September 2017 Favorites

It is the end of the month again! Here are my favorite things from the month of September.
Arts and Culture
Here is a list of the songs from My Shazam this month:
 
Personal Style
  • I am re-discovering Gal Meets Glam, a fashion blogger, and I am really loving how she incorporates warm colors in her wardrobe and how her style is so feminine.
  • The look of effortless vintage Levi’s
  • Fall colors
  • Pleated skirts like this
Career
  • I spent some time on networking this month. One of my friend works at a big pharmaceutical company and she introduced me to two people at her company with roles I am interested in. To be honest I did not learn that many new things about their roles at the interviews but I definitely believe this experience makes me feel more confident about applying for a job at their company; now I have a broader perspective of the company and culture and the type of people they look for.
Personal
  • The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin differentiates people into four different groups in terms of how they respond to both inner and outer expectations. According to her test, I am an Obliger who responds stronger to outer expectations and I find this to be true: I often have to rely on other people or circumstances to make me do certain things and I find that I am a better person when I know that someone else s looking up to me.
  • The book “Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It
  • Fill Your Heart With Love” post on Instagram

August 2017 Favorites

August soon came to an end and that means it’s time for another Monthly Favorites!

 

Arts and Culture

I find this song very catchy: Kamikaze by MØ. I haven’t listened to it enough to actually look into the lyrics so I don’t know what the song is about.

I love Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” and I like the cinematography of the music video a lot!

 

Personal Style

NYDJ (again!) Stretch Knit Trousers. The material of these pants are undeniably yoga pants material (sigh), but these have trouser legs that make them look less like yoga pants. They are very flattering on my figure, they smooth out lumps and are super comfortable. The only gripe I have with them is that the hook-and-bar closure doesn’t lie completely flat on the stomach and they don’t have belt loops. If you wear your tops untucked then this should be a non issue.

Sparkly earrings in studs and drop styles. I chose the rose gold color because I simply just love this color! I must say that I think the drop style is a bit too big for my liking, I’d feel very self conscious wearing them everyday. But the studs are beautiful and just the right amount of elegance and statement. The posts sit off centered and I think that provides a little bit of added elegance because the earrings look a bit “draped” and thus are more interesting than the regular stud earrings.

Uniqlo Merino Blend Ribbed Skirt. This skirt is knitted and quite thick and has a nice drape to provide a good “skim over your body” effect. Tops can be tucked in because of the thicker material. This is a versatile piece that can be worn in fall and winter.

Levi’s 715 Boot Cut Jeans. I never knew this (didn’t shop at Levi’s before) but there are so many choices of washes and sizes and inseams. These boot cut jeans are so flattering on my body (I am petite with a slight curve) because of the mid rise that elongates my legs and the slight flare at the bottom that balances out my hips. My body just looks like it’s in “proportion” when I wear them. These also have a bit of stretch in them which makes them so comfortable.

Banana Republic Silk Cashmere Crew. I have been on the hunt for a good fall/winter piece that is light colored since I don’t have a lot of these. I surprised myself when I picked up this light gray piece because I don’t usually buy a lot of gray items. But after wearing it I am starting to realize they are basically a more wearable “white” color, like off white and cream/oatmeal colors. I love the idea of wearing white tops but stark white does not work for me and luckily I found this! I have been wanting to wear this light gray sweater everyday since I got it. I am so glad I went with this!

Career

I started reading this book “How will you measure your life?” and this came just at the right time for me personally! I am currently unemployed and looking for a job so I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I want to do with my career and life. This book has good insights on how to find meaning and happiness (and stay aligned to those) in work and life.

I have another detailed post about my job search so far that I will upload this weekend. Please stay tuned!

Personal

This image of a little dog sitting in the subway just cracks me up. I used to love this song and used to sing it so much on Rock Band back in the day. The notes are so high and so impossible, failing this song actually makes it fun to sing to!

I randomly saw this mug on Amazon and I instantly fell in love with it. As someone who loves all things cat themed, I just couldn’t resist! I am actually surprised that I don’t have a cat mug already! But since I have way too many mugs, I am going to reserve this one for my friend who loves cats just as much as I do!

 

That’s it for August. Let’s continue the conversation next month!

 

 

July 2017 Favorites

I know I am VERY behind on this, but these are my favorites from the month of July:

Arts and Culture
I fell in love with this song called “Grace Kelly” by MIKA. I loved this song because of MIKA’s voice, it is so elastic and very high pitched (but not squeaky) and I loved the lyrics.

Personal Style
I recently discovered LOFT (as in, I recently stepped foot into LOFT for the first time in my life and shopped there) and this past season of spring/summer they had so many colorful pieces and a lot of them were red/orange color themed. It was so beautiful! Their items are trendy (but not too trendy) at a decent quality and price point, I really loved what I found there. I have been wanting to update my wardrobe with more colors and this discovery came at the perfect time for me!
Unfortunately the jacket I bought is no longer available. Here is a link to something similar.

Floaty tops
Most of the tops I have are not floaty. They are usually buttoned up shirts, cashmere sweaters, or tee shirts. I was randomly browsing online and I came across this post on Instagram raving about this top by Uniqlo, which is known to have great basics at affordable prices and I decided to check it out. I got the white one (similar)and tried it on and immediately got compliments. Since it’s off white, it is very flattering for my complexion, and it also works with many colors as opposed to a stark white. Because it’s floaty I can wear it with all the skinny pants/jeans I own, and since it’s soft it can be easily tucked under any bottoms (including skirts) without bunching up underneath. To me it is an “updated” basic that goes with so many things I have. One added bonus is that since it’s sleeveless, it can be worn easily under jackets without any bunching at the sleeves. The one down side is that since it is so long and has slits on both sides of the body, it can look a bit awkward when you wear a jacket shorter than it. But I find that it doesn’t happen that often. I went and bought the navy one since I wanted to have a darker color one. The navy is really dark, it’s almost black.

NYDJ “Betty” pants
Since I started working out consistently and grew my lower body and glutes, I started to have a hard time finding skinny pants/jeans that look good on me. Most of the time, they are too small on me and have awkward creases here and there. I almost gave up on finding good bottoms until I randomly saw this pair of pants from NYDJ at Nordstrom and decided to give it a try. What a good decision it was! This pants look so good and so flattering, they hugged me the right way and was stretchy enough to accommodate my curves and did not make my body look “weird”. The best way I could describe them is that they “followed” my curves but did not cling onto them. I originally tried on size 0P and had to size down to 00P because it is stretchy. This goes with all my tops, but I would only wear it with longer tops because it is thinner than the normal jeans/pants and I’d feel like I’m wearing yoga pants.

Full skirts
I went through my pinterest board and realized I really liked the full skirt look with a fitted top tucked into it, or a fit and flare dress. I found this beautiful navy lace skirt at Nordstrom Rack, however because I was too lazy to try it on in store I bought the wrong size and since it was a clearance item, I could no longer find it in store. Alternately, I went on a hunt on Amazon and found this skirt with good reviews from the brand Allegra K. According to the reviews I should be a size M, however it was too big when it finally arrived. I had to return it and buy the small one, but I really do like the look and the quality of it. I still think the Ted Baker skirt is better quality, but because it is a lacey material it is probably way too fragile for me to handle.

Pointed nude flats
Since I am planning on wearing more skirts, and I can’t walk around for too long in stilettos , I figured another way for my legs to not drown out in full skirts I should find a pair of nude flats with pointed toes. I found this pair at Macy.

Career
Since I am going through some career changes, I checked out the famous “What color is your parachute?” from my local library. This book helps readers identify the skills, interests and work environments best suited for them. There are many exercises and they do take time, but I believe that time will be well spent!

 

 

June 2017 Favorites

We are approaching the end of June and these are the things I have been enjoying this month:
  1. Starting my own blog!
  2. I did yoga everyday this month (well, almost everyday) following the Yoga Camp. The reasons why I loved doing yoga daily are: I saw visible improvement in my core strength, balance and flexibility. On top of the physical improvements, I also really liked her thoughts/philosophy that was salt and peppered throughout the videos. I can go into details, but that will be for another post.
  3. Trip to New York. It was my first time visiting New York and I really enjoyed it. It was so much fun exploring a new city and being a tourist; I felt like a “new soul”. I loved the diversity and hustle and bustle there.
  4. This video “Inspirational Books Every Woman Should Read” by Valeria Lipovetsky. I stumbled upon her channel a couple of months back while searching for how to create beach waves. In this video she talked about inspirational books for women and she has a very good list here! I love being inspired and seeing other people work hard.
  5. I had a new found appreciation for HIIT cardio this month. I have never enjoyed cardio, except for the occasional itch to run for 30 minutes once every 3 months. But this month I tried the 7 minute workout again and I really loved how much it worked my body and how convenient it was! I also started running on the treadmill 1-2 times a week and I really loved how I feel afterwards.
  6. This blog post “Albert Einstein’s Unique Approach to Thinking” on how playing and taking breaks can really benefit your work.
  7. My mother’s birthday. I love you, mom! Thank you for this life you gave me.

Continue reading “June 2017 Favorites”