A Glimpse of Glam

Hey everyone!

Not only did I have a relaxing weekend because of Thanksgiving, something else pretty awesome happened as well recently. I was nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely, Roberta Romeo . A huge thanks to Roberta for nominating me! I really appreciate it, and it means a lot. Definitely check out her blog, she posts about really interesting stuff!

I don't know how many of you were following and reading back when this blog first started, but I have coincidentally been nominated a few other times before as well. I started this blog back in the beginning of 2014. Since then, this blog has gone through some MAJOR changes, including the rebirth of sorts that resulted in the blog you all know of today. Not only has this blog changed, but I think I, myself, have changed a bit as well since then.

If you are curious to read, here are the posts for the previous times I had been nominated: Liebster Award and Liebster Award: Part 2.


Here are my answers to Roberta's questions:

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and comment on their blog.
2. Link back to their blog.
3. Nominate 10 bloggers for this award, and notify them.
4. Answer the 10 questions you were asked, and create more for the 10 bloggers you nominated to answer.
5. Include the rules in your post.

These are the questions I came up with:

1. Name your top three ultimate favorite songs of all time.
2. If you could only use one brand (makeup) or wear one brand (clothes) for the rest of your life, which would it be?
3. What's your favorite holiday drink?
4. If you could trade lives with a celebrity for a week, who would it be?
5. Name your favorite book.
6. What is one food you absolutely cannot stand?
7. What is one thing you really want to learn to do?
8. Where is the ideal place you would like to live when you retire?
9. What about the holidays are you looking forward to this year?
10. What's the one thing you really wish to accomplish with your blog?


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day today, to those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made some apple pie. Homemade apple pie with a crumble topping. Apparently, this is a Dutch style apple pie because of the top. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh, and did I mention that it is also gluten free?

Why does the crumble topping end up looking like ground beef before it is baked? WHY?

Tomorrow morning I am planning on going Black Friday shopping. I used to go almost every year, but I didn't the last two years. I usually spend Black Friday looking for new shoes. This year, I am also looking for some new shoes, but also a good winter coat. Hopefully I will be able to fight my way through aggressive shoppers. I swear I am getting old or something. I used to not be this vulnerable to the cold. I used to be almost immune, wearing a thin shirt and feeling fine. It's weird.

Anyways, just wanted to share a quick post with you guys. I hope you are all doing well.

Lemme know in the comments below what you are thankful for! I would love to hear what you guys have to say! 

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading!


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

Over the weekend, my family and I made a quick trip to Canada to attend my uncle's birthday dinner. Because I am finally at the drinking age in Canada, I got to order my first drink. It was pretty exciting. I felt all grown up and sophisticated with my fancy wine glass, while looking over at the children with their cups of water and tea.

I got red wine, but I'm not exactly sure what specifically it was. I'm not that refined with my drinks, at least not yet. The extent of my alcoholic beverages knowledge is to go to the store, buy a bottle of reasonable price, pour into cup, and drink. If any of you got any good recommendations for drinks to try, whether it be cocktails, or specific brands, anything, lemme know in the comments below!

Sharing a drink with my sister

Cheers!

Autumn quarter at university is almost over for me! Only got a couple more weeks to go, then I got a few weeks of break! I'm so glad because I really want to just sit at home in my pajamas, with a fire roaring in the fireplace and a steaming hot cup of tea in my hands.

To be honest, I'm kind of mad that this year winter break is only two weeks long. Apparently it's because our school started later than normal, which is why we lost one week of break. But that's not exactly fair; it's not like we as students had any say in when to start school. Why punish us with less break for something we didn't have a say in?

Thanksgiving is coming up real soon! Only two days away. My family celebrates Thanksgiving in a pretty low-key way. We basically take that day as an opportunity to cook up some good food, and spend the day together as a family. We don't watch sports or anything because we aren't huge sport fans. If we ever did turn on sports, I'm pretty sure we would all end up immersed on our phones instead of actually watching.

I'm planning on making some apple pie, from scratch! A couple years ago, I made pumpkin pie from scratch and it ended up really delicious. This year, I'm trying out a new apple pie recipe. If it turns out great, I'll definitely share it with you guys. Only if it ends up good. I don't want to share a nasty pie recipe that ends up poisoning anyone. Or do I?

For those of you who do celebrate Thanksgiving, what does your family do?



Definitely check it out and participate! I think it's pretty cool they are doing that. If you know of anyone who's in need of a new tux, share the news.

Lemme know in the comments below what is your favorite drink, whether it be alcoholic or not! Also, if you got any recommendations for me to try, share as well! 

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

With great outfits, the best way to complete them and amp them up more is to create a cool hairstyle. How your hair looks can really change up your appearance. Here, I'm sharing with you a hairstyle I recently did for the look I created for the Fairmont Wine and Dine event.




The hairstyle looks way more intricate and complicated than it really is. Lately, I've been loving braids, and how they are a super easy way to make a boring hairstyle unique. This hairstyle is really just three braids. It takes the simple, generic half-up hairstyle and makes it a bit more interesting.



Because I have a side part, I chose to do two dutch braids on the side of my head with more hair, and one dutch braid on the side with less hair. A dutch braid is basically an inverted French braid, one where you slowly incorporate more hair into the braid as you go along. It's inverted because you are putting the outside strands under the middle strand, whereas normal braids have the outside strands cross over the middle strand. If anyone wants me to do a tutorial on french braids and dutch braids lemme know! Sometimes they end up looking and sounding harder than they really are.



This is a super quick and simple hairstyle that can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. It's really all up to you. You can add a few flower accessories, or maybe a thin silver headband, or even braid in a ribbon. I chose to go with the basic because it went better with the outfit.

I love how such a simple thing as having two braids on one side and one on the other makes this style just a bit different and interesting to look at.

What did you think of this hairstyle? Lemme know in the comments below!


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

A couple weeks ago, someone chose to quit social media. She chose to remove herself from the toxic environment in order to find happiness in her life again. This one small, supposedly simple action went viral. That person, as most of you have heard by now, is Essena O'Neill.

She was one of my favorite people to watch on YouTube. Her videos are inspiring and entertaining. She was gaining a large following on YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, and probably other platforms as well. Yet, she decided one day that she didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I don't want to explain why exactly she quit because it's best if you hear what she has to say about it from herself directly.

I wanted to share with you all my thoughts on social media. Here's my opinion. Social media is fake.


Social media is something we use to display our lives in ways that makes us happy and proud. We want to appear as if we are living crazy, adventurous, successful lives. That's because we are exposed every day through social media to the crazy, adventurous, successful lives of others. We don't just filter our pictures; we filter our lives.

Everyday, I get to choose what hairstyle to do, what outfit to wear, and what makeup to apply. If we can have the freedom to look how we want physically, why can't that same freedom be applied to how we want our lives to be presented to the public? Yes, it's fake because we aren't showing all aspects of our lives. We develop personas and we like to stick with them. But does that necessarily mean it's wrong? That it's bad? Yes it's fake, but why should we be instantly jumping to the conclusion that that's a bad thing?


I'm pretty sure you all know what a biography is. Biographies do not necessarily detail every single aspect of the person's life. They only document the important parts. In a way, the lives they portray are filtered too. Isn't the way we are using social media similar?

Social media should be something fun, something that helps us connect with others. We should partake because we want to, not because we have to. And it shouldn't be regarded as a bad thing. It should be seen as what it is: a tool for us to connect with others and to present our lives in way we want. That's just it. There's no good or bad. The only good or bad exists in HOW we choose to use it.

It's a tool. It's the user who makes it good or bad. Take, for example, a knife. A knife is a tool. It isn't inherently good or bad. Use it to chop up veggies for a stir fry, and that is a mighty good thing (because who doesn't like a good veggie stir fry, am I right?). Use that same knife to stab someone until they bleed, and that's not only bad, that's TERRIBLE AND MURDEROUS.




Social media can appear to be problematic. We can very easily feel like life is just one big competition because we are constantly exposed to others' successes. BUT when you think about it, why should we place all the blame on that? We are just as accountable because we are ALLOWING ourselves to be exposed and to be part of this. It's not about social media; it's about the power we get from it, and how we choose to use that power.

If we are feeling like social media is consuming our lives and becoming too toxic, why can't we withdraw ourselves without the fear of being judged negatively? Why are people talking so much about Essena leaving YouTube and Instagram? She chose to put her life there, so she has every right to remove herself when she wanted to. Essena chose to use that power for something else other than to uphold her online persona. She smashed down the screen to reveal her true self. Isn't that what we want of people in the first place? So shouldn't we be applauding her for her bravery in the present, rather than giving her hate on what she chose to do in the past?

Let's focus on what her message is. Her message hasn't changed at all, despite her departure from social media. She still advocates veganism, being true to yourself, doing things that make you happy. Only one thing has changed, how she is choosing to spread her message. But her overall goal is still the same.

Why are people hating on someone who is trying to find a better way to spread a message she feels is important? Oh look, a knife isn't working well to grind those almonds into almond flour, let's use a food processor. In other words, she is finding a new tool to use, is that a bad thing? Her message is still the same, if not clearer.

Two wonderful people also shared their thoughts on social media. Lucy from Loepsie and Kassie from Cloudy Apples.

Here's Kassie's video:



I love them. They are also people I follow on YouTube. I was really inspired by what they had to say about this topic. They shared some very good points, which I also agree with. Definitely check them out to hear more about this topic.

Yes social media can make our self-esteem go down the toilet. Yes it doesn't accurately portray our lives in the realest manner. But that doesn't mean it's bad. If the messages spread through this tool are valuable and inspirational, then isn't it a good thing?

We can make it a good thing. There are plenty of people who use it to spread good messages. We shouldn't focus on whether or not social media is fake, but rather we should focus on the influence of social media and what we can use it for.

We shouldn't be placing so much attention on Essena leaving social media. We should be caring more about what it is she wants to say. Yeah, okay she left social media. So what? Lot's of people don't use social media. I'm pretty sure there are at least two people in your family who don't. Don't lie to me. So, yeah she left. But what about the messages she's been trying to spread? Veganism and living your life for yourself not for others. Let's focus on that instead. Use that energy to debate about those topics instead.

Bottom line is, yeah social media is fake, but only to some extent. However much of a lie it holds depends on the person. It's only fake because of the person who made it fake. There are plenty of people out there who do not make it fake. If we can accept that the person down the street chose to dye their hair neon green, why can't we just accept the choices people make in how they want their lives to be displayed?

I hope I didn't offend anyone with what I had to say. I really wanted to share my thoughts on this topic. I know it was quite long so, thanks for reading!

What are your thoughts on social media? Is it fake? Lemme know in the comments below! I would love to read your thoughts on this topic. 


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

I recently got the opportunity to create a look for the Wine and Dine event at The Fairmont in San Jose. This look is inspired by the elegant, classy style of this beautiful West Coast locale. I personally have not visited there myself, but based on the images featured on their website, I was amazed at how this resort looked. It has an elegant style with some modern touches, such as the large windows with glimmering gold and beige drapery, and the thoughtfully arranged greenery that provided a nice complement.

As this resort looks refined, yet casual at the same time, I wanted to create an outfit that reflected this. Wine and Dine events are not too much of a formal event, but it still does require something that shows you know how to clean up well. You obviously can't show up in your yoga pants and flip flops without drawing the wrong kind of attention. I could have chosen to go with a dress, but instead I decided to wear a pants and jacket outfit, something inspired by menswear while still showing off a feminine side.




I stuck with a black and white theme with my outfit because having a predominantly neutral palette with a few splashes of color tends to create a more polished look. Although black is always a great chic look, like LBD's, sometimes they can come off as too formal if in a dress-form. I decided to wear black peg-legged pants with a simple off-white top. I also wore a sheer black blazer, which streamlined this look. The chunky black belt I cinched around my waist provided a great detail to the outfit and adds to the play in different textures. A pair of dark violet heels gave the necessary touch of color to the otherwise monochrome outfit.







I really love how this look turned out. Most people wouldn't gravitate towards wearing pants to nice events because dresses are easier to style. Normally I wouldn't either. But I wanted to wear something more neutral, something that can be worn again for other occasions, so I decided to go for it.

This event is taking place in a resort, so most people attending would probably be staying there. By choosing items that people most likely already have in their wardrobe, this allows a look that can easily be created using very versatile items.

Thanks again to the Fairmont for this opportunity! I had a ton of fun creating this look. Taking these pictures, however, was a challenge. I live in rainy Seattle, but I managed to get great shots despite the wet weather.

Hope you enjoy this look and lemme know in the comments below what you think! What would you wear to an event like this? 


Til next time,
~A

Chai tea misto with a drizzle of caramel sauce

I have a dirty little secret that I would like to share with you all. I am obsessed with cinnamon. Cinnamon is amazing on anything sweet; just like vanilla extract, it helps bring out a wonderful taste in many sweet foods and beverages.