OOTD | Spring Forward

February 28, 20162 Comments

Is it spring yet?! The weather in California seems to be confused lately. Some days are sweltering hot, while others are gloomy and chilly. The weekend before last was one of those perfect California winter days though, with the weather right in between.

My cousin and I decided to dress up a bit. It was her birthday and we were also celebrating Galentine’s Day. She wore a blue jean dress while I wore a floral winged romper.

She dressed up her outfit with a vintage purse, a thrift store find, and handmade sandals from Mexico.

I wore my Lucky Brand studded gladiator sandals and small tan Marc Jacobs cross body purse.

We had a great time exploring Old Town Pasadena and ate to our heart’s content. Check out my previous post to see what we were up to.

A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows she has none. – Marilyn Monroe

XOXO

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Galentine’s Day | Exploring Pasadena, CA

February 18, 2016February 18, 20167 Comments

“Galentine’s Day?”, you may be asking. What exactly is Galentine’s Day? Well that’s the same question I had when I noticed that hash tag trending in IG – so I looked it up!

Season 2 of Parks and Recs can be credited for starting the trend. Galentine’s Day is celebrated on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s. According to Wikia, Galentine’s Day is the best day of the year. It is a day to celebrate your female friendships and it’s basically an excuse to pamper yourselves and have a girls day out.

Armed with excessive FOMO (fear of missing out), my cousin and I set up our Galentine’s date and set out to explore Pasadena.

We started out the day with intentions to do brunch at Urth Caffe. If you checked out my ‘Breakfast in Southern California’ post, you probably have a good idea of just how amazing breakfast at Urth Caffe is.

Well, things didn’t turn out quite as planned and we missed the breakfast menu. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying our “brunch”. We ordered a green tea boba, morrocan tea boba (which tastes like a minty green tea), a chicken pesto salad, and sprout sandwich.

Our lunch options did not disappoint. The lunch at Urth Caffe is just as good as the breakfast.

Did I mention it was my cousin’s birthday? The main reason for celebration of course! (Although a Galentine’s Day celebration is also a good excuse.)

Following our lunch, we ventured out to old town Pasadena, one of my favorite places for people watching and window shopping. We were pleasantly surprised to find an interactive art installation in One Colorado. It was entitled “Heart Strings”. Guests were encouraged to take a heart and write a message of love or declaration for an admirer and pin it to strings that were hung from wooden posts.

I was so excited when @EnjoyPasadena re-posted my photo on their Instagram account!

Following our stroll we decided to stop by POP Champagne & Dessert Bar for some bubbly. It’s not a true brunch unless champagne is involved. 😉

We wrapped up our day with milky buns from AFTERS ice cream. What is a milky bun you may ask? Only the most amazing deliciousness wrapped in a donut!

At AFTERS, we shared a glazed milky bun with cookie butter ice cream and mochi. Nom nom nom. Let me tell you, it was delicious.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also managed to squeeze in a photo shoot before the sun went down. That OOTD post still to come. 😉

Let me know if enjoyed this Galentine’s Day post by liking and commenting below!

XOXO

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DIY | Ombre Nail Tutorial

February 11, 2016February 28, 20166 Comments

Happy Thursday Lovlies! I’m so excited to bring you this DIY ombré nail tutorial designed by my cousin, just in time for Valentine’s day. 💕 My cousin describes this look as a Lana del Rey inspired edgy romantic style. Cue “Young and Beautiful“, this beautiful ombré effect is so simple to do! The look is meant to be a little messy which makes the application that much easier. The gradient pink of this DIY helps to draw attention towards the tip of the nails, without being overly dramatic. Oh, and did you notice the little gold heart detail? A little detail that others can’t notice from afar, but you’ll know, since it’s a heart just for you. 😘

Pair this nail style with something comfy but cute. Our #OOTD is a pale pink romantic sweater paired with jeggings and combat boots, to add a edgy vibe. A simple white clutch completes this look with a pair of rings.

DIY | Ombre Nail Design

What you’ll need

White nail polish
Two shades of pink nail polish (One brighter than the other)
Gold nail polish
Eye-shadow sponge
Small piece of aluminum foil
Nail art dotting tool
Nail polish remover
Q-tips

How to

Start with the white nail polish to set the base for your design. Apply two thin coats and allow to completely dry before moving to Step 2.
Apply a drop of the lighter pink polish on a piece of aluminum foil.
Dab your sponge in the polish from Step 2 and sponge on (lightly stippling) to cover 3/4 of your nail, starting from the tip; let completely dry before moving on to Step 4.
Using the same technique from Steps 2 & 3 apply the brightest shade of pink polish to 1/4 of the nail, starting from the tip, adding color until you build the desired intensity. Allow to completely dry. You can either stop here and skip to Step 6 or add the heart design.
Heart Design: Using the dotting tool, add two dots of the gold nail polish side by side leaving a small space in between. Drag the two dots downward at an angle, connecting each end to form a heart.
Use a q-tip soaked in nail polish remover to remove excess polish.
Seal the design with a clear top coat.
Repeat on the rest of your nails.

Tips

Start with clean nails.
Do one hand at a time.
In order to avoid muddy colors, allow the polish to completely dry before moving to the next step.
Dampen the sponge with water to avoid over saturation. This also helps for smoother application.
In order to avoid making a mess, dot the nail polish on aluminum foil or a wax plate instead of paper. Nail polish will soak through paper and could potentially leave a mess.
Don’t have a dotting tool? Make your own by sticking a pin in the eraser end of a pencil.
For the heart design, work quickly to make your connecting lines before the dots dry.

XOXO

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Motivation | Love life and it will love you back

February 4, 2016February 7, 2016Leave a comment

She loved life and it loved her right back

One of the hardest lessons I ever had to learn in life was when to move on. Challenges are not easy by any means. If they didn’t test your will, they wouldn’t be considered hardships. Swallowing your pride and moving away from a situation that is not healthy or is not going anywhere shows strength. Removing yourself from the negative is probably the best thing you can do to live a more fulfilled life. It is not a weakness by any means.

You were meant to live a happy life. You were meant to learn, create, explore, and enjoy all the wonders that life has to offer. You were not meant to be in miserable relationships or dead end jobs. Learning when to let something go and move on isn’t a sign a weakness. In fact, it’s the opposite. It takes a lot of courage and awareness to know when something is not healthy for you and to move on. To not let situations or people hold you back or keep you stagnant.

Haven’t you ever spent time in a situation that when you look back on you think to yourself, why didn’t you just let go of it sooner? That maybe it wasn’t worth the time and effort that you spent, it was petty, or maybe you didn’t want to let go because it was a matter of pride?

I truely believe that once you you learn how to remove yourself from negative situations/people, you learn to not lose sleep over the petty things. You start to have a better appreciation for the good. The good moments in life start to feel even better! You start to love life even more and life loves you right back.

I’m not saying that moving on is a magic solution that will make things better for your life. It’s that moving away from the negative forces you to perform some retrospect on the situation and gives you a better appreciation for the positive. It makes the smaller things more meaningful. It will slowly start to help you realize what is most important to you, and that, in turn, gives you the strength and confidence to make better decisions. I’m telling you, once you realize what you love, it becomes easier to not let petty or negative things get in the way of your happiness.

Learn to love life. It’s waiting to love you back.

XOXO

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Dine LA | 2016 Winter Restaurant Week Roundup

January 31, 2016February 7, 20162 Comments

Hi Lovlies! Hope you had a good weekend. I’ve spent most of the last couple of days working and eating my way around Los Angeles. 😅 If you follow me on Instagram (@curlsoxoxo_ca), you’ve probably been flooded with food pics.

DineLA restaurant week, is a bi-annual event which takes place in Los Angeles county every winter and summer. The event is 14-days with over 300 participating restaurants offering pre-fixed lunch ($15-$25) and dinner ($29-$49) menus. Restaurant week is a great opportunity to try some high-end restaurants at a good price. Most of the pre-fixe menus include a 3-course meal and can be a great value.

Here is my 2016 winter restaurant week roundup. I tried dinner at Nick and Stef’s, Mi Piace, Central Park Restaurant, and Knuckle and Claw. My favorite restaurant by far was Mi Piace! Knuckle and Claw, while delicious, was not a deal for the price. The poor service didn’t help the situation, but the lobster rolls were outstanding.