Friday Favorites

The end of the school year is quickly approaching. And though I am so READY to embrace the summer sun, sleep in, and bask in the luxury of free time, any end is bittersweet. I'm met with some regrets. I find myself thinking about what more I could have done, what I could have done differently, what I could have done better. But the other day, I was brainstorming what my final lesson would be to my student leaders and as I watched videos of Maya Angelou, I was inspired. To "just do right" and to live out what I teach. It's a lofty calling but boy do I feel honored and privileged to be considered in the same camp as her. 

Happy Friday, everyone! 

inspired by Dr. Perricone's book I purchased a few weeks ago. apparently cantaloupe is really good for your skin. And it's just so tasty. 

frozen mangoes. a nighttime snack. 

a favorite moment from this week. facetiming with my niece in her queen elsa dress singing me "Let it go". i of course sang along. 

a few random favorites. my current favorite candy, watch and bracelet. 

last weekend i ran in a 5k race. oh, 5k, i underestimated you.
replenishing my tired body with an apple and cooling off after finishing! 

Aesop: An experience & a review

Confession: I love watching YouTube makeup videos. It all started when I was introduced to Pixiwoo and from there, it was history. My affinity to Youtube began with makeup tutorials but now, I don't discriminate and it encompasses "reviews, vlogs, and hauls" (just some YouTube jargon for you). I do confess, it may have enabled a few purchases here and there.

I was introduced to the brand, Aesop by several of my favorite YouTubers (mainly Viviannadoesmakeup).

A few weekends ago, I stumbled upon an Aesop store. And it was glorious. The store layout, the organization, the simple yet classy packaging, the rustic fixtures, the customer service.

The woman at the store asked if i had tried any Aesop products and since I hadn't, she eagerly began to introduce me to a few products. She asked me about my skin type and what I was interested in. I had heard a lot about several products but I chose to indulge myself in just one: the parsley seed masque. At $39 it's not a purchase I would be proud to call a "Steal & Deal" by any means. But lately, skincare has been the area to splurge on if I splurge on anything. And I'm glad I did because it is a beautiful product. 

It is a clay-based masque of a light gray color.  You are instructed to put on a light layer after cleansing your skin. Once applied, it has a slight cooling sensation which is refreshing while not being painful (you know you've tried those masques). 

It is clarifying and deep-cleansing while being moisturizing. And my skin loves it. My late-twenties skin has been quite confused; it's having a major identity crisis having trouble deciding whether it would like to be dry or oily. This masque seems to be helping to sort that out. 

Best part about my Aesop experience? I walked away with many samples to try. And they're not skimpy with the samples. The lady even gave Y a bunch to try out too. Oh, those sale people. That's how they draw you in. They're so smart. 

Excited to try out some of the samples! 

Stars & Stripes

Can you tell I love stripes? And they were quite appropriate during MDW. I was in a patriotic mood and channeled my inner patriot donning this shirt last weekend as we went to brunch, explored DC's Capitol Hill Flea Market and soaked in the wisdom of our nation's heroes at their memorials. 

shirt: madewell, jeans: american eagle, sunglasses: forever21 *ended up buying those bracelets. 

local market-fresh strawberries

watch: michael kors, bag: zara

y makes a cameo in an OOTD post

with the great MLK

Friday Favorites

I thought my 4-day work week was going to be fairly "easy peasy" but boy was I wrong. With several scheduled meetings and the expected unexpected and "end of the school year" chaos, I am exhausted. But somehow I was still able to squeeze in time to run (in preparation for a 5k this weekend) and these late night runs with Y have been what have gotten me through. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'm definitely looking forward to mine. 

i know i recently blogged about my bullet journal being a favorite. but meet one of my other journals: my thanksgiving journal

my current favorite pair of earrings: one of my chelseamarket finds 

lemons: a staple. in pasta, salad, dressing, juice, water. 

a quiet moment after work at a favorite cafe. a yummy veggie sandwich & hazelnut coffee are good companions for a work session. 

and last but not least. a favorite moment of the week. meet my brother, tim. he has the fabulous ability of always making me laugh.

it was a humid and uncharacteristically hot may evening. with no central air and our AC units not yet installed, my brother thought it would cool us down by putting on face masks. half way through putting on the face mask, he told me the one i had chosen was making his face feel warmer (origins clear improvement) so i swapped it to queen helene mint julep masque (hence his appearance). then i proceeded to choose yet another mask for myself (i admit, i love me a good face mask) mine, being aesop's parsley seed masque [review to come]. turns out aesop's masque was the most cooling. oops. sorry, brother. 

Stripes Galore

Today I bring you another OOTD, this one from our anniversary dinner. My dear husband snapped a few pictures before we headed out for a delicious sushi/sashimi dinner. 

dress: madewell (similar here), cardigan: borrowed, belt: thrifted, bag: zara, shoes: target 

The orange belt adds a bit of interest to a relatively simple dress. I love that this dress is versatile. I have dressed it up and worn it to a school function with a tailored blazer. I have dressed it down with flip-flops. And this night, I mixed patterns by pairing it with a pair of comfy leopard-print smoking loafers. 

My favorite part of the dress? The pockets!