If it makes you happy, wear it!

Hope you enjoyed your Valentine’s Day, whether single or in a relationship! I actually love Valentine’s Day. A lot of people think I love the holiday because I’ve been in a relationship for a few years now, but I’ve actually loved it since I was younger.

As a young girl I watched wedding shows sometimes more than cartoons…I know, weird right. I was the student who wanted to give Valentine’s candy and cards to all of my classmates growing up. I just always loved the idea of love.

I know some people believe that Valentine’s Day is just a superficial and commercialized holiday, but I see it as a special day to go all out for your signifcant other in a different way than the other 364 days of the year.

And if you are single, practicing self-love and taking yourself on a date that makes you feel beautiful, confident, and happy is also a perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day.

Yesterday, Shawn and I actually had a very lowkey Valentine’s Day. It was a rainy LA day so we decided to stay in and catch up on all of our tv shows, which was fun and relaxing.

I only left my apartment to take the pictures you see in this post and then went back to the comfort of my bed, blankets, and snacks.

A few days ago I was trying so hard to figure out what to wear on Valentine’s Day just in case we went out somewhere. I was thinking about buying a pink skirt or a cute red dress to wear, but I honestly wasn’t feeling pink or red this year for the holiday.

I felt like every year I aimed for something pink, red, or white in my outfit to match the usual theme of the holiday, so I switched it up this time for a less bright and less girly look and I loved it.

Don’t get so tied up on themes or what other people are wearing, wear what makes you happy. For my non-traditional Valentine’s Day outfit, I decided to wear navy and black!

I wore a navy blazer from H&M and paired it with a black Topshop bralette, black FashionNova jeans, and black dress shoes from Nordstrom Rack. I felt like this outfit was sexy enough for the lovey dovey holiday while still being simple and stylish.

As I mentioned earlier, it was a rainy day, so I was excited to add my umbrella to my outfit. My umbrella has pink and white polka dots on it, which added a nice pop of color to my Valentine’s Day look.

If dresses make you happy, wear them. If crop tops make you happy, wear them. If you don’t feel comfortable in shorts and they make you unhappy, don’t wear them.

Anybody can wear anything that makes them feel confident and happy. All bodies are good bodies!

Have a lovely weekend!! 🙂

Smorgasburg LA!

Last Sunday I decided to take a trip to a place here in LA that I’ve been wanting to visit for some time called Smorgasburg!

If you are like what in the world is that, let me explain. Smorgasburg is held every Sunday in downtown LA from 10 am to 4 pm. A bunch of local shopping, food, and drink vendors set up tents to sell their amazing food or awesome merchandise.

Attending Smorgasburg is also a great date idea! It’s lowkey, fun, and you get to try out new food and drinks.

I found out about Smorgasburg on Instagram when I saw numerous pictures showing delicious looking desserts and drinks and I knew I had to visit. I love all things shrimp so I knew I had to stop by the Shrimp Daddy booth to get a meal and I’m so happy I did.

The meal left me speechless. Take a look at it below:

I ordered a pineapple boat which is grilled shrimp, mac salad, rice with curry paste, and pineapple chunks served in half a pineapple. The plating is beautiful and it tastes delicious. I definitely reccomend trying it out if you attend Smorgasburg.

To finish off my meal I got a yummy, mango ice cream cone from Wanderlust creamery. I give it a 10/10!

I decided to wear a dressy casual look to the event. I paired a black and white polka dot, crop top from H&M with skinny jeans from Topshop, and black heels from Nordstrom Rack.

I also rocked a sporty fannypack from FashionNova. What do you think of my #LOTD #OOTD? Let me know in the comments below. Also tell me if you’ve visited Smorgasburg and have a fave food spot or plan to go, I want to go again!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

One year LA Anniversary!

Just four days ago was my 1 year anniversary of moving to LA. It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been living here for a full year. It really flew by! This post is going to be a timeline of a few of my favorite LA moments over this past year. Enjoy!

Moving to LA – 10/22/17

Visiting Echo Park – 10/31/17

Visiting The Grove – 11/3/17

First birthday in LA – 11/18/17

First holiday season in LA – 12/8/17

New year, new look – 1/1/18

First rainy day in LA – 1/8/18

Visiting Griffith Observatory – 1/16/18

Visiting the Love Wall in Beverly Hills – 2/8/18

First Valentine’s Day in LA/Visiting the Natural History Museum – 2/14/18

Attending my first wedding – 4/21/18

Celebrating my 6 year Anniversary – 4/25/18

Visiting Santa Monica – 5/4/18

Visiting La Brea Tar Pits – 6/6/18

Attending Janelle Monae concert – 6/28/18

Visiting Manhattan Beach – 7/10/18

Visiting Little Tokyo – 7/24/18

Visiting the Beverly Hills Sign – 8/9/18

Hiking to the Secret Swing in Elysian Park – 8/23/18

Visiting Universal Citywalk – 9/27/18

The adventure continues – 10/2618

Hope you enjoyed traveling through time with me and I look forward to bringing you all on many more journeys! Have a lovely weekend!

Exploring Santa Monica

Before I get into my Santa Monica exploration, I wanted to say Happy May!

I can’t believe its already been 6, going on 7 months since I’ve been living in LA. I decided that May, and going forward, I want to take more time to explore what California has to offer me!

Since Santa Monica Pier is a hotspot, I made that my first exploration spot for May. Santa Monica is lined with cool shops and restaurants, a lovely beach and the pier full of rides, food spots, and attractions.

The view from the pier is so amazing!

My boyfriend, friends, and I walked the boardwalk and admired the ocean view. We rode the ferris wheel and also ate at Bubba Gump’s; it was my first time ever eating there and it was delicious.

We didn’t swim, but we definitely enjoyed the water and sand on our feet.

I paired a bathing suit top, worn as a crop top, with shorts from Forever 21 and bright yellow Birkenstocks I got from Nordstrom.

It was a perfect beach day outfit. I definitely recommend visiting Santa Monica Pier if you are vacationing to Los Angeles or California.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Date 💕💞

On Valentine’s Day, Shawn and I took a trip to the Natural History Museum of LA and it was wonderful.

There are so many exhibits to explore and sights and activities to partake in, it is truly perfect for any couples, friends, or families who want to have some educational fun.

I’ll be showing pics from a few of my favorite exhibits and pictures of my outfit of course!

Age of Mammals and African Mammals Exhibit

Dinosaur Hall

Gems and Minerals Exhibit

Tattoo Exhibit

 If you are looking for an affordable and fun date in LA, definitely visit the Natural History Museum. We will be back because even though we seen all the exhibits pictured above, there’s even more exhibits to see!

Now for my outfit! I wore a white Misguided blazer dress which I adored.

The dress had gold buttons which popped against the crisp white dress. I paired this look with pearl bracelets and earrings, MAC lipstick, and my red Topshop mules.

 Have you ever visited this museum? Would you rock a blazer dress? Let me know in the comments below and have a wonderful week lovelies!

Playful Puffballs

I went to the hairdresser recently to get my ends trimmed and to make sure my hair was healthy overall…which it is! Yay! ^-^

I was looking for something fun and different to do with my hair and I really looovveeeddd the idea of puffballs and luckily my hairdresser made that happen for me.

My new look for a bit is 2 mini puffs with a part straight down the middle and then have the rest of my hair out and curly in the back.

It’s a super easy style to maintain and I think it is super adorable. My ultimate goal is to have 2 huge puffballs, but for now I am rocking my mini puffs.

The picture included in this post to the bottom right is of Shawn and I after our hairdresser date. Fresh from the hairdresser, with our ends trimmed and feeling beautiful 🙂

The other photo pictured top left is from a photo shoot I did recently for my fashion show that will take place Saturday, as mentioned before in my previous post.

In that picture I am also rocking a little bit of pink blush and purple lipstick, which is a new look for me.

So far I am loving my cute mini puffballs and look forward to more growth!!! ❤

 

 

Know Your Love Language <3

Let’s face it, dating is hard. Giving someone your undivided attention, sharing your personal thoughts and feelings with another person, and putting a lot time and affection into someone is not an easy task, but it can be done.

Knowing your Love Language can help make you and your significant other’s dating experience much easier.

What is a Love Language?

Your Love Language shows you your emotional communication preference, how you like to receive love from others, and shows whoever you are dating how they can love you in the best way possible.

There are 5 types of Love Languages:

Words of Affirmation: this Love Language affirms other people by using words.

Acts of Service: people who use this Love Language need a partner who shows that actions speak louder than words.

Receiving Gifts: what makes people feel most loved is by receiving little gifts from their significant other

Quality Time: these people seek and need undivided attention from their partners

Physical Touch: with this Love Language, people believe that touching is the best way to show love to one another

Knowing your Love Language and knowing your partner’s can help you both express affection to each other in the best way possible. These Love Languages can help you connect with your significant other with a sense of intimacy and fulfillment.

Once you both know how to properly love each other, you two will have a better understanding of one another, will have better communication, and your love life overall will improve.

Now don’t think single people should be left out of this Love Language test. Being single is an even bigger and better reason to know your Love Language. Once you discover how you should be and want to be loved, when dating, you can seek out someone who will satisfy your needs.

My Love Language is mainly Words of Affirmation with a close runner up being Quality Time.

Take the Love Language Test here and if you are in a relationship, get your significant other to take it as well! Get on the right track to improving your love life ❤

Make Your Own #RelationshipGoals

Everyone has seen pictures on social media of couples hiking, riding bikes, working out together, hugging and kissing each other, and the list can go on and on. Most of the time those pictures have the caption “#relationshipgoals.”

A lot of individuals and couples strive to meet these relationship goals they see across social media. I say, make you own #relationship goals!

Each relationship is different. What works for one couple may not work for your relationship. You have to find what interests you and your significant other and just do it!

Maybe traveling isn’t your favorite activity to do, but maybe you are very creative and artsy. Instead of trying to travel the globe because you saw that was someone on Facebook’s relationship goal, why not have a cute and cozy arts and craft night at home with your partner.

Relationship goals don’t have to be huge, elaborate, and/or expensive. A walk in the park, a nice night indoors making cookies, or even a Netflix movie marathon can be a relationship goal you set.

The only relationship goals that should be standard across the board is finding someone who can make you happy, treat you fairly, and love you unconditionally.

Now I’m not saying that you can’t have the same relationship goals as other couples. I know I do, but majority of the goals should be based on your own likes and interests.

You should be able to have fun in your relationship and be able to communicate with one another about any and everything.

You may not know how to create your own #relationshipgoals. These simple steps to help you out:

1) Make a list of traits/activities that are important to you or fun to do when in a relationship
2) Make sure your goals are reachable
3) Ask your significant other to help you set goals for your relationship
4) Don’t set too many goals, so you won’t get overwhelmed
5) Celebrate when you meet your goals!

What are some of your #relationshipgoals? Know that your goals can change over time and that’s not a bad thing!

ABC Dating! <3

Feel like you are in a relationship rut? Maybe you’ve run out of date night places. Why not try Alphabet Dating to give you and your significant other fresh, fun, and new date night ideas!

A- Afternoon tea
B- bake a cake, cupcake, or your favorite sweet treat
C- create a couple handshake
D- double date with your best friends
E- eat at a new restaurant
F- fishing trip
G- go karting
H- hot air balloon ride
I- ice skating
J- jazz concert
K- karaoke
L- laser tagging
M- movie marathon
N- nighttime hike/walk
O- observatory visit
P- petting zoo
Q- quiz each other on your relationship/likes/dislikes, etc.
R- ride horses
S- see sunset/sunrise
T- trampoline date (checkout Skyzone!)
U- UrbanQuest
V- volleyball game
W- watch the stars/clouds together
X- Xbox gaming
Y- yoga class
Z– Zumba class

Once you complete this list, why not start over. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy your new dates! ❤

What to do for Date Night?

Every couple goes on dates, whether it’s to the movies, the zoo, for a walk in the park, wherever you go, it will definitely be a fun time spent with your significant other. The problem occurs when you don’t know what to do or where to go for your date night and you get in a rut. This list will help you get out of that rut and jump into a whole new era of date night ideas.

1) Cook your favorite meal together

If you love to eat shrimp scampi and your husband loves pasta and steak, why not set aside a few hours and cook both of your favorite meal. The two of you will have fun helping each other cook and you will definitely enjoy the meal! There will probably be food left over and that can be saved for a cute at home dinner date later in the week.

2) Have a spa day

You both have been working hard at work all week and you two really could use some rest and relaxation. Setting aside a Friday or Saturday night for back massages, foot rubs, and facials, could really be beneficial for you. You will feel happier, less stressed, and much more relaxed.

3) Stargaze/Cloud watch

Depending on if it is night or day, stargazing or cloud watching can be a perfect calming date idea. Grab a blanket or two and lay in the grass and just look up at the sky. Tell each other the pictures you see in the clouds or the constellations you can name or just relax and talk about how your day went.

4)  See a comedy/improv show

Who doesn’t love a good laugh? Laughter is great for a healthy relationship and going to a comedy or improve show will add a lot of joy to your relationship. Sit back, relax, and be entertained for an evening and just forget about work, the kids, and any stresses you have.

5) Play Truth or Dare

Yes, this may seem a little childish to some people, but who says adults can’t have fun as well. Playing truth or dare with your partner can spice up your relationship and get the two of you sharing secrets and doing fun and silly activities. Whenever you two get bored just start asking the other to do some dares or reveal a secret. This is an easy way to have fun right in your home.

6) Go to a drive-in movie theatre

Put a spin on the traditional movie going date. Why not hop in the car and go to a drive in theatre where the two of you can relax and cuddle in the car and watch great movies. It’s a way to get out of the house and be entertained, while still being able to be comfortable and have some privacy.

7) Take a dance class together

Consider taking an upbeat salsa dancing class or a slow paced and romantic waltz class. The two of you will be learning a new skill together, getting a workout, and having fun! Once you learn the dances, you can have mini dance sessions around the house. Twirling and dancing around can make you feel youthful, vibrant, and bring the two of you closer together as a couple.