she, in the making: January 2012

Thursday, January 12, 2012

" You see, when you pick at the little negative things about yourself and your body, it begins to consume your every thought. It creates a false image of yourself and you’re blind to the fact that if you take just one step back and look at the entirety of yourself, you will actually see someone so beautiful and so unique. You are made so wonderfully. You are so talented in your own way. And yes, there are broken parts about you that may have left a weighed scar in your life, but look past that and look at what you have in life ahead of you. Use these broken pieces to create a positive image of yourself that you can love."

Here's another excerpt story of woman's struggle to find beauty within herself by an adorable blogger I follow, Sora Kim. Click the link to lead to the full story.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Artist: David Garibaldi

Take a look at his website and the other art he's done. Incredible.

High Fashion, Higher Purpose

" Why is this trial such a surprise? It only makes sense that when I was in the world, I was the God of my own life and therefore I got everything I wanted, but now that I have made Jesus Lord, I am not always going to get everything that I want, which is okay, because God always has better. The mind that I am dealing with is so limited compared to God's mind. I couldn't even fathom all the things He has planned."

Here's an excerpt from my friend Stephanie's blog High Fashion, Higher Purpose which I really encourage you to visit. I really love the message she is sending across here and thought I would share because I'm going through a similar situation and I bet a few of you are too. Enjoy.

Beauty.

So here's another thought. After talking with one of my best friends today who wasn't feeling her best it really just got me thinking about this whole idea of beauty. And (as I often do) I just kept dwelling on the thought and the more I did, the more it began to upset me. The world has this incredibly skewed perception of beauty and though I've always known this, sometimes it hits me much harder than others. We shouldn't need make up or other people's verification to make us feel beautiful. We should just feel that way all the time regardless of any of that.

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine suggested we go on some what of a make up fast? I don't know what you'd call it. But basically, we'd go 2 weeks to a month without make up. Now to me this sounded very hard as I've gotten used to dolling myself up pretty much everyday, so instead we decided we'd put a limit to how much makeup we could use. No more than 2 items and preferably only on special days (or when you have an especially large zit). Also no liquid foundation because it provides too much coverage and chapstick doesn't count as makeup. Haha. Before I was dreading this, but now I'm actually pretty excited about it.

I know that beauty is more than skin deep and we ALL have the misconception of associating goodness with beauty and what a downfall it is. I've decided that every day I don't wear make up, I'm going to go out of my way to do 3 acts of kindness and I'd encourage you to join me. Or maybe an even better thing to do would be to go out of your way to do an act of kindness for every item of make up you put on... That probably makes more sense. Regardless of how you choose to participate, I think there must be another way to get women in our society to feel beautiful about themselves. Especially because there doesn't seem to be anything that you can do or say to change a woman's mind. You can tell us we are beautiful, a guy can tell us we beautiful, we can put on 5 pounds of make up, but it isn't easy to make a girl truly feel that way about herself and there's never one sure-fire tactic. So, in honor of true beauty, I'm not dolling myself up at all today. And in addition to that, I'm going to go out of my way to do at least one good deed just for the heck of it.

If you plan on participating, leave a comment below and maybe we can hold each other accountable!

XOXO,
She

Time flies by when you're not in school...

Monday, January 9, 2012

and at the same time, everything seems like it happened so much longer ago.

Well, since Tuesday a LOT has happened... so here will be a (not so) quick update post on the past week of my life.

On Wednesday, I went out to lunch with two of my beautiful friends Victoria and Jonmichael. Victoria and I walked around and windowshopped a bit before we met Jonmichael at Mcallisters for soup, sweet tea, and things to munch on. We both agreed that Jonmichael is probably the most fabulous person we know haha. We talked about fashion, books, and movies and of course my obsession: GAP!

Afterwards, Victoria and I caught up a bit more and we always seem to find similarities between the two of us. She's such a lovely friend! A few hours later, I found myself back out with the committee of A Mad Tea Party III, finding some last minute items (or just items haha) for the party, but more on that later!

photo by Victoria Tran

Thursday, I had a great time at my IB Reunion. Got to see people from all generations of IB and many dear friends from the best class of 2010! It was really lovely getting to see so many people I love and enjoy their company. Afterwards, a bunch of the IB "jrs", 3 of the greatest IB "seniors" and I went to get sushi wear my cute little wonton (that's her nickname... her real name is Ivy haha) was working... and it was DERRRICIOUS! Afterwards, I went to get Pinkberry with two of my best friends from high school turned practically married couple Minh and Anthony, which Minh graciously treated us to :3 It was a really chill day spent with great people.

Friday, I met up with two creative young souls who are looking to collaborate with my business partner Erika and I. Stay tuned for more information on that but it sure does seem like it will be interesting (:
That same day, I got some pretty sad news and went to campus to check out some apartments with my best friend! I ended up feeling rather sick that night but she was the beeeeest and took care of me.

I ended up spending the night and on Saturday morning, my best friend woke up early and made me the heart shaped pancakes I'd been longing for. She really does love me <3

Later that evening, I met up with Daniel, my childhood beeeeeest friend who I used to gab over Spice Girls with and rejoice when only we got all As (which was usually... haha). We ate some delicious food at one of my favorite restaurants and spent four hours just talking about life and it's scary crazy amazing how similar we still are. I love him!

Sunday, was an adventure of it's own. I modeled for my dear friend Victoria's (along with other friends Anh Chris, and Chen Ching) bow tie business. Anh hand makes all the bow ties and they are absolutely GORGEOUS! I met a handful of amazing and creative souls and had a great time despite the chilly weather. It was really interesting being on the other side of the camera as well... so be expecting some gorgeous photos by Kevin Davidson appearing soon!

by Victoria Tran

Then finally TODAY was A Mad Tea Party III. It's become the semiannual tradition amongst our group of friends and it's adorable. I love being on the committee for this little event that keeps growing each year. It's always hosted by my friends Lucy and Daniel with Ivan and I as creative directors. We served finger sandwiches, cake balls, fruit salad, sugar cookies, chocolates, and of course a variety of delicious teas. People are even encouraged to bring their own tea cups. We all gave a current update on our lives, shared our favorite quotes and what they mean to us, enjoyed a poem from Anthony and two songs sung on the ukelele by Victoria, and then just each others company. (More images can be found on my Facebook).

The beautiful hosts, Lucii and Daniel!

By Victoria Tran

All in all I've had an incredibly eventful past few days, but it's been fulfilling and amazing. Only a few days left until school begins again and it's so bittersweet, but I hope to make the most of this semester as I feel I (almost) have out of this break. Here are a few other random images of food, because what better way to end this post on a good note?

What a wonderful day! Again! I promise!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Today was my best friend Janie's 20th birthday and I swear I feel as if it's mine!

Me and my dear, lovely, beautiful friend Monica decided that we were going to wake up really early and surprise Janie with breakfast and 3 on 3 time! However... we decided this after 2 in the morning... so this was honestly doomed from the start. Anyways, I decided I was going to do an outfit post today but I really don't feel like editing any pictures (and if they were, they were Instagramed) so here's a lazy post of what I wore (:

Blazer: Gap; Scarf: Gifted from Express; Top: Ross; Shoes: Aldo from ASOS

Anyways, so when we did wake up... me three hours behind schedule and her two hours so, we got our ish together and came up with a new plan to surprise Janie and take her out to lunch at her favorite restaurant, Spirals, a yummy and retro Vegan restaurant found in Oak Cliff and Fort Worth. Before this though, we surprised her at her apartment along with our friends Navjot and Sarpreet and we all showered her with balloons, flowers, and chocolate. After taking turns making fun of each other, Monica, Janie and I headed out to Fort Worth as Janie pretended she had no clue where we were going. Haha and as you'll see we had a grand time at lunch! (:

Afterwards, we stopped by a cute frozen yogurt cafe in an even cuter part of town called Yofe and enjoyed some sweet cream and tart frozen yogurt and gabbed like girls do. Janie, I hope you had a greaaaaat birthday, but I mean honestly... you spent it with me and Monica. How could you not have?! (;

Kidding! (not really) LOVE YOU <3

Please enjoy this photo journalistic style post of the day!