.. I was happy that the other night I actually built up my brand new entertainment center.. walked away with a few bruises, scratches, and a sore back from pushing the box to the door of my apartment.. thing weighed a ton!

...staying inspired by pretty images that make me smile to make my apartment a home...

Letting Go... Sea Air Through My Hair.. Fixie Ride..

I love my little hot pink fixie and living in San Diego, there's so many different areas to ride!! A friend of mine texted me early Saturday morning asking if I wanted to ride bikes.. ironically enough, I woke up after a terrible night of no sleep WANTING to ride bikes. Somehow life just knows the therapy you need to lift your spirits and give you happiness.. I responded to his text with "When and Where?"... I've been wanting to experience a lot of "firsts" in my new city and this was one opportunity I couldn't say no to... 40 minutes later I was out the door with my bike and on my way downtown.. We rode all around Petco Park, Seaport Village, up and down the streets, and stopped for lunch at the Broken Yolk where I came to learn they serve my fav illy coffee. I finally tried Heavenly Cupcakes and wasn't disappointed in their Red Velvet version... It was a beautiful day and I didn't realize how much that bike ride would make me happy..














Viewing pleasure of our afternoon journey...


...When life puts you down, find a bike and ride till you feel better.. or until your legs fall off, which ever happens first... Just "let go"...

Believe in Love...

Love can come from everywhere.. from family, friends, pets... maybe you get your love from things that inspire you like music or fashion.. sometimes we stumble across the wrong kind of love or look past the bad and only focus on love. There's nothing wrong with seeing the good in people.. I like to think positive and give the benefit of the doubt but that can be seen as a weakness and can be taken advantage of. Its happened to me and I think we can grow from such lessons. We keep people in our lives we value whether that be for intellectual conversation, companionship, our besties we can rely on at any time to be there for us at our hardest moments, or those who rarely get the all encompassing unconditional love. I want to let everyone who I love to know I value you. I value our friendships, blood we share, memories we have already made and will make 60 years from now. YOU are the ones that will always be there.. always be respectful.. always glitter in my eyes. Keep being you...


*photo via absolutely beautiful things.

...Believe in Love...

Vitamin D and Sandy Toes...

I crave the sun... there are days where all I want to do is lay on the beach and soak up the rays where it's almost an addictive personality trait.. I never realized how much I appreciated it until I went to snowy cold places where the sun rarely makes a cameo. After living in Hawaii for over 5 years I became so dependent on it.. with the consistent weather I never had to watch the news to find out the daily temperature.. Sunny, 80 degrees with a slight chance of rain (for 10 minutes.. how do you think we get all those rainbows?!) Today for the first time after moving, I went to the beach!! Feeling the sand between my toes was instantly familiar. Not quite the same, but comparable considering what a wonderful day San Diego had. I didn't get to lay out because the plan was just to stroll Coronado, which I had never been before.. my new favorite insta-vacation spot! (blog on that to follow later).. I eagerly await the summer months to roll on by so I can have fun in the sun and get much needed Vitamin D. Until then, I will take these perfect little winter days that give us teasers of the summer...

Coronado Beach at sunset...



...the sunshine makes us happy, it only makes sense to have another reason to smile...