Bonfires

The smell of bonfires always lingers in your clothes, your hair and your car even days after the bonfire is over. And though it irritates me at times, I sometimes find it pleasant because it brings back so many great memories. Does that ever happen to you? You smell something and it takes you back to a certain place or the good old days…

Mhm mhm mhmm…roasting hot dogs over a fire.

Expressing our excitement for summer!

“The world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by.” ~Nikki Giovanni

My lovies.

Romantic walks and sunsets.

Enjoying the sunset together.

Running along the beach is one of those simple joys in life.

In our lives, we make our own paths and leave footprints behind, wherever we may choose to go. I encourage you to go out and chase after what it is that moves in your heart and run after it and to never give up on something you truly love and live for.

Have a lovely day ♥

5 Things

These past few weeks have gone by so fast, it’s hard to keep track of everything that has been going on. With school coming to an end, it’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that there’s always an ending to everything, but in my mind, I feel as if with the group of people that I have met, it’s not much of an ending for us.

“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.” ~Jon Katz

1. Our teacher made us donuts on the last day of school with the different color sprinkles corresponding to our future school.

2. Grabbed a quick drink with friends at Lollicup-matcha snow with boba!

3. Special che (Vietnamese dessert) to cool off.

4. First time trying the famous Dole whip from Disneyland!

5. Making breakfast with your friends and waking up together.

Thank you for reading, hope you are enjoying your summer! ♥

DIY: Graduation Cap Decoration

Surely you’ve seen the crazily decorated, spirit filled, or blinged out graduation caps by now. Or at least know that it’s more of a trend nowadays. You can look to Pinterest for more ideas, but for a more simple and basic decoration, you can decorate your cap with the name or mascot of your school, your sorority, your name, or a simple “We did it!” or “Thanks Mom and Dad!”

For my decoration cap, I decided to decorate it with the college I will be headed to next year. So I guess this is an indirect somewhat not-so-formal announcement! I will be attending the University of California, San Diego next year to study Biology. Of course I’m nervous, but I think there’s also a good kind of excitement that comes along with it. I guess you could say I’m apprehensive about a new beginning, but thankful at the same time.

Materials:

-Scissors

-Different colors of felt

-Glitter foam paper

-Rhinestones/stickers/glitter/any other decorations you would like to add

-Hot glue

You can buy all of these from Joann’s or Michael’s, or at your local craft store!

I just googled the UCSD logo and lightly sketched out the letters.

Hot glue your letters onto the felt! You can correspond the felt to the colors of your school or your favorite colors.

Cut around the foam letters, leaving a border.

I didn’t really document the rest of what I did, but I basically covered my cap with a black glitter sheet of foam (cut a hole in the middle to leave room for the tassel), and glued the letters and logo on top. I also added a heart sticker that my best friend and I were both wearing, and a rhinestone omega sign (or the sorority of your choice) towards the bottom of my cap. And rhinestones around the edge of the cap to cover the margins.

Good luck with your project and have fun!

Timeless Elegance

The last month of senior year has got to be one of the most stress-free periods of your entire high school career, ever. Time flies the quickest when you least want it to. Unfortunate, but at least the memories that I have created with some of my friends are timeless. Speaking of which, I’ve got more prom pictures. Yadee yadee yaddah, this is a personal blog after all so that I can look back and reflect upon all the moments in my life and all the memories I have been blessed to share with all of my friends and the people I have met.

Our group in a much more natural element. (Picture c/o T. Dong)

We opted for the more thug pose.

Scarlet sisters!

Accurately reflects our friendship.

I’d say I’m a pretty decent photographer, eh?

Small candid moments.

The prom queen! Her Royal Highness.

My friend’s hair, which was so darling. Plus she added flowers for the more natural, boho effect.

With all my lovies.

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.  The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”  ~Henri Nouwen

Have a lovely day ♥

Snickerdoodle

If smell-screens existed, I bet your mouth would be watering right now…these snickerdoodles almost smell better than they taste! Something about the smell of cinnamon just makes me feel all warm inside.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup  butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Mix butter, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, half of flour.

Beat in egg and vanilla.

Beat in remaining flour.

Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Combine 2 tbs sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in separate bowl.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 375 °F for 10-11 minutes.

After mixing and refrigeration.

Sugar and cinnamon mixture.

This part becomes tricky since the dough gets really sticky!

Bleghh…,my nails are chipped, but try to focus your attention on the cookie. Looks good, huh?

These were very soft and fluffy in texture but were still a little crispy on the edges/towards the bottom of the cookie.

Recipe found here.

Thank you for reading! Have a lovely weekend ♥

Red-y or not

Ahh, senior prom. One of those special nights that you look forward to all of high school. There’s the dress, the date, the flowers, the limo/party bus, the dinner…all that fancy stuff. More prom pictures will be coming later, but I thought I’d share a few pictures of my dress from prom night! We had a Great Gatsby/1920′s theme that was so beautifully elegant and extravagant, and our venue was so beautiful and really fit the theme. I mentioned here that I’ve really been loving the color red, and lo and behold, I managed to find this beautiful red dress.

Here’s a close up of the jewelled detailing along the sweetheart neckline. I also love that subtle v-cut in the back of the dress. It’s quite a simple dress, but it’s very sleek and elegant.

My friend sneaked a picture of my hair! I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, so I tried to go with something similar to this. I had two friends curl my hair, tie it up in a ponytail, and pin it into a bun. Generally, I like it better when my hair is up and out of my face. I do wish my bangs were longer though… (Picture c/o T. Bercher)

For my earrings, I’m wearing these black chunky earrings that my friend got me for Christmas (which I believe are from Charming Charlie‘s). Plus bold red lips to add to the classic look! And a French manicure. I originally wanted to go with red nails, but I wanted to keep it more natural and too much red would be a little overwhelming. I love this picture-I’m standing next to my beautiful friend who was nominated for Prom Court and I just love the way the dress hits the floor.

I was trying hard not to spend too much money on my prom because I think nowadays people spend ridiculously large amounts of money for one night…that’s just my personal opinion and I understand that people have the money to actually splurge a couple hundred dollars here and there for a cute dress and nice shoes, but that’s just not me. So, I bought these shoes for $9!! Who doesn’t love a good deal?

I’m sure some girls would find it awkward to be wearing the same shoes as someone else, but I’m lucky that me and my best friend can just laugh it off. Plus, it makes for a good photo!

I actually rented my dress for about $50, which I think is a great deal considering the fact that I would only wear this dress once. The one thing that was a little frustrating was that I didn’t realize how hard it would be to dance in a long dress, especially since people would keep stepping on the ends and the fact that me being part of the IBTC didn’t do so well with keeping my dress up…BUT I had such an amazing time with my friends, our party bus was so much fun, the venue looked gorgeous, everyone looked stunning, and I’m still excited thinking about it. Well, more pictures coming soon!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have an elegant day! ♥

Geometrically gray

The simplicity and stylishness of geometric shapes and print really intrigues me for some reason. Now I’ve never really liked math, but I do think that geometry and design go quite well together! I’m also really loving the contrast of pastel colors and gray-it’s such an unexpected pair but you get that surprising pop of color.

This mullet skirt had hints of coral in it, so I thought it matched this coral racerback perfectly.

Coral tank top- gift from friend

Gray high-low skirt- American Eagle

I’m really digging the layered front of the skirt…it reminds me of a tulip!

Thank you for reading! Have a lovely day ♥