A weekend in Mount Shasta, California + Ashland, Oregon (with some tips)

Sisson Meadow: A park in Mount Shasta with a beautiful view of the mountain!

It’s so nice to get out of the city and when I do that, I usually go to LA, rather than somewhere in the Bay Area for some reason. So I decided to change that and went to Mount Shasta last weekend with my friend, Laura, who was in town. Laura's aunt Karen (who has become a dear friend and feels like family) lives there and she's been wanting me to visit since I moved to Berkeley...but life has been so busy and it never really worked out. Since Laura would be in town, we thought it'd be fun to surprise her––and boy was she surprised. We rented a car and drove up from San Francisco and it took about 5 hours.

Style Diaries: Two San Francisco Summer Outfits in the Fillmore District

Hi friends! I've been experimenting with fashion lately and I'm excited to say that I've been wearing outfits a bit outside of my comfort zone. 

Thankfully, the weather in SF has been nice (thanks to San Francisco's "Summer" which is in the Fall season).

I've also loved rocking my natural curls lately...something I was too scared and insecure to do in the past. A year ago I would have never done a photoshoot unless my hair was done / styled. It feels good to embrace my natural curls and to wear outfits I wouldn't have worn before due to insecurities...Sharing a few photos from a fun shoot with my girl Renee. She's an awesome photography and she's studying at UC Berkeley––Go Bears! I love collaborating with fellow Cal Bears. :) 

Excited to share some of my favorite photos from the shoot with you today. All photos are shot and edited by Renee in the Fillmore District of San Francisco. 

Style Diaries: Who What Wear, Above Studio Co. + A Surprise!

Serious #housegoals during this recent photoshoot!! Julia and I were looking for a spot and I was just like "THAT ONE!" Haha. Sharing outfit details below and a sweet surprise, too!

5 Reasons Why You Should Stay at Embassy Suites by Hilton Mandalay Beach Resort

I had such a fun mini-vaca in Oxnard with my sister and niece recently. We spent 4th of July there and it was perfect. Today, I'm sharing 5 reasons why I loved it, and why I think you should stay there at some point, too! :)

Self-Love Poetry & Portraits at Outdoor Voices

In honor of National Poetry Month in April, I led a self-love focused poetry workshop at Outdoor Voices, in collaboration with Praise of ComePlum who took portraits of the ladies who attended.

This event was so special to me, because of the fact that I went full circle from where I was last year...

How To Thrive Even Through The Fire

It's not all black and white....

These photos (along with the others with the same background) were taken by my girl Rolanda after an SF Picture Perfect event at The Women's Building in the Mission District.

The past few months (I could even say years) have been a challenging season for me. I am doing a lot better, but it's taken a lot of practicing of patience and self-love on my end to get through the fire. And by fire I mean depression, anxiety, fatigue, and recently eczema flare ups (I'll post more about my eczema separately). 

I'm very hard on myself. We've all heard the phrase "don't say to yourself what you wouldn't say to your friend," but it's a lot harder than it sounds. It's easy for me to stop myself from judging others, but it's so hard for me to stop judging myself and pointing fingers at my flaws...and I've come to realize that it's not all black and white. With whatever has been going on, I've learned that there are deeper rooted issues that it was caused by and that healing doesn't always happen overnight. And I've also learned that there is no healing without pain (and failure throughout the process).

It's been anything but easy, but it would be lying if I didn't say that I'M KILLIN' IT compared to yesterday, and I know that tomorrow will be better than today.

Stop and Smell the Roses

We've all heard the expression "stop and smell the roses," but how many of us actually do it? My grandfather did.